retroblog.net

the year 2007 could have been labeled the “year of the dinosaurs” in some ways since there were so many “reunited” bands out on the road which included Genesis. and as with most big reunion tours, a companion CD has been released – Live Over Europe 2007. the live recording is excellent with a clear pristine mix and great performances captured from various shows of their european leg of their world tour. the big downer for me personally is the fact that Phil Collins isn’t able to sing the songs in their original key so at times the songs sound a bit strange to me. Some listeners may not notice but for long time fans, it’s pretty obvious (and jarring). and when you’re used to a song performed in the original key, the songs that are modulated lower tend to sound “less exciting” and “less energetic”. just listen to “Land of Confusion” and “Tonight, Tonight Tonight” and pretty much anyone can tell the songs just don’t “snap, crackle and pop” like they did back in the eighties. and it has nothing to do with the perfomance but simply because their performing them in a different key. don’t get me wrong, seeing this legendary group live in concert is a totally different experience all together. but when you’re just listening to a live recording, the listener gets to really focus in on the songs, and for me, the key changes simply make me want to pull out the original recordings.

Throwing It All Away (live clip on youtube)

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if you’re anything like me then you probably have a tough time finding just the right paintings to hang on your wall. You probably have some photos that you’ve personally taken that would look perfect for the den. Well, how about commissioning an artist to recreate one of your treasured photos into an oil painting? Now with an online service called PaintYourLife.com, it’s as easy as a click of a mouse. They have talented artists on hand to take any photo that you provide and create a hand painted recreation in your choice of oil, charcoal or watercolor. They guarantee their all their work and will gladly work with you to get your painting exactly the way you want it. it’s absolutely a great service and would make a wonderful birthday gift for someone you love. be sure to check out their website for examples of their work, video testimonials from satisfied customers and more detailed info on how to turn your photo into art.

more cool video clips of Todd Rundgren‘s current winter tour are showing up on youtube.
here’s Tiny Demons from the Dec 12th show in New York

and WorldWide Epiphany from the Dec 15th show in Northampton, MA.

also, new dates have been recently added to Rundgren’s winter tour. check ‘em out!

Wed 1/16/08 Cleveland, OH Allen Theater
Fri 1/18/08 Columbus, OH Newport music Hall
Sat 1/19/08 Covington, KY (Cincinnati) OH Madison Theater
Sun 1/20/08 Indianapolis, IN Music Mill
Tue 1/22/08 Minneapolis, MN Guthrie
Wed 1/23/08 Milwaukee, WI Pabst Theater
Fri 1/25/08 Chicago, IL Park West
Sun 1/27/08 Toronto, CAN – Music Hall
Mon 1/28/08 Rochester, NY – Germanhouse Theater
Wed 1/30/08 Detroit (Ferndale), MI – Magic Bag
Thu 1/31/08 Chicago, IL – Park West

I’m still crossing my fingers hoping Todd will make his way down to the southeast. please, Todd!!

also, official Rundgren tour merchandise is finally available online at his paTRonet website.

whenever I get the itch to travel and see some place new, it’s tough planning ahead and finding the best attractions to see while visiting the city and not to mention finding a decent place to stay. but now with a website called HotelsByCity.net, it’s a lot easier finding more about the ins and outs of your city of interest. the website has over 500 exclusive travel guides which highlight the things to see, do, stay and eat. the other great thing about the guides is the ability for users to add their own personal viewpoints, comments and feedback for others to see and read. and not only do you get to read and learn about the place you’re visiting but the site also conveniently lists the recommended Cheap Hotels in the area. I’ve been looking over their Vancouver travel guide since I might be headed over there in the near future. I haven’t been there before but reading through the guide, I’m really looking forward to my visit there. There are so many great things to see while visiting Vancouver especially Stanley Park and the Vancouver Aquarium with the kids. and I’ve heard so much about the Capilano Suspension Bridge that I can’t leave the area without seeing it for myself.

I’ve had Alicia Keys’ new album As I Am in the CD changer for over a month now. sadly, I haven’t been able to listen to the CD all the way through yet. not even once. I’ve tried but I can only seem to take Alicia’s screeching vocals in short bursts. She’s got this tendency to perform her songs in full throttle mode which is like getting hit in the ears with a sledgehammer. At some point, she’s got to learn a bit more about subtlety, nuance and holding back. I think her material is fine but at times, the songs seem to need a more seasoned vocalist with more depth and range. Now don’t get me wrong, Alicia’s got talent. She’s got charisma, the looks and she’s great on piano. But her downfall is the way she screams out her songs. As long as she figures out that “sometimes less is more”, she’ll be just fine.

for today’s mixtape, I thought I’d share a couple of xmas tunes to help you all get in the christmas spirit. yeah, I know, bah-humbug to you too.

Thanks for Christmas by XTC. an all time classic. Never fails to put a smile on my face.
It’s dawning, Santa’s reindeer yawning now
All their festive work is done, filling houses up with fun…

In the Bleak Mid-Winter by Shawn Colvin. Shawn could probably make the “ABCs” sound splendid.
In the bleak midwinter stormy winds may blow
Earth stood hard as iron, water like a stone..

Angels We Have Heard on High by Steve Lukather. awesome instrumental by a guitar legend.

Just for Now by Imogen Heap. a gorgeous song about a family get together over the holidays.
Bite tongue, deep breaths, count to ten, nod your head..

Merry Christmas!

it’s interesting to see how nowadays, bands and artists need to have marketing savvy on top of making great catchy music. simply producing the next big single isn’t enough. you need to have avenues to get your name and your music out to the masses. and it all starts with “branding”. getting music fans to recognize the name of your band or the name of an artist. it’s simple marketing basics. what applies to getting a business off the ground and building up a good client base can also be applied in the music business. and that’s why the website gimmees.com can be a great tool in both the business world as well as promoting your band. gimmees.com specializes in custom imprinting of promotional products. they’ve got a vast assortment of products that you can customize to your business needs. from trade show items to calendars, coffee mugs and custom CD cases, gimmees.com will help you get your name out there.

Man, I love this recent live clip of Todd Rundgren and his band captured by OCSheri at New York’s Blender Theater. It’s Todd, Kasim, Jesse and Michael Urbano performing “Trapped”, an ol’ Utopia favorite. Love it!!

Catch Rundgren on the remaining dates of his current tour -
Thu 12/13/07 Asbury Park, NJ Stone Pony
Sat 12/15/07 N Hampton, MA Calvin Theater
Sun 12/16/07 Alexandria, VA The Birchmere
Tue 12/18/07 New Haven, CT Toad’s Place
Wed 1/16/08 Cleveland, OH Allen Theater
Fri 1/18/08 Columbus, OH Newport music Hall
Sat 1/19/08 Covington, KY (Cincinnati) OH Madison Theater
Sun 1/20/08 Indianapolis, IN Music Mill
Tue 1/22/08 Minneapolis, MN Guthrie
Wed 1/23/08 Milwaukee, WI Pabst Theater
Fri 1/25/08 Chicago, IL Park West

-Purchase Todd Rundgren music at Amazon.com-

indulge me for a moment. imagine that i’m profiled in the latest issue of modern drummer magazine. (yeah, laugh all you want. it could happen!! ……in my dreams….) so, anyway, here’s how the artist profile would read:

my Modern Drummer profile

brief history: worked with different bands throughout his career including array, scepter and the david & johann band. recorded a couple albums at his home studio called the garage as well as a handful of solo albums (playing most of the instruments by himself ala stevie wonder and todd rundgren).

current set up: pearl masters custom series 4-ply maple set. plus a mixture of sabian and zildjian cymbals. and a 13″ pearl piccolo snare drum. cymbal configuration include 8″ and 10″ splashes, 18″ china, 20″ ride, 15″ 16″ 18″ crashes and 14″ new beat hi-hats. i love the way the pearl master series drums sound. warm with a nice attack. and i’m all about the piccolo snare! it’s got that high end snap that really breaks through the mix. as for my signature cymbal work: i gotta have my small splash cymbals and the china. can’t leave home without ‘em.

back up/practice set : yamaha DTX 2.0 sound module, pintech silentech drum trigger pads. not my favorite thing to play. trigger pads will never take the place of a real set of drums. it’s neat to have the variety of sounds and i use it for recording every once in a while but it’s really tough to play with finesse on these pads.

preferred drumstick: vic firth american custom maple SD4. very light in weight so i can do intricate fills with less effort. the downside is that they break easily since they are made of maple. i’ll never go back to 5A hickory sticks again!!

auxiliary equipment: ovation acoustic guitar, fender telecaster (50′s reissue) guitar, alesis compressor, fostex multitrack recorder, zoom studio effects box, DOD distortion/compressor stomp box and roland guitar amp.

early influences:
1) ringo starr : especially hey jude, ticket to ride, rain, strawberry fields forever and basically all of the abbey road album. I memorized the whole beatles catalog early on.
2) carl palmer : i used to play along with Asia’s alpha album almost everyday after school when it first came out.
3) stewart copeland : especially spirits in the material world, murder by numbers and synchronicity II. loved stewart’s pseudo-reggae feel and his use of splash cymbals.
4) neil peart : overture/temple of syrinx, red barchetta, a passage to bangkok. i played these covers with the band array. i love neil’s creative drum fills.
5) Jerry Speiser : Dr. Heckyll & Mr. Jive and No Restrictions on men at work’s cargo album. i hate to admit that i listened to them but hey they were hot back then….really!…
6) Tony Thompson : dude, Tony Thompson and Bernard Edwards did a tremendous job rhythmically on robert palmer’s ‘riptide’ album. check out i didn’t mean to turn you on, hyperactive and flesh wound. introduced me to eighties style funk.
7) Phil Collins : amazing drum sound. loved the way his drums were always mixed upfront and in your face. his drumming on genesis’ mama was very influential in the way i play.
8 ) Steve Smith : the master of power ballad drumming. very tasteful drum fills. also loved the way he played on journey’s separate ways/worlds apart.
9) Omar Hakim : his work on Sting’s bring on the night still, to this day, leaves me flabbergasted.

currently listening to the following drummers: vinnie colaiuta, manu katche, dave weckl, carter beauford, prairie prince and chuck sabo.

thoughts on drum machines : love ‘em. used a Boss DR-550 for years when recording demos. plus drummers nowadays need to be able to play with click-tracks since most recordings are done with one. drum loops are fun to play with as long as they’re programmed right.

the role of the bass guitarist: the bassist plays a significant role in the way you play. a lousy bass guitarist will make even the most skilled drummer sound like crap. i used to play with an ex-session musician from nashville and he was incredible. he made it so easy to make a song groove. it was like butter. he ended up moving to the midwest and i miss him dearly. dude, it’s not the same without ya man!

favorite bass guitarists: paul mccartney, chris squire, abraham laboriel, john wetton, sting, john entwhistle

favorite guitarists: trevor rabin, todd rundgren, robbie mcintosh, eric clapton, steve howe, eric johnson, lyle workman.

-end of profile-

…now back to reality. ….thanks again for indulging me!

you’ve just completed recording one of the best songs you’ve written in years and it took you days just to get the lead vocals just right. and now you’ve got to make copies of your demo to send to some important contacts in the industry that have promised you some ear time. so obviously it’s pretty important to send out good working copies on quality CDs for these execs to play your song on. it’s usually a link in the chain that gets overlooked but there are indeed varying degrees of quality among blank CD and DVD media. and for something as important as a record exec listening to your demos, this isn’t the time to skimp on the quality of your recordable CDs. that’s why i highly recommend using Taiyo Yuden brand recordable CDs and DVDs. they are known throughout the industry as the best brand of blank discs with unsurpassed reliability and the lowest error rates. and all their CDs and DVDs come with a 100 year data integrity guarantee. and you can find the best prices on blank CDs and DVDs at Supermediastore.com. don’t take a chance on burning unplayable coasters. be worry-free by using Taiyo Yuden CDs.