Aidin Vaziri | Interviews, Reviews and More: April 2009

25 April 2009

Live Review: Britney Spears at Oracle Arena

Britney Spears, 'Circus' come to town: Aidin Vaziri | Most cultures bury their dead, but here, we lavish them with hordes of backup dancers, expensive stylists and the best Swedish pop hits money can buy just to prop them up on a stage and watch them entertain us. So it goes with Britney Spears, who, despite all outward signs of being unable to count to 11, much less headline a big-budget revue, has been getting dragged around the country for the past two months to promote her sixth album, "Circus." Then again, whoever is in charge of Spears' affairs these days has gone to great lengths to make sure people actually pay very little attention to Spears. At her sold-out concert at Oakland's Oracle Arena on Wednesday, the beleaguered 27-year-old tabloid pet was the least interesting part of the show - a wobbly figure making very little effort to lip-sync along to the mediocre songs from her most recent releases while all around her acrobats, clowns, contortionists and magicians offered a dramatic re-enactment of a real big-top spectacular. Continue reading.

Pop Quiz: Chris Cornell

Aidin Vaziri | To say that Chris Cornell's longtime fans have had an objection to his new direction would be a bit of an understatement. On "Scream," the third solo release from the former Soundgarden and Audioslave front man, producer Timbaland's hip-hop beats, digital bleeps and sexed-up choruses push aside Cornell's trademark guitar riffs and paint-peeling howls - and then there's the cameo by Justin Timberlake. The album, which features the single "Part of Me," has also received a sound thrashing from critics, but the singer is unrepentant, saying that change only makes him better.

Chris Cornell
Q: So you weren't deliberately trying to make a break with your past with "Scream"?
A: For me, this one was a matter of circumstance, really. I just happened to be on a phone with this guy, and we were having a conversation, and it leads to the concept of making an album, and I'm just open to the concept. We were both empowered to make the decision to do it, and we did it. I've definitely made hard turns musically and directionally in my career - unexpected ones and unpredictable ones - but this is the hardest in terms of maybe sending fans from different periods of my career into shock. Continue reading.

Reviews: Depeche Mode and Pet Shop Boys'

Depeche Mode, 'Sounds of the Universe' and Pet Shop Boys, 'Yes': Aidin Vaziri | Given that both acts started out making music on cheap synthesizers, it's something of a miracle that, three decades later, Depeche Mode and Pet Shop Boys still have the capacity to draw people to record stores with their arch meditations on life and death. More puzzling is the sudden creative surge evident on their new releases. Since dropping its dark-hued 1990 masterpiece, "Violator," it seems as if Depeche Mode has merely been fine-tuning the same formula. Not anymore. On "Sounds of the Universe" the British trio is reinvigorated, offering a thoroughly contemporary spin on its sleazy electronic rock with bad-tempered songs such as "Fragile Tension" and "Miles Away." The music is fuzzier, less defined and, on a handful of tracks, unruly enough to feel like a reaction to the efficiency and order that came before it. If only there were a few stronger melodies (and substantially better lyrics) the group's 13th studio album would rank among its best. "Come back, come back to me," Dave Gahan (left) sings. "I'll be waiting here patiently." Pet Shop Boys, on the other hand, have never had trouble making music that sounds like it's from the future. The club duo's 10th album was co-produced by Xenomania, the powerhouse team behind British pop juggernauts Girls Aloud, resulting in a high-gloss affair that effortlessly shuffles through weightless rave beats, elegant guitar strumming courtesy of the Smiths' Johnny Marr, and gleaming tunes such as "All Over the World," "King of Rome" and "Beautiful People." It's enough to get your hopes up for the return of Kajagoogoo.

On The Town: Kylee Swenson and Anthony Gordon

Aidin Vaziri | Kylee Swenson Gordon and Anthony Gordon sing and play bass, respectively, in Loquat, the San Francisco indie-pop band that opened last year's Treasure Island Music Festival and is touring behind its latest album, "Secrets of the Sea." In anticipation of the group's monthlong residency at Cafe Du Nord, where it will be playing every Thursday throughout May, the husband-and-wife team let us in on a few of their favorite spots to hit between gigs.

On The Town: Kylee Swenson and Anthony Gordon
Mojo Bicycle Cafe, 639-A Divisadero St. "We have been taking San Francisco by storm on our bikes, but my 1963 Schwinn Breeze needs work and the guys at Mojo take good care of it. Also, I've never had a favorite bagel place before but Mojo's toasted cream cheese, egg and cucumber bagels - egg on one half, cucumber on the other - taste like they are made by someone who cares."
Casanova, 527 Valencia St. "Over the years, I've spent more money at Casanova than some people spend on college. The music is always good - they eschew a jukebox in favor of crafty, if somewhat obscure, nightly DJs - the drinks are always strong, and the women depicted on the black-velvet paintings adorning the walls are always nude." Continue reading.

24 April 2009

Anvil On Film

'Anvil' film is hilarious and heartbreaking: Aidin Vaziri | Steve "Lips" Kudlow doesn't believe in doing things by half measures. "Even if there are only three kids in the room watching my band, I'm going to rock my brains out," he says. As the 53-year-old front man for the long forgotten but hugely influential Canadian heavy-metal group Anvil, that's pretty much what he has officially spent the past three decades doing. In the hilarious and heartbreaking new documentary by British director Sacha Gervasi, "Anvil! The Story of Anvil," which opens Friday in Bay Area theaters, we get to follow Kudlow and his lifelong sidekick, drummer Robb "Robbo" Reiner, on the latest in a long line of disaster-laden comeback attempts as their band makes its way across Europe. Continue reading.

Pop Quiz: Spinal Tap

Aidin Vaziri | In between playing the washed-up rockers in Spinal Tap and the has-been Folksmen, Christopher Guest, Michael McKean and Harry Shearer have unwittingly become pop stars in their own right. After 25 years of touring on and off as the musical characters they portrayed in films such as "This Is Spinal Tap," "Waiting for Guffman" and "A Mighty Wind," the trio is dropping the act for its Unwigged and Unplugged tour, appearing onstage as themselves and playing quieter versions of their cult hits.

Christopher Guest of Spinal Tap
Q: Do you expect to see a lot of open mouths when you first walk onstage without the wigs?
A: Potentially. I hope the advertising - which says it's an unplugged, unwigged evening with our three names - gives people some kind of clue. If not, there's a different problem. Then it's a literacy issue.
Q: Without the leather pants, you guys look almost dignified.
A: Well, you know, dignity has a place, occasionally - maybe not every day, but once in a while.
Q: How does the line "The bigger the cushion, the sweeter the pushin' " from "Big Bottom" work in an acoustic setting?
A: Well, that's one of the most interesting versions of any of song we do. I'm not going to spoil the surprise, but we came up with something that is a radical departure. Continue reading.

16 April 2009

Live Review: Fleet Foxes at the Fillmore

Fleet Foxes for Fillmore faithful: Aidin Vaziri | The best moments in casually strummed songs dotted with images of birds, oceans and leaves were often the wordless bridges that found Pecknold so overwhelmed with emotion that he could only "ooh" and "whoa" things toward the heavens. In fact, the loud, echoing drums often made the Fillmore feel like a church (with better decor on the walls, obviously). By the end of the night, there were certainly more than a few converts spilling out onto the street. Continue reading.

12 April 2009

Pop Quiz: Glasvegas

Aidin Vaziri | Glasvegas knows what it takes to make great rock 'n' roll music: leather jackets, loud guitars, black Wayfarers, distortion pedals and Phil Spector's sadistic production style. After releasing its self-titled debut album this year to much praise, the Scottish quartet returns to the States for a headlining tour, bringing with it gut-busting United Kingdom hits such as "Daddy's Gone" and "It's My Own Cheating Heart That Makes Me Cry." We spoke with the group's singer and main songwriter, James Allan, in anticipation of the band's sold-out Thursday appearance at the Great American Music Hall.

James Allan of Glasvegas
Q: When Lisa Marie Presley came to Scotland last year you took her on a tour of the local prisons. Are all your dates that exciting?
A: We just met up in a pub and made a night of it. We got drunk. That's what happened, really.
Q: Now you can check "drinking and going to jail with Elvis' daughter" off your to-do list.
A: That was one thing I didn't think was actually supposed to happen to me. It makes the world seem really small.
Q: You recruited your drummer, Caroline McKay, out of a local shop. Were you just trying to get into her pants?
A: You're the first person who has asked me that. I would say, if anything, it was her trying to get with me. I can't even believe you asked me that.Continue reading.

Leonard Cohen: We've Got Him Covered

10 best Leonard Cohen covers: Aidin Vaziri | Leonard Cohen is such an amazing songwriter that, at last count, more than 1,500 covers of his tunes were floating in the universe. The only problem is that 99.333 percent of the reinterpretations are awful, as envisaged by everyone from flailing "American Idol" screamers to Bono at his most pompous. So in anticipation of the 74-year-old singer's arrival in the Bay Area this week for shows at the Paramount Theatre, we've narrowed the playlist down to those versions that actually honor Cohen's wry romantic vision, terminal gloom and hair-raising delivery. Here are the 10 best. Continue reading.

Review: 'Easy Star's Lonely Hearts Dub Band'

Easy Star All-Stars, 'Easy Star's Lonely Hearts Dub Band': Aidin Vaziri | Remember when Rolling Stone said "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" was the best album of all time, so you ordered it for a penny from the Columbia House Music Club and listened to it 1,328 times before realizing that it was actually the worst album of all time and Rolling Stone was never to be trusted again? As painful as it might be to expose your ears once again to simpering pop songs such as "Lovely Rita" and "When I'm Sixty-Four," the awkwardly named New York reggae collective Easy Star All-Stars at least makes the process a little easier by taking out all the useless flugelhorns and Ringos and replacing them with things that people actually like: echoing dub rhythms, bong sound effects and singers with cool names like Sugar Minott and Bunny Rugs. Given the material, the producers who previously rejiggered Radiohead's "OK Computer" ("Radiodread") and Pink Floyd's "Dark Side of the Moon" ("Dub Side of the Moon") make the best of it, transforming the Beatles' originals into soulful, spaced-out jams - from Luciano's commanding cover of "With a Little Help From My Friends" to Kirsty Rock's swinging "She's Leaving Home" - that feel weighty and weightless at the same time.

Vetiver: Everyday People

Vetiver finally feeling the love: Aidin Vaziri | On one of those rare recent sun-drenched San Francisco mornings, Vetiver front man Andy Cabic sank into a chair outside a coffee shop on Clement Street, just around the corner from his flat. "Now this is my kind of interview," he said, sipping from his tumbler. If anyone needs a minute to catch his breath, it's Cabic. Vetiver is about to release its fourth studio album, "Tight Knit," and, in stark contrast to the pastoral music it makes, the band's schedule has been unrelenting. Last month, the group played nine shows in 3 1/2 days at the annual South by Southwest music festival in Austin, Texas, stopping for gigs at various destinations along the way. "I lost my voice before we even got there," Cabic said. Continue reading.

Live Review: Lily Allen at the Warfield

Lily Allen gives notoriety a nod, gets serious: Aidin Vaziri | Lily Allen looked upset. "This tastes like wine mixed with water!" she said, holding up a red plastic cup onstage at her sold-out Warfield concert Saturday. She passed the offending goblet to a fan in the front row for confirmation but didn't wait for a reply. "Someone is watering down my s-!" she scowled, peering at the wings. But she couldn't hold the pose for long, breaking into a huge smile. If tabloid headlines counted as record sales, then Allen would be swimming in platinum. The 24-year-old British pop star has captured the attention of the supermarket press like few others since emerging three years ago, not for her music but for her willingness to bare breasts, talk smack and gleefully stumble down the red carpetContinue reading.

06 April 2009

Pop Quiz: Fall Out Boy

Aidin Vaziri | It's understandable how one might think Pete Wentz was the front man for Fall Out Boy. After all, the group's eyeliner-wearing bass player is the one who's married to tabloid-princess Ashlee Simpson. He's the one who named his kid Bronx Mowgli Wentz. He's also the one with the funny haircut, vanity record label, custom clothing line, buzzing Twitter account and big mouth. But it's actually singer Patrick Stump's gut-wrenching bellow that has made the multiplatinum Illinois quartet the band of choice for emo teens everywhere. Fall Out Boy promotes its fifth and latest album, "Folie á Deux," on Tuesday at the San Jose Event Center. We spoke with Stump by phone from Munich.

Patrick Stump of Fall Out Boy
Q: A lot of reviews from the European tour say that Pete Wentz is acting like the front man and you're just blending into the background. Is that by choice?
A: No, I don't think that's true. That says the writers of those reviews just want to go and hack at Pete Wentz. We are all putting on a show. Pete is much more reserved onstage than people think. But the writers don't give a s- about the rest of the band and have no interest in reviewing the show. They just want to write a think piece on the power of celebrity or something stupid.
Q: You have to admit it's a great excuse to write about Ashlee, Bronx, guyliner and tight pants.
A: There's no Ashlee. There's no Bronx. There is no guyliner. Yes, we do wear tight pants. That's what the kids do these days. I get asked all the time, "Is it weird that Pete gets all the attention?" Yes, but not for me. Continue reading.

Museums Come Alive After Dark

Aidin Vaziri | Ever wanted to party with an albino alligator? With several major Bay Area museums staying open for regular after-hours events loaded with music, cocktails and fashionable crowds, it's easier than ever.

Museums Come Alive After Dark
Exploratorium: After Dark Thursdays : Starting this week, the enormous educational play space is kept open a few extra hours for adult-oriented parties offering strong drinks and wild live performances alongside rotating science exhibits that are either too risque or too weird for daylight.
California Academy of Sciences: Nightlife Thursdays: Get close to the penguins, jellyfish and stuffed gorillas without the risk of trampling toddlers as well-known DJs and scenesters transform the newly renovated four-story natural history museum into the city's most happening 21-and-older nightclub. Continue reading.

Review: Doves, 'Kingdom of Rust'

Doves, 'Kingdom of Rust': Aidin Vaziri | Doves emerged around the same time as Coldplay, on the same label and with the same general sense of dorm room scruffiness. But because the Manchester band's Mercury Prize-winning first album, "Lost Souls," didn't contain an obvious hit like "Yellow" and because front man Jimi Goodwin (center in left photo) chose to spend his free time bird-watching instead of courting A-list Hollywood starlets, the two groups have spent the intervening years playing venues of vastly different sizes. It's not for lack of epic music. "Kingdom of Rust," Doves' fourth studio album, is built around the familiar delicate melodies, atmospheric sound effects and air of melancholy. John Leckie, who has produced the Stone Roses and Radiohead, adds his usual glitter to several tracks. But even the album's best songs, such as "Jetstream" and "Spellbound," remain fairly indistinct, exceptionally beautiful in the moment but gone once the euphoria passes. The punk-funk oddity "Compulsion," a lovingly crafted early New Order tribute, is a delight, though, even if it feels like iTunes has unintentionally slipped into shuffle mode.

Pop Quiz: Lily Allen

Aidin Vaziri | On her second album, "It's Not Me, It's You," Lily Allen takes on topics as wide-reaching as drugs, politics, celebrity culture, paparazzi and premature ejaculation. She's well qualified, too. Judging by the frequent tabloid headlines, the exhibitionist 23-year-old British pop star has been living life at high speed since her debut release, "Alright, Still," came out three years ago. But as the lyrics on her latest hit, "The Fear," indicate - "I don't know what's right and what's real anymore" - it might be time for change. We stopped her long enough to find out.

Lily Allen
Q: My favorite headline last week was: "Lily Allen vomits in Glasgow."
A: That's so not true. I don't vomit. I can drink. I'm not a vomiter - and certainly not after my first show on my three-week tour. It's annoying when people write that stuff because it makes me have this reputation that just isn't.
Q: Really? I wish people would write things like that about me.
A: I used to be like that, but I can't now. It's too much of a workload. What's so stupid about that whole story is the only time I was in Glasgow I was walking out of the venue to my tour bus, which was about 2 meters away.
Q: Do you need to drink before you get onstage?
A: I don't need to drink before I get onstage, but I like to have a couple of glasses of wine, definitely. Just because the nature of performing a gig is you're in a room with 3,000 drunk people, so you want to be kind of like on their level. If you go into that situation completely sober, then you've got a completely different vibe from everyone else. Continue reading.

Review: Yeah Yeah Yeahs, 'It's Blitz!'

Yeah Yeah Yeahs, 'It's Blitz!': Aidin Vaziri | Yeah Yeah Yeahs guitarist Nick Zinner recently confessed that he was pushed into dropping his instrument of choice in favor of synthesizers for "It's Blitz!" It's hard not to reason that, after spilling her guts on the band's previous album, the bruised and beautiful "Show Your Bones," singer Karen O was ready for some lighter fare. But the Yeahs' third album swings a little too hard in the wrong direction. The group that made its name using rock 'n' roll's most primitive elements - loud yelps, spastic guitar freak-outs and bashed beats - now sounds like a trio of robots. The opening track and first single, "Zero," is so icy it could have graced a sex scene on "Miami Vice," and the album's centerpiece, "Skeletons," is more ponderous than inspired. Bring back the chaos.