Todd is God

So, we are already into month three of 2014, so has any album yet staked a claim to be an early contender for album of the year? I'm still waiting for an album to really make me sit up and take notice, but the closest so far is the latest album from St Vincent - St Vincent .  It is a eclectic and inventive album that reminds me of listening to Prince at his best, and you can also hear the influence of Talking Heads/Art of Noise I have a feeling this will have the staying power to be in the mix come the end of the year, as it is a record that gives up more on each listen.

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David Pack latest album  "David Pack's Napa Crossroads" apparently features Todd among others (Alan Parsons, Ray Manzarek.) For those who don't remember Pack, he used to lead the band Ambrosia. )

The Guardian's regular New Band of the Day feature featured a guy called Ted Zed last week. He is a young British guy trying to make adventurous pop. He sounds quite interesting - oh, and he's a HUGE todd fan.

February Blues? or name Carole? - if so, we recorded a podcast on your birthday esp for you - Country, Death Metal and Grime/Dub you say? We got 'em. New albums from  @thedavidcrosby   @ rosannec ash   @BehemothBand  @WTofficial  @KatyB  @Ibreakhorses Check out this episode!

So pleased to see the wondeful Roddy Hart and the Lonesome Fire get their US TV debut. Great band, great record and Roddy's a lovely bloke too

Ok, so this isn't anything to do with music at all, but I don't think it is possible for this clip of Dallas sportscaster Dale Hansen to be over posted/promoted. Without a doubt one of the best moments of broadcasting from any country for a long time. All hail Dale.

Pitchfork have news of Runddans to new collaborative album coming our way this summer. It is the result of a link up between Todd and Norwegian DJ and producer Lindstrøm and felow Norwegian Emil Nikolaisen of alt-rock band Serena-Maneesh. Sounds like they will be doing some of the European festivals this summer too.

Pitchfork has a great piece celebrating Ten years of The Hold Steady, including the obvious tensions between Tad Kubler and Craig Finn. A great read and really looking forward to Teeth Dreams coming out nexy month. Also, I love the cover of Kiss's Hard Luck Woman off the Recent Covers EP

Jason Isbell – Southeastern The 4th solo record from the ex Drive by Trucker. It is a beautiful record. Songs about cancer, sex abuse and other little ditties. It passed me by during 2013 but its appearance on many of the top 50 albums of year lists (often in the top 20) drew it to my attention. Well worth checking out. Dum Dum Girls – Too True Think this is the 3rd album from Dee Dee Penny and the girls. This sort of sub Blondie pop-rock always appeals to me. Short and sweet songs, album done in 30 minutes. Doesn't outstay its welcome. Hailstorm - The Strange Case Of... Think this album came out either early 2013 or late 2012. It's not perfect but has just enough fun metal with strong riffs to make it worthwhile. Lizzy Hale is an engaging front woman too.

Been a fan of Ingrid Michaelson for quite a while as she knows how to write clever catchy pop tunes. Her latest continues that trend. You may want to hate this but after a couple of listens resistance is futile. You will find yourself humming it. The sly dig at the old Robert Palmer videos is also as nice touch. Official Music Video for Ingrid's Single "Girls Chase Boys" from the upcoming album "Lights Out"

It seems I missed the Blog's 10th Birthday last month. I started this blog back on the 18th Jan 2004. I started off with a moan about Patronet and news of a new album - Liars. So, let's have some Todd to celebrate

Bizarre promo for Todd Uploaded by RundgrenRadio to YouTube This is from a 1972 movie called "Intersection" that to our knowledge was never released. It's about a 20 minute movie and this is the only part Todd is in and it's just a video.

Great interview on backstreets.com with Steven Van Zandt ahead of Bruce Springsteen and E Street band's South Africa gigs - the first time Bruce has played there. It is a great interview and very revelaing when he talks about Paul Simon And he says, “What are you doing defending this guy Mandela?! He’s obviously a communist. My friend Henry Kissinger told me about where all of the money’s coming from,” and all of this. I was, like, all due respect, Paul… But he had that attitude, and he knowingly and consciously violated the boycott to publicize his record....Yeah, and he actually had the nerve to say, “Well, I paid everybody double-scale.” Remember that one? Oh, that’s nice... no arrogance in that statement, huh?

Robin Zander tell Roger Hillis of the Daily Times that Todd might produce a few tracks ion the next Cheap Trick record: "Actually, I was just talking to Todd Rundgren, and he may do a few tracks. I've been talking to Julian Raymond, too," Zander said. "What I'd like to do is have a bunch of the producers we've worked with in the past produce a couple songs each. We've worked with so many incredible producers, like Roy Thomas Baker and George Martin. Unfortunately, George has retired from doing studio work, but we've also done stuff with Geoff Emerick. We've also talked about possibly doing a 'guests' record where we invite some of our musician friends like Dave Grohl to play with us." The Wire has a review of the new album from Zanois - "Selfie" which mentioned Todd: "Prog-pop is unjustly overlooked and it's a shame. Zanois may be the genre's only practitioners in New Hampshire, and despite a lack of att...

Kate McGarry's latest record (with Keith Ganz) features a cover of Todd Rundgren's 'Pretending to Care' featuring Gian Slater and Theo Bleckmann on vocals.

A new year begins and Pete and Scott are stiil talking about albums from 2013 ... until Bruce Vampire Weekend - Modern Vampires of the City Placebo - Loud like Love Bruce Springsteen - High Hopes BBC Sound of 2014: Sam Smith, Ella Eyre, Banks, Sampha, George Ezra.  Check out this episode!

I may be the only person to point this out, but London artist Sampha ( co-wrote and sang on half of producer SBTRKT ’s acclaimed debut album in 2012) has a sound on his recent DUAL Ep that is very reminiscent musically and production-wise/arrangement-wise of early 70s Todd Rundgren. Here is an example of what I'm talking about -   I like this EP a lot.

Todd and the members of Ringo's All Star B and on the importance of music education in schools. As part of support for Todd's new Spirit of Harmony charity project to help schools access musical instruments and teaching again.