Todd is God

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