Todd is God

Interview with Robert Schwartzman from the band Rooney in Filter Magazine There are a whole bunch of reunion tours going on right now…do you have a favorite? I love Duran Duran. I don’t know if they’re out right now, but I know they were out a year ago. I’d love to see The New Cars. Oh yeah…with Todd Rundgren. Yeah, Todd Rundgren singing. Awesome. He’s one of my favorite fucking artists. John Fields, who made our record, is the hugest Todd Rundgren fan. I mean SCARY huge. Knows everything.

You know that feeling when everyone is talking about the new hot thing and how great it is, and you hear it and go ...er, nope, don't get it? (any band Pete Doherty's ever been in for example). I have been having that feeling again these past few weeks about Kate Nash . Some clever lyrics but the whole mockney singing/talking thing is just annoying. Also, I hate anyone on principle who can make me start warming to Lily Allen. It's just not right, so stop it.

Didn't know until read this today that Todd covered Thelonious Monk's Four in One back in 1984 on the album "That's the Way I Feel Now: A Tribute to Thelonious Monk"

As usual I thought it was time to pick the 10 albums that have tickled my fancy most thus far in 2007. How many have the staying power to still be there come the end of the year? - Who knows. The following are in no order, but I must confess that The Grinderman and NIN albums are probably the two that have most impressed me thus far. 1. Grinderman - Grinderman: This really shouldn't be this good, and this enjoyable 2. Nine Inch Nails - Year Zero: Bit flat for me live, but this may just be Trent's best outing. 3. Mary Chapin Carpenter - The Calling: I had believed that MCC's best days were well and truly behind her, but this album has pleasingly proved me wrong. 4. Ryan Adams -  Lost Highway: Not his best, but his second best is better than most people's best. 5. Queens of the Stoneage - Era Vulgaris: I Just like it. 6. Jesse Malin - Glitter in the Gutter 7. Paul McCartney - Memory Almost Full: Obviously drinking Starbuck's Coffee has done the trick. 8. McQueen ...

The excellent Jill Sobule via Mydamnchannel (which has some nice stuff with Slash and Duff too). Downnload MP3 of the track and another track called 'Mom' here

This was the 4th time I have seen Aimee live, and whilst she was great once again, she has never been better than the first two times I saw her (esp the first time in 2000 with husband Michael Penn and comedian Patton Oswalt). Still, let's not look backwards. The gig started off with a nice little set by Jenny Owen Youngs (she remembered to tell us who she was just before she left the stage!). Her debut album is a mostly average singer-songwriter offering; but live she has a humour and a sense of fun that help raise some of the weaker songs above their recorded status. This is not to say she doesn't have a few great tunes: 'Drinking Song'; 'From Here' and 'Fuck I was' are all top draw. Add to this a very entertaining cover of Nelly's 'Hot in Herre' (to the tune of Oasis' Wonderwall) and I think it safe to say she made a number of new fans. She is a star in the making. Aimee was in a fun mood too - even if she wasn't sure whether or n...

The last time I saw the Scorpions live was 17 years ago. They were very good. Why the gap to seeing them again? I'm not sure: a general indifference to most of the material they have released since Savage Amusement most likely. Anyway, a few weeks ago on the spur of the moment I decided I needed a 'Heavy Metal' night out, so the Scorps fitted the bill. Things got more interesting when I read that Michael Schenker would also be on the bill as support with MSG. Cool. I little research this afternoon revealed that young Micky has been back to his getting smashed ways and this had even lead to a fight with older brother Rudy just a few days ago. I also learned that Uli Roth was on the road with the boys and joining them for a few classics in the middle of the set. An interesting night beckoned. And so to the gig. I arrived a bit late so had missed half the MSG set. This turned out to be a blessing. Michael Schenker was having enough problems standing up, never mind playing gu...

Omaha World Herald has a nice interview with the always entertaining Henry Rollins Blogged with Flock

Todays' Guide  in the Guardian has a piece on Simian Mobile Disco (Jas Shaw and James Ford) - Ford produced the last Artic Monkey's album, an the Klaxons album - where they talk about their secret DJ-ing tunes guaranteed to revive flagging house parties. One of them, 'International Feel' by Todd. According to James "He's one of those maverick 1970s producers who went well OTT on his records, but A Wizard a True Star is one of my favourite albums. I suppose this is the tune-after-the-last-tune, the lights up fuck off home tune. Although it could be more 'wow, I've never heard that on a big system, it sounds amazing, what is it?'" Blogged with Flock

Nashville Scene reviews a New Cars Gig and concludes "What could have been a wham-bam retro snoozefest was elevated to a thoroughly respectable performance by little touches such as Elliot Easton’s stellar guitar work and Rundgren’s undeniable stage presence. (No more jokes, though, Todd.)". They also have this

Since I reviewed the latest avril Lavigne album not too long ago, I thought it only fair to also cover some of the competition. Kelly (American Idol) Clarkson, Paramore and McQueen, this is your time! It seems strange listening to the Kelly Clarkson album, as I am hit with the feeling that whilst Lavigne seems to be slowly getting worse as each album goes by, that Clarkson is going the other way and slowly getting better. 'Since you been gone' was a great pop tune off her last album and this new one throws some more decent tunes our way in a performance that reminds me a bit of Pat Benatar - and when I say this , believe me it is praise indeed, as was - and remain - a fan a Pat, the original queen of female based pop/rock. Kicking off with the excellent, 'Never Again', there is also a number of other tracks worthy of attention including: 'Hole', 'Don't waste your time', and 'How I feel' - this really isn't all that bad. And in a time wher...

The Weakerthans new album,'Reunion Tour', is finished and will be released on September 25th. Ian Blurton acted as producer. Full North American and European Tours to back up the release too - excellent news.

The gig started with us being deafened by The Steers , a band who obviously grew up listening to the same records as the Ordinary Boys (with some Blur thrown in). The volume (God, I sound old) and the mix made it hard to decide if they were actually any good or not, and made a number of their songs sound the same. I think this is probably a shame, and that they may be worth keeping an eye on over the next 18 months. And so to the Hold Steady. Playing to a capacity crowd just over 2000 (singer Craig Finn claimed it may have been their biggest headlining gig audience anywhere in the world. As he said - after apologising to those in balcony ("not used to having anyone up there") it's not bad for a band that were deemed 'too American' for an UK audience) they kicked off with the powerful threesome of: Stuck Between Stations, The Swish , and (new single) Chips Ahoy . My companion for the evening, Alison (who replaced Pete who seemed to think a holiday with his girlfrie...

Elliot talks Cars to Hub "If all we wanted was a ringer or someone who could step in and think of Rick, I wouldn't ask someone the caliber of Todd to do the job. We have higher standards and expectations for this band."

The latest issue of the IEEE's Spectrum Magazine has an article on DRM which includes a number of quotes from Todd. 'Rundgren believes traditional record companies are on a path to extinction. To survive, he says, they'll have to become more entrepreneurial, promote their artists better, and recoup their investments in artists by sharing in performance income or other ventures, not through selling recorded music.' “The reality of the music industry,” he said in a phone interview from Raleigh, N.C., “is that artists don't see money from their recordings; we capitalize on music we have recorded by going out and performing live. It is actually more worthwhile to give your music away—and make it up in terms of ticket sales.”

The latest issue of the IEEE's Spectrum Magazine has an article on DRM which includes a number of quotes from Todd. 'Rundgren believes traditional record companies are on a path to extinction. To survive, he says, they'll have to become more entrepreneurial, promote their artists better, and recoup their investments in artists by sharing in performance income or other ventures, not through selling recorded music.' “The reality of the music industry,” he said in a phone interview from Raleigh, N.C., “is that artists don't see money from their recordings; we capitalize on music we have recorded by going out and performing live. It is actually more worthwhile to give your music away—and make it up in terms of ticket sales.”

The new purchases from June: Kelly Clarkson - My December Bon Jovi - Lost Highway The Hooters - Hooterization The Housemartins - Best of Queens of the Stone Age - Era Vulgaris Jack Savoretti - Between the Minds Therapy? - Troublegum Paul McCartney - Memory Almost Full White Stripes - Icky Thump Dizzee Rascal - Maths + English Kate Rogers - Seconds

When I bought the Charlotte Hatherley album earlier this year my first thought was that it was one of the worst records I'd heard in some time. Thankfully, I have never been a first impressions are alway right person, so I gave it more time and found that it was in fact a pretty decent record. I must however confess to thinking that her voice is rather weak and weedy, a fact that didn't fill me with great expectations when the opportunity to see her perform an acoustic set live presented itself (as it turned out Hatherley was also accompanied on electric guitar by 'charly'). How wrong could I be. Playing a set that cherry picked the best tracks off the current album ( I want you to know, Behave, Be Thankful, Wounded Sky, Siberia , as well as throwing in old favourite Basardo and a few well choosen covers: Simon Dupree and the Big Sounds’- Kite , a Wire song that I recognised and have shamefully forgotten the title of ; and Kim Wilde’s - Kids in America , this was sur...

Part of the regular Thursday night at the club 'The Glitz', this week was Depeche Mode themed, with virtually all the music played by the DJ's outside of the sets by the band being by DM. Each band also threw in a cover or two in the spirit of the evening. I must confess I have gone along primarily to see Cassette , who have released one of my favourite singles of 2007 - The Smartest Bomb. They also turned out to be the best band of the evening in my opinion, wonderfully 80's synth heaven. Global Citizen was a bit odd. Musically not at all bad, but the bad Gary Newman esq. vocals really didn't do much for me and I was happy when his set had finished. The Problem Being all have different 80's haircuts and want to RAWK ... They were ok in a Sigue Sigue Sputnik naff kind of way, but I wont loose any sleep if I don't see and hear them again.

Neil Justin of PopMatters picks his top 10 musical moments and has a spot in it form Todd. Pat Metheny, Todd Rundgren and Taj Mahal, “Sunday Night” (1989): Those who saw NBC’s late-night experimental series are bound to agree with me that it was the finest musical show ever because it took more chances than a Flying Wallenda. I’ll never forget the night the band dressed up in sailors’ uniforms while unlikely geniuses teamed up for a medley from “HMS Pinafore.” Gilbert and Sullivan would have been proud