Pop Quiz: Lykke Li

Aidin Vaziri | Lykke Li was raised by nomadic hippie parents and spent her toddler years obsessing over Madonna. A string of rotten relationships led her to write the distinctly brooding and weird songs that make up her two albums. But what's really odd is how much mainstream audiences have embraced the 25-year-old Swedish songstress' brand of off-kilter pop. Her latest release, "Wounded Rhymes," is a Top 40 hit. She's played at Coachella and Lollapalooza, and her songs have made their way onto "Glee," "American Idol" and even the soundtrack for "The Twilight Saga: New Moon."

Lykke Li
Q: AYou turned 25 earlier this year, which is the age of reason. Do you feel any smarter?
A: I mean, to be honest, yes. It's been a really overwhelming year. I've always been wise and old, and now I'm taking a step back. For the first time, I'm acting my age.
Q: AYou have been on tour for the past few years. Before that, your parents lived all over the world. Do you think you could ever settle down?
A: I know. I've been running all my life. I'm terrified. It's in my DNA to always move. Even now I'm more homeless than I've ever been. All my stuff is in storage places all over the world. My parents are in India. My sister is in New York. I could go back to Sweden, but what would I go back to - me when I was 19? I have to wonder, who am I underneath this?
Q: AYou better knock out another album quick so you can just keep touring.
A: I don't want to stay on the road. But where do you lay your hat when so much has happened? It's hard to stay in your hometown when everyone has changed.
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Live Review: Katy Perry at Oracle Arena

Katy Perry Oracle Arena Oakland review: hot, cold: Aidin Vaziri | With her star looming so large, it's easy to forget that Perry's career is built on four or five solid hits - from the casually tossed-off show opener "Teenage Dream" to the night's closing anthem, "Firework," delivered amid a full-on explosion of pyrotechnics, confetti and lasers. The rest of the Perry's two-hour set revealed that she actually has more outfits than tunes, a problem intensified by an abysmal stretch of blustery rockers like "Hummingbird Heartbeat" and "Circle the Drain." The worse the songs became (and they don't get much worse than the one-two punch of "Ur So Gay" and "Peacock"), the more acrobatic mimes, aerial gymnasts and over-caffeinated dancers in blue wigs seemed to appear on a stage inspired equally by "The Wizard of Oz" and the Candy Land board game. But for all its faults, Perry could still relish in a couple of genuinely thrilling moments as she caterwauled her way through thunderous renditions of the singles "Hot and Cold" and "California Gurls." Best of all was the song of the summer, "Last Friday Night (T.G.I.F.)," a ludicrously over-the-top pop tune that actually matched the singer's ambition.
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Review: Drake, 'Take Care'

Review: Drake, 'Take Care': Aidin Vaziri | Drake is the master of the humble brag. The Canadian teen drama star-turned-gruff rapper spent a good deal of his breakthrough first album, last year's "Thank Me Later," moaning about the disappointments that come with fame - long before he actually experienced any. Now that he's filled out his diary with high-flying escapades such as touring the world, picking up awards and mingling with Rihanna, the former "Degrassi" actor really has something to complain about. "Take Care" is dazzling in sound and oddly deflated in spirit. "I might be too strung out on compliments/ Overdosed on confidence/ Starting not to give a f-/ And stop fearing the consequence," Drake rhymes on "Headlines." He laments hooking up with too many women in the eight-minute meditation "Marvin's Room," fumes at being photographed by the paparazzi on the downcast "Cameras." Producers such as Jamie XX, the Weeknd and Lex Luger play into his minimalist, miserable style, helping create one of the greatest emo hip-hop LPs since Basehead's "Play With Toys."

Review: 'Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds'

Review: 'Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds': Aidin Vaziri | The breakup of Oasis might be the best thing to happen to the Gallagher brothers. It allowed Liam to show off his limited but endearing songwriting chops in full with the group Beady Eye this year. Here it restores the sense of urgency that elder brother Noel's most recent albums with his former outfit were so desperately lacking. The clumsily titled "Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds" might sound familiar in attitude and concept - there's a decent "Wonderwall" rewrite called "If I Had a Gun," plus a handful of actual Oasis leftovers - but the major difference is in the enthusiasm that propels soaring tunes such as "Everybody's on the Run" and the chugging "The Death of You and Me." Gallagher hasn't sounded so alive in years. Better yet, it gives him an excuse to try out things that surely would have caused major studio fistfights in the past, such as the delightfully lightweight "AKA ... What a Life!," a song that wouldn't sound entirely out of place on Coldplay's latest.

Live Review: Feist at the Warfield

Feist: Pop Songs, Deconstructed: Aidin Vaziri | With Feist reinterpreting them on electric guitar, new songs like "How Come You Never Go There" and "The Bad in Each Other" took on bluesy edges that were embellished by the singer's stage-sagging live band - a ragtag ensemble that included a trio of female backup singers called Mountain Man, several bearded multi-instrumentalists and the Real Vocal String Quartet from San Francisco. Together they leapt effortlessly from the loud wallop of "A Commotion" to the ethereal tones of "Bittersweet Melodies," adding layer after layer of shade and light. The group also meticulously deconstructed a handful of Feist's older, more familiar songs and played them in the most unfamiliar ways. The once slinky funk tune "Mushaboom" emerged in a swirl of stark rhythms and harmonies; while the rumbling "My Moon My Man" was repurposed as a furious tribal chant. The most drastic makeover was reserved for the song "I Feel It All," a floating pop song peeled open into a loud, angry riff that sounded like a throwback to her old indie band Broken Social Scene.
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Review: Florence and the Machine, 'Ceremonials'

Review: Florence and the Machine, 'Ceremonials': Aidin Vaziri | Florence Welch barely pauses for breath after a whirlwind year that saw her band, Florence and the Machine, crack America, score a Grammy nomination and appear on the soundtrack for everything from "Eclipse" to the trailer of "Eat Pray Love." The group's second album, "Ceremonials," arrives just a few weeks after it wrapped up promotional duties for the first, 2009's singles-spewing "Lungs." She certainly hasn't lost any of her fervor. Songs such as "Shake It Out" and "Never Let Me Go" see Welch and company cranking up the tribal drums, orchestral fervor and window-rattling howls to harrowing effect. The moody, minor-key epic "What the Water Gave Me" ranks among the band's best work, but, at 25, the singer is still finding her way, which explains the odd MGMT-style weirdness that colors "Breaking Down" and a Motown-inspired detour on "Lover to Lover." Fortunately, it ends on a high note - literally. "Leave My Body" is a battle cry for the bedroom and beyond: "I don't want your future/ I don't need your past/ One bright moment is all I ask." It's the kind of brave, unwholesome tune that could make Welch a star all over again. That Hawaiian getaway will just have to wait.

Review: R.E.M., 'Part Lies, Part Heart'

Review: R.E.M., 'Part Lies, Part Heart': Aidin Vaziri | R.E.M.: They started out as the greatest American rock band of their time and then things went steadily downhill for some 30 years until they finally went out with whatever is quieter than a whimper. Now here's the chronologically ordered evidence in a convenient two-disc set. It's convenient because you can discard the second disc the minute you unwrap the thing. It kicks off with the group's best-known song ("Everybody Hurts"), followed by at least a dozen the band probably doesn't even remember recording. There are three new ones tacked on at the end but that's probably where the "Part Garbage" thing comes from in the title. Although, at a push "We All Go Back to Where We Belong" would make a nice soundtrack for a VW commercial. The first half of this set, meanwhile, is mostly wonderful. It traces the trajectory of the classic I.R.S. Records years from the jingle-jangle punk of "Gardening at Night" through the heartbreaking "So. Central Rain" all the way up to the mad apocalypse anthem "It's the End of the World as We Know It (And I Feel Fine)." But then it quickly peters out in a pileup of Warner Bros.-endorsed material that includes "Stand," "Pop Song 89" and "Shiny Happy People." R.I.P.

Pop Quiz: Wild Beasts

Aidin Vaziri | Wild Beasts are one of the oddest and most endearing acts on the bill at this weekend's Treasure Island Music Festival. The British quartet's arch art-rock is dense with literary references and lascivious come-ons, driven by bassist Tom Fleming's baritone and guitarist Hayden Thorpe's operatic countertenor. The group's third and latest album, "Smother," released earlier this year, comes on the heels of two years of touring behind its Mercury Prize nominated predecessor, "Two Dancers."

Tom Fleming of Wild Beasts
Q: When you and Hayden duet, are you merely using your voices as separate instruments or are you actually singing to each other like Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell?
A: I don't really know how to answer your question because it does change. Obviously there is a musical quality to it. It is a sound. But we often ask ourselves, "Are we singing to each other or are we not?" But never trust the "I" on the album. It's not always what it purports to be.
Q: Has singing so much about sex helped you get any in real life?
A: I think because how we appear as people and what we do artistically, there's a divide. But I think it's an important point to make. It's important four pasty boys from the North of England can address these things.
Q: Your previous album was nominated for the Mercury Prize. But that was probably nothing compared to the honor of your local newspaper, the North-West Evening Mail, hailing you as "the biggest band to come out of south Cumbria for decades - if not ever."
A: It is a burden. It is a great responsibility we carry on our backs every day.
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Review: Björk, 'Biophilia'

Review: Björk, 'Biophilia'

Review: Björk, 'Biophilia': Aidin Vaziri | This isn't merely a new Björk album. For those who are inclined, "Biophilia" offers an interactive universe where fans can explore the songs in microscopic detail through a new website, 90-minute documentary or collection of iPad apps created, we are told, by a team of "developers, scientists, writers, musicians and instrument-makers." Yawn. Push the 21st century frills aside, pick up a copy of the CD - or better yet, get it on vinyl - and you'll discover the Icelandic singer has come up with her most compelling work in eons. Brash electronics meld with the warm tones of handmade music machines, while the singer muses on the workings of the universe with that lusty voice. A few of the tracks seem willfully odd ("Hollow," "Mutual Core") mostly because, well, this is still a Björk album. But when she takes flight on tunes such as "Moon," "Virus" and "Cosmogony," the results are extraordinarily sumptuous and seductive. There is no app for that.

Review: Coldplay, 'Mylo Xyloto'

Review: Coldplay, 'Mylo Xyloto'

Review: Coldplay, 'Mylo Xyloto': Aidin Vaziri | After touring the monumental "Viva La Vida or Death and All His Friends" album into the ground some two years ago, Coldplay singer Chris Martin indicated that maybe the band was ready to scale things down for its follow-up. But once you become one of the biggest arena - no, stadium - draws in the world, there's no going back. Things by necessity have to get bigger, shinier and louder. So it goes with the British group's fifth studio recording, which not only shares the same producers as its predecessor (Markus Dravs and Rik Simpson, with Brian Eno) but also its unrepentant chest-beating ambition. Coldplay spent much of the summer airing out tracks like the dancey "Every Teardrop Is a Waterfall" and "Paradise" at huge festivals like Glastonbury and Coachella. With its abundance of swelling strings, shouted verses and tear-jerking ballads, the rest of the album feels as if it was built for a similar purpose. These are essentially all the things Coldplay learned from U2 and gets better at doing on its own with each new release. There's a whiff of experimentation on "Charlie Brown"; on "Up in Flames," which sounds like a James Blake track; and on the heavily processed "Princess of China." But it's mostly in the form of electronic frills that ultimately give way to the kind of choruses that fall on your head like an anvil. That's nothing to shy away from.

Bottom of the Hill Turns 20

Bottom of the Hill comes out on top for 20 years: Aidin Vaziri | Bottom of the Hill, the scrappy little nightclub at a lonely outpost in Potrero Hill, celebrates its 20th anniversary this month. It's an occasion many observers thought would never come when the venue opened in a former neighborhood dive bar at 17th and Missouri streets in 1991. But it took just a few years for Bottom of the Hill to establish itself as the heart of San Francisco's indie rock scene - the 350-capacity venue where local and touring acts with small budgets and loud guitars could always feel at home.
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Pop Quiz: Sammy Hagar

Aidin Vaziri | Having topped the New York Times best-seller list earlier this year with his autobiography, "Red" (co-authored by former Chronicle Senior Pop Music Critic Joel Selvin), Sammy Hagar returns to his day job as the wild-maned front man for the rock supergroup Chickenfoot, which also includes guitarist Joe Satriani, former Van Halen bassist Michael Anthony and Red Hot Chili Peppers drummer Chad Smith. Earlier this month, Hagar celebrated his birthday and the release of the band's confusingly titled second album, "Chickenfoot III," with an all-star blowout at his Cabo Wabo cantina in Mexico. We spoke to him the day he got back to his Marin home.

Sammy Hagar of Chickenfoot
Q: Are you sober enough to do this interview?
A: I got back late last night and I just got a massage, so I'm kind of like on the moon. I'm probably vulnerable. Maybe we should postpone.
Q: I'll go easy on you. Besides, didn't you give it all away in the book?
A: You're right, but you never know.
Q: How bummed do you think Chad Smith is that he has to tour with the Red Hot Chili Peppers instead of you guys?
A: He's probably not bummed to be with the Chili Peppers. I'm sure they're doing just fine. But nobody has as much fun as us.
Q: I heard you had such a good time over your birthday weekend in Cabo San Lucas that you forgot your own songs.
A: I didn't forget "I Can't Drive 55." I just had to read some of the lyrics for the newer stuff. The thing is, we get backstage about two hours before we go on. With our cast of characters, it can get pretty loose.
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Bridge School Benefit 25 at Shoreline

Bridge School Benefit review: Older, wiser, better: Aidin Vaziri | Neil Young casually sauntered onto the stage at Mountain View's Shoreline Amphitheatre late Saturday night with a battered old acoustic slung over his shoulder and a harmonica strapped around his neck. He looked like he was ready to go gardening. Without saying much, Young played a couple of his more popular songs - "Comes a Time," "Sugar Mountain" and "Long May You Run" - then turned around and faced the row of students and families sitting onstage behind him, including his 32-year-old son, Ben, and started in on a version of "Heart of Gold" that made time stop. It was a typical Bridge School Benefit concert moment - humble, heartfelt and unexpectedly moving. For 25 years, Young and his wife, Pegi, have called on their famous friends to play these annual acoustic shows to raise money for the school they founded in 1986 for children with severe physical disabilities. They are decidedly low-key affairs. This year's concert brought together an impressive mix of Bridge School veterans and newbies that included Arcade Fire, Dave Matthews, Mumford & Sons, Eddie Vedder, Los Invisibles featuring Carlos Santana, Beck, Norah Jones with the Little Willies, and Devendra Banhart - all of whom joined the host for a sing-along of Chet Powers' "Get Together" at the end of the evening. The bill became even more enticing Sunday with the addition of the Foo Fighters and Tony Bennett.
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Interview: DJ Shadow

Aidin Vaziri | DJ Shadow – or Josh Davis as he is known to the DMV – is one of the most forward-thinking musicians to come out of the Bay Area. Since dropping his first full-length album, 1996’s “Entroducing…,” the sample-based artist has worked relentlessly to push stylistic boundaries (sometimes to antagonistic effect), collaborating with everyone from Radiohead singer Thom Yorke to Oakland hyphy rapper Keak da Sneak along the way. Shadow’s latest release, “The Less You Know, the Better,” out now on the jazz label Verve, sees the 39-year-old record hoarder dabbling in exotic folk, heavy metal and grand sonic details that made him an international sensation in the first place.

DJ Shadow
Q: You’ve taken to performing in a sphere in an era when most other DJ-based artists act like rock stars, crowd surfing and whatnot. Are you trying to put a barrier between yourself and the audience?
A: No, but it does suit my persona. You’re right, everything about me as a DJ is out of style and out of step. I didn’t grow up wanting to be famous or wanting to be a celebrity. I just wanted to share the music I loved by others and then moved into making music as a way of trying to provide an alternative to the landscape.
Q: You did the Identity tour with people like Skrillex, Kaskade and Steve Aoki. Did you feel out of place?
A: Honestly, I think everyone did. I met many of the other DJ’s and everyone was very polite and respectful to each other. But on a certain level, it was a strange amalgam of talent and I think everyone experienced a bit of discomfort or confusion, myself included. Obviously, I’m quite a bit older than most of the others and I don’t come from the rave scene so immediately I was “out of place,” as you say. But I agreed to do this tour to reach new people and to throw myself into an uncontrolled environment. I have faith in my abilities as a DJ so I never felt as though I couldn’t connect. But at the same time, I had no misconceptions about who everyone was there to see and it certainly wasn’t me.
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Live Review: Treasure Island Music Festival

Treasure Island Music Festival: Nonstop joy: Aidin Vaziri | Death Cab for Cutie brought the fifth annual Treasure Island Music Festival to a euphoric close on Sunday by delving into its back catalog for the emotionally wrought ballad "Transatlanticism," a song driven by the lyrical mantra "I need you so much closer." For fans and indie-music bands alike, that's exactly what was on offer at the two-day concert, organized by Noise Pop and Another Planet Entertainment. Even though it attracted a sun-drenched crowd of 25,000 over the weekend, Treasure Island still felt like a boutique event. Calling most of the acts on the bill - curiously named entities such as Shabazz Palaces, Dizzee Rascal and Wild Beasts - cult sensations would be a little too generous. That meant that for the most part the music always felt intimate, if not incidental. The Great Lawn - a 125,000-square-foot rectangle of land on the west shore with sweeping views of the San Francisco skyline - had the laid-back atmosphere of a backyard barbecue, where people either spread out blankets and took it all in or stumbled around dressed as pirates and sea creatures. There were 26 acts playing on two stages and the music never stopped (for better or worse, given the intensely varied lineup).
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Pop Quiz: Pegi Young

Aidin Vaziri | Pegi Young and her husband, Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee Neil Young, host the 25th anniversary Bridge School Benefit concerts this weekend at Shoreline Amphitheatre with marquee names such as Arcade Fire, Eddie Vedder and Dave Matthews. To mark the occasion, there is a new three-DVD, two-CD set stuffed with highlights from past concerts, which benefit the school the Young family established for their son Ben and other children with severe physical impairments. Next month, Pegi will release her third solo album, "Bracing for Impact."

Pegi Young
Q: You waited 30 years to put out your first album. Now there seems to be no stopping you.
A: You know, they let the genie out of the bottle and there's no stuffing her back in.
Q: There must be some challenges that come with being married to a well-known songwriter like Neil Young. Do you feel like you have to compete with his work?
A: There's no competition. We make our own music. He's a genius. He's an incredible songwriter. I have tremendous respect for him.
Q: Do you get annoyed by the people who come to your shows and just glance around the whole time looking for him?
A: I expect people are going to be looking around. That's natural. I hope they still enjoy the show.
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Roger Daltrey: 'Tommy' Goes Solo

Roger Daltrey: 'Tommy' Goes Solo

Roger Daltrey tours with 'Tommy' but without Who: Aidin Vaziri | Roger Daltrey is a brave man. The Who singer is on the road performing the band's hefty 1969 rock opera "Tommy" from start to finish, and he's not only doing it without Pete Townshend but also without all the bells and whistles that have accompanied the many stage and film versions of the album over the years. The 67-year-old Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee brings the show to the San Jose Civic on Friday. But before you head out, we answer a few questions fans might have about the tour.
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Foster The People at the Fillmore

Foster The People at the Fillmore

Live Review: Foster The People get the Fillmore pumped up: Aidin Vaziri | Even though it scored one of the biggest songs of the summer with the slow percolating pop hit “Pumped Up Kicks” expectations for Foster the People’s first of two sold-out live dates at the Fillmore on Thursday were relatively low after a dismal appearance on “Saturday Night Live” over the weekend, where the group awkwardly plodded around the stage and wedged in a not-totally-ironic guest spot by greasy sax man Kenny G into its second number. Fortunately, it seemed to do much better without television cameras – or errant smooth jazz icons. Storming the stage with a rhythm-heavy take on “Houdini” – the song Foster The People is hoping prevents it from being relegated to one-hit-wonder countdowns on VH1 for years to come – the band exhibited the kind of natural vigor and charisma that its major network appearance oddly lacked. Backed by a fantastic light show, the singer and main instigator Mark Foster bound around all flailing limbs and jutting shoulders – and he didn’t let up.
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Viracocha: Inside The Mission's Eclectic Emporium

Viracocha: Inside The Mission's Eclectic Emporium

Mission's Viracocha not just a glorified garage sale: Aidin Vaziri | Stepping into Viracocha is like stepping into a different time and place. Since opening its doors last year at 998 Valencia St., the space formerly occupied by the spiritual emporium Botanica Yoruba, this eclectic vintage store has become one of the Mission District's most popular destinations - and not just for its breathtaking selection of beautiful old typewriters. Owner Jonathan Siegel, 35, who spent time as a poet and theater actor in New York before landing here in 2005, didn't want to build just another retail outlet on the strip. He set out to create a haven for local artists, writers and musicians - many close acquaintances - whose works are intertwined with the antique wares that occupy the wood-lined walls. "We wanted to create an anchor for all our separate projects," he says.
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Review: Ryan Adams, 'Ashes and Fire'

Review: Ryan Adams, 'Ashes and Fire'

Review: Ryan Adams, 'Ashes and Fire': Aidin Vaziri | The early word on "Ashes and Fire" was that Ryan Adams had finally worked through his interminable Grateful Dead phase, having come out of it ready to reclaim the ragged brand of Americana he minted nearly a decade ago with albums like "Heartbreaker" and "Gold." Not quite. The new record's centerpiece, "Do I Wait," is a hell of a song, one of Adams' classic late-night meditations floating over a bed of warm acoustic guitars and swirling B3 organs. But the rest of the album feels tentative, as the 36-year-old Adams comes to terms with his unruly past in tremulous ballads like "Dirty Rain" and "Invisible Riverside." On "Lucky Now," the now sober songwriter laments, "I feel like somebody I don't know/ Are we really who we used to be? Am I really who I was?" It's a step in the right direction.