TODD RUNDGREN, EMIL NIKOLAISEN & HANS-PETER LINDSTROM: RUNDDANS

First: In the Boston area, Tufts University's WMFO was one of the area's best radio stations for prog fans in the 1980s and 1990s. I almost always had a radio on in my bedroom tuned to WMFO, even when sleeping. In the late 80s, I happened to get of the worst cases of influenza I have had in my life. I went to be with WMFO playing in the background. After a short amount of sleep, I awoke to the DJ doing what they called "free mixing". This was a process of cutting up a song and playing the bits back in whatever order the DJ felt like using, while running it all through various studio effects, usually echo and reverb, with whatever other toys were in the studio. In my experience, this has never made for good listening. In this case, it was like a nightmare. I was too sick to get out of bed, and had to listen to this awful, repetitive mush of sound for the entire length of the perpetrator's on-air shift. To this day, I still cannot tolerate the Romantic's "Talking In Your Sleep".

Second: In 1993, Todd Rundgren tried to rebrand himself as "TR-i" (the "i" being for "interactive"). Into computers since the early days of music videos, he fashioned a TR-i web site, and released "No World Order", an attempt at electronic/hip-hop that mostly fell flat. He also toured the album in a small setup that placed him in the center of a bunch of keyboards, pads and devices, that allowed the audience to interact, that is to add their own sounds to Todd's music. I saw this at Boston's Cyclorama, a round cement room with absolutely no sound dampening. The result was an unlistenable barrage of noise, and one of the worst concerts I have ever been to.

So, this album by Todd and his Norwegian friends, Emil Nikolaisen and Hans-Peter Lindstrom, starts out promising. The first track has shades of "A Treatise on Cosmic Fire" from the 1975 album Initiation. The tracks then run together in a continuous stream, much like the "No World Order" album. But after the opening, and a couple of spacy but interesting pieces, the majority of this album becomes a mess of free mixing of what may be a song called "Put Your Arms Around Me" (the track by that name is just part of this).

There are a few lyrics ("Put your arms around me", "Going out of my head", and other short bits), but a complete song is never quite attained. Instead, as in free mixing, little pieces of the song are blended with other sounds and distorted by a variety of digital effects. I cannot deny that some of the parts of this are very good, but the majority remind me of the "Talking In Your Sleep" fiasco.

I also know that Todd was once one of the foremost producers in the business. His production on a large number of albums, from the 70s into the 90s was stellar. But I don't know what happened here. The distortion, reverb, and whatever make parts of this beast absolutely unlistenable (see the Cyclorama comments above for a reference).

Todd, I love most of your music, but I can only give this 2 stars.

The biggest curve ball of 2015 has got to be this baffling release. It is always interesting to hear old timers doing something new, fresh and above all completely original. Teaming up with guitarist and front man off Norwegian alternative rock band Serena-Maneesh, Emil Nikolaisen, and space disco pioneer Hans-Peter Lindstrøm, Todd seems to have gone for a modern and altogether different sonic route than what he's accustomed to.....which, of course, is quite true. What you effectively get here is something so strange and unique that it literally had me reaching for my spare ears. 'Runddans' is Donna Summer without the bass boom and danceable vibe - it's disco heading for the avantguarde - upbeat and elusive like a fox in a sauna.

The music is build around Lindstrøm and Nikolaisen's electronic programming and synth bleeps - evoking a fluffy and airy cotton candy universe on which Rundgren's evocative vocals weave in and out like voices on the wind or in a hazy dream. The whole thing feels highly unorthodox. When a melody or a rare groove occasionally seems to take shape it rather quickly fades away into the aforementioned swirling candy world......which makes it all the more surprising that you actually remember the returning vocal theme 'Put Your Arms Around Me' sung affectionately by the old master himself.

More than anything 'Runddans' feels like an experiment. An experiment from three musicians who all professionally dabble in the high art of mixing...on here though you feel as if you're sat in a room where three different albums are playing all at once - challenging every player involved to listen intently to his surroundings yet without ever losing the scope of his own vision...and how it stacks up with what's zooming out of his playmates.

This album is one long story where tracks, ethereal vocalisations, airy synths and disco sensibilities are forged together with the occasional rock and pop cameo. The music though never sounds normal....even when it incorporates those beautiful recurring vocal themes. It is far too shapeshifting and elusive for that. On the contrary 'Runddans' seems determined to bend and writhe styles of music that, to most people, are sacrilegious to alter or even play around with. Mostly because it takes away the easy digestible hook and groove of the disco movement and splices it together with a remarkable ebb and flow effect that will have most listeners pulling out their hair. The main thing to remember about music, especially with an album like this, is that it often is the journey that counts. 'Runddans' is a continuous search for a lost melody - a memory of an old grandiose disco production - only delivered over to the listener as a rather charming if not wholly fragmented piece of experimental music.

If you're sitting out there with a girlfriend who's both an old extra from Saturday Night Fever and a raving schizophrenic, then 'Runddans' is for you. I tried dancing to it once and ended up on the floor with my legs in the air doing these strange elliptical shaking motions. 'Wow' I said to myself 'this is what John Travolta looks like when he simultaneously is doing mescaline and trying on pants'. 3.5 stars.