Sounds like ...

The Times Union has a three star review of The Pernice Brothers appearance at Valentine's, with reviewer MICHAEL ECK commenting that "Pernice is often compared to pop enigmas like Brian Wilson, Todd Rundgren and Colin Blunstone, but at Valentine's he reveled in phrasing that leaned more toward Elvis Costello, albeit a less melodically rambunctious Costello"

DVD's

DJ, Jono Coleman writing in today's Daily Star has also given Todd a mention: "I can also recommend the brand new Todd Rundgren live DVDs. He's another music legend of the 70s and 80s who's about to tour the UK and his classic concert recordings are great"

Live daily

Live Daily has a plug for the Todd tour and yet more on the look of the tour: "The Tablet PCs that we are taking essentially replace all the backline equipment," he said. "We run two pieces of emulation software to recreate the sound of amplifiers. There are no amps, racks or floor monitors anywhere on stage."

3 Star Liar

Just 3 Stars for 'Liars' from the Lexington Herald Leader: "Rundgren has created another one-man-band pastiche of keyboard orchestrations that are often disarmingly calm. But when the beasts in these songs break free, Liars becomes anything but pretty."

With 'Liars,' Rundgren returns to his old honest sound

The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review also has a Todd interview The importance of being a muscician is stressed in this one: "One of the things I try to preach to other musicians ... is that your job has always been to perform," he says. "It wasn't to go into the studio to make records and go home and collect royalty checks, it was always to go out and prove what you can do night after night. B.B. King still goes out 300 days a year. Tony Bennett is still knocking people out night after night after night. And that's what being a musician is all about. People get too fixated on records, that records will either make your life easier or it's your only reasonable musical outlet. I think it's time for players to get back to the playing."

Hello, it's Todd, with first new disc in 10 years

The Chicago Sun-Times has an interview with Todd. Has a lot of the same stuff as a lot of other interviews but has an interesting comment on the tour production: ""We're trying to demonstrate live that you can put together a decent production and have it be affordable and up the the ante in terms of your show," he says. "I want musicians to start thinking more in terms that they're performers. In that sense I think we have a lot to recover. For so long now, it's been all the lip syncing and dancing stuff."

DVD Review

The Independent on Sunday kept up the Todd mentions with a review of the Live in Japan DVD. Laurie Staff wrote "Pop genius to some, pretentious geek to others, Rundgren continues to plough his own wildly unfashionable furrow with an eclecticism that guarantees cult status, never stardom. For those that belong to the "Todd Is God" camp, Christmas has come early with the UK release of The Desktop Collection/2nd Wind Live Recording Session, Live In San Francisco and this live performance from 1990. Songs from the then-current Nearly Human album sit alongside classics to joyous effect, showcasing one of the most important songwriters of our time" [Yes Indeed]

chart

'Liars' debuts at number 15 on the UK Chart's Indie albums listing for this week

Rundgrens are here, there and everywhere

Bob Underwood's Seen & Overheard from the Dayton Daily News on 9th April announced that "Todd Rundgren's wife, Michele Rundgren, will bring her stand-up act to Jokers Comedy Cafe in Miami Twp. on April 28. But you probably shouldn't go there looking to see her classic-rocking hubby in the crowd. That same day he will be in New York to perform on The Late Show With David Letterman"

Show is the Rainbow

The Omaha World-Herald had a brief piece on the band The Show is the Rainbow last Thursday. "I'm kind of like the heavy-metal Tom Jones," the group's sole member, Darren Keen told the paper. The new album "Correcting Dog Behavior Problems Using Dog Radartron" is apparently influenced by Todd Rundgren, David Bowie, Gary Numan, and Kraftwerk ...

Super Model

Saturday's Times had an interview with the wonderful Jill Sobule. Why now? Well after 3 years her last album 'Pink Pearl' has finally got an official release in the UK (Long overdue). Sobule says that a new album should be out in the autumn (in the US at least). She talks wonderfully about how a lot of (US) radio stations refused to play her single 'I Kissed a Girl' . "Back then, girls weren't supposed to sing about kissing other girls, but I could see how hip it was about to become. I have to say, I loved being bad. When I sang I Kissed a Girl, I felt like Ice T doing Cop Killer." It's also funny to hear her talk og her time playing with lloyd Cole's band (and for the record, they were great Live). -"I offered to join as a joke, then he called me up with rehearsal dates". Obviously Todd gets a passing mention as the producer of Sobule's fantastic debut 'Things here are Different' (If you don't already own it - shame on you)

Still more reviews

Mark Edwards in the Sunday Times gives 'Liars' a two out of three star rating and compairs Todd to Bowie as an artist who "get a bit lost in their late thirties and forties (often getting sidetracked by shiny new technology and ultimately uninteresting interactive projects) [but] find a new relevance when they hit their fifties". Edwards adds himself to a growing list of reviewers that are not keen on 'Truth' or 'Mammon', but feels Todd gets "pretty damn close to his sublime early 1970s heyday." with Flaw, Afterlife and, especially, Past. The Daily Express meanwhile is happy to say, whilst 'jumping between styles could be annoying, Rundgren's solid songwriting allows him to pull it off".

Plain dealing

The Plain Dealer's Friday! magazine has a song spotlight on "The Wondering" from 'Liars' with Todd commenting on how the song was inspired by the 2000 presidential election. "I think a lot of people just couldn't believe the way it all unfolded," Rundgren says, "and we all woke up one day realizing we had been fed a line about how this country works and that we had just been shown how it really works. It's one of those things where now you realized you've been living in a deluded state, so you don't know what to believe yet."