Todd is God

You find mentions of Todd in strange places, none stranger that a report on last Sunday's Man Utd v Chelsea game at football365.com where John Nicolson's thought's suddenly go back to Knebworth 1979 and Todd and Led Zep.

On Milwaulkee has a good interview with Todd speaking about The New Cars. On the question of a possible album of new material he says: "It's one of those things where there has to be a legitimate business foundation to this," he says. "You can't do it on a whim. The audience has a lot to say about the longetivity of the idea. If they come out and buy tickets, there's life. If they do not, then the audience has spoken. If we can't leverage a brand that's already famous to so many people, it doesn't make sense to start over." Meanwhile Elliot told the Detroit Free Press "We're still developing our own chemistry. As this thing solidifies and grows, we're all hoping that Todd will be inspired to write new material specifically for this group. It's great to play the old songs and reconnect with the audience, but the goal of any musician with a pulse is to make new music ...Todd Rundgren's not only a fantastic musician and s...

For some reason I ended up going to both nights of the Flaming Lips' London gigs, and had a ball at both (First night on my own, second with a group of friends - Hi Debs, Pete, Sally). Here are a band that like to make the whole concert experience fun and - as it should be - like a big party. They accomplish this with the help of giant ballons thrown into the audience and lots of confeti and streamers shot into the audience at various stages during the night. Thankfully, it is not all about the Gimmick (did I mention the santas on one side ofthe dtage and the aliens on the other? or the people in superhero costumes?) because the Lips are also a exceptionally good band. Take Todd of AWATS stage and bring him into the 21st Century and I think a lot of what you'd get the Flaming Lips have (Just listen to WAND off current album). The 105 minute set (inc encoures) featured a good mix of material from their albums with musical highlights for me being: Do You Realise; Spoonful Weigh...

It's time for part two of my round up of some of the things that I have been listening to over the past months, and those records that are trying to break into my yearly top 10. The Lemonheads - The Lemonheads Evan Dando is back doing what he does best - pleasing power pop - and back doing it under the name of The Lemonheads. This album is liking meeting a old friend who you have not seen for a while, and thankfully, you still like them. I would stop short of calling this classic, but when this record is good it is very good - Become the Enemy is pound for pound as good as anything dando has written; No Backbone; In Passing; Black Gown and many more hit the spot nicely. A welcome return. Union of Knives - Violence and Birdsong One of the true surprises of 2006, this Glasgow band are well worth checking out. Described by NME as "Quivering Big Rock songs being circled by tribal electro-drums with guitars of solid glacier" there is a lot going on. Operated On i...

I promised a review of the new album so here it is. First off, I have to say that I was surprised to find myself enjoying this record more than I expected. It is - in my mind at least - better than Bat Part II. Having said that, the pseudo new metal opening of Monster's Loose is rather ropey (with Meat sounding a bit crap), and that's before we get near anything like In the land of the pig ... which is frankly just fucking dreadful. So what do I like? Well, some of the cheesy badness works very well with me, so I have found myself won over by the likes of Blind as a Bat (the title alone is just so bloody stupid, it is impossible not to love it), What about the Love, and Bad for Good (with Brian May noodling away on guitar) . Cry to Me, If God could talk, and The future ain't what it used to be are also passable in a naff kind of way. What about It's all coming back to me now you say? Dig out the Pandora's Box version and hear how this song should sound in fu...

I promised a review of the new album so here it is. First off, I have to say that I was surprised to find myself enjoying this record more than I expected. It is - in my mind at least - better than Bat Part II. Having said that, the pseudo new metal opening of Monster's Loose is rather ropey (with Meat sounding a bit crap), and that's before we get near anything like In the land of the pig ... which is frankly just fucking dreadful. So what do I like? Well, some of the cheesy badness works very well with me, so I have found myself won over by the likes of Blind as a Bat (the title alone is just so bloody stupid, it is impossible not to love it), What about the Love, and Bad for Good (with Brian May noodling away on guitar) . Cry to Me, If God could talk, and The future ain't what it used to be are also passable in a naff kind of way. What about It's all coming back to me now you say? Dig out the Pandora's Box version and hear how this song should sound in fu...

Two interviews with Ric Ocasek touch on his feelings about the New Cars. In a interview with AV Club he says on the question of - Any lingering hard feelings over the Rundgren affair? "I don't know, you know? Why make trouble? That will stand or fall on its own. People can decide for themselves". While over at the Rocky Mountain News when asked - Approve of the New Cars? Disapprove?, says "It's somewhere in the middle." But honestly, wouldn't you have liked to tour? "I have this reputation for not liking to tour, and I can't say I do love it. I certainly didn't want to do a reunion tour. There were different factors why I didn't want to do that. I don't feel like I need to be revived. I've got things to do."

Fuck the rock and roll circus, this is the punk cabaret ... is how the Dresden Dolls were selling their two night stint at the Roundhouse in Camden. And, they were not kidding. Doors opened at 7pm and the entertainment started immediately. From the moment you walked in the door and up the stairs to the main hall, bubbles were falling down on you - being blown from people on stilts at the top of the stairs, women were dressed as harlots, men looking like outcasts from Moulin Rouge and music coming at you from the main hall - a guy on the accordion as I arrived at 7.25. I must add that many of the audience had also dressed up for the show too, and very fine many of them looked too. Yes, when the Dolls hit town they do so with a cast of thousands (well, about 30 anyway) including weird musical turns, comedians, and performance artists. The shows in london were lead by their mistress of ceremonies, Margaret Cho . The lay out of the venue suited the performance with a main stage and then a...

In the News has a review of the new Meatloaf Album. My own views will be posted here soon, after I have had a chance for a couple more listens.

It's time for one of my more random posts. Basically with todd news short at the moment it is a good time to list some of the other things that i have been listening to over the past months, and those records that are trying to break into my yearly top 10. The Killers - Sam's Town: Ah, the difficult second album. A bit less Duran Duran influenced that their debut 'Hot Fuss' this second album - playing as I write this - is a grower. It still has too much filler, but the title track, "This river is wild" and "When you were young" all hit the spot. Bob Dylan - Modern Times: Well if you paid any attention to reviewers you'd have thought this album marked the second coming or something. This is not to say that this is not a fine record, but what itamounts to is an old fashioned blues album filed with needlesssly overlong songs. Theres vert few of th track here that would not benifit from being trimmed down. All that aside: "Nettie More", ...

The Sunday Times had an article on Martin Strong, author of the very entertaining The Essential Rock Discography. "When pressed he’ll recite a personal all-time top five (descending) of Captain Beefheart, Pink Floyd, the Fall, Genesis (“until Peter Gabriel left”) and Todd Rundgren"

According to Rockradio.com Todd seems comfortable playing with the New Cars "I think nothing, you know, would have moved anywhere unless there was a, you know, a foundation of mutual musical respect. Success isn't what gets us together -- it's the fact that when you pick up your instrument and you suddenly get into sync with somebody else, there's a feeling there that is the essence of what a band tries to convey to the audience." Eliot Easton also stressed that Kasim will always have a spot in the band

It seems that Kasim has 'left' the New Cars (or at least will not be part of the band when they hit the road again) due to his participating in the Bat out of Hell III tour. Kasim has a blog here

Todd at the Royston gig as reported by Fox News As for Rundgren, we did talk about his exclusion so far from the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. "I wouldn't go even if they inducted me," he insisted. "I loved what the Sex Pistols did this year." Rundgren has every right to be bitter. Apart from hits like "Hello It's Me" and "I Saw the Light," he has also been a seminal producer for Grand Funk Railroad, Badfinger, XTC and other groups. After a while he said, "Let me know if I get in. I could come and not be happy about it."

Todd showed up - along with Bebe Buell, Stephen Tyler, and Liv Tyler to the performance by Arckid, Liv's husband Royston's (ex Spacehog) latest band. David Bowie was also at the gig in New york for the Hugo Boss and Interview Private Rooftop Concert.

So, went to see the Weakerthans on Wednesday evening at the mean fiddler. This was the same place I saw them for the first time back in 2004. There were a few more people in the audience this time around I must say. They had two support acts, but only arrived in time to see Tomte, a German band (who perform in German - aside from links to the songs in English). It seems they and the Weakerthans are sharing headline staus on this European tour, swapping to suit popularity in a given country. As such both played for around an hour. Tomte weren't too bad actually, can see why they have supported Cold Play in the past. But to the main event. John K Samson walked on his own and got things rolling with One Great City (aka I hate Winnepeg) It was good to see John K is still parting with money when he fucks up songs - this time it was £7.20 (i think) for forgetting a couple of words during a rip-rawing rendition of Aside . Surprisngly the set was quite light on the quieter more intro...

Harp has a review of It's Alive . Generally the reviewer seem to think it sound pretty good, although he's not as keen on the new tracks Warm and More

Meatloaf's Bat Out of Hell III is due out in the next couple of months. This time around it is produced by Desmond Child but as with BOOH II Todd once again maintains his connection with the original project by once again providing additional vocal arrangements. Interestingly, the new album contains songs penned by both Nikki Sixx (Motley Crue) and John 5 (Marilyn Manson/Rob Zombie) as well as the usual Steinman numbers

A few weeks back I set myself a challenge to come up with 101 tracks - classic tracks - that don't get played endlessly on the radio, MTV, and the like, but in my mind should do. I didn't sit down with pen and paper but instead posted off the top nof my head in 10 posts on a family and friends blog. As such some of these probably shouldn't be in here, and some of the links to youtube are to versions that in some cases plane suck, but ... I still like to think I've put a few interesting and overlooked gems in here (also I tried not to put too mant todd/utopia tracks in - only 4 ... maybe the 101 todd tunes is next??? 1. The Dream Academy - Life in a Northern Town . 2. The Swimming Pool Q's - Some New Highway. 3. Guadalcanal Diary - Always Saturday. 4. Lucinda Williams - Essence. 5. Bob Dylan - Not Dark Yet. 6. Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds - The Ship Song. 7. Kathyrn Tickell - Mr Nelson's Birthday Waltz. 8. Frank Zappa - Whippin' Post. 9. Liz Phai...

Interesting interview with Todd on Amazon, where Todd talks of some things we should be listening too. Great to see Tricky, KLF, and PE.