With a Twist...

Album review

On WITH A TWIST..., Todd Rundgren does the inevitable '90s-sophisticate thing, remaking some of his best-known songs (along with Marvin Gaye and Walt Disney standards) with jazzy bossa nova arrangements. This continues Rundgren's ongoing project of completely baffling fans of his classic power-pop and blue-eyed soul songs. Not everything stands up to these revisions--"I Saw The Light" is better remembered as the perfect pop ditty it used to be--but others sound brilliant and fresh, a testament to the songs themselves.

"Fidelity," a wounded love song, sounds absolutely right in this smoky context--light percussion, marimba, subtle horns, occasional string accents, torchy singing. With its dancey bassline, snaking guitar line and cheese keyboards, this version of "It Wouldn't Have Made Any Difference" splits the difference between Paul Simon in Brazil and Cornershop in America. "Hello, It's Me" gets a slow, dramatic arrangement that reminds us of Rundgren's reputation as one of pop's most bizarre producers, and brings a reassuring smile to our faces.

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