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DL: http://www.box.net/shared/9dymgjfefu
the album: i first heard about this "project" on - of all things - NPR (independent news radio w/ a liberal bent for the non-Americans). it's a musical/lyrical collaboration by 2 of my favorite artists: american singer-songwriter Ben Folds and english novelist Nick Hornby. i gave it a try, and was pleasantly surprised. if you just play it in the background, you'll enjoy what you hear (piano-rock music with thoughtful lyrics). but if you listen closer, you'll discover some witty storytelling as well. Favorite tracks include "Picture Window", the poignant "Levi Johnston Blues", and "Practical Amanda."
the artists:
Ben Folds is probably known to most for his late 90's piano rock-band Ben Folds Five (their self-titled debut and Whatever and Ever Amen are listening mainstays) - as well as a number of...interesting solo albums, collaborations (Shatner), and interweb hijinks. quite a few of these turned out to be themes for my late teens and early 20s ("Kate", "Underground", "Song for the Dumped", "In Love"). give me back my black t-shirt, indeed.
Nick Hornby is easily one of my favorite modern fiction writers (High Fidelity, About A Boy, The Polysyllabic Spree, A Long Way Down, etc), whose blending of pop culture, human struggle, and a passionate interests (music, sport, etc) really stands out in my mind as - wait for it - relatable stories for my late teens and early 20s - top 5's, mix-tapes, and throwing air conditioners on the guy that stole your girl.
what's new with me: quite a bit, thanks. most of the late summer/fall was spent i was travelling a LOT for work and fun (Alabama, Cincinnati, Boston, Wisconsin, Portland, San Diego, DC), and am only just now enjoying a short respite from the road. then i got into a car accident (thanksfully no one was hurt), and wound up getting a new car. in Dec i'm planning to take some time off in to travel (road trip?!) as i get ready for a pretty big life change (ymore on that later). and then plans are definitely in motion for a trip to to Alaska next summer. beyond all that, i've actually spent some time thinking about how to best evolve this social-music experiment of ours that is MusooKlub. so look for an email from me in the near future to announce some changes.
so stay tuned!
Long time fan of Ben Folds. Proof? I have both his a capella college choir album and the spoken word album he did with William Shatner (a great listen). So I'll pretty much buy whatever he pumps out.
ReplyDeleteThat being said, there has been a distinct drop in the quality of Ben Folds albums over the last few years. The way he jumps from random project to random project makes it seem like he's looking for something but never finding it. Well, I doubt he's found it with this album either.
Don't get me wrong, this is a good album - full of Ben Foldsy pop goodness - but it is a little bit of the same old stuff. Hornsby's lyrics just don't seem to fit either. Can't pin it down, just feels like somethings not quite right.
I do like the redneck song though. I suspect this album will grow on me. 3.5/5