Ben Folds

[Ksyrup]

Damn I love this guy. He's got a new album coming out at the end of April. In the meantime, he's released a cover of Bitches Ain't Shit (Dr. Dre) on itunes. Check it out:

WARNING - NOT SAFE TO LISTEN TO AT WORK!!!!

http://www.sonymusic.com/clips/selection/fu/071897/071897_01_01_full_100.asx

[mckerney]

Damn I love this guy. He's got a new album coming out at the end of April. In the meantime, he's released a cover of Bitches Ain't Shit (Dr. Dre) on itunes. Check it out:

WARNING - NOT SAFE TO LISTEN TO AT WORK!!!!

http://www.sonymusic.com/clips/selection/fu/071897/071897_01_01_full_100.asx

I downloaded this off Itunes last week, it is brilliant.

[TLK]

This song is great....

[kurtism]

Bless you, Ben Folds :) I assume you heard his versions of Inbetween Days and Get Your Hands Off My Woman?

[JeffNights]

AH, hilarious.


But anybody notice he used the full blown N-word?
first time i heard a white guy sing it in a song.
ah well.

[Young Drachma]

Damn I love this guy. He's got a new album coming out at the end of April. In the meantime, he's released a cover of Bitches Ain't Shit (Dr. Dre) on itunes. Check it out:

WARNING - NOT SAFE TO LISTEN TO AT WORK!!!!

http://www.sonymusic.com/clips/selection/fu/071897/071897_01_01_full_100.asx

Ben Folds is awesome.

[kurtism]

Sort of on-topic (if the topic is cover songs), here is Ted Leo doing the newest Kelly Clarkson song: http://junk.haughey.com/tedleo-sinceubeengone.mp3

[Karlifornia]

AH, hilarious.


But anybody notice he used the full blown N-word?
first time i heard a white guy sing it in a song.
ah well.

Dynamite Hack's version of Boyz 'N' The Hood contains WGSNW (White guy saying N Word)

[Ksyrup]

Sort of on-topic (if the topic is cover songs), here is Ted Leo doing the newest Kelly Clarkson song: http://junk.haughey.com/tedleo-sinceubeengone.mp3
I would probably appreciate this more if I'd ever heard the original.

One of my favorite covers ever is Fountains of Wayne doing Hit Me Baby One More Time, since they make it sound like an actual song, instead of a manufactured piece of pop crap. I assume this is the same way. I still would rather not hear the original, though. :)

[stevew]

thanks. good use of this free itunes cap i got the other day.

[kurtism]

If you care, the video for Ms. Clarkson's version of the tune is here: http://media.bmgonline.com/rcarecords.com/kelly_clarkson/video/since_u_been_gone_300.asx

[Karlifornia]

You want some sweet covers?

Flaming Lips-Can't Get You Out Of My Head
The White Stripes-Jolene
Cursive-Milkshake

[kurtism]

Admittedly crappy video of Ben performing "Bitches" live: hxxp://www.collegehumor.com/?movie_id=125810

(Yes, I will get to 100 posts in this thread...)

Edited since collegehumor.com seems likely to make the banned list for someone.

[Cringer]

Dynamite Hack's version of Boyz 'N' The Hood contains WGSNW (White guy saying N Word)

That is a great cover. As is the new Ben Folds that this thread has up top, I heard it today on Sirius.

[mckerney]

Ben Folds' cover of Careless Whispers is great too.

[Lathum]

I saw Ben Folds Five in 1993 in a clun in New Jersey with about 75 other people and it was amazing

[CamEdwards]

ksyrup, I don't suppose you know where i can find the FOW version of that, do you?

[Pyser]

One of my favorite covers ever is Fountains of Wayne doing Hit Me Baby One More Time, since they make it sound like an actual song, instead of a manufactured piece of pop crap. I assume this is the same way. I still would rather not hear the original, though. :)

i loved that cover. but the band refused to officially release it because they didnt want to "make it" like that.

then they got dropped by their label, and like 5 years later finally hit with stacy's mom.

now all these annoying teenage girls go to their shows. it was more fun when the lead guitarist stole a girl i brought to their show. wait...no it wasnt. what am i saying?

that said, the ben folds cover is funny, but im much more looking forward to his real album.

and will ALWAYS pine for a ben folds five reunion. best live band have and will ever see.

[Pyser]

cam, i can email it to you....PM me your address.


edit. no i cant. i lost it in a reformat. sorry.

[Ksyrup]

ksyrup, I don't suppose you know where i can find the FOW version of that, do you?
I've got the version I downloaded and burned so long ago, the original Napster was alive and kicking. Not that that's where I got it or anything. :)

I can YSI it to you if you give me your email address.

[cthomer5000]

ksyrup, I don't suppose you know where i can find the FOW version of that, do you?
It was never offiically released, but it's pretty easy to find.

It was set to be a b-side on one of the Utopia Parkway singles, but when the label informed them they'd push the cover as the single, they said "forget it."

[cthomer5000]

On the "ironic cover song" topic, here's Nina Gordon's version of "Straight Outta Compton." She used to be in Veruca Salt, so the name may be familair.

http://www.ninagordon.com/audio/straightouttacompton.mp3

[Ksyrup]

It was never offiically released, but it's pretty easy to find.

It was set to be a b-side on one of the Utopia Parkway singles, but when the label informed them they'd push the cover as the single, they said "forget it."Speaking of which, the indie band Frickin A is the first indie to be included on one of those stupid Now That's What I Call Music [NOT!] compilations. Do they get to showcase one of their own tracks, to be the flag-wavers for all indie rock bands out there? No, they got noticed because they duplicated Jessie's Girl. I love the comment about why it got picked:

"The inclusion of this song on this platinum-plus revered collection is a testament to the belief that this song is a bona-fide smash."

Well, no shit Sherlock, the original was only a #1 song.

Shit like this pisses me off. I'm happy this band's getting some exposure (they're from Cincinnati, heard of them Shorty?), but I also have great respect for what FoW did in refusing to let the record company make them famous off of a joke cover of Britney Spears.

[Pyser]

er, i seem to have found the ben folds unreleased motherload. enjoy:

hxxp://www.freehostz.com/bfrarehouse/

[SackAttack]

A friend of mine introduced me to Ben Folds some time ago with "Wandering," and I've been sort of slowly exploring more of his music since then.

He was talkin' the other day about how he'd like to find Ben Folds Five's "Naked Baby Photos," and how much trouble he'd had doing so, so I was pleasantly surprised to come across that at work today. I like the piano work on "Eddie Walker" better on NBP than in the live version, but I could do without the background vocals on the studio version. They sound like a howling dog.

[Pyser]

I like the piano work on "Eddie Walker" better on NBP than in the live version, but I could do without the background vocals on the studio version. They sound like a howling dog.

blasphemy! thats one of my favorite three part harmonies that the band ever put together. that and Missing the War really stand out to me for their harmonies.

[SackAttack]

blasphemy! thats one of my favorite three part harmonies that the band ever put together. that and Missing the War really stand out to me for their harmonies.

Could be the sound system in my truck. It's just that one of my favorite things about BFF and Ben Folds in particular is the piano work, and the "howling" drowns that out. I'll give it another listen on a better system. Hopefully it doesn't sound so atrocious.

[Pyser]

to each his own.

ben folds five was my first "true love" in music. to the point where i followed them around on tour, and knew the roadies. gotta love college.

the first time i saw ben solo, i nearly cried. its just not the same. i love bens writing, but the solo stuff just doesnt cut it for me. i dont even go to his shows anymore.

maybe the new album (out in a month, right?) will get me back.

[SackAttack]

to each his own.

ben folds five was my first "true love" in music. to the point where i followed them around on tour, and knew the roadies. gotta love college.

the first time i saw ben solo, i nearly cried. its just not the same. i love bens writing, but the solo stuff just doesnt cut it for me. i dont even go to his shows anymore.

maybe the new album (out in a month, right?) will get me back.

Yep. He released a collaborative work with William Shatner late last year (which apparently isn't as bad as you might think), and there's a new one coming out next month.

Apparently, if you order the "Songs for Silverman" CD from attackedbyplastic.com, you can get a free CD, "Songs for Goldfish" with "unreleased songs" on it.

Might be worth looking into.

[SackAttack]

Dola,

Not sure if it's "free" after all. I thought I recalled reading that it would be, but the package is apparently around $22/28, depending on if you go "deluxe" or dualdisc.

[Ksyrup]

er, i seem to have found the ben folds unreleased motherload. enjoy:

hxxp://www.freehostz.com/bfrarehouse/
Yeah, I found that site a couple of weeks ago and downloaded the entire thing.

I've also got the new album. I haven't listened to it enough to really form an opinion yet, other than it's not as good as the last one. Nothing will top Rockin' the Suburbs, I'm afraid. But it is consistent with the EPs. I just prefer the power pop style on RTS better.

I never saw BF5 live, but I've seen Ben solo twice and it was an amazing experience. Of course, I also like him better solo - BF5 was a bit too uneven for me. Reinhold Messner was their best album IMO, and even that's got 2 or 3 throw-aways.

[Pyser]

Yeah, I found that site a couple of weeks ago and downloaded the entire thing.

I've also got the new album. I haven't listened to it enough to really form an opinion yet, other than it's not as good as the last one. Nothing will top Rockin' the Suburbs, I'm afraid. But it is consistent with the EPs. I just prefer the power pop style on RTS better.

I never saw BF5 live, but I've seen Ben solo twice and it was an amazing experience. Of course, I also like him better solo - BF5 was a bit too uneven for me. Reinhold Messner was their best album IMO, and even that's got 2 or 3 throw-aways.

you are the ben folds yang to my yin.

i am the complete opposite of everything you just wrote: i pray everything he does tops rockin' the suburbs. im not much a fan of the EPs.

And I thought Messner was rather weak, though it has looked better over time. WAEAmen is my favorite.

[Lathum]

The original Ben folds Five album is by far the best.

Jackson Canery, Philosophy, Uncle Walter, and one of the best songs ever written anytime by anyone is Video, an amazing song.

[Ksyrup]

you are the ben folds yang to my yin.

i am the complete opposite of everything you just wrote: i pray everything he does tops rockin' the suburbs. im not much a fan of the EPs.

And I thought Messner was rather weak, though it has looked better over time. WAEAmen is my favorite.
Funny!

My initial impression from the new stuff is that it's less "full band" oriented than even RTS was, so I'm not sure you're going to like it. It's less commercial, at least less power poppy. If I had to compare it to anything, it would be the EPs, although the overall quality of the songs is better on the album. At least one song off of the EPs is on the album.

[CentralMassHokie]

I'm a huge Ben fan. I saw the Five live once, and I've seen Ben solo 4 or 5 times. I think Whatever and Ever Amen is the best of his albums -- I love the power/fuzz pop that was BFF. Then again, I loved the harmonies.

To me, the best part of a solo Ben show is being in really knowledgeable crowd that knows all of the harmonies off the BFF records - so you've got Ben playing something like Philosophy solo, with the crowd doing the backing vocals and harmonies. Just an amazingly fun experience.

Of course, I love RTS and all the EPs. The songs on the solo stuff have obviously been more personal - Carrying Cathy and Not the Same for example.

I'm a complete fanboy. It's sad. I'm dying for a BFF reunion at some point. Got a taste of one (sort of) this summer when I saw Guster and Ben Folds together (with Rufus Wainwright). The encore was Ben and Guster doing Fair, which worked amazingly well since Guster's another band all about harmonies.

[Ksyrup]

Yep, I'm sure the BF5 shows were amazing, but his solo shows are great, too. Getting the crowd involved since there's no band is great, and of course, his stories are funny as shit as well.

I don't care all that much about harmonies, especially live, because let's face it - the guy ain't that great of a singer. When he starts singing Narcolepsy (on the CD), I always cringe a bit. But it's not totally distracting, and it makes him seem like more of an "everyman" in some ways. He could easily be writing cheesy shit for someone else and never step in front of a mic, but instead, he writes, performs, and sings his own personal stuff. Gotta respect that.

[CentralMassHokie]

I agree that Ben isn't a great singer - but it was always Robert and Darren doing the backing harmonies that made songs for me. Fair is a perfect example, or Underground or Philosophy off of the self-titled.

Ben Folds rules because he just makes good music. Even his covers tend to be inspired (e.g. the Dre cover or The Darkess cover).

[Pyser]

ok, this motivated me to check out his new album.

on first listen, its bad. quite bad. not one song jumped out at me. i had no desire to re-hear any of it. of course ill try again, but man. that was a major disappointment. i really think he is regressing.

ksyrup - i think youll love it :)

[Ksyrup]

I guess my semi-review of it a few posts up was pretty much dead-on, then. I just have so much music to listen to, I haven't found much time to listen to it yet. But then again, that may be because the couple of listens I gave it didn't make me want to keep listening to it...

[SackAttack]

ok, this motivated me to check out his new album.

on first listen, its bad. quite bad. not one song jumped out at me. i had no desire to re-hear any of it. of course ill try again, but man. that was a major disappointment. i really think he is regressing.

ksyrup - i think youll love it :)

Isn't it not even out 'til 4/26?

[Ksyrup]

What's that got to do with anything?

[Pyser]

Isn't it not even out 'til 4/26?

I am Ben fan for life. I'll always buy his albums. This is just a preview.

[SackAttack]

I am Ben fan for life. I'll always buy his albums. This is just a preview.

Gotcha.

[Ksyrup]

For me, downloading CDs from Napster and the like has been replaced with downloading/trading for promos of albums by bands I like. I dump the copies (usually inferior anyway) when the CDs are released, and I usually buy them the day of release or soon thereafter (in the case of stuff I can't get quickly). I had the promo for Strapping Young Lad's Alien and Glen Phillips' Winter Pays for Summer for a couple of months each, and just bought them Wednesday. I've currently got Ben Folds and Porcupine Tree and will be buying those on release day as well. I'm just about to get Teenage Fanclub's new one, and am on the look out for System of a Down, Dream Theater, and Freak Kitchen. This is what I find myself doing most nights instead of playing computer games these days.

[Pyser]

ksyrup, what kind of music do you generally like? im finding this interesting - i think we are very different musically, but managed to find a middle ground in ben folds. the funny thing is, though, that we dont like the same ben folds stuff.

im generally regular alternative, britpop, psych-pop, shoegazer....you?

[Ksyrup]

This might sound wierd, but generally...metal, prog rock, and singer/songwriter-alt pop.

Back in high school and college, it was all heavy metal/alt-metal, but as I got older, my tastes have become more extreme - on both ends. I like quite a bit of orchestral adult/alt pop and heavy, heavy shit like Lamb of God, Opeth, and Strapping Young Lad.

And of course, King's X. :)


Edit: I guess I should also throw in there, generally, power pop, but some of that kinda bleeds into the singer-songwriter/alt pop category a bit. Oddly, I tend to prefer my power pop to be more pop than rock. Not sure why.

[Pyser]

Ok, the one song i really like on the Ben Folds album is "Late". Because it is very obviously written to Elliott Smith (one of my faves). I'm glad Ben wrote it. Very touching.

[Young Drachma]

Damn I love this guy. He's got a new album coming out at the end of April. In the meantime, he's released a cover of Bitches Ain't Shit (Dr. Dre) on itunes. Check it out:

WARNING - NOT SAFE TO LISTEN TO AT WORK!!!!

http://www.sonymusic.com/clips/selection/fu/071897/071897_01_01_full_100.asx

Ben Folds is awesome.

[Ksyrup]

A letter from Ben explaining the new album:



'songs for silverman' is the recording of eleven events in the studio. they're fairly pure and recorded pretty quickly. i think that shows through on first listen. there is overdubbing and arranging as well, but these things happened quickly, almost in a frenzy sometimes so that we could walk out of the studio with a representation... a finished recording rather than a theory. jared and lindsay and i locked ourselves in the studio each day, taking breaks for a soy chai or lens testing or even beard trimming, learning songs that i'd already demo'd, interpretting them whichever direction the wind blew that day. thus, a fairly country version of 'give judy my notice' - since bucky baxter, legendary pedal steel player dropped by that day. the recording of 'songs for silverman' is very stark and flat, not often very compressed or hyped, unless i got a sudden hankerin' for some tasty EQ and some aural excitement. we used fewer mics on the entire band than lots of people use on a drumset these days. but when a moment could be better, or a sound could be more magical, we put the time in and went steely dan on that shit. at the core, the performance, the spritual SMPTE track remains in tact and true to the takes. no click tracks or tempo maps or gay shit like that.

here's how it happened:
i recorded most of these songs while doing the ep's. all by myself. i didn't like them so i just sat on them while i worked on the shatner album and did some short tours. during this time i decided i wanted to tour with a band again. so jared reynolds came in to audition as my touring bassist last summer for some upcoming shows; i'd already decided on lindsay jamieson as the drummer. i was writing 'bastard', which is the first song on the album and thought i'd just have him play with lindsay and me on that song to see how he went. it's in lots of different time signatures and was a brutal thing to do to him especially since i also told the recording engineer to start recording that session to multi track that day. a few days later, after i'd decided where the song would change from 6/8 to 7/8 to 5/4 and back, jared came into the studio again and we recorded the version that's on the album. i don't recall if i actually told him that he had the gig but we recorded jesusland next and so on. the last song on the album was the last song written and recorded for the album and there you go. god bless all you mother fuckers. i hope you like the album. by the way, jared, you got the job.

ben

[Pyser]

thats interesting. i guess my question, though, is why?

i mean, he is clearly getting to branch out with all the eps, which are far more polished than the album...i guess i dont see why silverman wasnt broken down into 2 eps, and then combine 2 eps for the album.

whatever. still not growing on me yet. still trying though.

[Glengoyne]

For a second I thought SkyDog had unbanned MrSkippy.

[Ksyrup]

thats interesting. i guess my question, though, is why?

i mean, he is clearly getting to branch out with all the eps, which are far more polished than the album...i guess i dont see why silverman wasnt broken down into 2 eps, and then combine 2 eps for the album.

whatever. still not growing on me yet. still trying though.
Same here. I think it's kinda weird that he says he wrote them while doing the EPs and didn't like them so he shelved them. It's almost like he decided to take the leftovers and release them as an album rather than either leave them shelved or release them as EPs and write new stuff for an album.

[Pyser]

another bump.

to relive the old times, an old buddy of mine (of ben folds five tour days in 98-99) and i trekked out a few hours to central pa to catch butch walker open for ben folds at millersburg college or university.

ill skip the butch walker review, but if you dont know him, you should (he used to be the frontman of marvelous 3, if anyone remembers them).

anyway, ben folds was....fine. he played with a bass player and a drummer, who each helped on the harmonies (sound familiar). he played about 6 songs from the new record. trusted has become my favorite off the album. but he played the much slower ones, too, like late. after a while, he kicked the 2 other guys off stage, and played some solo bff stuff that they rarely played live, which was great. Emaline, Eddie Walker (no harmonies though! grr), a boring version of the luckiest, and then the big surprise, the full band for Wheres Summer B?

Which brings up an old story. thats long been one of my favorite bff songs, and they never played it. so my buddy (same one from this weekends show) made up about 500 "wheres summer b" signs at a show, and handed them out to everyone at the place. on the back were directions of when to hold up the sign, and everyone did, and bff finally played the song. so it was nice to hear.

all in all, ben played for over 2 hours, and worked in a good mix of old bff stuff (one angry drawf, philosophy, army), but the stuff that went over biggest was his first solo record. particularly not the same, which they closed with, with some interesting crowd harmonizing.

all in all fun, but seeing the 3 piece setup really made me, as usual, pine for the old ben folds five days.

[Ksyrup]

I like Butch Walker. Not much for M3, oddly enough, but his solo stuff is good.

When I saw Ben Folds the second time, he played Summer B.

[Ksyrup]

I have to admit, I'm digging the new album much more after repeated listens. It's not as good as Rockin' the Suburbs, and I miss the power pop feel, but these songs are pretty good. They're a bit too much alike, though, which gives it a redundant feel about halfway through.

[Pyser]

its grown a little on me, too...but is still my least favorite album. trusted remains my favorite.