Aidin Vaziri: November 2010

21 November 2010

Review: Ke$ha, 'Cannibal'

Review: Ke$ha, 'Cannibal': Aidin Vaziri | Music fans of a certain IQ score - say, 19 - won't make it past the first two minutes of Ke$ha's new album. But those who are foolish enough to try will just stand there dumbfounded, eyes rolled so far back into their heads they'll be looking down their own throats watching the imminent vomit rise. How could the singer behind the unbelievably dumb hit "TiK ToK" (sample line: "Before I leave, brush my teeth with a bottle of Jack") possibly dumb things down so much more that they are actually dumber than normal dumb? In that sense, the 23-year-old pop star/reverse drag queen is exceptionally skilled. From the stultifying club beats that herald the lead single, "We R Who We R," to the lyrics that glorify serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer on the title track, she manages to dig deeper at every turn. There's actually a song titled "C U Next Tuesday," but only a masochist could actually explain what it sounds like, as it comes at the tail end of an avalanche of nonsense that is highlighted by a tune that sounds exactly like "TiK ToK." It's called "Grow a Pear." Unbelievably, maybe unintentionally, Ke$ha has made Katy Perry sound nearly as sophisticated as those dogs that can bark "Jingle Bells."

Pop Quiz: Fantasia Barrino

Aidin Vaziri | For a woman who attempted suicide in August, Fantasia Barrino sounds remarkably well adjusted today. Why shouldn't she be? Since being crowned the "American Idol" champion six years ago, she has published an autobiography, made a movie about her life ("Fantasia Barrino: Life Is Not a Fairy Tale"), starred in her own VH1 reality show ("Fantasia for Real"), appeared on Broadway in "The Color Purple," passed her GED and raised Nancy Grace's ire. Then again, the 26-year-old Barrino is used to a life of highs and lows, having weathered teenage pregnancy, sexual abuse and estrangement from her father. To cap her comeback, her latest album, "Back to Me," entered the charts at No. 2.

Fantasia Barrino
Q: Let's start with a list: Win "American Idol"? Check. Write autobiography? Check. Movie? Check. Reality show? Check. Broadway? Check. Top 10? Check. You don't need to go on tour. You can just retire now.
A: No, no, no. There's so much more to do. I look up to all those great artists like Aretha Franklin, Chaka Khan and Diana Ross. They can still hit the stage and do their thing. I want to be like that. I have a long way to go.
Q: If you could step into a time machine and go back to the day before your first "Idol" audition, how would you prepare yourself for the past six years?
A: I don't know if I can answer that. But I know I wouldn't change a thing. Even though there were rough times - there were blows I wasn't ready for - I wouldn't change anything. I can say that today.
Read more.

All In The Family: Bonham's Led Zeppelin Experience

Jason Bonham pays tribute to dad's Zeppelin years: Aidin Vaziri | There's a moment during Jason Bonham's Led Zeppelin Experience tribute concert where the show's 44-year-old star gets to play the drums alongside his late father, John "Bonzo" Bonham, who appears at the multimedia show in video form, on the song "Moby Dick." Jason says that's usually when the tears start to flow - in the audience and onstage. "It's wonderful," he says. "One of my dreams was always to play alongside my father but I never got the chance because we only had one drum kit at home." There's only one problem. "I'm the old guy!" says Bonham, who was 14 when his father died. "Because he was only 22 on the film, I'm up there playing with this kid." Read more.

Live Review: Bruno Mars at Slim's

Bruno Mars review: Songs flow, crowd swoons: Aidin Vaziri | At Slim's, Mars effortlessly stretched out his 35-minute debut album to a highly charged hour-plus show. Wearing his trademark tilted hat, vest and white T-shirt, he took the stage to ecstatic applause. Backed by a six-piece live band that looked as if it was put together by an art director at Benetton, Mars wasted no time leading the audience in storming sing-alongs and hand claps. With his relaxed, sensual delivery - part Maxwell, part Don Ho - and breezy choruses, it seems as if each of his compositions has been genetically engineered to make the ladies swoon. He busted out the ukulele for "Count On Me," a rainbow-hued love song in search of a life insurance commercial. His take on "Nothin' on You" was twice as silvery as the original. And the new single, "Grenade"? Well, that felt like a slow grind on the leg. Read more.

14 November 2010

Pop Quiz: Bruno Mars

Aidin Vaziri | Bruno Mars is building a resume to die for. The 25-year-old Hawaiian currently dominates the Billboard Hot 100 chart with his single "Just the Way You Are," taken from his first album, "Doo-Wops & Hooligans." He's had a hand in some of the year's other major hits, including Flo Rida's "Right Round," K'Naan's "Wavin' Flag" and Cee Lo's "F- You." Oh, let's not forget his cameo as a baby Elvis in "Honeymoon in Vegas." Having completed a tour with Maroon 5 and One Republic, Mars is on his own headlining trek this month with a sold-out date Tuesday at Slim's (before he heads to court to face charges of narcotic possession in Las Vegas).

Bruno Mars
Q: You've had so many hits in the past year I've lost count. Do your parents own Billboard?
A: I paid a lot of money for them to own Billboard. I think "Right Round" was actually up there for six weeks. But we're more personally attached to "Just the Way You Are."
Q: That's going on four weeks at No. 1.
A: A month's not bad. It's something to be proud of, right?
Q: It probably feels a little better after being signed and dropped when you were 18.
A: I like to say it's a little word called justice. Being dropped had to happen. I couldn't handle it back then. I wasn't ready. I was so young. I wasn't writing songs. My voice doesn't sound the way it does now. I pulled through the fire, though.
Read more.

Review: Norah Jones, '... Featuring'

Review: Norah Jones, '... Featuring': Aidin Vaziri | For those who find Norah Jones terminally boring, here's one more chance to get on board. This Blue Note compilation offers a taste of the stuff the 31-year-old Brooklyn jazz singer was doing on the side for fun while she sold those 40 million MOR solo albums over the past decade. "... Featuring" is unbelievably diverse, featuring collaborations with everyone from the Foo Fighters and Q-Tip to Dolly Parton and Herbie Hancock - a testament to Jones' easy-to-love appeal. She keeps her cool throughout, whether delivering a knockout cover of Roxy Music's "More Than This" with Charlie Hunter or going country alongside surly rocker Ryan Adams on the mournful "Dear John." One of the most recent recordings is a song by the twee Scottish pop group Belle and Sebastian called "Little Lou, Prophet Jack, Ugly John," wherein Jones' soulful voice feels like a bolt of lighting when it breaks through the gentle jangle. Bafflingly, a majority of her best extracurricular work was left out. Where's Wax Poetic's thrilling down-tempo staple, "Angels"? How about Peeping Tom's creepy, expletive-laced "Sucker"? And what dumb executive green-lighted this without the inclusion of the Elmo duet, "Don't Know Y"? There better be a Vol. 2.

Dean Wareham Returns To Galaxie 500

A Galaxie Far, Far Away: Aidin Vaziri | This year, Dean Wareham could have called on his old Galaxie 500 bandmates to do an all-guns-blazing reunion tour. After all, it's been 20 years since the influential Boston trio released the last of its three studio albums - three perfectly crafted, imperfectly recorded studio albums that sounded like they came from another time and place even when they really did. That marks some sort of occasion, right? But the 47-year-old singer and guitarist says he never even entertained the idea of reconnecting with drummer Damon Krukowski and bassist Naomi Yang before starting his current tour, in which he plays nothing but Galaxie 500 songs. Why not? "It didn't look like fun," Wareham says. Read more.

Review: Cee Lo Green, 'The Lady Killer'

Review: Cee Lo Green, 'The Lady Killer': Aidin Vaziri | Attempting to top a gargantuan hit like "Crazy" might seem to be an improbable task, but, after a couple of misfires, Gnarls Barkley singer Cee Lo Green comes awfully close on his third solo album, "The Lady Killer." The leadoff single, "F- You" (or, as it appears on the radio, "Forget You"), is the most obvious contender, with its barrelhouse vocals, showbiz soul and explosive viral pull. With that chorus, it just might not go down as well at wedding receptions as its chart predecessor. But it's hardly the singer's only hope for breaking the one-hit-wonder curse. Even without super-producer Danger Mouse at his side (the album features an all-star cast of knob twiddlers), Green exhibits an exceptional knack for crafting all-guns-blazing retro funk anthems such as "I Want You" and "Cry Baby." The only thing the album lacks is the darker hues that made Gnarls Barkley sound so thrilling and frightening. In fact, there are a couple of moments here when things go downright wobbly, such as "Fool for You," which features backing vocals from Philip Bailey, and the thoroughly unremarkable "Wildflower." But those digressions are generally balanced out by fascinating diversions such as the electro-hued cover of Band of Horses' hymnal "No One's Gonna Love You," which closes the set.

Pop Quiz: Gary Numan

Aidin Vaziri | Gary Numan, the man behind the defining new-wave era hit "Cars," is on the road celebrating the 30th anniversary of his first album, "The Pleasure Principle." His plans to play the States earlier this year were derailed when volcanic ash from Iceland prevented his arrival. This time, he had to cancel a show because of laryngitis. But Numan is pressing on with the tour, which arrives Tuesday at the Fillmore. He's also hard at work on two new albums, "Splinter" and "Dead Son Rising." We spoke to him shortly after the tour kicked off.

Gary Numan
Q: Your songs have been done by everyone from Nine Inch Nails to Homer Simpson. Do you have a favorite cover version?
A: I'm told that William Shatner did a version of "Cars" and, if that's true, I can't tell you how cool it is for me to know that Captain Kirk has covered one of my songs. It doesn't get any better than that. If he hasn't, then I remain unfulfilled as a songwriter.
Q: What advice would you offer that serious man with the suit and eye shadow on the cover of "The Pleasure Principle"?
A: I would tell him to relax and enjoy the moment a little more. When I had my first flurry of success, I was so concerned about what to do next and so shocked by the way people reacted to me that I didn't really just enjoy the moment. Something amazing was happening, and I let all the petty bull get in the way. I think it took me a little too long to grow up.
Read more.

02 November 2010

Live Review: Gorillaz at Oracle Arena

Review: Gorillaz thrill in Oakland with cast of dozens: Aidin Vaziri | What Lady Gaga blows on her extravagant concert wardrobe, Damon Albarn spends on castoff musicians. For his group's performance Saturday night at Oracle Arena, the Gorillaz front man brought along about 45 guests, including the rap trio De La Soul, veteran soul singer Bobby Womack, a brass band from Chicago, a Middle Eastern string section, Swedish-Japanese singer Yukimi Nagano of Little Dragon and two members of the Clash: Mick Jones on guitar and Paul Simonon on bass. That's quite a catering spread. Read more.

Review: Elvis Costello, 'National Ransom'

Review: Elvis Costello, 'National Ransom': Aidin Vaziri | All those hours spent hanging around backstage at the Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival apparently reignited Elvis Costello's love of the roots music he delved into with 1986's "King of America." Working once again with producer T Bone Burnett, he's come up with "National Ransom" - the electric follow-up to last year's acoustic-based "Secret, Profane & Sugarcane" - and it's a true throwback. Recorded in just 11 days between Los Angeles and Nashville with guests such as Jim Lauderdale, Buddy Miller and Leon Russell, the album barrels forward with spiteful melodies and foot-stomping punk rhythms on highlights such as "Five Small Words" and "The Spell That You Cast." Throughout it all, the 56-year-old British singer-songwriter sounds as if he's having a blast, whether spitting out political polemics or taking time out for a quiet waltz on the lovely "That's Not the Part of Him You're Leaving." On the clanging title track, Costello even reaches back for some of his vintage Thatcher-era angst: "They're running wild/ Just like some childish tantrum/ Meanwhile we're working every day/ Paying off the national ransom." After the diversions of the past few years - from the classical scores to the talk show stint - it's nice to see the return of Angry Elvis.

One Giants Fan Keeps Believin'

SF Giants-themed Journey tune becomes viral hit: Aidin Vaziri | It's the day before Game 1 of the 106th World Series at AT&T Park, and Ashkon Davaran, whose Giants-inspired cover of Journey's 1981 hit "Don't Stop Believin' " has become the unofficial anthem of the team's postseason run, is caught in a whirlwind. He's got a friend on the phone trying to score tickets to the game. He's on his computer tracking the popularity of the song's music video, which has been viewed more than a million times since he uploaded it to YouTube two weeks ago. He's also trying to explain what his life has been like since he became an Internet sensation. "It's totally out of control," the bearded 29-year-old East Bay native yells - his preferred mode of communication. "I'm looking at Facebook right now, and it says 166,494 individual users have shared the link for the video. That blows me away. That's like a quarter of the population of San Francisco!" Read more.

Pop Quiz: Best Coast

Aidin Vaziri | Just a few months ago Best Coast's Bethany Cosentino released one of the year's most sublime albums, her first full-length, "Crazy for You." The only problem is now everybody wants to see her play it live, which means endlessly hauling her instruments and burly sideman Bobb Bruno across the country. Even though the Los Angeles native is only 23, Cosentino's songs owe a giant debt to Phil Spector's girl groups from the '60s and the lo-fi indie rock that dominated college radio in the '90s. Best Coast kicks off the next leg of its tour Tuesday at the Great American Music Hall. The singer tells us how she copes with all the road work.

Bethany Cosentino of Best Coast
Q: What's your biggest gripe with touring?
A: The United States is gigantic. You have to do crazy drives all the time.
Q: But you can do stuff in the van, right? Like watch movies and make piñatas and stuff?
A: I watch a lot of DVDs on my laptop. I'm constantly on my cell phone. I have a Nintendo DS. It's a lot of sitting in a van. And it's a lot of sitting backstage before we go on. But it's a lot of fun. We're getting to play a lot of awesome shows and go to places I never thought I would go.
Q: Well, next time you can just make an album nobody likes.
A: Yeah, if I made a s- album I would never have to leave California.
Read more.

The Real Best Fake Bands of All Time

Gorillaz are No. 1 in cartoon band hall of fame: Aidin Vaziri | Few would deny that Gorillaz are the greatest cartoon band of all time. The brainchild of Blur front man Damon Albarn and "Tank Girl" creator Jamie Hewlett has sold millions of albums, headlined Britain's huge Glastonbury music festival and scored a No. 2 chart debut earlier this year with its latest album, "Plastic Beach." Then again, there isn't much competition. In honor of the animated band's forthcoming set at Oracle Arena, we look at some the best-known pop acts that first took shape when ink hit paper. Read more.

Review: Bryan Ferry, 'Olympia'

Review: Bryan Ferry, 'Olympia': Aidin Vaziri | Let's get straight to the good stuff: "Olympia" features the first set of studio recordings by Bryan Ferry and Roxy Music's Phil Manzanera, Andy Mackay and Brian Eno since the group's 1973 LP, "For Your Pleasure." Trying to pick out the songs where the quartet comes together, however, is nearly impossible without the help of the lengthy credits sheet. That seems to be the case with most of the 65-year-old British singer's star-studded new solo release, which also features collaborations with Pink Floyd's David Gilmour, Radiohead's Jonny Greenwood and Red Hot Chili Peppers bassist Flea, among many others. "Olympia" sounds just like any other Ferry release from the past two decades - slick, seductive and reliably sedate. There is an odd techno streak that surfaces in songs such as "You Can Dance" and "Shameless," the latter incongruously produced by London dance music duo Groove Armada. But tunes such as "Heartache by Numbers," "Me Oh My" and a languid cover of Tim Buckley's "Song to the Siren" are classic Ferry - sometimes to a fault.