Todd is God

Anthony Quinn is today's Independent has an article about screams in songs. "When I think of my favourite moments in pop and rock, it's surprising quite how many of them can be distilled to a singer throwing his or her head back and letting rip a lung-bursting scream". His list of his top 10 includes Todd: 'LOVE IS THE ANSWER' Todd Rundgren I owe a debt here to Giles Smith, whose magisterial essay on Rundgren in his memoir Lost in Music first alerted me to this formative moment. This pop hymn originates from his experimental sideline outfit Utopia, on their 1977 album Oops! Wrong Planet, and features one of those gospel clap-along endings that would usually make me duck for cover. This being Todd, however, he sings over the crescendo like a man possessed, and on the line "If you need a friend" his voice cracks into an impassioned scream (time 3:02) the likes of which could probably never be repeated: believe me, I've tried

Funny how you can almost forget about bands. I saw FSM a couple of times back at the start of the naughties. It was the Buffy the Vampire Slayer soundtrack that introduced me to them and a few others - Bik Naked, Splendid, Rasputina. Those first two gigs were both at the Garage in Islington, and I remember James Marsters (Spike from Buffy) joining the band on stage that first time. No TV guests this time around, and the band are now relegated to a much smaller venue. With a 4th album out last year, showing that they still knew how to craft catchy pop/rock tunes, this was the first chance in around three and a half years fro UK fans to see the band. The set mostly comprised new material from @Hello it's Me'  and songs from their classic ' Thrown to the Wolves'. Also nice to see that their cover of the Cars' 'Just what I needed' is still in the set too. Highlights for me were 'Dilate', 'Pain' and 'Long Way Down'. Good solid support was ...

It's been a while since I listed the latest purchases on the music front, so here's a few things I have bought so far in 2008: Johnny Flynn and The Sussex Wit - Tickle me Pink (EP) Fatally Yours - An Almost Sacred Triumph Laura Marling - Alas I Cannot Swim (Songbox edition) Dolly Parton - Backwoods Barbie Vampire Weekend - Vampire Weekend Aretha Franklin - The Best of Aretha Franklin Adele - 19 New Young Pony Club - Fantastic Playroom Ingrid Michaelson - Girls & Boys Laura Barrett - Earth Sciences (EP) Alison Moorer - Mockingbird Shelby Lynne - Bob Mould - District Line Motley Crue - Dr Feelgood SaraBeth Tucek - Sarabeth Tucek Sia - Some People Have Real Problems Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds - Dig Lazarus Dig Blogged with the Flock Browser

Jamebase reviews the debut album from Liam Finn, son of Crowded House's Neil Finn, as says Forget that his dad is Neil Finn and just listen. This is the whole panoply of pop displayed with peacock flair. Liam Finn's debut, I'll Be Lightning (Yep Roc), has the mix of unbridled imagination and tasteful restraint one associates with debuts like Todd Rundgren's Runt and Nick Lowe's Jesus of Cool. But unlike those artists, Finn doesn't have a Nazz or Brinsley Schwarz under his belt to help him with the fundamentals. Apparently, this youngster just gets hooks and heart-strong verses in the way most of us understand breathing or walking - a natural, largely unconscious rightness that keeps things moving along nicely.

Tim Cain at the Illinois Herald & Review joins those who think Todd should be in the Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame. "The biggest problem with Rundgren’s career? He’s too talented ... Rundgren could have kept mining the “I Saw the Light”/”Hello It’s Me” style of song, and potentially been an American rival to Elton John on the pop charts for the rest of the 1970s. But he decided to go in other directions. Thus, he created an odd fan base - some loved his pop music, some loved the progressive rock direction he took, and a select few loved it all. (And if you get around any of those people - I know a couple of them - you’ll learn quickly that they love a lot of different kinds of music, and they’re extremely passionate about it.)" Yep...and I'm in that 'select few' group of people who have loved it all, and does - as those looking deeper into this blog would find - have very varied taste in music.

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I love this album - still available free on their website a year after I bought it. But to be honest, it is worth buying.

She may only be 18 but Laura Marling hit upon an interesting idea for the release of her debut album, Alas I can Swim. Why not offer a version that contained a free exclusive gig ticket, the cd and other goodies. Tonight's gig was the second London show to allow those in the south of the country redeem their free ticket, and on tonight's form I don't think she'll have much trouble selling tickets in the old fashioned way, even if her stage presence could do with a little work - she does seem to be staring intensely at a spot on the floor for most of her short set (surely not her lyrics?). But what matters most is the music, and as she reels off the tunes form her debut album one by one, it is hard not to reach the conclusion that you are witnessing someone with a lot of talent and frightening potential. Whilst her voice may lack some variety of emotion perhaps that it may find in a few years, it is still quietly powerful. The likes of Adele and Duffy may be taking m...

I thought this was kind of nice.

First gig of 2008, and it is hard to imagine a more enjoyable one than spending a few hours with Mr & Mrs Earle, some guitars, and a guy with a set of decks. Alison Moorer (Mrs E) kicks off things with a shortish, but wonderful set consisting of a couple of old songs, and a few numbers from her latest album of covers, including good versions of Joni Michell's, 'Both Sides Now' and Patti Smith's, 'Dancing Barefoot' (as originally produced by Todd on the album, Wave). I like Moorer's voive. Like that of her sister Shelby - whose new album is also due in the next couple of months - it has a clean soulful quality. This is particularly highlighted by her choice of finishing song, Sam Cooke's 'A Change Is Gonna Come'. That she does it justice and then some with just voice and guitar sets the bar high for husband Steve. This is the third time, I have seen Earle, but the first time without the Dukes. Can he hold his own just acoustically? Hell yes. W...

Another good interview with Todd, this time from Jam He talks more about the problem with The New Cars "We had an essential problem and that was the member of The Cars who opted not to go on the road also opted not to use the name The Cars," he says. "If we were called The Cars, people would've said, 'Oh, we know who they are. But who the hell are The New Cars?' It just didn't make any sense. It didn't make sense to go to a place and sell fewer tickets than if I was there by myself." About how he is not a big fan of justin timberlake "Nowadays, the price of admission for a new artist is so huge and spent on such stupid things like dance lessons and hiring six keyboard players," he says. "And it's kind of pitiful because the music is awful. I mean Justin Timberlake? Give me a break. He writes a verse, that's it. He writes a verse and the verse becomes the chorus and it just goes on forever." And in still firmly believi...

Just after Christmas I heard about Sarabeth Tucek, and how Bob Dylan liked her etc, so I thought I'd check out her debut album co-produced by Ethan Johns (Kings of Leon/Ryan Adams) and Luther Russell. I was impressed. Impressed enough to take this opportunity to catch her in one of a number of small venue gigs in the uk this month. For my £6, I also got two support acts, who are also worthy of a mention. First up was Helen Boulding - a piano based singer songwriter, who actually reminded me at times of Jill Sobule. Youth produced her debut album - New Red Dress - which comes out on 11th February Next up was Tom McKean And The Emperors. Tom is a Scotish cross between Nick Cave and Tom Waits, with a fine collection of Folk tinged tunes, and is another artist who will be one to watch over the next few years. And so to Sarabeth. When she was good - Holy Smoke, Come Back Baloon, Blowing Kisses, Nobody Cares, Hot Tears, and Something for You, she was very good. BUT, she is quiet - too qu...

Billboard talks to Todd about the new album and the New Cars: On the new 'arena rock' album: Rundgren says he's got "a few" songs already written for the project, and he plans to start working in earnest on it in early February, after he finishes his current North American concert tour. "I write in a very strange way," he explains. "Things are very fragmentary for a very long time, and then they come together very quickly near the end of the process. I don't even write the lyrics to the songs until immediately before I (record) them." On the New Cars: "We couldn't get the rights to use the name the Cars, and the New Cars just confused everybody," Rundgren explains. "We didn't want to have to start all over again. And I've got my own music and my own audience; I had no reason to start trying to begin a new career with another band."

My regular reader - yes, that's you Mr Marquis - will be interested in this one from the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle. Rundgren's voting Hillary Clinton, because Barack Obama's brand of hope "can't get us out of this mess. "I look at politics as a subset of sociology," he says. "It's about this aspect of people's behavior that involves empowerment, where people are essentially motivated by things that all human beings possess inside them, and is moderated by the social contract." In other words, if our behavior is wired to allow for the Gordon Gecko credo of "greed is good," as the 1987 film Wall Street famously illustrated, "then people will be greedy," Rundgren says. "You can see it in the chipmunk who seems about to make its head explode with the number of acorns in its mouth, and still it's trying to get another one in. "If you are on the right side of the capitalistic equation, you can talk a lo...

Sam Richards in yesterday's Guardian Guide put out a call to 'Rescue Todd Rundgren from AOR purgatory' "1973's A Wizard, A True Star: an astonishing Technicolor carnival that touched on psych rock, bubblegum pop, prog, Broadway show tunes and Philly soul. It was harmonically richer and more ambitiously deranged than The White Album and prefigured Prince's Purple Rain by a decade, but Rolling Stone called it a "campy catastrophe" and Rundgren was branded a pasticheur" Todd is God

Album of the year is never easy and this year in no exception: The Hold Steady, Bruce Springsteen, Steve Earle, The Weakerthans ... but this years winner has to be: 1. Grinderman - Grinderman: Nick Cave and selected Bad Seeds create a side project for some down and dirty blues based noise. Not an easy record, but this really shouldn't be this good. Raw, funny, fuzzy, genius. The rest of my top 20, in no particular order, are: 2. The Hold Steady - Boys & Girls in America: I have to thank JR for turning me on the THS. He named it as a favourite from last year (came out in US then and in the UK this year). Pub rock wrote large, THS are an everyman band. However, make no mistake they have the songs too. 3. Bruce Springsteen - Magic: Bruce rocks again. Like many I had worried that he another great rock album in him, but this is excelllent stuff. Not really a duff track on the whole thing. 4. The Weakerthans - Reunion Tour: Like the Hold Steady, a band with a habbit of writing ca...

My gig of the year this year was pretty much a no-brainer, it has to be Prince. 1. Prince - O2 Arena: Yes, he may be a weird fucker off stage but put him on stage and the guy just has it (whatever 'it' is). This gig was at the tail end of his 21 night stint in London, and the general consensus was that the guy rocks. Yes, there are some duff songs - but this was mainly a Prince plays the 'hits' concert and some of those songs are pretty damn good. And the rest - in no particular order - were: 2. The Hold Steady - Borderline / Shepherds Bush Empire / Electric Ballroom: Yes, Ok, so I am cheating a bit here, by counting all three HS gigs as one entry. If you still haven't either got into this band or seen them live, where have you been?! Recording a new album and due back in the UK in Summer 2008. If you like bands to look like they are enjoying and love what they do on stage, I urge you to go and see them. 3. Scorpions - Apollo Hammersmith: Seriously, who would have...

Picking singles is the hardest thing these days, with track downloads, and I have no doubt missed some horrible pop tunes that should be on here, but this list is still pretty good. These are in no particular order, after the top 5, which have all been my favourite of the year at some point in 2007, and I still couldn't decide who should have the overall crown. 1. Cassette - The Smartest Bomb : I am probably on a the few people that actually bought this, but I love it. It is very 80s in its sound, but it just really works for me. 2. Bruce Spingsteeen - Radio Nowhere : The first signs that the Boss was back and playing some classy, catchy rock again. 3. Funeral for a Friend - Into Oblivion (Reunion) : 4. Foo Fighters - The Pretender : Let's make no mistake, when the FF are good, they are very good; and this single is true class. 5. Public Enemy - Harder than you Think : Not sure where they've sampled the horns from on this, but couple with Chuck D in full flow, thi...

Whilst I am not a huge fan of welsh rockers, FFF , I do think they are one of the better band of the ilk around these days, so felt they could be worth a punt live. Of course this being a Saturday at the Astoria, meant that the gig had to be done and dusted by 9.45pm so that G.A.Y. could take over. As a result FFF were on stage by around 8.20. First the complaints. Singer Matt Davies can hold a tune, so why have his vocals drowned in the mix so much? Also, for me anyway, the set list could have been better. speaking of the Set List, I cannot replicate it here (although I will list the songs I remembering being played, if for no other reason than the forum people on their site apparently don't want people talking about them on there as it may spoil the surprise. What a load of bollocks.