I have two main points to make in today’s Random Weekend selection.
The first is that Ben Folds is such a great songwriter that even his B-sides can be powerful and moving.
‘Wandering,’ released on Folds’ Speed Graphic EP, and later in demo version on his Best Imitation of Myself: A Retrospective (and I believe on a movie soundtrack originally), is a beautiful, sad portrait of a relationship — it could easily stand alongside the best of his album work.
It’s funny how some of the best concert experiences involve artists playing somebody else’s music. Not that I’d want to watch a favorite act perform nothing but covers, but a couple of well-placed interpretations can really make a show.
A highlight of the recent Barenaked Ladies show I attended was a raucous late-show medley of recent chart toppers, including Taylor Swift’s ‘I Knew You Were Trouble,’ Daft Punk’s ‘Get Lucky’ and Macklemore’s ‘Thrift Shop.’ In a much different vein, Tift Merritt performed a lovely Joni Mitchell cover on piano.
#6 – Lonely Avenue – Ben Folds
Ben Folds’ collaboration with novelist Nick Hornby was my favorite album of 2010, and it hasn’t faded a bit in my estimation since.
I love the challenge Folds took on in morphing Hornby’s very literate lyrics into pop songs. As a follow-up to his disappointing solo album Way To Normal, this record was a refreshing return to form.
Author Nick Hornby (one of my favorites) teamed up with Ben Folds (likewise) on the 2010 album Lonely Avenue.
Hornby penned a bevy of powerful, emotional songs — along with some very funny ones — but the one that feels the most familiar to me is ‘Practical Amanda.’
Pandora tells me I like Ben Folds because his music exhibits major key tonality, melodic songwriting and a dynamic male vocalist. That’s how the musical genome project categorizes his music (along with dozens of other attributes they don’t surface, I’m sure). And according to that criteria, I should also like Josh Ritter, Ben Kweller and Death Cab for Cutie.
I don’t know two of those artists and I’m indifferent to the third but I’m sure they do sound something like Ben Folds and probably have some of the same fans. But does my love of Ben Folds necessarily mean that I’ll like people who sound like him? Maybe I like him despite his major key tonality (whatever that means), not because of it.
Meet Me In Montauk 