Pop Quiz: Viva Brother

Pop Quiz: Viva Brother

Aidin Vaziri | Lee Newell isn't shy. Appearing on the cover of the British music magazine NME earlier this year, the 23-year-old singer and guitarist of Viva Brother declared, "We want to be the biggest band in the world." To ensure its climb, he has picked feuds with just about every other act on the charts. The bravado has worked a treat. Famed Britpop producer Stephen Street signed on to helm the group's album, "Famous First Words." Morrissey took the band on tour. And Viva Brother put in a knockout U.S. television debut on "The Late Show With David Letterman."


Lee Newell of Viva Brother
Q: You grew up in Slough, the setting of the British version of "The Office." Is it really that grim?
A: It is grim. It's just a factory town with little going for it. There's not much to do other than get smashed every night, which is what I do now, but I also play music to break it up a little bit.
Q: Do you have any good memories of being there?
A: I have one good memory: the day I left.
Q: At one of the band's first shows you announced, "Anyone who doesn't want to see the future of rock 'n' roll should leave now." Do you feel like you're fulfilling on that promise?
A: I would never smugly sit down and say I've done so well. It's just not attractive. But I'm pleased with what we've done. We are the most exciting new band around at the moment.
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Review: Grace Jones, 'Hurricane'

Review: Grace Jones, 'Hurricane'

Review: Grace Jones, 'Hurricane': Aidin Vaziri | Grace Jones hasn't released an album in nearly two decades, but her outrageous presence hasn't gone missing on the pop charts. Lady Gaga's career was, in part, charted from the 63-year-old Jamaican American singer's seminal early '80s releases - "Warm Leatherette," "Nightclubbing" and "Living My Life." When Jones first emerged, her closest pop culture contemporary wasn't Donna Summer but C3PO. The Studio 54 fixture and onetime James Bond villain retains an otherworldly charm on "Hurricane." She sounds thoroughly menacing on the Massive Attack-produced "Corporate Cannibal," hissing, "I'm a man-eating machine." On "This Is," she welds grinding guitars over stringy reggae rhythms, and a dark-hued 1997 collaboration with Tricky serves as the album's title track. The time away from music has allowed some rust to settle in - which hurts twice as much from an artist who was once so adept at plundering the future. But in trade we get the autobiographical "I'm Crying (Mother's Tears)," a tender electro ballad that reveals she just might be human after all.

Pop Quiz: Glen Campbell

Pop Quiz: Glen Campbell

Aidin Vaziri | When Glen Campbell was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease six months ago, the bad news came with a whiff of relief. "He was forgetful," said his wife, Kim. "But because of his troubles with cocaine and alcohol and, of course, that infamous DUI, we wanted to tell people because we didn't want them to think he was on something." This week the 75-year-old country crooner, famous for hits such as "Rhinestone Cowboy" and "Wichita Lineman," will release his final album, "Ghost on the Canvas," which features collaborations with many of his musical fans. Campbell told us about it by phone from his home in Malibu.


Glen Campbell
Q: "Ghost on the Canvas" is supposed to be your last album. How do you stop doing something that you've been doing your entire life?
A: It's the last studio album of new songs I plan to make. I've been saying it to my friends and my family for months, but now that it's in writing it seems final. Most of the things that happened in my life were because of the records. Now it's just time to close that book.
Q: What's the lasting impression you want to leave with this record?
A:All of my little roller-coaster ride - the laughter, tears, successes and failure - are part of who I am now. They helped create the Glen Campbell of today. That's what "Ghost on the Canvas" is about. It's the now Glen with all of the ghosts of the old Glen still hanging around.
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Review: Beirut, 'The Rip Tide'

Review: Beirut, 'The Rip Tide'

Review: Beirut, 'The Rip Tide': Aidin Vaziri | For Beirut's first full-length album in four years, songwriter Zach Condon, above, wanted to keep things simple. Although simplicity is relative for a 25-year-old musician from New Mexico known for stuffing his swooning indie folk songs with funeral mariachi horns, French chansons and Eastern European rhythms. If anything, in "The Rip Tide," Condon sounds more self-aware, toning down the far-reaching vision of his outfit's breakthrough album, 2006's "Gulag Orkestar," in favor of inward-looking numbers such as the mournful "Payne's Bay" and low-key "Port of Call." In the anxious "Vagabond," he sings, "As the air goes cold/ The trees unfold/ And I am lost." But growing up doesn't mean getting old, and Condon still manages to conjure his magic through finely detailed songs and lovely poetry, even when it feels as if all he wants is a good hug.

Sade: Fashionably Late

Sade: Fashionably Late

Sade soldiers on leisurely to keep love alive: Aidin Vaziri | Sade doesn't like to rush things. She took a leisurely 10 years to release her most recent album, "Soldier of Love." Then she waited another year before taking it on tour. So it was little wonder that she recently missed our appointed interview time. After more than a decade of anticipation, what's another 20 minutes? "I'm always late," the 52-year-old vocalist apologized, calling from a tour stop Chicago, her speaking voice much huskier than the elegant croon that floats over her distinctive jazz-pop recordings. "We were late for a show the other night, and I said, 'I'm sorry we're late. But, really, we're 10 years late.' "
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Pop Quiz: Josh Groban

Pop Quiz: Josh Groban

Aidin Vaziri | Josh Groban is living it up on the road. The day we caught up with the multiplatinum-selling operatic crooner, he was recovering from a full costume screening of "The Big Lebowski" on his tour bus. Earlier in the week, he had rescued a wounded baby bird from the rain. Groban, 30, is playing arenas in support of his most recent album, "Illuminations," an experimental set produced by Rick Rubin and partly inspired by his breakup with actress January Jones.


Josh Groban
Q: When you released "Illuminations," you didn't know if it would win new fans or scare away old ones. So are there huge curtained-off areas of the arena?
A: If there's any curtaining, it's because we designed it that way. It's an intimate show. We specifically designed this tour to create a theatrical environment in arenas. The reaction I'm getting every night is probably some of the most enthusiastic and heartfelt I've ever had.
Q: This sounds like a pretty interactive show. You play two pianos and a drum solo, and wander into the audience. You even serve milk and wine.
A: It's a full-service show. These are things we tried out at the smaller shows earlier in the year. That's where a lot of that stuff came from.
Q: Have you got into any trouble with the live Q&A segment?
A: Well, you never know what you're going to get. My assistants pick three questions, and sometimes they really throw me out there. Sometimes people will ask to sing. That's the fun part. You have to stay on your toes.
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Review: Jay-Z & Kanye West, 'Watch the Throne'

Review: Jay-Z & Kanye West, 'Watch the Throne'

Review: Jay-Z & Kanye West, 'Watch the Throne': Aidin Vaziri | "Watch the Throne" is all about excess. The first full-length collaboration between two of the most popular rappers of the past decade, Jay-Z and Kanye West, is an album about having too much money, power and ego. And that's before you even listen to the first song. The blinding cover art - a gold Mylar etching that unfolds into the shape of a cross - was created by Givenchy designer Riccardo Tisci. The music inside is equally garish, helmed by a stable of big-budget producers that includes the Neptunes, DJ Premier, Swizz Beats, Q-Tip and RZA of the Wu-Tang Clan. "Couture level flows never go on sale/ Luxury rap/ The Hermes of verses," Kanye raps on "Otis," a song that takes an expensive sample of Otis Redding's "Try a Little Tenderness" and chops it to pieces. That's one of the album's more palatable verses. The two hip-hop titans don't try to one-up each other, which would actually provide a little spark; they merely take turns bragging side by side, as if it never occurred to them that they were actually supposed to be working together. In "New Day," they make a vain attempt at reflection, writing notes to their unborn children. The best West can offer is, "I might even make him be Republican/ So everybody know he love white people." It's exhausting hearing them bang on about their material lives, especially in a world where most of their fans are feeling the brunt of the bum economy. Worse still, "Watch the Throne" doesn't offer escapism or absurdity or a glance at the perils of the high life. It's just empty gloating from two men who have missed the point of life itself. "Basquiats, Warhols serving as my muses/ My house like a museum," Jay-Z raps on "Illest Mother- Alive." Success has never sounded so unappetizing.

Pop Quiz: Mark Kozelek

Pop Quiz: Mark Kozelek

Aidin Vaziri | Mark Kozelek frequently has his back turned to the camera in publicity photographs. So it's a little surprising to find the somber San Francisco singer-songwriter (and leader of the rock bands Sun Kil Moon and the Red House Painters) become the willing subject of the new behind-the-scenes documentary, "On Tour." Actually, he doesn't give that much away. In the film, shot entirely in high-contrast black and white, the lonely backstage antics are mostly sacrificed for stunning reinterpretations of songs covering the past 19 years of his career, performed on a nylon-string acoustic guitar in various churches and hotel rooms during the past year.Kozelek spoke to us about the DVD, released on his own Caldo Verde label on Tuesday, shortly before departing for his latest journey.


Mark Kozelek
Q: After 20 years of keeping things mysterious, why let people behind the scenes now?
A: Midlife crisis. I just wanted to document a tour before I physically can't do one anymore.
Q: What do you think your fans are going to learn about you after watching the documentary?
A: That I spend a lot of time in coach and can't figure out European vending machines.
Q: Like your album covers and promo photos, "On Tour" is shot in black and white. What do you have against color?
A: If your budget only allows for a roadie to do the camera work, then go with black and white.
Q: Is this one of those tour documentaries like Wilco and Radiohead where you just complain all the time?
A: No, it just shows me kicking ass on the guitar and blowing people's minds.
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Eoin Harrington: Up All Night

Eoin Harrington: Up All Night

Eoin Harrington rides high on the tailspin: Aidin Vaziri | Eoin Harrington arrives for our interview late and bleary-eyed. We are at Tal-Y-Tara, a beautiful traditional tearoom in the Outer Richmond with tartan tablecloths, equestrian gear for sale in the front and classical music softly playing in the background. The Irish singer-songwriter, who is sporting a tight-fitting leather jacket and slightly mussed-up hair, sits down and apologizes. He orders a big pot of black tea and two malt balls, explaining he had a long night. But it's not what you think. Harrington was up watching documentaries and reading up on the state of the music industry. Since releasing his most recent album, "Confess," in April, he has been paying close attention to where artists stand as the labels struggle to cope with piracy and new technology. On his Facebook wall, he has posted graphs that reveal some shocking figures: To make just $1, a song needs to be streamed 3,494 times on the new free service Spotify. To earn the U.S. monthly minimum wage, an artist must sell 2,044 MP3s on iTunes. Last year, less than 1 percent of the music available for sale online was actually purchased. That's enough to keep any musician up at night.
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The Milk Carton Kids: Give It Away

The Milk Carton Kids: Give It Away

Aidin Vaziri | Joey Ryan and Kenneth Pattengale, the Los Angeles singer-songwriters and multi-instrumentalists who make up the Milk Carton Kids, are giving away digital copies of their bittersweet and beautiful album "Prologue." We spoke to Ryan about the strategy of using the music as a calling card for the duo's current 46-date headlining tour.


Joey Ryan of the Milk Carton Kids
Q: You are giving your new album away. Don't musicians need to eat, too?
A: Why, do we look thin? We give away our albums, but we also sell them, and people who want to support us have been buying them. But we also want to give those people a chance to share it widely and guilt-free, which they are doing with enthusiasm - something we obviously appreciate.
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Review: Sly Stone, 'I'm Back!'

Review: Sly Stone, 'I'm Back!'

Review: Sly Stone, 'I'm Back!': Aidin Vaziri | This release is being flogged as the first new recording from Sly Stone in 29 years, but that seems like a dubious claim. The reclusive rock icon's presence here feels negligible at best, with his raspy, worn voice only occasionally drifting into view in a set of unnecessary remakes of the songs that have made up every Sly and the Family Stone greatest-hits set since the beginning of time. Mainly, it appears as if the classic tracks have been either sampled outright or covered precisely by hired hands and given Santana-style makeovers with random musical guests such as Heart's Ann Wilson ("Everyday People"), the Doors' Ray Manzarek ("Dance to the Music") and - why not? - Johnny Winter ("Thank You [Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin])." This may be the first time Stone, whose last proper release was 1982's "Ain't But the One Way," has been made aware of their presence. The inclusion of three unreleased tracks - "Plain Jane," "His Eye on the Sparrow" and "Get Away" - is the only carrot dangling at the end of the stick. But the songs are predictably hideous.

Live Review: Outside Lands at Golden Gate Park

Live Review: Outside Lands at Golden Gate Park

Outside Lands music review: Nonstop rockin': Aidin Vaziri | With a glorious pink moon slowly rising over the Polo Field on Sunday, Arcade Fire stormed the stage with "Ready to Start." Thousands of dust-caked fans pushed forward on the lawn, raising their fists and shouting along with the Grammy-winning Canadian group's lanky front man, Win Butler. "This is one of those times where we feel like we have to pinch ourselves," he said after the song came to a thundering close, a crooked smile spreading across his face. The organizers of the Outside Lands Music and Arts Festival - Berkeley-based Another Planet Entertainment - couldn't have scripted a better finale for its fourth year. After the organizational setbacks of the first few festivals - permit issues, neighborhood complaints, canceled headliners - this was the year when it felt as if the whole thing came together almost effortlessly. "It seems like this year the city has so embraced the festival on every level," said Another Planet's Gregg Perloff, taking a brief breather backstage on Saturday. Read more.