Rundergrundergren

Went to see Todd Rundgren performing "A Wizard, A True Star" at the Hammersmith Apollo (or whatever it's called this month) on Saturday night. It's one of my top five albums, just for sheer imagination and musical scope, and I was very excited... but unfortunately the sound up in the Circle was so bad that the whole night was rather underwhelming for me.

Looking at reviews of the show and seeing a few video clips on YouTube, the sound was a hell of a lot better downstairs - so much so that the people in the stalls practically heard a totally different show to us circle-dwellers. Rundgren's made a recording of the show available online, so I might give it a listen.

In the meantime, have a listen to this on Spotify. It's an astonishing piece of work. Rundgren's one of those guys who genuinely puts musical experimentation ahead of a successful career (see also Zappa, Kate Bush and David Bowie), and while on first listen his work seems a bit too quirky and inaccessible, he's someone who rewards you for sticking with him - you get more out of it the more you listen. Give it a try!