Check Your Papers and the TV

Ben Folds in the press

Check your Papers and the TV began with the original Ben Folds Five website in 1995 and is named for a line in the song One Angry Dwarf and 200 Solemn Faces. Once upon a time, people relied on sites like this to find out the latest about their favorite artists and to share what they found with fellow fans. Now, Google and other search engines do a far better job of indexing the world’s output on the Internet, so it’s beyond our capability to attempt to list every article or clip that’s posted. So, this page will instead be a listing of items we found of interest in the press and online news sources. We’ll post many to our Twitter feed and include them here. If you come across an item of interest, tag @magicalarmchair in a tweet or send us an e-mail.Also note that it’s inevitable that links will vanish from the web or be otherwise broken, so if you spot an orphaned page that’s gone all 404, we’d appreciate knowing about it.

Latest items

• NPR All Songs Considered Tiny Desk Concert: Ben puts the NPR piano out of tune with a performance featuring three recent songs: Phone in a Pool, Not a Fan and Capable of Anything, along with two evergreens, Emaline and One Angry Dwarf and 200 Solemn Faces (in which we see Ben appropriately plays the bass notes with his middle fingers). Posted February 15, 2016
• NPR’s World Cafe performance, including Capable of Anything, So There and Phone in a Pool, first broadcast September 10, 2015
• New “So There” album features eight rock songs performed by a classical sextet – by Ben Walsh in The Independent, September 7, 2015
• The Case for Classical, with Ben Folds – Interview with Linda Wertheimer on NPR Weekend Edition Sunday, September 6, 2015
• First Play: Ben Folds, So There – by Jesse Kinos-Goodin, CBC Music, September 3, 2015
• Cult Heroes: Ben Folds, the bespectacled piano man, forever flouting convention – Article by Mark Beaumont in The Guardian, August 18, 2015
• Ben Folds on Symphony Orchestras, George Gershwin and TV theme music - by David Smyth in the Evening Standard, August 7, 2015
• 20 Years Ago: Ben Folds Five release their self-titled album – Tim Karan on DiffuserFM, August 8, 2015
• Studio A placed on National Register of Historic Places – by Nate Rau in The Tennessean, July 31, 2015
• Interview: Ben Folds at Bonnaroo – Andrew Poitras in Fuse, June 14, 2015
• Ben’s Studio, Nashville – Cover story in Mix Magazine, May 2013
• Ben Folds Rocks the Hill, by Alicia Adamczyk, The Michigan Daily (University of Michigan student newspaper)
• Ben Folds Seduces the Crowd at Hill, by Lena Finkel,  The Michigan Daily

The Sing-Off, Season 3

Print and online articles:

• Ben Folds tunes up for another season of ‘The Sing-Off’, by Rob Lowman, LA Daily News
• The Ben Folds Interview, Part 1 and Part 2 on Sin3g, an a cappella blog site

Best Imitation of Myself album

Podcast Series:

• Best Imitation of Myself Podcast #1 featuring Ben’s comments on House, one of three newly-recorded Ben Folds Five songs
• Best Imitation of Myself Podcast #2 with a discussion of Tell Me What I Did, another new song by the reunited Ben Folds Five on the compilation
• Best Imitation of Myself Podcast #3 Stumblin’ Home describing the compilation not as a “best of” but as a series of snapshots throughout his career

TV:

• VH1 Big Morning Buzz, interview with Carrie Keagan (20 October 2011)

Print and Online Articles:

• Album review by Noel Murray in The Onion AV Club
• Ben Folds walks us through the highs and lows of his career, by Rebecca Milzoff in Vulture (New York Magazine)
• Ben Folds plays well with others, by Jim Allen in MTV Hive
• Ben Folds’ accidental box set, by Mark C. Brown in Reverb
• Review of  Best Imitation of Myself, by Eli Lee in Drowned in Sound
• Ben Folds on his retrospective, by Ray Purvis in The West Australian
• Ben Folds Rocks This (Witch) In Mpls, by Sara Boyd, CBS Minnesota
• On Retrospectives, Reunions and TV Stardom, by Mindy Peterman in The Morton Report

Lonely Avenue album and tour

TV Show Appearances:

• Nashville Public Television – NPT Arts Break, discussing the Nashville Symphony benefit concert Keys to Music City to raise funds for flood relief
• Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, NBC-TV, October 14, 2010  (with Nick Hornby).  Clip of Saskia Hamilton performed on the show.
• Talk of the Town, WTVF-TV Nashville, October 7, 2010

Radio:

• Ben chats with Adam Carolla on his Internet radio show. Episode can be listened to online or downloaded to iTunes. (19 July 2011)
• BBC World News America – Nick Hornby and Ben Folds make music together (with video), by Shanon Cook
• Bob Edwards Weekend (Sirius XM and Public Radio International) – Interview, November 6, 2010
• Sirius XM Book Radio – rebroadcast of Spin Liner Notes show, various days and times in November 2010
• BBC review of Lonely Avenue – An affecting and intelligent record: the pair shouldn’t shy away from a sequel, by Andrew Mueller
• WNYC Soundcheck, interview and performance with Nick Hornby, hosted by John Schafer (Oct. 13)
• NPR’s Morning Edition, interview with Ari Shapiro
• BBC Radio 4 Today, interview with Nicola Stanbridge

Print and online articles:

• Huffington Post – Chatting with Ben Folds, by Mike Ragogna
• Independent (London, England) – Show review and video clip, by Luke Grundy
• Evening Times (Glasgow, Scotland) – Ben’s a man of manners, by Jonathan Geddes
• Isthmus (University of Wisconsin) – At Overture Hall, Ben Folds proves once again that piano pop can rock your socks off, by Jessica Steinhoff
• The Post (Ohio University) -Review of Athens, Ohio show, by Amanda Lucci
• The Collegian (University of Tulsa) – Ben Folds discusses Lonely Avenue, by Steven Schrag
• Urban Tulsa Weekly (independent) – Below the Folds, by G. K. Hizer
• CBS Minnesota – Curiocity: Ben Folds rocks sold-out crowd at First Avenue, by Sara Boyd – but he must have forgotten about the time in LA when he stopped during the first number because there wasn’t enough monitor on the piano. This was in 1995, though, with Darren and Robert, opening for Barenaked Ladies.
• Minneapolis Star-Tribune – Ben there done that, by Chris Riemenschneider (preview of First Avenue show, the Sing-Off, and Lonely Avenue)
• Minneapolis Star-Tribune – Great Balls of Ice (Ben recalls his first show in Minnapolis in the dead of winter), by Chris Riemenschneider
• A.V. Club (Minneapolis/St.Paul) – Interview with Ben on Nick Hornby, Saskia Hamilton, and Sing-Off contestants, by Maggie Ryan Sandford
• Charlotte Observer – Hornby pens lyrics for Ben Folds, by Courtney Devores
• Columbia Spectator (Columbia Univesity, New York City) – Ben Folds’ Lonely Avenue leads to Barnard College professor, by Allison Malecha
• Buffalo Evening News – Revenge of the Nerd, by Jeff Miers
• Monsters and Critics: NBC sneak peeks of the Sing-Off, by April MacIntyre
• The Irish Times – High Fidelity of Hornby and Folds, by Tony Clayton-Lea
• The Butler Collegian – Ben Folds to perform at Clowes by Allyson Dobberteen, and  Ben Folds rocks Clowes Hall
• Access Atlanta – Ben Folds brings Lonely Avenue to Atlanta, by Lynn Peisner
• Londonist – Live Music Preview: Ben Folds at Hammermith, by John M
• Indie Music Watch – review of Lonely Avenue, by Chad Grischow
• Philadelphia Daily News – As a musician, you ‘drive with your heart,’ says Ben Folds, by Jonathan Takiff
• The DePaulia (DePaul University) – Ben Folds puts music first and fans can’t complain, Wise words of musical wisdom, and Ben Folds makes new words his own, all by Joanie Faletto
• The Phillyist (Philadelphia) – Interview with Joe Ross
• The Source (Bend, Ore.) - Lonely Avenue review
• Pittsburgh Tribune-Review – Folds/Hornby team does it the old-school way, by Rege Behe
• Pittsburgh Post-Gazette – Ben Folds teams up with ‘High Fidelity’ writer Nick Hornby for new album, by Scott Mervis
• Columbus Dispatch – Review of Columbus show, by Curtis Scheiber
• Arizona Daily Wildcat – Ben Folds and Nick Hornby better sold separately, by Miranda Butler
• NY1 – Musician Ben Folds, novelist Nick Hornby celebrate their joint CD, by George Whipple
• Cincinnati CityBeat – Story about Lonely Avenue, by Steven Rosen
• Cincinnati Enquirer – Ben Folds: Pop Mastermind, by Chris Varias
• Chicago Sun-Times – Folds, Hornby collaborate with mind-blowing results, by Thomas Conner
• The Michigan Daily (Univ. of Michigan) – preview of Detroit show, by David Riva
• The Oakland Press (Pontiac, Mich.) – preview of Detroit show, by Gary Graff
• The Columbus (Ohio) Dispatch – Columbus Alive preview of Columbus show, by Chris DeVille
• Jim DeRogatis (host of  public radio show Sound Opinions) – Review of Lonely Avenue
• NBC New York – Review of Housing Works show
• Spin – Review of Housing Works show
• New York Magazine – Switcheroo: Nick Hornby picks his favorite music, and Ben Folds picks his favorite books, by Catherine Coreno
• Scripps-Howard News Service - Lonely Avenue review, by Chuck Campbell (in the Minneapolis Star-Tribune)
• The Tulane Hullabaloo – Folds and Hornby meet at Lonely Avenue, by Nicole Nolan
• Concordiensis (Union College, Schenectady, NY) - Ben Folds, Nick Hornby ‘Lonely Avenue’ collaboration pop genius, by Sam Bertschmann
• The Michigan Daily (Univ. of Michigan) – Ben Folds enlists Nick Hornby for superb literary effort, by David Riva
• Toronto Globe & Mail – Hornby writes, Folds rocks, by Brad Wheeler
• Cleveland Plain Dealer – Short take by music writer John Soeder
• Brockville Recorder and Times – Hornby, Folds an odd team, by Darryl Sterdan, QMI Agency
• Seattle Post-Intelligencer – Review, by Holly Hughes, Blogcritics.org
• The Australian – Review, by Ian Cuthbertson
• PopMatters – A working day: an interview with Ben Folds, by Crispin Kott
• The Boston Phoenix – Musician + Author = Crap, by Eugenia Williamson
• Time Magazine – Words and Music: Ben Folds, Nick Hornby make album, by Claire Suddath
• Filter Magazine – Ben Folds, From Above (video review)
• The West Australian (Perth) – Pop bliss encounters cool prose, by Jane Rocca
• Associated Press – Ben Folds and Nick Hornby combine talents on new CD, by Steven Wine, in the Lafayette, Ind. Journal and Courier
• Spinner.com – Ben Folds ponders future collaborations with Nick Hornby, by David Chiu
• CNN – Ben Folds, Nick Hornby team up in new album, by Elizabeth Landau
• On the Red Carpet – Ben Folds and Nick Hornby make album, include song about Levi Johnston, by Corinne Heller
• The Third Age – Ben Folds, Nick Hornby write new album
• The Epoch Times – Ben Folds presents a new album, a collaboration with Nick Hornby, by Angela Wang
• ContactMusic.com – Ben Folds and Nick Hornby write Bristol Palin song
• Canada.com on Folds and his collaboration with Hornby and others, by Mike Doherty
• Reuters News Service – Review of Lonely Avenue (via Baltimore Sun)
• The Canadian Press – Review of Lonely Avenue (via Kitchener Record)
• Spin – Ben Folds & Nick Hornby live in NYC, by Peter Gaston
• BeatCrave.com – Lonely Avenue album preview
• Spinner.com – Lonely Avenue album preview
• Scotsman.com – Lonely Avenue album preview, by Fiona Shepherd
• Antimusic.com – Tour preview
• MOG Music Network – Tour preview
• Spinner.com – Ben Folds needs Bob Saget to Help Find a Foul-Mouthed Old Lady, by Jenny Charlesworth
• Spinner.com – Ben Folds felt nervous over collaboration with Hornby,  by Barnaby Smith
• Spinner.com – Secrets to collaborating with Nick Hornby,  by Jenny Charlesworth
• New Zealand City – Ben Folds’ musical pressure  (nzcity.co.nz)
• Billboard -  interview quoted in FMQB
• The Atlantic – A note about Nick Hornby,  by James Fellows

The Sing-Off, Season 2

TV, print and online articles:

• New York Magazine – Best and worst of The Sing-Off, Season Two (Ben with “most musically on-point commentary”)
• NBC-TV The Today Show – Ben says he’s “looking to be moved”  when judging contestants (Dec. 15, 2010)
• NPR.org: Ben Folds is still fantastic, by Linda Holmes, Monkey See TV blogger)
• MTV.com: “The Sing-Off” proves Ben Folds needs his own television show, by Kyle Anderson
• Spinner.com: Ben Folds boarded the a cappella bandwagon before joining “The Sing-Off” reality show, by Steve McLean
• The New York Times (free registration required): Summoning harmony on the fly, by Neil Genzlinger

Miscellaneous

• MTV Wake-Up Video: Ben Folds Five Say Whatever, by Kyle Anderson (18 March 2011)