Reviews
Todd Rundgren, Hammersmith Apollo, London (Rated 4/ 5 )
To a certain generation of former furry freaks, now bald retro-rockers, Todd Rundgren inspires fierce devotion. The American eccentric's success as a producer, supervising sessions for the Ramones, Meat Loaf, etc, gave him financial independence. Hence, if he wanted to make something as off-kilter as A Wizard, A True Star, a concept album with no concept, he could. Now he's touring the LP for the first time – 37 years late. Rundgren may be an oddball, but there are 3,500 elders here who see him as a True Star. And they have a point.
Inside Reviews
Leddra Chapman/Hamel, Jazz Café, London (Rated 3/ 5 )
Tuesday, 9 February 2010
Sugary show needs more bite
Nanci Griffith, Shepherd's Bush Empire, London (Rated 3/ 5 )
Monday, 8 February 2010
More twang for your buck
Album: Gil Scott-Heron, I’m New Here (XL)
Sunday, 7 February 2010
The revolution will not be interrupted by mobile phone
Shockwaves NME Awards Tour, Academy, Newcastle
Sunday, 7 February 2010
White, preppy guitar-boys with nothing much to say about anything and songs familiar from television adverts are the next big thing (again)
Album: Yeasayer, Odd Blood (Mute/Secretly Canadian)
Sunday, 7 February 2010
Yeasayer's second album starts by trying to scare the living hell out of you, then spends the rest of its time putting a comforting arm around your shoulder.
Album: Stefano Battaglia & Michele Rabbia, Pastorale (ECM)
Sunday, 7 February 2010
Pleasingly minimal, ambiently inclined duo of pianist Battaglia and percussionist Rabbia.
Album: Motion City Soundtrack, My Dinosaur Life (Sony/Columbia)
Sunday, 7 February 2010
People who ought to know better are overexcited about the fourth MCS album, but for anyone with their wits about them, alarm bells ought to be sounding as soon as you see that the producer is Mark Hoppus of Blink 182.
Album: Massive Attack, Heligoland (Virgin)
Sunday, 7 February 2010
Where do you go when the sound you pioneered has been absorbed by the mainstream as a default setting for car ads?
Album: Allison Moorer, Crows (Rykodisc)
Sunday, 7 February 2010
She made the two most soulful country-rock albums of the early 2000s and then drifted. Here she kicks further over the country traces and returns aboard a semi-acoustic pop-rock vehicle of some solemnity.
Album: Don Cherry, Hear & Now (Atlantic)
Sunday, 7 February 2010
Reissue of a rare 1977 fusion album by the shamanistic Cherry (1936-95), the Ornette Coleman Quartet trumpeter.
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The Friday Playlist
Listen to this week's Independent mix
Most popular in Arts & Entertainment
Read
1 Love Poems, By Carol Ann Duffy
2 Anne-Marie Duff 'blown away' by Evening Standard film award
4 Hollywood stars nominated for Olivier Awards
5 BANNED: The most controversial films
6 Percy Jackson: Gods and monsters
7 BANNED: Books you could be jailed for reading
8 Corruption, intrigue... and that's before the Wagner's even begun
9 Hitchens Has No Clothes: A response to ‘Vidal Loco’
13 Name that cathedral - the answers
Emailed
1 Corruption, intrigue... and that's before the Wagner's even begun
2 Witty, incisive production underlines King John's relevance today
3 Rothko revealed: Christopher Rothko shares troubled memories of his father Mark
4 The Pregnant Widow, By Martin Amis
5 Leviathan or The Whale, by Philip Hoare
6 Battle to save Britain's Brutalist buildings from the bulldozer
7 Movie heaven: Anthony Quinn's 100 Best Films, Day 1, 100-81
9
Afternoon Play: The Ditch, Radio 4
Ramblings, Radio 4
10 Mackenzie Crook: More than just the Office boy
11 Billy Connolly, HMV Apollo Hammersmith, London
13 Party Of The Week: Pre-Grammy bash keeps guests up late
14
Tower Block of Commons, Channel 4
True Stories: Moving to Mars, More4
Commented
1Forget cuts and keep spending, Brown told
2Dominic Lawson: How can the state justify supporting homeopathy?
3Blair attacks his critics' tendency to 'conspiracy theories'
4PM faces Labour revolt over vote reform
5Brian Paddick: A bad day for race relations in the police
6James Lawton: Arrogant Wenger has lost the plot in his quest for perfect football
7Goodbye Galapagos, you're too warm for us
8Nicotine study sparks 'third-hand smoke' fears
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