Todd Rundgren is a left-field legend. His melancholic pop-prog hits from the 70s are classic soft rock radio fodder. His cover of Carole King‘s “I Saw The Light” and “Hello, It’s Me” are ubiquitous laundromat and supermarket muzak. Simultaneously, his bombastic, experimental, impressionistic track “International Feel” was a tentpole for Daft Punk‘s experimental sci-fi origin film Electroma and became the namesake for one of leftfield dance music’s most respected labels.
Never (ever) one to rest on his laurels or do things founded on expectation, the seemingly timeless and tireless 66 year old Philadelphian is still exploring and fostering his unique identity as Todd Rungren by currently touring (with LA’s premiere Funk/Boogie dude Dam-Funk) and releasing a new, virtually indescribable album collaboration with Serena Maneesh‘s Emil Nikolaisen and the one and only, Lindstrøm.
Runndans (out now on Smalltown Supersound) is doubtlessly, unlike anything else you’re bound to hear this year (or any year) and is built on a strange foundation of each of the collaborator’s strengths and fetishes. It is a passionate, obtuse, mind-bending album that sounds exactly like what you’d expect and nothing you could ever imagine.
This one is readymade for you get weird in your headphones. The first listen of the album came with a facemelting Erol Alkan Re-Work…so, handle with care.
[youtube width=”500″ height=”344″]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j31aPOR0AZY[/youtube]