Todd is God

Don't know about elsewhere but in UK, the release of the new Todd album has slipped until next week - was originally due out today. Slightly annoying. 

Martin Townsend of the Sunday Express Newspaper says of Global:- "EVEN a partial return to form by Rundgren, one of the finest singer/songwriters of the past 40 years, would have been a revelation. But Global, his 25th solo album, turns out to be a gem."

Tidal launched or (re)launched yesterday - here's  my take on my other blog, and here's a reason why you might want to, at least, trial it for a month: According to NME "there are playlists curated by Arcade Fire, Jay Z, Beyoncé and Coldplay, plus a preview of Todd Rundgren’s new collaboration with Lindstrøm and Emil Nikolaisen." maybe a reason to sign up for the free month and then cancel. There is a press release too with more on the album  “It’s almost like a train ride, going through little towns, big cities and rural fields, giant thresholds over great valleys, through mountain tunnels and things like that. The only way I can characterize it is like this journey, and it’s of such a character that it doesn’t have the typical linearity to it.” - TR In other news the latest issue of Q Magazine does NOT have a review of the new Todd album (unless it was well hidden) .

Black Sabbath: Symptom of the Universe Mick Wall St. Martin’s Press Pub Date : Apr 14 2015 This book seems to have originally come out back in 2013, so I’m not totally sure if this is just a re-issue or just a new version? Not sure. Anyway. Growing up in the midlands during the 1970’s and early 80’s it was impossible not to be aware of Black Sabbath. My first exposure to them was through my brother who owned their first few albums. It was initially a bit too bleak for my then young ears, and it wasn’t until  Paranoid  that I saw anything to like –  WarPigs, Iron Man  and  NIB  would then quickly become favourites. However, if I’m honest my first real ‘love’ in Sabbath terms was when Ronnie James Dio joined the band, and Heaven and Hell and Mob Rules came out. I loved both of these records. It was only later that I really stated to get into the original Ozzy period more earnestly and diligently. I came to this book knowing some of the story ...

UK Music mag Mojo reviews the new album 'Global' giving it just two stars and comments "Rundgren remains unpredictable, Impressively so, but he is better than this." Meanwhile Todd tell's Billboard (who have a stream of the track Rise) where the album was coming from lyrically:- "Most of my albums have been insular and about self-examination, and this is a little more about the collective and the issues that face everybody. I wanted to make a record that was sort of simultaneously like a cheerleading record but at the same time not letting anyone forget that we have issues that can only be addressed collectively."

Apr 26, 2015, 7:30 p.m. ET   Hard Rock Rocksino Northfield Park - Hard Rock Live, Northfield, OH https://screen.yahoo.com/live/event/todd-rundgren Promoted with a great clip of Black Maria 

Toro Y Moi releases What For?  this week an album the record's press release describes as . “The music is influenced by bands like Big Star, Talking Heads, Tim Maia, Todd Rundgren, but it doesn’t quite sound like any of them in particular. And it isn’t trying to. It has that special something that Chaz imbues in every Toro Y Moi album, his personal filter on the world he experiences”

These are the five albums that have made the most impression on me so far in 2015. Female voices to the fore, and still waiting for first real 'rock' fix. BC Camplight - How to Die in the North Susanne Sundfor -   10 Love Songs Nathalie Prass - Nathalie Prass Allison Moorer - Down To Believing The Unthanks - Mount the Air

Loring Wirbel from the Colorado Springs Independent describes parts of the new Kendrick Lamar album - To Pimp a Butterfly -   to Todd.  "The keyboards and wild sax riffs add a collage-like quality that sometimes suggests a hip-hop version of Todd Rundgren's A Wizard, A True Star.... A genuine magnum opus."

Erol Alkan , London-based electro DJ , is already working on a remix of the Runddans album 

New Book : It's a collection of 55 essays previously featured in Epiphanies, a column which has been running in magazine the Wire since 1998, and over that time its contributors have each written about singular moments of musical realisations.  The Collection includes an essay by Edwin Pouncey (AKA Savage Pencil ) on Todd Rundgren's sweet soul music.  Pouncey, as well as being in bands in his youth, was also responsible for album covers for bands such as the Fall and Sonic Youth  

Pop, Rock and Country all in the mix this month. Susanne Sundfor - 10 Love Songs Father John Misty - I love You, Honeybear Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds - Chasing Yesterday Charli XCX - Sucker The Shires - Brave Black Star Riders - The Killer Instinct       Check out this episode!

There is a piece on Todd and a review of Global in the May edition of Uncut Magazine. In the article he mentions that he's been working on a collaboration with The Roots (their music , his vocals and guitar), and signing on as choir-master forthe stage adaptation of Bat out of Hell. Of Global he says sees it "like an '80s record, at the point where new wave moves into synth pop, like Depeche Mode or something." The review of the album gives it 6/10 saying 'he always wants to explore idiosyncratic digital terrains:admirable but ... not always convincing" Singles out Earth Mother, Soothe, Blind and Holyland as highlights.

Reuters reports that the U.S. Supreme Court on Monday declined to revive a lawsuit by singer-songwriter Todd Rundgren and his wife Michele accusing JPMorgan Chase of wrongfully attempting to foreclose on the couple's Kilauea, Hawaii home.  The court's rejection of the couple's appeal lets stand a lower court's dismissal of their claims for damages and an order to stop a foreclosure sale.

This one comes from BAM South and concludes: “Global” is a strange, but vital, mix of party anthems, dance tracks and foreboding warnings. I believe this particular record has a very good chance of being one of Rundgren’s most successful in years because it is accessible while simultaneously retaining the quirky and brilliant individuality which is the modus operandi of all Todd Rundgren work."

A Limited edition 12" single of Todd Rundgren / Lindstrom / Emil Nikolaisen - Put Your Arms Around Me will be released for this year's RSD.

Rolling Stone (Australia) has an interview with Tobias Jesso Jr. , a Canadian singer songwriter (who he counts Taylor Swift and Adele as fans) whose debut album, Goon , they claim is one of the most anticipated of the year. Clearly if I am mentioning this at all you know that he must mention Todd, and he does. With its sunny melodies and heartsick subject matter, Goon earned comparisons to Harry Nilsson, Nick Drake, Randy Newman and Todd Rundgren – artists Jesso wasn't even familiar with. "I wasn't a big music-digger," he admits. "When it came to oldies stuff, I didn't know Todd Rundgren and Harry Nilsson and stuff like that, but when I was writing, J.R. [White] would say, 'I get this Todd Rundgren vibe.' He would send me those songs, and then I'd learn the chords." Still, Jesso says, he wants a contemporary record and plans to move away from the throwback.

The Yahoo Music blog has one of the best discussions on the terrible 'Blurred Lines' court decision yesterday (now being appealed), and mentioned Todd in doing so: "Was Christina Aguilera paying tribute to or stealing from the Andrews Sisters with “Candyman”? Should the Beatles have sued the Knickerbockers for “Lies”? Or the Rutles, the Dukes of Stratosphere, and Todd Rundgren’s Utopia, all of whom recorded delectable Beatles soundalike albums, with varying degrees of straight faces? " In case you missed it, Blurred Lines songwriters – Pharrell Wiliams, TI and Thicke – have already been ordered to pay Marvin Gaye’s family $7.3m in damages for the infringement. Now lawyers say they want to stop sales of the song altogether. Now it seems the lawyers representing Gaye’s family, want to prevent further sales of the song until songwriting/future royalties sorted out. They told Rolling Stone: “We’ll be asking the court to enter an injunction prohibiting the fur...

Tuesday's The Albany Herald (Georgia) had a nice interview with Ernie Isley of the Isley Brothers, where he mentioned Todd. Does it bother you that some of your songs may be better known by other artists’ versions? "It’s a feather in our cap. It’s just like us doing Seals and Crofts’ “Summer Breeze” or Todd Rundgren’s “Hello It’s Me.” We all like that. I ran into Todd in California when he was doing an interview and stuck my head in the door. I said, “Hello, it’s me.” We both had a big laugh at that."

Todd gets a passing mention in a review of new Taylor Locke album - Time Stands Still. According to Scottish Daily Express today the influences included The Beatles and The Cars. "But there is also a Laurel Canyon vibe going on, especially on breezy opener Burbank Woman, which has a Jackson Browne/Todd Rundgren feel to it."