A Wizard, A True Star: Edsel Rolls Out Todd Rundgren Catalogue Overhaul

-> theseconddisc.com/2011/09/12

He’s been called a wizard, a true star, even God. But by any name, Todd Rundgren is one of music’s most enduring iconoclasts. Not merely content to rest on his early career laurels as a purveyor of top-tier AM pop (“Hello, It’s Me,” “I Saw the Light”) the restless musician has followed his muse from one direction to another over 40+-years, taking in soul (of the Philadelphia and blue-eyed varieties), pop, prog rock, jazz, funk, arena rock, avant-garde experimentalism, a cappella, musical comedy and even operetta! And that’s just naming a few of the styles Todd Rundgren has mastered as an artist.

Dr. Dog - My Old Ways

2007

New cd Fruit Bats - Tripper



Released: August 2, 2011 -> subpop.com

 With the 2001 release of the Fruit Bats’ debut album, Echolocation, Eric D. Johnson embarked on a career in music that has, to date, included ten years with the Fruit Bats, sideman duties for bands including Califone, Vetiver and The Shins, and more recently, soundtrack work for films like Ceremony and the soon-to-be-released Paul Rudd comedy Our Idiot Brother. Tripper, the new and fifth Fruit Bats full-length, was recorded at WACS Studio in Los Angeles with Thom Monahan

More on YouTube: Fruit Bats - So Long (& more songs from Tripper CD)

STILL BEAUTIFUL AND HARMONIOUS

[The Beach Boys w/ On the Hunt, The Blue Dogs @ Mount Pleasant Hospital. Sun., Oct. 10]

Charleston musician David Stewart developed a deep love for the Beach Boys in elementary school.

2010-10-05
Blue Dogs make the case for California pop legends the Beach Boys

+ The Blue Dogs Biography

'ADZ'MAY BE STEVENS BEST YET

Sufjan Stevens has a new cd!

Frenetic waves of cascading glitch electronics abruptly end as soon as they seem to start. Swirling psychedelic soundscapes envelope the listener with warmth and somewhere, just outside of the mix, one can hear the familiar comfort and vulnerability of every Sufjan Stevens’ song of the past decade.

2010-10-04 ADZ review
Official site

Listen:
> Sufjan Stevens - I Want To Be Well
> Sufjan Stevens - Futile Devices

SONIC CIRCUITS INTERVIEW: FENNESZ ON SURFING, TECHNOLOGY, AND THE ELEMENTS

Last night’s Sonic Circuits show at the Strathmore Mansion was a treat—and not just because the dark, wooden walls of the arts center’s music room complemented the string-based openers

2010-09-22
washingtoncitypaper.com/blogs/artsdesk/music/2010/09/22/sonic-circuits-interview-fennesz-on-surfing-technology-the-elements/

The High Llamas - Rotary Hop - cover

A cover from the High Llamas cd "Beat Maize & Corn" (2003)

2010 by Yani Martinelli and Chas Lee Violet

2003 written by Sean O'Hagen &?



Rotary Hop - cover

BEAR’ HUGS A-LIST STARS EMBRACE HUMBLE BROOKLYN BAND GRIZZLY BEAR

The harder Brooklyn band Grizzly Bear dodge fame, the more famous fans they attract.

Jay-Z and wife Beyoncé came to the group’s set by the Williamsburg waterfront last year, after which Jay told the Post: “It was beautiful. They played right in front of the Empire State Building.”

20-Jun-2010 TYLER GRAY

Bear’ hugs

+ more pics

DUELING CRITICS: TEENAGE FANCLUB, SHADOWS

Jocelyn Hoppa and Denise Sullivan debate the merits of Shadows, the new release by Teenage Fanclub.



June 10, 2010
Denise Sullivan, Jocelyn Hoppa


crawdaddy.com/index.php/2010/06/10/
dueling-critics-teenage-fanclub-shadows/

"I Y S" by The Man From Another Place

This very relaxing tune has a video now!
(Check out the label)

2009 Written by Daniel Hirst





I Y S

LARSEN B (No 804)

The album Musketeer is released by Old Radio Tunes on 5 July.(Album cover in Smiley/Rousseau style!)
These Home Counties lads play grandiose music with a rustic charm, like Coldplay jamming with Mumford & Sons

9 June 2010 Paul Lester
guardian.co.uk/music/2010/jun/09/
new-band-larsen-b

> myspace.com/wearelarsenb

NEW MUSIC SPOTLIGHT ON WALRI

Check out their great single "Tinkle Sprinkle/Cotton Candy" (2009)

I think Scott McMicken (Guitarist and co-frontman of the tremendous Dr. Dog) said it best when describing Walri… “These guys are head scratchingly good”.

This is true on two levels: a) they really are; and b) it’s a total head scratcher as to why they are not a huge band, at least in the “indie” scene anyway.


Jun 8th, 2010 The Zeitgeisty Report
zeitgeistyreport.com/articles/2010/06/08/
you-heard-it-first-new-music-spotlight-on%E2%80%A6-walri/

+ older interview rochestercitynewspaper.com/music/articles/2008/10/
They-are-the-Walri/

THE BESNARD LAKES AT MILLENNIUM PARK

Concert reviewsQUOTE:

Those vocals – especially Lasek’s otherworldly tenor – were pure heartbreak.
Sometimes they were presented unadorned, with a lone guitar or keyboard as accompaniment. Other times they emerged from a maelstrom of noise whipped up by the guitars of Lasek, White and Goreas.
The dynamics were executed with breath-taking precision, beginning with the epic opener, the two-part “Like the Ocean, Like the Innocent.”
Four- and three-part harmonies over Lasek’s guitar built the foundation for a steady ascent into tolling guitar harmonics, as White spiked the tempo with a series of giddy-up fills.

May 24, 2010 greg@gregkot.com
leisureblogs.chicagotribune.com

+ The Besnard Lakes + The Ponys: chicago.timeout.com

+ Last Night: The Besnard Lakes, Woven Bones and Binary Sunrise at the Granada: blogs.dallasobserver.com

+ DOWNLOAD THEN SEE: The Besnard Lakes: chicagoist.com

Family of the Year--Stairs

Live at the Beachland Tavern in Cleveland
2010 (written 2009?)





Stairs

Chugjug - Family of the Year

2009





Chugjug

+ Site (& listen for free) familyoftheyear.net

> myspace.com/familyoftheyear


+ Boston Pops and Ben Folds pick Family of the Year (It's a band) hubarts.com

+ Family of the Year Interview: SXSW 2010 spinner.com

+ wiki/Family_of_the_Year

Family of the Year @ Sonicbids

2010 (written 2009?)





Stupidland

Family Of The Year - Summer Girl

2009





Summer Girl

GEEKING OUT WITH THE APPLES IN STEREO’S ROBERT SCHNEIDER

(cd: The Apples In Stereo - Travellers in Space and Time)

QUOTE:

Wired.com: That’s OK, we also got hazed for snubbing big shots like The Beach Boys. Is Pet Sounds the greatest concept album ever made?

Schneider: I would say the finished version of Smile, not Pet Sounds, would take first place if I was allowed to revise the list. That’s based on the godlike beauty of the interwoven musical parts, which is unlike anything else in pop music, and far beyond Pet Sounds from a conceptual standpoint.

April 20, 2010 Scott Thill
http://www.wired.com/underwire/2010/04/qa-robert-schneider/3/

+ Robert Schneider and Brian Wilson
http://opticalatlas.com/2008/11/robert-schneider-and-brian-wilson/

SETH SWIRSKY’S WATERCOLOR DAY IS A PICTURE OF POP DELIGHTS

cd: Seth Swirsky - Watercolor Day

LOS ANGELES - (Business Wire) Seth Swirsky just wants to make the world whistle and hum.
And that’s just what he does on Watercolor Day, the new album from the hit songwriter and co-leader of the acclaimed, The Red Button as he presents a new song cycle that conjures images of sweet summer days.

Wed, 21 Apr 2010 Chrissy Sutphin
http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/seth-swirskyrsquos-watercolor-day-is-a-picture-of-pop-delights,1260353.shtml

MANAGING THEIR FAME

CD: MGMT - Congratulations

MGMT have narrowly avoided falling victim to the hedonistic rock'n'roll lifestyle.

IT WAS not supposed to come to this. Midway through 2008, Andrew VanWyngarden and Ben Goldwasser had an alarming realisation.
As the Brooklyn-based electro-pop duo known as MGMT, their lives had become exactly the kind of circus their debut single Time to Pretend had derided.

April 16, 2010 theage.com.au
http://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/music/managing-their-fame-20100415-sgxw.html

+ Surprise success MGMT surprise again on new album
http://www.metronews.ca/vancouver/entertainment/article/502726--surprise-success-mgmt-surprise-again-on-new-album

+ Official website (& listen for free)
http://www.whoismgmt.com/us/home?utm_medium=columbia-email&utm_source=mgmt&utm_campaign=columbia-email%7Cmgmt%7C20100322

+ Coachella 2010: MGMT and Muse, from one extreme to another

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/music_blog/2010/04/coachella-2010-mgmt-and-muse-from-one-extreme-to-another.html