After Thursday night's show, Pop & Hiss caught up with the 13 chosen "American Idol" finalists, who were immediately (and we mean immediately) thrust into the spotlight of flashing lights and eager reporters looking for a sound bite from America's new darlings at an after party thrown in their honor Thursday night at the Grove. 

Check out video interviews of them all. We chat about favorite artists, inspirations, who they'd love to cover if given the chance (Black Keys! Esperanza Spalding! Beyonce! Usher?) and if they think they have what it takes to walk away with the crown this year.

Casey Abrams 

Hometown: Wilmette, Ill.

Currently resides: Idyllwild, CA 

Age: 20 

Related:

Idol Notes: Pop & Hiss lends an ear to the tunes that play out on "American Idol"

-- Gerrick D. Kennedy

twitter.com/gerrickkennedy

Video credit: Gerrick D. Kennedy / Los Angeles Times

After Thursday night's show, Pop & Hiss caught up with the 13 chosen "American Idol" finalists, who were immediately (and we mean immediately) thrust into the spotlight of flashing lights and eager reporters looking for a sound bite from America's new darlings at an after party thrown in their honor Thursday night at the Grove. 

Check out video interviews of them all. We chat about favorite artists, inspirations, who they'd love to cover if given the chance (Black Keys! Esperanza Spalding! Beyonce! Usher?) and if they think they have what it takes to walk away with the crown this year.

Haley Reinhart 

Hometown: Wheeling, Ill.

Currently resides: Wheeling, Ill.

Age: 20

Related:

Idol Notes: Pop & Hiss lends an ear to the tunes that play out on "American Idol"

-- Gerrick D. Kennedy

twitter.com/gerrickkennedy

Video credit: Gerrick D. Kennedy / Los Angeles Times

After Thursday night's show, Pop & Hiss caught up with the 13 chosen "American Idol" finalists, who were immediately (and we mean immediately) thrust into the spotlight of flashing lights and eager reporters looking for a sound bite from America's new darlings at an after party thrown in their honor Thursday night at the Grove. 

Check out video interviews of them all. We chat about favorite artists, inspirations, who they'd love to cover if given the chance (Black Keys! Esperanza Spalding! Beyonce! Usher?) and if they think they have what it takes to walk away with the crown this year.

Karen Rodriguez 

Hometown: New York, N.Y.

Currently resides: New York, N.Y.

Age: 21

Related:

Idol Notes: Pop & Hiss lends an ear to the tunes that play out on "American Idol"

-- Gerrick D. Kennedy

twitter.com/gerrickkennedy

Video credit: Gerrick D. Kennedy / Los Angeles Times

After Thursday night's show, Pop & Hiss caught up with the 13 chosen "American Idol" finalists, who were immediately (and we mean immediately) thrust into the spotlight of flashing lights and eager reporters looking for a sound bite from America's new darlings at an after party thrown in their honor Thursday night at the Grove. 

Check out video interviews of them all. We chat about favorite artists, inspirations, who they'd love to cover if given the chance (Black Keys! Esperanza Spalding! Beyonce! Usher?) and if they think they have what it takes to walk away with the crown this year.

Pia Toscano 

Hometown: Howard Beach, N.Y.

Currently resides: Howard Beach, N.Y.

Age: 22

Related:

Idol Notes: Pop & Hiss lends an ear to the tunes that play out on "American Idol"

-- Gerrick D. Kennedy

twitter.com/gerrickkennedy

Video credit: Gerrick D. Kennedy / Los Angeles Times

Attention all fixed gear fiends: FMLY, the bi-coastal art collective responsible for events such as 2009's epic Beach Dazed,  is returning to the streets on Saturday. This means that automobile drivers should steer clear of a wild pack of bicycling music obsessives, periodically stopping to enjoy performances from Truman Peyote, Manhattan Murder Mystery, Blackbird Blackbird, So Many Wizards, and Power Axe. 

In the words of the clan:

For those of you new to the ride, don’t be afraid. We are super friendly and your beach cruiser and mountain bike are more than welcome. We keep a moderate pace and have people at the back to help you in case you get dropped. We will be riding around all of Saturday night reinventing our urban surroundings through music of all genres, dancing and hanging. This is a totally different way of seeing the city and we can hang out as well! Don’t be afraid to dress up in a silly costume or what have you. All are welcome as long as you stay smart and don’t make everyone super uncomfortable.

The meet-up takes place at 7:30 p.m. at Media Park at Robertson and Venice, and the ride itself is slated to begin shortly after 8 p.m. In honor of the event, Truman Peyote has made an exclusive mix for Pop & Hiss, filled with everything from art pop to classic '70s L.A. stadium rock to Canadian indie rock. Unlike its namesake, the mix won't leave you disoriented for a half a day, but it's nonetheless been known to aid and abet late-night visions.

-- Jeff Weiss

Download:

ZIP: Truman Peyote Mix for Pop & Hiss (Left-Click)

MP3: Truman Peyote – New Wife, New Life 

MP3: So Many Wizards – Nico 
MP3: Blackbird Blackbird – Avalanche (Star Slinger Remix)

-- Jeff Weiss

Shows include Lykke Li and Lady Gaga; the Kills and Paul Simon are among the acts planning album releases

Critic's Pick: The Stagecoach Country Music Festival

The annual Stagecoach Country Music Festival in Indio, which turns 5 this year, is always buoyed by the richly eclectic swath of music its organizers assemble. It’s a glowing example of the possibility for peaceful coexistence between the hyper-polished acts that monopolize the country radio airwaves and the grittier acts that keep the soul of country music alive.

The former camp is well represented at the top of this year’s two-day bill April 30 and May 1 in the Jimmy Buffett-soaked hits of Kenny Chesney, the relentlessly sunshiny pop-country of Rascal Flatts and don’t-mess-with-me assertiveness of Carrie Underwood.

What makes this year’s Stagecoach lineup particularly tantalizing is the first West Coast appearance in ages by country queen Loretta Lynn, who demonstrated forcefully with her Jack White-produced 2004 album, “Van Lear Rose,” that she’s still got a few surprises up those puffy ballroom-gown sleeves she adores. Another recently rejuvenated veteran who steps into the spotlight is Leon Russell, one of the first rockers to let his country-freak flag fly in the ’70s with roots albums he made under the pseudonym Hank Wilson.

Ricky Skaggs, who helped usher in a new era of traditional country in the ’80s, has focused in recent years on bluegrass and gospel music. But the multi-instrumentalist revealed recently that he’s strapping on an electric guitar this year to revisit his deep trove of country hits.

Stagecoach also typically offers up bona fide left-field delights, and this year that includes the West Coast debut of the Cleverlys. This whimsical Nashville outfit applies no-joke instrumental chops and multi-part vocals to material including Beyonce’s “Single Ladies (Put a Ring On It),” Black Eyed Peas’ “I Gotta Feeling” and British prog-rock band Yes’ “Owner of a Lonely Heart.” Gentlemen, start your yodels. -- Randy Lewis

Concerts

March 9: Lykke Li. This young Scandinavian turned heads with her 2008 debut, “Youth Novels,” a sweet pop effort with surprisingly economical, rhythmic-based arrangements. New effort “Wounded Rhymes” is a bit more ice cold, this despite largely being recorded in Los Angeles. Dance pop regularly deals with heartbreak, but rarely does it do so this primal. El Rey Theatre, 5515 Wilshire Blvd., L.A. 8 p.m. Wednesday. Sold out. www.theelrey.com. -- Todd Martens

March 22: Raphael Saadiq. One of the neglected aspects of Mick Jagger's Grammy performance last month was his backing band. During the Rolling Stones singer's take on Solomon Burke's “Everybody Needs Somebody to Love,” behind him on guitar was multitalented vocalist-songwriter-style icon Saadiq as well as other members of the group that helped make “Stone Rollin'” (out May 10), Saadiq's propulsive new album. The singer, who made his name in the '90s as part of new jack swing group Tony! Toni! Toné, has, over the last couple of albums, drawn from the wellspring of rhythm and blues old and new. On “Stone Rollin',” he turns up the volume. The Who used to call this stuff “maximum R&B.” In Saadiq's hands, it's more like “R&B to the max.”  The Music Box, 6126 Hollywood Blvd., L.A. 8 p.m. March 22, $29.50. http://themusicboxla/. Also at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival, Indio, Calif., April 16. Sold out. www.coachella.com. -- Randall Roberts

A weekly Pop & Hiss look at some of the weekend's top shows. Many are already sold out, such as the Baths gig at the Troubadour, as well some of the gigs in this post. But good stuff can still be found.  

Friday

Wild Nothing, Abe Vigoda @ the Natural History Museum. The solo project of East Coaster Jack Tatum, Wild Nothing is all fuzz-laden familiarity -- a retro, '80s-focused synthy-guitar sound that's been just a little too in vogue of late. But that's not Tatum's fault, and his wearily distressed vocals are neatly buried under keyboard atmospheres, new-wave bass lines and dainty hooks. Backed with a live band, hopefully the pretty bedroom melodies of Wild Nothing get a little scratched up. With local garage rockers Abe Vigoda. Natural History Museum, 800 Exposition Blvd. The event is sold out online, but the museum reserves a limited number of tickets for door sales. Tickets range from $2 to $70. Doors open at 4 p.m. -- Todd Martens

Trey Anastasio @ the Music Box. However you may feel about all the baggage that comes with the average Phish concert (patchouli oil, parking lot-forged veggie wraps, endless soloing), there's no denying the group are virtuoso musicians. Performing at least partially removed from the trappings of his band's marathon outdoor shows, guitarist Trey Anastasio will flex his upbeat songwriting and mind-scrambling musicianship both on his own and with his brassy side project TAB, touching on a mix of acoustic and electric blues, funk and world music. Jerry would be proud. Music Box, 6126 Hollywood Blvd., Los Angeles, Fri. 8 p.m. The show is sold out, and tickets on the secondary market are topping $200. -- Chris Barton

The Elephant 6 Holiday Surprise Tour @ The Satellite. A much-cherished label throughout the '90s, the Elephant 6 brand briefly became synonymous with indie-pop. Be it the sugar-rush perfection of the Apples in Stereo or the odd, "Pet Sounds"-inspired world of Neutral Milk Hotel, the best of the Elephant 6 acts had as much love for melody as they did songcraft and experimentation. There's plenty more bands to discuss, and if advance tickets weren't sold out, this write-up would be longer. Those willing to line up and hope for the best probably already know that a dozen Elephant 6 vets have about 50 songs from the label's history at the ready, as well a game that involves a 12-foot snowman. Satellite, 1717 Silver Lake Blvd. Advance tickets are sold out. Tickets at the door will cost $14. -- TM

 On “Lullaby,” the last song on J.J. Grey’s new album, “Georgia Warhorse,” he’s taking a girl to bed. “Oh pretty girl, when I look down at you, I see all I need to see to be a man,” he swears in a bleary soul-man lament atop a distant, reverby slide guitar. It’s a hell of a love ballad, but do take note  -– that’s his daughter he’s talking about there.

“I can see where people think it’s about something else, though,” Grey said, laughing. “The first time I demoed that song, I played it for my wife and she was like, ‘You know what that sounds like, right?' But that’s why I love music, I’ll go my whole life mishearing  lyrics and realize I like the ones I came up with better.”

For casual fans who think Lady Antebellum is the face of Southern music today, “Georgia Warhorse” will likely introduce a little mystery as well. Grey, who hails from Jacksonville, Fla., (like a certain Pop & Hiss contributor, holla) and has shared stages with Mavis Staples, Booker T. Jones and Ben Harper, looks like a Field & Stream cover model, sounds like Otis Redding after a breakfast of cigarettes and Jim Beam and writes songs funky enough to put hair on George Clinton’s chest.

It’s the latest in a string of very well-regarded albums with his revolving backing band Mofro (Rolling Stone put 2004’s “Lochloosa” in its year-end top 10) that simply refuse to abide by stereotypes about the South, about soul or about the divide between retro and contemporary. In a time when R&B has become synonymous with sleek digital production and airtight melisma, simmering tracks like “Gotta Know” have wide-open spaces and let the live performances speak for themselves. But unlike the recent crop of young revivalists, this isn’t a museum-piece throwback. “Warhorse” is polyglot music from a part of the country often mistaken as anything but worldly.

The artistic reference points in the largely glowing reviews out of the U.K. of the debut album from English guitarist, singer and songwriter Anna Calvi, which came out this week in the U.S., are more often cinematic than musical. Her often eerie portraits of romantic obsession have drawn allusions to David Lynch’s gothic edginess, Sergio Leone’s mythological expansiveness and the ravishing beauty of Chinese director Wong Kar-Wai's films.

That’s just fine with the 28-year-old musician, whom celebrated producer Brian Eno has lauded as “the best thing since Patti Smith.” A classical violinist-turned-electric guitarist who earned a music degree from the University of Southampton, she recorded the material on “Anna Calvi” largely in the attic of her parents’ home over a 2 ½-year period.

The album is produced by Rob Ellis, the drummer for PJ Harvey, to whom Calvi also has been compared musically, along with chanteuses from previous generations such as Edith Piaf, Nina Simone and Shirley Bassey. Her key musical collaborators are percussionist-harmonium player Mally Harpaz and drummer Daniel Maiden-Wood, although Eno appears as a guest on two tracks.

But with no bassist, the musical focal point being her guitar, voice and the drums, along with the black-and-red fashion she appears to favor in live performances, the package may suggest to some the White Stripes.

Calvi was set to arrive next week for her first North American performances: three shows in New York, one in Toronto and several showcases next week in Austin, Texas, at the South by Southwest Music Conference. But after recently injuring her arm, she had to cancel the performances, although she'll still be in the U.S. doing some promotional interviews. 

The singer, who performs as Baths, reassesses his work as a producer and a performer of electronica. 

It’s 3 o’clock on a bright February afternoon inside a downtown Los Angeles grocery store, and Will Wiesenfeld is on a quest. ”I’m addicted to this insane Japanese gum,” said the 21-year-old Chatsworth-based producer and singer as he searched the aisles of jelly-flecked soft drinks and exotic candies in a Little Tokyo market.

For the last year he’s released his woozy, love-struck electronica under the name Baths. But at that moment, he was in pursuit of a more immediate pleasure. “You have to try this. I’ve never tasted anything like it,” he said.

Related: Album review: Baths' 'Cerulean'

Alas, the gum never turned up. But Wiesenfeld’s unlikely rise to the upper echelon of L.A.’s thrilling experimental “beat music” scene, a loose collection of artists centered on the Low End Theory club night, has been all about such searches for rare and unexpected joys.

His sold-out headlining set at the Troubadour on Saturday comes after a year of heavy touring on his debut album, “Cerulean,” and a thorough reassessment of what he and his fast-moving music are capable of. Baths is in many ways the opposite of L.A.’s often brilliant but frequently scatterbrained beat scene. But he also might be one of its best — and most unexpected — hopes for a breakout pop star.

Among peers who make throttling, bass-heavy dubstep, “Cerulean” was shimmering, falsetto-strewn makeout music. In a scene full of straight male fans looking for the most intense drum machine fix they can find, Wiesenfeld is an out gay man with glasses and heavy sideburns whose idea of dance-floor lasciviousness on “Cerulean” is to extol a lover’s “Apologetic Shoulderblades” or “Lovely Bloodflow.”

“Most pop music is all about [sex] today, and in my music I’ve always had a reverence for the human body,” Wiesenfeld said. “I always rooted it in Bjork’s ‘Cocoon.’ That’s a very sexy song, but it’s also very tailored.”

Funny how the tables have turned for two of pop's most prominent princesses.

As Christina Aguilera seems to be on the brink of a career -- and personal -- meltdown, her supposed rival, Britney Spears, is continuing the second act of her comeback with a new single, “Till The World Ends,” which surfaced online Thursday.

Notoriously guarded with her projects post-breakdown, Team Spears -- or someone with her best interest at heart -- have been smartly leaking snippets from her anticipated seventh album, “Femme Fatale,” set to hit stores March 29.

For the last week, fans have been treated to snippets of tracks such as "Criminal," "Inside Out" and the will.i.am-produced "Big Fat Bass."

The Ke$ha-penned, Dr. Luke- and Max Martin-produced track leaked in full Thursday afternoon after the net was abuzz that the single would hit radio as soon as next week.

Like its predecessor, “Hold It Against Me,” Spears’ main intention with her new single seems to be keeping the dance floor pulsating with sweaty bodies. And we don’t blame her, as the catchy song does make you want to grab some glow sticks and hit the clubs.

In her breathy vocals, which have always paled in comparison to Aguilera’s powerhouse growl, she muses about “dancing till the world ends."

The "Femme Fatale" era already shows an undeniably more confident Spears -- even if she isn't allowed to make all her own decisions, she has come a long way. Though her last album, 2008’s “Circus,” was a commercial success, she was criticized for her lack of energy, mainly her inability to deliver complex choreography like years past in live performances –- an argument that translated to the much-hyped video for “Hold It Against Me.”

How Spears will fare with “Femme Fatale” is yet to be seen. Although she has plans to perform on "Good Morning America," she continues to shy away from press, save for a highly publicized magazine cover here and there.

Judging from the material fans have been treated to so far, especially the sticky "Till the World Ends," she’s serious about delivering a dance album heavy on club bangers that proves why she remains a polarizing name in pop -- regardless of where she is mentally.

-- Gerrick D. Kennedy

Twitter.com/GerrickKennedy

Photo credit: Courtesy of Jive Records.

 

That’s the sound of the door slamming shut to rehearsals for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame’s 2011 induction ceremony, a day after a pricey program went public that included admission to the warm-up sessions for the first time in the hall’s 25-year history.

The Gilt City website, which specializes in luxury services and experiences, posted an offer Wednesday in which members of the public could pay $3,500 for a ticket that included access to March 13 rehearsals as well as entree to a pre-ceremony cocktail party, dinner and the show itself March 14. The site also listed a $2,000 option without the rehearsal, just the cocktail party, dinner and the show.

On Thursday, however, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Foundation’s board decided to rescind both offers.

“On further review, we really felt that even though this offer was for a limited amount of seats, admission to the rehearsal part of the event was going to end up being too invasive on the artists,” Foundation President and CEO Joel Peresman said Thursday.

“This isn’t like a normal tour stop,” Peresman said. “We really try to put together special things, unique collaborations and everybody felt that to have outside people coming in would be too invasive.”
Peresman said that 10 tickets had been allotted for the $3,500 package that would have included admission to rehearsals. The Gilt City site still carried the details of the program Thursday and indicated that both the $2,000 and $3,500 offers had sold out.