Todd is God

 I have always had a bit of a soft spot, both for country music and for female singer-songwriters so an opportunity to catch one of Country music's up and coming stars could not be passed up. Kacey Musgraves arrived on our shores in support of her 4th album (first on a major label) Same Trailer Different Park. An album I fell in love with immediately on its release and as we approach the year's end it still remains one of the best records released this year in my view. The evenings set-list was a mix of tracks from this album and a selection of interesting covers which highlight her own varied tastes in music, so we got covers of Screamin' Jay Hawkins' I Put a Spell on You, Bob Marley's Three Little Birds, Weezer's Islands in the Sun and The Cardigans' Love Fool It was a great night and held together by strong song writing and Musgraves' undoubted charm. A very enjoyable gig.   Set List The Trailer Song Stupid Silver Lining Island In T...

Siobhán Murphy of Ireland's Metro Herald made an interesting comment a month ago when reviewing the fourth studio album from John Legend, which she described as being mostly pedestrian contemporary r'n'b. She noted "one gets the distinct impression John Legend would rather be making records that sound like mid-1970s Stevie Wonder or Todd Rundgren."

Went to see Evarose last night at The Barfly. This is their first headline tour and the second time I have seen the band. They have had a bit of shit week as someone walked off with all the money they'd made from the tour thus far in Birmingham on Weds night, but they didn't let that hold them back last night. Musically they owe a lot to the likes of Paramore and Funeral for a Friend, but that is not necessarily  a bad thing, although I am hoping that as they further develop that they will develop a sound that is more 'their own'.  As it is, they have a handful of quality tunes which certainly make me hopeful for their future: Vice, We can Pretend Anyway, Best Left Alone. The audience too was a nice mix of mother and fathers with their young daughters, cool student types, and the more mature [OLD]  muso types like myself. What I do like is  their energy. Lead singer Dannika is a natural performer, and I have to admit I am a little bit in love with Conni...

Hollywood Reporter talk to TR about the use of the Badfinger song at end of Breaking Bad.  Having only just watched the first three episodes of Season one of BB, I'm a long way from this moment. 

As Autumn kicks in, why not hold onto summer with these six new releases: Arctic Monkeys - AM The 1975 - 1975 Roddy Hart & The Lonesome Fire - Roddy Hart & The Lonesome Fire Rizzle Kicks - Roaring 20s Summer Camp - Summer camp Nine Inch Nails - Hesitation Marks  

Now he has started, it seem you can't stop him - here is Todd doing a re-mix of Aussie Andy Bull's ‘Baby I Am Nobody Now’. Here is the original

TODD is a 4 hour documentary edited, produced & directed by musician and artist JSK (aka Jason Stuart Kamasz) chronicling the life of Todd Rundgren. The film is an entirely home-made project and is a non-profit work. The film is narrated by Todd himself having utilized audio from interviews spanning 40 years. Parts 2, 3 & 4 will be made available in weekly uploads. Part 2 September 17th Part 3 September 24th Part 4 October 1st

I'm going to see this guy live tomorrow. He has just released his 4th album (the first under full band: Roddy Hart and The Lonesome Fire, banner). Any man who managed to get both Kris Kristofferson and Eddi Reader to appear on his DEBUT album back in 2006 deserves respect in my book.

Here is our latest podcast. Reviews of: The Civil Wars - The Civil Wars Five Finger Death Punch - The Wrong Side of Heaven and the Righteious Side of Hell, Volume 1 Backstreet Boys - In a World Like This Gogol Bordello - Pura Vida Conspiracy Speedy Ortiz - Major Arcana AlunaGeorge - Body Music

Those who enjoyed the last podcast on here, will be pleased? to know that a new one will be posted here on Sunday. Up for discussion this month are new albums from: The Civil Wars, The Back Street Boys, Speedy Ortiz, Gogol Bordello, AlunaGeorge, and Five Finger Death Punch. Yes, that's Groove metal, UK dance, Indie, Boy band, Gypsy Punk, and Country/Folk all covered. We aim to be inclusive if nothing else.

Nice short interview with Kasim in Niagara Gazette Apparently Utopia were featured prominently on the cover of a recent issue of “Goldmine” magazine, and it included interviews with all the band members. It was one of the few times in recent years Todd has talked extensively about his former band. Which brought this classic quote from Kaz in the NG “I was pleasantly surprised at how generously he spoke about our history."

So I have a new song done. You can listen and download https://soundcloud.com/the-vineland/let-me-dance-you-1 or just watch the video!

A friend and I do a music review podcast for fun. This is the latest one wg=here we talk about the following new albums Queens of the Stone Age ...Like Clockwork Black Sabbath - 13 Transplants - In a Warzone KT Tunstall - Invisible Empire/Cresent Moon Camera Obscura - Desire Lines Disclosure - Settle Pet Shop Boys - Electric The one where reviewed Todd's State album is http://cttbmusic.libsyn.com/podcast-five-2013 You can subscribe in iTunes too so that you never miss a podcast https://itunes.apple.com/gb/podcast/cttb-music-podcast/id611136001?mt=2

Hour long interview with Todd talking about his latest album, his past, and what's next. Love his view that Major labels just do 'custodian work' now … and still love hearing him say 'music is a service, not a product'

The chance to see Todd live is always one I try not to miss, if for no other reason than, these days no one tour is like another. So since Todd started coming back to the UK more regularly we have had Todd with Ethyl, Todd doing Lounge greatest hits, Todd doing AWATS, Todd doing Arena (rock god Todd) and Todd doing Liars. No one tour has been like another, and I think it is fair to say the Official State tour keeps that trend going. The closest you could get to this version of Todd would have been the No World Order tour (and indeed a couple of tracks from that make it into the set). This gig was also going to be different from my usual experiences of Todd gigs because this time around I was going to meet the man himself. I had entered a competition run by 02 on their Facebook page, and found out on Thursday night that I was a winner and would be getting a few minutes with Todd. So at 7pm me and another guy met a member of Todd's UK promotions team who took us into the ven...

As Todd starts the UK leg of his Official State Tour, we have a couple of 3 Star reviews for his Scottish dates: Rob Adams of The Herald said (of Edinburgh Picture House gig)   " while it and the rather metallic sound quality of digital equipment made one hanker for five minutes of Rundgren singing at a grand piano, there was something almost mesmerising about what was billed grandly if humorously as the Official State Visit." Whilst concluding " good on him for moving with the times, even if technology can't always keep up with him." David Sinclair in The Times said (of Glasgow ABC gig) " To have so much of the performance pre-recorded was somewhat disconcerting. Isn't that what Steps do?" … before adding " the format came up trumps was in throwing the spotlight on Rundgren' s remarkably supple voice and cleverly engaging lyrics" he too concludes with praise for trying something new and moving with the times, saying you to ...

Rick Springfield has never been that big in the UK and Europe, which probably explains why it had taken him 28 years to return to UK shores for this gig. The last time he was in town it was in support of TAO, which coincidentally was an album that did well in Europe. I've always loved good pop/rock, so have been a fan of springfield since I bought the Living in Oz album back in 1983. I have wanted to see him live ever since, so I was not going to pass up on this long overdue opportunity. Would Rick be worth the wait? Would it all be a bit of a let down? Well before he took to the stage we had a young British band from Brighton to get us in the mood – Rubylux . Already with one album under their belts, which did better with critics than the record buying public, it was immediately apparent that this is a band who know how to blend 80s pop song writing sensibilities with that 90s indie rock attitude. Having subsequently listened to the band on record I think the band are curren...

Another interesting use of Todd samples (A Dream Goes on Forever and Elpees Worth of Tunes) in this song by a young british girl being tipped for big things