Todd is God

I decided on a whim over the weekend to purchase Aslyn - "Lemon Love" and I have to agree the review from Shane Harrison that there is indeed "plenty to admire" about this album which is a wonderfully enjoyable pop record which harks back to Todd, Jill Sobule, and Elton. There area couple of slightly ropey tunes but, all in all, a pleasing debut from a young lady who should have a long career ahead.

The latest issue of Mix mentions Todd. "Future Sonics founder/president Marty Garcia's work in the live sound biz started in 1979, when he opened regional sound company Crystal Sound, which would become Crystal-Taylor Sound. Garcia notes that client Todd Rundgren was getting great monitor sound in halls and theaters, but had problems in arena-sized venues; when Rundgren had to sing out over the roar of instruments onstage, vocal fatigue would follow. Crystal Sound's custom wedge-based monitor rig and console sounded so great to Rundgren that the artist bought it and brought Garcia on tour for the next five years to run it — while still developing custom-built transducers into ear pieces. Fast-forward to 1991: Garcia sold Crystal-Taylor Sound and founded Future Sonics. What's in the company's future? Products that will “blend in” with professional and consumer interests. Think MP3s and iPods."

Shane Harrison reviews the debut album from Aslyn - "Lemon Love" in Atlanta Journal-Constitution today (29 March 2005) saying that there is "plenty to admire" about album which packs in the influences, which "Depending on your chronological frame of reference, you'll hear traces of Elton John, Todd Rundgren, the Beatles, Lenny Kravitz or Nelly Furtado in these songs, most of them written by the fetchingly curly-haired Aslyn. And her sweet voice has just enough grit to give the tunes a touch of blue-eyed soul" Todd also got a mention in the New York Times (27th March 2005) - or at least in the letters page where David Vawter of Orchard Lake, Mich. responded to an article called 'Home sweet studio' by saying that "Without taking anything away from Bruce Springsteen's magnificent ''Nebraska,'' the precedent for a home studio providing the atmosphere for a young artist to find his or her sound was set back in 1972, whe...

Rick Reger has a review of the new Eels album - Blinking Lights and Other Revelations - in the Chicago Tribune (22March 2005) calling it the Eels "leanest, most retrained effort to date". He goes on to say "From the bleakly beautiful folk waltz of "I'm Going to Stop Pretending That I Didn't Break Your Heart" to the Todd Rundgren-ish piano ode "Ugly Love," the CD is a cornucopia of understated treasures"

The Elmira Star-Gazette (17 March 2005) had a Most overlooked artist by the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame vote and came up with the following: - The Monkees Neil Diamond The Ventures The Sex Pistols Black Sabbath NRBQ The Hollies Todd Rundgren Alice Cooper Iggy & the Stooges

U2, the Pretenders, Buddy Guy, the O'Jays, and Percy Sledge, as well as touring business architect Frank Barsalona and Sire Records head Seymour Stein as non-performers were all inducted into the Rock n Roll Hallof Fame today. Hard to argue with any of them as far as I am concerned. But my one loyal reader J, asks me 'do you think Todd will ever get his rightful spot in the Rock 'n Roll Hall of Fame?' Last year Todd was asked the question and told the Scotsman that it was for guys who were dead or retired; and told the Australian Financial Review that if they put him in, the citation would say "If elected, will not serve". I have to say, if I am honest, I think the dead or retired route is the one that will probably take him in; but it would be good to see it happen before then.

The Bristol Evening Post has an interview with the wonderful Jill Sobule who is in the UK for a handfull of gigs to promote new album 'Victorious Underdog' and both Todd and Joe get mentioned Her first album [Things here are different'] was a critical success but this was not reflected in commercial sales. "I think on that first album I hadn't really developed properly. I didn't really know who I was. It was a strange album. It was produced by Todd Rundgren. Todd's a great guy but he's crazy and he doesn't have many of the social graces. "I mean, like it was the first time I had ever been in a studio and I would sing my first track and over the speaker you would hear 'Alright, that was adequate, let's move on to the next song'. "So then I decided for my second record that Joe Jackson was going to produce me and that never came out." I have mentioned this before, but 'Things here are Different' is a wonderful recor...

Good news folks, the Joe Jackson/Todd Rundgren tour is hiting UK shores in May. The first set will consist of a 20 minute solo acoustic performance by string quartet Ethel , followed by 45-60 minute solo acoustic set performed by Joe Jackson, followed by a 45-60 minute set by Todd Rundgren. Finally, Todd and Joe will perform together with the string quartet backing them up for an extended encore. Was worried that after last year, we may not see Todd back here for a while, so this is good news, and with the promise of a more 'best of' selection of material may please some of those people who just moaned constantly about last years Liars tour set.

Today's Philadelphia Inquirer has a review of the the eponymous debut CD from A Girl Called Eddy , the nom de pop of Jersey Shore native and former Philly resident Erin Moran. "these 11 songs - highlighted by the heartbreaking ballad "Kathleen" and the windswept relationship postpartum "Tears All Over Town" - recall artists of that era, such as Dusty Springfield and Todd Rundgren, while echoing contemporaries Beth Orton and Aimee Mann" Sounds like someone that's worth checking out .

According to the Hollywood Reporter Todd Rundgren has signed a wide-ranging three-year agreement with Sanctuary Group that covers the full spectrum of his creative talents as musician, producer, songwriter and technology consultant. Under the terms of the pact, Rundgren will give at least one new studio solo album to Sanctuary; that project likely will be released in fourth-quarter 2006 or early 2007. He also is licensing 13 previous solo album and sets by his band Utopia to the company. There also will be multiple live DVD/CD projects. The first two will be devoted to a spring acoustic tour to be co-headlined by Joe Jackson and a 30th anniversary Utopia tour (!) next year.

From Billboard 2 Feb Former Pavement frontman Stephen Malkmus will release his third solo album May 24 via Matador. The 11-track "Face the Truth" includes the track "It Kills," a live version of which was recorded with his backing band, the Jicks, and released last fall on Matador's "At Fifteen" compilation. "I did more of it myself, a little bit like the old Pavement records," Malkmus told Billboard.com last September. "Because the studio was in my basement, I took the helm. I pretty much engineered it myself; punching in with my toe, Todd Rundgren-style."

DONNIE MOORHOUSE of the 'Republican' (Springfield, MA) listed his favourite CD's by local artists in 'Live Wire Awards honor top local CDs ' (6 Jan) Included was: "Michael Ferry "Ferry Tales" - With production from Jerry Marotta (Hall and Oates, Elvis Costello) and Ferry's introspective songwriting, this acoustic offering is a treasure. Includes a cover of Todd Rundgren's "The Wheel." Available at cdbaby.com"

From Construction News (3 Feb) "Oslo, Norway: Plumber Todd Rundgren, 44, has been charged with secretly filming his neighbours when they were using the toilet and in the shower.Rundgren told police he had filmed his neighbours through their bathroom windows by mistake, saying his intention was to film the sunset." How could I NOT share this piece of information!

Todd Rundgren's - 'Liars' is one of a host of albums set to be released on dualdisc . Following an impressive debut over Christmas more than 25 additional titles on DualDisc, an exciting new double-sided music entertainment product that combines audio and video content on a single disc, are set to be released: - The first side of every DualDisc containing a full audio album, and the second (DVD side) providing the same album in enhanced sound (such as 5.1 Surround Sound), along with such multimedia features as music videos, documentary footage, photo galleries, web links, and so on, DualDisc was created to bring the fan even closer to the creative artistic process. DualDisc will add an exciting new dimension to the consumer's musical experience. One disc, two experiences.

The St Petersburg Times (23 January) has an interview with Amy Grant where when asked what music she was into growing up says " Jethro Tull's Thick as a Brick was my favourite record for a long time. I loved Todd Rundgren ..." Incidentally, if you don't own Grant's 1988 album 'Lead me On' - why not?!? And saying you're not religious or christian is not an excuse, because neither am I. A classic of singer songwriter girlie folk pop/rock.

Todd Rundgren - Liars Velvet Revolver - Contraband Steve Earle - Revolution Starts Now Brian Wilson - Smile The Ordinary Boys - Over the Counter Culture Morrissey - You are the Quarry Kings of Convenience - Riot on a Quiet Street REM - Around the Sun Jesse Malin - The Heat Sarah McLachlan - Afterglow

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 choos...

Tom Cox in Saturday's Times has some interesting things to say about the iPod culture and the 'death' (?) of the album as we know it. " I've been downsizing my record collection recently. Considering that the aim is to make listening a completely fuss-free pleasure, it's been a rather time consuming task so far, involving the jettisoning of superfluous pap and the transferring of my favourite tracks from CD and LP to the iTunes program on my Apple Mac. It's also a somewhat sobering one, as I plough through several thousand albums, coming to the conclusion that a third of their content is either unloved or plain unlistened to ... Some people say iPod culture is killing the beauty of the album format. I see it differently. The DIY editing potential of iTunes rids us of valuable time taken up by filler tracks and, hopefully, will have the knock-on effect of making bands a bit more discerning in the studio. Still, the pruning process is a difficult one, and,...

The AGE has a review of the Czars new album - Goodbye (****) Sophie Best says: "From the soap-opera prelude - a melodramatic piano intro to the title track, which lurches from trip-hop poise to drama-charged, Todd Rundgren -esque epic and back again - Goodbye is a strange, surprising and lovely trip. There's something decidedly old-fashioned about this album, for all its modernity. In its grandiosity and passionate romanticism, Goodbye is akin to Rufus Wainwright and Richard Hawley's work, with echoes of Roy Orbison, ELO, the Flaming Lips and Grandaddy"

Billboard magazine's inaugural Digital Entertainment Awards taked place 5 November. The Awards will serve as the finale of the Billboard Digital Entertainment Conference , at which Todd Rundgren will deliver a keynote address