NOISE

How have reactions been to the new [Menos el Oso remix album] Interpretaciones del Oso?

It was something we released that we all wanted to do, but we didn't do a whole publicity push for it; it was a companion to the record. We thought it turned out really well. It's nice to hear someone else's interpretations of the songs we did. We get it back and it's like, "Whoa! That's what you were thinking? That's insane."

[Recently completed album] Planet of Ice was your first time recording with new member Alex Rose. How is he measuring up?

It was the first time we were able to have an actual keyboard player write with us and be part of the whole process. While [former keyboardist and current producer] Matt [Bayles] was a very key part of the band and his keyboard was part of the Minus the Bear sound, he definitely was more of a producer-engineer guy. He knew sound and atmospherics really well. Alex has been able to come in with that as well as actually being able to play the piano. Matt has been gearing up to be a producer and engineer and have his own studio for a long time, so it all made sense. And it's perfect for us, because we can still work with him. For any transition that a band has to go through, this was the smoothest we can think of. Yeah, we like that Alex. We'll keep him around.

Any particularly memorable moments from the Planet of Ice recording process?

It was funny to work with Alex because he would hear a lot of things that we wouldn't hear. So the joke was at the end of listening to a song, everybody'd go through and say everything's all right, "But what does Alex have to say?"... We played a lot of Wii bowling. I don't know how we would have gotten through the recording session without our good friend Cameron, because he saved the day by lending us his Wii. There was a lot of Wii bowling and tennis going on. I tell ya, we were sweating.

1 Boyz II Men, "It's So Hard to Say Goodbye to Yesterday" (Cooleyhighharmony, 1991) "I don't know where this road is going to lead/All I know is where we've been and what we've been through."

2 Simple Minds, "Don't You (Forget About Me)" (The Breakfast Club soundtrack, 1985) "Will you recognize me?/Call my name or walk on by? ... Don't you try to pretend/It's my feeling we'll win in the end."

3 Vitamin C, "Graduation (Friends Forever)" (Vitamin C, 1999) "I guess I thought that this would never end/And suddenly it's like we're women and men/Will the past be a shadow that will follow us 'round?/Will these memories fade when I leave this town?"

4 Alphaville, "Forever Young" (Forever Young, 1984) "So hard to get old without a cause/I don't want to perish like a fading horse/Youth is like diamonds in the sun/And diamonds are forever."

5 Eric Clapton, "Wonderful Tonight" (Slowhand, 1977) "We go to a party and everyone turns to see/This beautiful lady that's walking around with me/And then she asks me, ‘Do you feel all right?'/And I say, ‘Yes, I feel wonderful tonight.'"

6 Semisonic, "Closing Time" (Feeling Strangely Fine, 1998) "Closing time, time for you to go out, go out into the world/Closing time, turn the lights up over every boy and every girl ... So gather up your jackets, and move it to the exits, I hope you have found a friend/Closing time, every new beginning comes from some other beginning's end."

7 Alice Cooper, "School's Out" (School's Out, 1972) "No more pencils, no more books, no more teachers' dirty looks/Well we got no class/And we got no principles/And we got no innocence/We can't even think of a word that rhymes!"

Here's my theory: Taylor Hicks was the gateway drug which led to America's addiction to Sanjaya. See, on American Idol, Taylor Hicks had a Taylor Schtick: that unrestrained Joe Cocker impersonation, those drunk uncle dance moves and, of course, the ever-vexing salt 'n' pepper hair. His charisma complemented his devil-may-care 'tude, and lo and behold, Hicks was crowned Season 5's champeen. Finally free of belting divas, America was on high, and so with Season 6, we craved more. Sundance Head and Chris Sligh were Hick-ocrites. Our dependence on ridiculousness had taken hold, and a hit of Hicks wouldn't do it anymore—we needed something truly ludicrous. And ludicrousness we found in Sanjaya Malakar. An underage Indian who didn't care he couldn't sing? A nonchalant karaokester who didn't even try? Soon, America was shooting up Sanjaya. He was on our Entertainment Tonights; he was in our In Touches. He replaced Grey's Anatomy as water-cooler fodder. Just like that, America O.D.'d. So thank you, Taylor Hicks, for opening the floodgate, and kudos to you for not drowning in hype.

As Las Vegas' music scene gains more heat nationally, leave it to Blender to zero in on what's really going on around here. According to the monthly mag, we've got celebrity-hosted parties (wow! Those sound like fun!!), celebrity impersonators (really? Are those new??) and even a red-hot band, Panic! At the Disco (wait ... where's the Killers piece? Oh, there it is—a suggestion to stalk Brandon Flowers and company at their "hangout," the Beauty Bar). Those hoping to learn anything new about the Vegas music scene—like maybe the name of a single local act worth checking out—better head elsewhere, 'cause, you know, it's not like Blender is a music magazine or anything.

Head Like a Kite


Random Portraits of the Home Movie

(3 1/2 stars)

Seattle whiz-kid Dave Einmo channels the spirit of—and borrows actual sounds from—old Super 8 home movies on this all-over-the-indie-spectrum debut. Moody alt-rock, danceable electro-pop and chill IDM collide in a 15-track, 33-minute whir that incorporates film footage and a live drummer for its stage show. In other words, you don't wanna miss it.