Todd Rundgren Dismisses Pop Acts Like Katy Perry, Rihanna Over Focus on Innuendo, Not 'Messages'

Posted on Sep 15th 2011 2:00PM by Chris Epting
For more than 40 years, Todd Rundgren has carved out one of the most ambitious, impressive and unpredictable careers in music. A multi-faceted musician, composer and performer, he's also one of the most notable and successful record producers of his generation. Artists as diverse as Badfinger, the New York Dolls, the Patti Smith Group, Grand Funk Railroad, XTC, Meat Loaf, the Tubes and many others have gotten the Rundgren production treatment over the years. For his latest project, 'reProductions,' Rundgren built a playlist of songs from artists he's produced over the course of his career and reimagined them as techno/dance-pop numbers.

The result is a beguiling, ethereal mix of radically rearranged songs that, in some cases, all but abandon the original melodies. Rundgren's knack for crafting unorthodox pop hooks and his sonic sculpting behind the board make for a lush, compelling collection of spacey, beat-studded productions. On top of that, he got an assist from fans at Gigatone, a studio fantasy camp that allowed them to play on some of the tracks.

Spinner recently caught up with Rundgren to discuss the album, its unique concept and his thoughts on producing.

READ THE FULL INTERVIEW BY CLICKING ON THE LINK BELOW.

http://www.spinner.com/2011/09/15/todd-rundgren-reproductions/