News and musings on Todd Rundgren & others: What's Todd and What's not!
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Paralympic Enemy
The Paralympics are currently taking place in the UK [Off to see some athlectics, swiomming and equestrian events this weekend] but as this is a music blog, I'll say I was very happy to see Channel Four the broadcaster who is carrying over 500 hours of live coverage of the event has been using Public Enemy's - 'Harder than you Think', off their 2007 album How You Sell Soul to a Soulless People Who Sold Their Soul???, as it's theme music for all their coverage - including in trial like this one.
The original video for the track
I LOVE this song. It was the stand out track off the Soul album and one that I told anyone who'd listen to me deserved to be a hit. As a result of the Channel 4 usage it looks like being Top 10 in the UK singles charts this Sunday.
PE also have a good new album out Most of my Heroes Still Don't Appear on No Stamps
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I think this was Todd's first appearance at the Forum since he recorded a live album there back in 1994 on the No World Order tour. He was all alone for that one. Tonight, things could not have been more different as Todd brought the Arena tour to London. What can I say. It rocked. Playing the same set that he has been doing for the whole tour - opening with Love in Action, Open my Eyes, Black Maria, I Saw the Light etc, before playing Arena in its entirety - this was guitar rock heaven (and let's face it, probably the last time you'll see Todd doing this kind of tour in the UK). The band were tight, the backing vocals near perfection, and a few ropey moments aside, Todd's vocals strong and good. It was a real joy to see him playing so much lead guitar, after recent years of being more of the 'singer in the band'. There were a few technically issues near the start, when Todd couldn't get the clean guitar sound he wanted, and one amusing moment when he manag...
Whilst the Decemberists have been around for a number of years, and a friend of mine is a big fan, I have to confess - a few tunes aside - they have never really made much of a splash with me. With their fifth album - 'The Hazards of Love' - a 17-track concept album that sort of tells a story about a fair maiden ravished by a shape-shifting demon (no, really) - however, I am suddenly find myself surprisingly won over. On some levels - like most concept albums - it is utter tosh, but with its repeating musical motifs and reprises, making you quickly think that actually there are only about five actual songs on the album - a clever trick. Like with all good concept albums this makes listening on shuffle not the ideal way to digest this album - especially as their are short 'interlude' pieces joining all the songs too. Added to all this the fact that the band seem to have a love for early 70's British folk/prog/heavy metal and this walks right up my street - and will ...
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