Aidin Vaziri: December 2009

25 December 2009

Pop Quiz: The Greatest Hits, 2009

Chris Martin of Coldplay
Q: You've been on the road quite a lot this year. Are you just trying to avoid the family?
A: From the very beginning of my life, people have always enjoyed it when I was around for a couple of days at a time. ... That's why we turn up in a town, play and then we leave before anyone can get sick of us.

Colbie Caillat
Q: You're not really Jack Johnson in drag, are you?
A: You know, I could be. You never know.

Beth Ditto of Gossip
Q: When you were throwing up earlier, was it the good kind where you got too drunk, or the bad kind, where you ate too many fish sticks?
A: Probably the bad kind, where I had a virus.

Lindsey Buckingham of Fleetwood Mac
Q: How much do you think your robust chest hair had to do with Fleetwood Mac selling those 100 million albums?
A: Wow. I would say none. ... I would hope very little. That's the first time I was asked that. It could have been something I missed.

M. Ward
Q: You've worked with Norah Jones, Jenny Lewis, Chan Marshall, Neko Case and Lucinda Williams. Do you have a policy of collaborating only with hot chicks?
A: You know, I'm very happy to let the songs dictate where they want to go and how they want to be produced and what kind of voice they need.
Read more.

The Songs of 2009

Phoenix, "Lisztomania": It's easy to get the sense that Phoenix's front man Thomas Mars is plucking his lyrics at random from a secondhand French/English dictionary. Good thing he's got that svelte voice and an arch band that makes even his most head-scratching observations sound like bliss.

Passion Pit, "The Reeling": A heart-pumping, glitter-flecked moment of inspiration from one of the year's most exciting new bands. Don't stop here. Buy the album. Get the T-shirt. Invite them over for dinner.

Taken by Trees, "My Boys": Animal Collective's original "My Girls" is fine if you don't mind a whiff of patchouli, but former Concretes singer Victoria Bergsman does it better, employing what sounds like a cardboard box and a keychain piano.
Read more.

The Roots: Backwards and Forwards

The Roots to give all in S.F. New Year's Eve: Aidin Vaziri | When the Roots played Davies Symphony Hall earlier this year, the long-running Philadelphia hip-hop outfit turned the home of the San Francisco Symphony into the city's most happening party venue. Marching down the aisles, riffing on Black Sabbath's "Iron Man" and hosting an impromptu break-dancing exhibition as it banged out more than 15 years of headphone classics, the crew pulled out all the stops. So what will it do for a follow-up at the Warfield show on New Year's Eve? We asked drummer and bandleader Ahmir Thompson, better known as ?uestlove, who also filled us in on the Roots' unexpected decision to become the house band on NBC's "Late Night With Jimmy Fallon" and the real reason the release date for its new album keeps getting pushed back. Read more.

Review: Animal Collective, 'Fall Be Kind'

Review: Animal Collective, 'Fall Be Kind': Aidin Vaziri | Who could have predicted that 2009's most critically revered indie rock outfit would be a Baltimore trio covered in face paint whose music is a woozy melange of psychedelic harmonies, ambient noise and synthetic beats? Things get even weirder on this five-song EP of outtakes from Animal Collective's most recent album, "Merriweather Post Pavilion." The arrangements are looser, the melodies more fluid. Most of the songs shouldn't even really be called songs. But when "What Would I Want? Sky" veers into a sample from the Grateful Dead's "Unbroken Chain" - the first ever licensed use of a tune by the band - it's enough to make you pull out the home tie-dye kit.

Pop Quiz: Echo and the Bunnymen

Aidin Vaziri | Even though Echo and the Bunnymen spent most of the year celebrating their glory days by playing the classic 1984 album "Ocean Rain" in concert with a full orchestra, the band also slipped out its most vibrant release in ages, "The Fountain." Produced by British pop svengali John McLaughlin and featuring guest vocals by Coldplay's Chris Martin on the title track, the group's 11th studio album finds front man Ian McCulloch and guitarist Will Sergeant - who parted ways in 1988 and reunited in 1994 - striding forward at full force even as they look back. We spoke with McCulloch, 50, by phone from New York before the band returned to Liverpool for its annual hometown Christmas shows.

Ian McCulloch of Echo and the Bunnymen
Q: What do you think of all the new bands that try to sound like you?
A: There are so many rubbish bands out there that get compared to us and there's no way they can fit in our boots. What do people see in them? It's just a real ugly version of beauty. Loads of people get into the Bunnymen because they see us at a festival or because NME is saying go out and get our album and Bloc Party. I think they're the worst band. I can't wait to meet them and tell them so. The problem is they believe they're good. But they are the worst, most tuneless band I've heard.
Q: You played "Ocean Rain" on tour this year. Was it as good as the first time?
A: Yeah. The new masterstroke we're going to pull is we're going to play "Crocodiles" from start to finish. Playing these records is the greatest idea I ever came up with. It's a master class for anyone who's ever been in a band that isn't quite as good as the band I'm in. We'll get inducted into the hall of fame of rock or whatever it is.
Read more.

On The Road With Brittany Shane

5 days on tour with S.F.'s Brittany Shane: Aidin Vaziri | Last month, San Francisco singer-songwriter Brittany Shane set out on a six-month tour across America. We asked her to keep a diary of the first few days of the journey as she and her band began their travels in the Pacific Northwest. We were just hoping to hear about her secret crush on Robert Pattinson and pilfer some unicorn stickers. Typically, Shane had something else in mind. "This summer my dad called me from his house in Wisconsin and said, 'Sweetie, I like that you are playing music, but please just don't go on tour - it's just too darn hard,' " Shane said. "Like any rock 'n' roll bitten, Midwestern-raised girl, I love my dad, but when the opportunity came I was going to jump high and fast." Read more.

Review: Alicia Keys, 'The Element of Freedom'

Review: Alicia Keys, 'The Element of Freedom': Aidin Vaziri | The woman who regularly outclasses her peers on the pop charts could probably afford to loosen the brim of her hat just a smidgen. On her meticulously crafted fourth album, Alicia Keys covers the usual spectrum of empowerment anthems ("Wait Til You See My Smile"), blousy piano ballads ("How It Feels to Fly") and the odd Prince-inspired jam ("This Bed") to satisfying, if slightly stifling, effect. But it's only when the 28-year-old New York singer-songwriter sounds most unlike herself, say, on the thumping, Beyoncé-abetted "Put It in a Love Song" or lusty future funk detour "Un-thinkable (I'm Ready)" that she actually sounds like someone you might want to get to know.

16 December 2009

Live Review: Lady Gaga at Bill Graham Civic

Lady Gaga vamps. Sings, too.: Aidin Vaziri | Most of the girls at Lady Gaga's concert at the Bill Graham Civic on Sunday came dressed like the star of the show. And the boys, well, most of them came dressed like her, too. In just over a year, the 23-year-old singer from Yonkers, N.Y. - known to her parents as Stefani Joanna Germanotta - has gone from playing tiny venues for curious onlookers who probably didn't take her all that seriously to playing two sold-out nights at the city's largest concert hall for people who think so highly of her they were willing to track down black lace leggings for the show. Read more.

Pop Quiz: Bad Lieutenant

Aidin Vaziri | After surviving three decades punctuated by death, drug abuse and at least one incidence of terrible rapping, the influential British pop band New Order finally sputtered to an end two years ago when bassist Peter Hook announced his departure from the group on live radio. But the split didn't sidetrack the other members, who, led by front man Bernard Sumner, formed Bad Lieutenant and last month released a familiar-sounding album, "Never Cry Another Tear." According to Sumner, who spoke to us from his home in Britain, that was no accident.

Bernard Sumner of Bad Lieutenant
Q: If things had gone your way, would this have been a New Order record?
A: Ooh, that's a question. Well, if it was up to me, New Order would still be together. Basically, Hooky left, but he had his reasons.
Q: It seems as if musicians are supposed to keep the same job with the same people forever. Everyone else gets to move on.
A: It is a lot to ask. I've known Peter Hook since I was 14 - you can't possibly be the same person 30 years later. He changed one way and I changed a different way. It got to the point where if I said black, he said white. If I said go, he said stop. It's a ridiculous way to carry on. It's an unnatural thing to be together that amount of time
Read more.

Charlie Hunter's Perpetual Hazing

Hunter back home, still playing hard: Aidin Vaziri | Charlie Hunter may have moved to New York ages ago, but the Berkeley guitarist's name remains so entwined with the Bay Area jazz scene that even he didn't realize that this week will mark the 10th anniversary of his annual "Home for the Holidays" concerts at Yoshi's. Calling from a tour stop in San Diego, Hunter says that after years of selling out local hot spots like the Elbo Room and the Up and Down Club, he was initially lured east not because of a prestigious contract with Blue Note Records but mainly for the opportunity to get pummeled by other musicians. "I'm still getting my ass kicked," he says. "I don't think the move was any better for business, but I wouldn't be the player I am if I didn't get stomped in this perpetual hazing. That wasn't going to happen in the Bay Area." Read more.

On The Town: Julio Cesar Morales

Hot spots fire up Julio Cesar Morales' artistry: Aidin Vaziri | Internationally renowned artist Julio Cesar Morales, who founded the famed Mission District gallery Queen's Nails Annex and teaches at the San Francisco Art Institute, is serving as the adjunct curator at Yerba Buena Center for the Arts. His current exhibition, "Tropical Vulture," featuring the works of Bay Area filmmaker George Kuchar and Mexican artist Miguel Calderón, runs through Jan. 17. Morales tells us about some of the places around they city that fuel his creative drive.

Pirate Cat Cafe and Studio, 2781 21st St. "This 'unlicensed' radio station (currently online only) in the Mission is quite amazing as it doubles as a cafe within its corner storefront, with windows that reveal the radio studio and DJs in action. The coffee rocks. It's the best in the city. There really is nothing better than lounging around Pirate Cat and enjoying a coconut latte while listening to great local music." Read more.

Review: Snoop Dogg, 'Malice 'N Wonderland'

Review: Snoop Dogg, 'Malice 'N Wonderland': Aidin Vaziri | In a genre where most artists' careers have the same life expectancy as a snowman in Tahiti, Snoop Dogg has defied the odds by not only sticking around for the better part of the two past decades but growing more ubiquitous every day. His resume now includes stints as a reality show star, adult film producer, Wall Street entrepreneur, record label boss and, of course, high school football coach. It's almost as long as his rap sheet. Snoop's 10th album, "Malice 'N Wonderland," meanwhile, is a good reminder that making music is what he does best. Built around a basic, loose concept mirroring his own rags-to-riches life, Snoop drafts a small army of top-shelf producers and collaborators to make his casual drawl sound fresh again. The first half of the album is predictably full of harsh beats and four-letter words but from there it crackles with a wealth of sleek pop melodies ("Pimpin' Ain't EZ"), digitized ballads ("Gangsta Luv") and at least one leftfield cover tune ("Secrets"). He'll be around as long as he manages to keep this up.

08 December 2009

Pop Quiz: AFI

Aidin Vaziri | The members of AFI will have an easy commute to Live 105's Not So Silent Night on Friday at Oracle Arena. But how will the Oakland band, which started playing in tiny punk clubs nearly two decades ago, fare on the same stage as fellow kohl-eyed modern-rock mainstays such as Muse and Thirty Seconds to Mars? We asked front man Davey Havok, who is celebrating the release of AFI's eighth studio album, "Crash Love," with a new look.

Davey Havok of AFI
Q: Didn't someone try to steal your shoe the other night when you jumped into the crowd?
A: Yeah. I looked down and he was definitely trying to do that. I can understand it if it's some lost child who wants to put some candles around it and cry on it. This was some older guy, and I was horrified. I'm glad he didn't get my shoe because they're these very limited-edition black sequined Converse shoes that I love. I was like, "What are you doing?"
Q: What if Robert Smith jumped on your head? Wouldn't you try to take his shoe?
A: No. I mean, I just wouldn't. That type of autograph, pictures and apparel thievery was not part of what I grew up with. I loved the artists and their music. I would be thrilled to meet them, but the thought of getting a scribble or stealing an article of clothing never occurred or appealed to me.
Read more.

Dylan, Sting and Miley Put On Their Santa Beards

Holiday album roundup, 2009: Aidin Vaziri | Wading through this year's pileup of holiday music isn't easy - not with Sting busting out his cable-knit sweater and Bob Dylan putting on a Santa beard - so we did it for you. Here's our take on some of this year's most notable seasonal releases.

Bob Dylan
Christmas in the Heart (Columbia)
It seems appropriate that the 68-year-old rock icon would release his first holiday-themed album just before Halloween. Dylan's croaky voice comes adorned with shrill choir singers and dilapidated arrangements on standards like "Hark the Herald Angels Sing" and "Little Drummer Boy." But it's hard to imagine anything scarier than that Hallmark-inspired cover art.
Read more.