- MARTY HUGHLEY of The Oregonian (19 December) has Liars as on of his albums of the year: - "Todd Rundgren, "Liars" (Sanctuary): "The truth is like chasing a phantom," Rundgren sings in the opening of this thematic song cycle. But with the veteran pop visionary delivering his most tuneful and cohesive album in years, even phantoms might find themselves drawn to this. Dishonesty -- emotional, political, intellectual, theological -- is his subject here, and he is by turns idealistic, righteously indignant and ruminative. The tracks update his Beatles- esque sound with techno, drum 'n' bass and R&B elements. But he's at his most affecting when he keeps the melodies at the fore and his judgmental eye turned inward".
- Thad Brown has written a very useful article in Electronic Musician (Volume 20; Number 13) on how to use the internet to promote your music. the article concentrates on telling the reader "how audio is compressed, how to choose an appropriate compression format, and how to write the basic HTML code for adding audio to your Web page". Well worth a read and mentions Todd too.
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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