Tuesday, August 17, 2004

!2 rods demise

The Star-Tribune (13 August) had an article on the 12 Rods final gig, and the news they are disbanding - No separation anxieties for 12 Rods. " Not only did V2 leave a lot of promises unkept, according to the band, but so did a big-wig manager, and so did a well-known producer..."

Best of all, the two discs that the band made for V2 (i.e., with a big budget) really don't sound any better than the ones it made on its own. Let that be a lesson to you aspiring rock stars. In fact, if you had to pick a weak one in the discography, it would probably be 2000's ``Separation Anxieties,'' the one Todd Rundgren produced.

Always quite liked it myself, although it was certainly patchy. But is that a dig at Todd as the 'well-known producer'?

Keep the faith

The Observer music magazine (15 August) had a piece by Faithless' Mazi Jazz on just why Todd is God. He waxes lyrical about why we should ALL own 'Something / Anything'.

"I can't believe something so wonderful can be so ignored. It's virtually impossible to pick a stand-out track, but if pushed, I'd choose 'It Wouldn't Have Made any Difference'...This record taught me the importance of backing vocals and how they can change a good song into a memorable one. It also showed me how a song is constructed. He wrote beautifully and in a way no other American songwriter, who wasn't black, had done in years. It remains some of the best songwriting I've heard to this day"

And so say all of us ...