Aidin Vaziri: May 2010

29 May 2010

Jake Gyllenhaal: Ready For Action

Gyllenhaal flexes his muscles: Aidin Vaziri | Among the full-grown men dressed as "Transformers" characters, greasy teens gawking at "Twilight" action figures and auxiliary "Dukes of Hazzard" cast members hoping to sell $20 autographs at Wondercon, the last person you would expect to find in the fray is a serious Hollywood actor like Jake Gyllenhaal. Yet here he is, the star of solemn dramas such as "Donnie Darko" and "Brokeback Mountain," in one of the back conference rooms of the Moscone Center looking oddly inconspicuous in a black sweatshirt and blue jeans and feeling a little frustrated that his handlers won't let him out to mingle with the thousands of costumed revelers on the floor. "I've always heard about these events, and I've always wondered what they were like," the 29-year-old Los Angeles native says, sipping a cup of green tea. "This feels like home. This is what it was like every Sunday at the Gyllenhaal house." Read more.

28 May 2010

The National: High Times

Big-time success takes the National by surprise: Aidin Vaziri | Matt Berninger is having a good week. No, make that a great week. His scrappy little Brooklyn-based rock band, the National, has been making the late-night rounds with David Lettermen and Jimmy Fallon. The band just kicked off its U.S. tour with two sold-out shows at the Wiltern Theater in Los Angeles. And its first new album in three years, "High Violet," premiered at No. 3 on the Billboard chart, bubbling under heavily hyped pop releases by Justin Bieber and Lady Antebellum. By the time the musicians open their two-night run at Oakland's Fox Theater on Wednesday, they will be real-life rock stars. Speaking by phone from Los Angeles, Berninger says he could sense the band was on the verge of something big before they even entered guitarist Aaron Dessner's home studio to record "High Violet." But the whole chart thing? Well, that was totally unexpected. "I always thought that was a whole different music industry from the one we swim around in," the frontman says. "It doesn't make any sense. It's like a duck wearing a bear's costume." Read more.

Pop Quiz: Tracey Thorn

Aidin Vaziri | Everything But the Girl stopped making records more than a decade ago so Tracey Thorn could start being a mom. But it's hard to keep that sadly beautiful voice down. Even though she and partner Ben Watt recently got married after 28 years together, Thorn has once again put domestic life on hold for a new solo album, "Love and Its Opposite." Only this time, the 47-year-old British singer is doing it her way, with songs about daytime soaps and midlife crises and a strict no-tour policy. But you can catch her frequent missives on Twitter. That's almost the same, right?

Tracey Thorn
Q: Ben started a nightclub almost immediately after your kids were born. Where should I send his "Father of the Year" mug?
A: It was no coincidence. I couldn't blame him for getting out of the house. But being a DJ is quite an easy lifestyle. He manages to have a complete day to be around us, and then he goes out at night while everyone is sleeping.
Q: Do you think you were finally able to get married because you stopped working together in Everything But the Girl?
A: That's the balance, isn't it? We at least have a sense of some separateness in our lives. Once you're a parent, you need that. You need some space to exist as an individual. People always ask me how we managed to stay together for so long. Well, it's not always easy. Sometimes it's really difficult. We've done it for a lot of years. It was just time to work in a separate environment.
Read more.

Tour Troubles For U2, Aguilera

U2 postpones tour, Aguilera delays summer dates: Aidin Vaziri | U2 has postponed all the dates on this year's "360°" world tour, including a June 16 concert at the Oakland Coliseum, after lead singer Bono injured his back during rehearsals in Munich and underwent emergency surgery. "In order to fully recover, he is under doctor's orders to start a rehabilitation program and to recuperate for at least eight weeks," a statement from tour promoter Live Nation said. Fans are encouraged to hold onto their tickets for the reschedule tour dates, which will be announced in the near future. U2's manager, Paul McGuinness, added, "For a performer who lives to be onstage, this is more than a blow. He feels robbed of the chance to do what he does best and feels like he has badly let down the band and their audience." Meanwhile, Christina Aguilera has also postponed her summer tour dates, according to Live Nation, because of "prior commitments." The singer is reportedly working on a movie called "Burlesque." New dates will be announced later this year. Refunds for her Aug. 18 concert at Shoreline Amphitheatre are available at point of purchase. Read more.

Pop Quiz: Massive Attack

Aidin Vaziri | You can't rush Massive Attack. It took seven years for the British duo to complete its fifth studio album and nearly as much time to get one of them on the phone to talk about it. In both cases, it was well worth the wait. "Heligoland" is dark and moody, rife with the kind of wobbly beats and atmospheric funk passages that have kept the band in business for nearly two decades. Like Massive's previous recordings, it also boasts a dazzling, unexpected array of cameos, including TV on the Radio's Tunde Adebimpe, Martina Topley Bird, Elbow's Guy Garvey, Mazzy Star's Hope Sandoval and Damon Albarn. Meanwhile, when we finally had a chance to chat with Grant Marshall (Daddy G), who records with Robert Del Naja (3D), he was all, like, "What delay?"

Daddy G of Massive Attack
Q: Why have you been avoiding America for so long?
A: I'm always looking forward to it. We've got a great show. We want people to see it. We're ready to rock. America has always been a hard slug. We're slightly bewildered as to why we haven't really cracked it.
Q: Maybe it has to do with your leisurely work pace?
A: Without a doubt. We're not the most prolific band in the world. We're not into rushing. Probably, if we put out the albums at the rate people expected, it would be all over by now.
Q: So, are you guys perfectionists or just lazy?
A: It's a bit of both. In the first years, it was laziness. For us, it's been this thing from going to a DJ-based thing to a group thing. The first album was us exorcising our demons from our DJ days. That was where all our ideas came from. Over the years, we've evolved to where we started getting involved with musicians more and became more organic. We've evolved into a band now.
Read more.

Review: 'Stone Temple Pilots'

Review: 'Stone Temple Pilots': Aidin Vaziri | Scott Weiland just doesn't care. On his first studio album with Stone Temple Pilots in nearly a decade, the man who has repeatedly let substance abuse problems threaten to derail his career and personal life comes kicking through the door as bullheaded as ever. Over the chugging riffs of the opening track, "Between the Lines" - a close cousin of the Vines' "Outtathaway" - he bellows, "You always were my favorite drug/ Even when we used to take drugs." It's not a particularly original analogy, but it's one few can make with such raspy-voiced authority. The grunge pariahs' self-titled sixth studio album sounds far more potent than it rightfully should, with Weiland breathing fire through glammed-up tracks such as "Take a Load Off" and "Fast as I Can" while guitarist Dean DeLeo peels off some of the meatiest riffs of his career. The group may never sound anything more than generic - "First Kiss on Mars" sounds like a knockoff of a Bowie knockoff - but in the moment it's hard to argue with the gut-punching force of a bunch of guys facing middle age with something to prove.

Summer Concert Guide 2010

Summer concert season heating up: Aidin Vaziri | Lady Gaga's lasers, Justin Bieber's helmet head, Bono's big claws. There are plenty of reasons to hit the arenas and amphitheaters for some live music this summer. Here are some of the best. Read more.

16 May 2010

Review: Band of Horses, 'Infinite Arms'

Review: Band of Horses, 'Infinite Arms': Aidin Vaziri | If you caught any of their perpetually hazy live performances over the past few years, you wouldn't guess Band of Horses had this in them. But after two solid if slightly subdued Sub Pop releases, the South Carolina group is making a dash for the big time, making the major-label leap. Horses are playing a slew of arena dates with Pearl Jam. And then there are the songs on "Infinite Arms." On Band of Horses' third album, everything is amplified. The high voice of Benjamin Bridwell (pictured) pushes to the front, while Crazy Horse-style riffs lift up "Laredo" and punchy rhythms cut through "Compliments." The record's crowning moment arrives in the form of "Factory," an orchestral anthem that finds the singer grumbling about the miserable life of a rock star just as he's about to turn into one. "It's temporary, this place I'm in/ I permanently won't do this again," he sings. "My belongings scattered all across the hotel floor." Better get used to it.

Pop Quiz: k.d. lang

Aidin Vaziri | Even though she has spent the past few years focused on Tibetan Buddhism and campaigning for animal rights, k.d. lang's golden voice can still melt hearts. The 48-year-old Canadian singer made a tentative return to the spotlight this year with the release of the career retrospective "Recollection" and a showstopping performance at the opening ceremony of the Winter Olympics in Vancouver, British Columbia. On Saturday, the four-time Grammy winner reunites with her sometime duet partner Tony Bennett for a headlining set the Black and White Ball at Davies Symphony Hall.

k.d. lang
Q: When was the last time you and Tony Bennett shared a stage?
A: We did a fundraiser last year, so not too long ago.
Q: You should really get together more often. It seems as if every time you're in the same room, someone hands you a Grammy.
A: Yeah, it's a good friendship.
Q: What do you guys talk about over dinner?
A: We talk politics. We talk art. A lot. We like to hang out.
Read more.

Danger Mouse: The Cut and Carry Guide

Danger Mouse on the run: Aidin Vaziri | Brian "Danger Mouse" Burton doesn't sleep. Not much, anyway. The prolific record producer, who has been involved with everyone from Gnarls Barkley to Gorillaz, returns to the Bay Area this week with his latest project, Broken Bells, a dreamy collaboration with Shins front man James Mercer. But how are you supposed to keep track of everything he's done? We've put together this handy guide of the highlights. Read more.

Pop Quiz: Jakob Dylan

Aidin Vaziri | Jakob Dylan is on the road with his second solo album, "Women + Country." He's got a new band, Three Legs, that includes backup singers Neko Case and Kelly Hogan. He's got a new trad-country sound. He's also got the makings for a comeback. The new record was produced by T Bone Burnett, who also oversaw the Wallflowers' 1996 breakthrough album, "Bringing Down the Horse," which sold 4.3 million copies.

Jakob Dylan
Q: Is there anything you miss about having your face on VH1 every five minutes?
A: No, not really. It's a totally different world now. I don't think they put anybody on like that anymore. Even if they were doing that, I don't think it applies to me anymore. I didn't watch that stuff at the time. I was out on tour the whole time. I didn't see any of that.
Q: There was a picture of you in Starbucks this morning with a bald eagle perched on your shoulder. Please tell me it was real.
A: I can't really answer that. But it's funny, because some people have said that's the best promo photo they've ever seen, and some people have said, "What the hell is going on with that?" I guess that's what you want - something polarizing. At least it's not boring. My only problem with it is that (the eagle) looks more alive than I do.
Read more.

Review: The Dead Weather, 'Sea of Cowards'

Review: The Dead Weather, 'Sea of Cowards': Aidin Vaziri | You've probably lost track of Jack White's extracurricular activities by now. But the racket the White Stripes front man makes remains unmistakable. On the second album by his third side project (not counting the four or five other records he worked on as a key collaborator), White is back behind the drums, pounding out tumultuous blues-rock rhythms and barking the occasional verse as Kills lead singer Alison Mosshart digs deeper into her role as the swaggering, hard-living lush. The songs on "Sea of Cowards" are even noisier and more obnoxious than those on the group's first set. Choppy psychedelic organs howl through the single "Gasoline." The two vocalists ferociously shout at each other over super-fuzzy riffs on the excellent "Die by the Drop." And "Hustle and Cuss"? You don't even need to listen to it to know that it's going to sound like Curtis Mayfield jamming with the Stooges (which, incidentally, it does). Amazing.

02 May 2010

Pop Quiz: The Hold Steady

Aidin Vaziri | Brooklyn's biggest bar band, the Hold Steady, releases its fifth album, "Heaven Is Whenever," this week. To celebrate, the group is launching an extensive tour that will keep it on the road for most of the year. But first it'll make a stop at the Fillmore on Thursday. We spoke to guitarist Tad Kubler about dealing with lineup changes, critical pressure and his newfound sobriety.

Tad Kubler of the Hold Steady
Q: The critics love the Hold Steady so much. Do you ever worry about getting just a 4 1/2-star review instead of the full five?
A: You try not to think about that. I would be lying if I said I wasn't paying attention to that stuff, but we've always done what we wanted to do. By always doing what made us happy, I think, people responded to that. People could see we were having a blast onstage and it became contagious.
Q: Now that you're not drinking, what's your tour rider like?
A: It's not vastly different. On the first couple of tours we partied so hard because we never thought we'd get to do it again. Now we realize the band has a life of its own. We're going to continue to make music. We're going to continue to put albums out. We're going to continue to tour. There isn't that sense of urgency anymore. We don't have to party every night.
Read more.

Review: Court Yard Hounds

Review: Court Yard Hounds: Aidin Vaziri | The Dixie Chicks are making music again. Well, two-thirds of the band is, anyway. While the multiplatinum-selling country trio hasn't exactly broken up (it's spending the summer on tour with the Eagles), sisters Martie Maguire and Emily Robison take a side step with Court Yard Hounds. The latter assumes singing duties on the group's self-titled first album, sounding uncannily like Sheryl Crow. The heartbroken lyrics might dwell on Robinson's recent divorce, but the soothing slide guitars on "I Miss You" and gentle twang of "The Coast" are pure gloss. Despite an impressive surge of guitars on "Delight (Something New Under the Sun)," the tunes largely lack the homespun feel and bite of the Chicks' last release, 2006's Grammy-sweeping "Taking the Long Way." Maybe this is what Natalie Maines meant when she said she wasn't ready to make nice?

Pop Quiz: Liars

Aidin Vaziri | Liars front man Angus Andrew likes to think of the band's new album, "Sisterworld," as a postcard from Los Angeles. Specifically, all the parts you would never dare set foot in. The Brooklyn noise-pop trio relocated there for the making of its fifth studio recording, where the Australian singer and guitarist - fresh from a spell in Berlin - promptly experienced the kind of culture shock that comes with not seeing Paris Hilton around every corner. Andrew's disappointment resulted in a collection of barbarically dark and violent songs, even by the Liars' ungodly standards. The group, which recently helped Beck out on his tribute to INXS' 1987 album, "Kick," performs at Slim's.

Angus Andrew of Liars
Q: So you don't think Los Angeles is everything it's cracked up to be?
A: Basically, the idea that L.A. is supposed to be this paradise with celebrities and Hollywood and good-looking people is completely wrong. It's much bigger and darker than that. I found out that this is definitely the scariest place I've ever lived in my life, and I've lived in quite a few places.
Q: But where else are we going to put Tila Tequila?
A: That's the other thing I thought about. In L.A., because of the historical idea that you go out and make it, people still congregate here. But the reality is still true, where only a very small percentage of people make it. The largest pool of rejected people in the world must be here.
Read more.

Review: Caribou, 'Swim'

Review: Caribou, 'Swim': Aidin Vaziri | Canadian bedroom producer Dan Snaith, who releases music under the name Caribou, has been putting out records for 10 years. This might be the only one you really need. It's brimming with enough ideas to feel like his first, as wobbly acid house beats, loose psychedelic melodies and barely there vocals jostle for space on intoxicating cuts such as "Sun" and "Jamelia." Snaith, who has said his goal here was to make dance music that sounds liquid rather than metallic, repeatedly manages to create charm from the chaos. But it's the opening track, "Odessa," a haunting pop concoction that sounds so sonically dazzling you won't even notice it's just another sad-eyed breakup tune, that towers above the rest. Maybe all that experience hasn't gone to waste.

Live Review: Norah Jones at the Fillmore

Music review: A different Norah Jones: Aidin Vaziri | t had to happen: Even Norah Jones got bored with Norah Jones. After years of quietly drifting along, selling a bazillion albums and collecting awards with her soothing coffeehouse jazz-pop while doing everything she could to blend into the background, the 31-year-old New York singer suddenly came alive at a sold-out Fillmore concert on Wednesday night. Strutting onstage wearing stilettos, a tight silver-and-black cocktail dress and a shade of cherry red lipstick that neatly matched the shiny guitar slung over her shoulder, Jones looked as if she were ready for a reveal on a makeover reality show. The first lines she sang were about touching herself. She cracked jokes. She may have even wiggled her hips in a suggestive manner. The sight was almost as unexpected as what she performed for the next 90 minutes. Read more.