While Ben Folds Five’s debut album is a seemingly impossible act to follow, the band’s second CD Wherever and Ever Amen was absolutely up to the task. Folds expanded his palette, making use of strings, horns and studio trickery to produce a stunning collection of songs. It would be a struggle to find another artist or band whose first two albums are as satisfying as these.
As with Ben Folds Five, it is hard to choose a song to highlight from Whatever and Ever Amen. From the hard-rocking opening track ‘One Angry Dwarf and 200 Solemn Faces’ (incidentally, the only song in my catalog of over 8,000 that contains the word “dwarf”) to the delicate closer, ‘Evaporated,’ all of these songs are worthy of the spotlight.
Welcome to another single-artist theme week, this one focusing on the wonderful but short-lived Ben Folds Five as well as Ben Folds’ solo work. As usual, I will tackle the songs in chronological order.
To finish off amateur week, I’m moving away from the musicians and putting the spotlight on my new idol, a guy who goes by the handle grammapolice. He doesn’t sing or play an instrument (at least not on YouTube)… he dances. Boy, does he dance.
Of all the artists in my collection, none better typifies the spirit of sitting alone in a room singing with a guitar than Elliott Smith. So I thought it fitting to close out this theme week with a cover of one of Smith’s (classic!) songs.
OK, this might just be my favorite video on YouTube. I happened upon these sisters named Fiona and Emily (aged 14 and 16, though they look much younger in many of their clips) and they’re irresistible.
Meet Me In Montauk 