THE MAGICAL ARMCHAIR
The Ben Folds Five Digest
Issue #816 - February 10, 1998
Magical Armchair Digest Tuesday, February 10 1998 Volume 01 : Number 816
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BACK ON SCHEDULE
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TOPICS IN THIS DIGEST:
rolling stone
review of sf show
Change of name.../Brubeck
The end of Summer B
Attitude???
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: Mon, 09 Feb 1998 18:48:36 -0600 (CST)
From: Andrea Aaron Tomas <ysb47@TTACS.TTU.EDU>
Subject: rolling stone
I started subscribing to rolling stone last august, and for a while it was
good. But, then it started to suck, and then suck even more. They
finally hit rock bottom when they put Tori Spelling on the cover. So,
today, I'm checking my mail and right on schedule is my new issue of
Rolling Stone. I go up to my room and begin reading it with little
enthusiasm. Then, what do I see? A whole article devoted to the wonder
known as Ben Folds Five. I was in heaven. Everybody run to Barnes and
Noble and pick up your copy soon. It's not one to be missed. Brick is
the main focus of this article (no surprise), but it does have a lot more
to it. It should also clear up any confusion as to the meaning and history
behind "Brick". So, I just thought I'd let all the other fans here who
haven't heard about this yet join in on my euphoria.
andie
(2 more days until the dallas show...I can't wait!)
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 9 Feb 1998 19:38:46 -0600 (CST)
From: mikem9@ix.netcom.com (Mike Martis)
Subject: review of sf show
The Five were in great form (right down to Ben's colorful boxer shorts)
Saturday night at the Warfield in San Francisco. Here's a reprint from
today's (Monday's) Chronicle...it's one of the best BFF reviews I've
read, although I will disagree with the author on the subject of
Gladhands - a shaky sound system notwithstanding, I thought they served
up something a little better than "mediocre" power pop.
BTW-- During the set change just prior to BFF going on, about five or
six cuts from what sounded like the same CD played over the house
system. If the band selected it (or if you were there and recognized
it), can anyone let me know who it was?
Thanks...here's the review (reprinted without permission)...
--Mike
Ben Folds Makes It Look Easy
by James Sullivan, Chronicle Pop Music Critic
Ben Folds is to the '90s what Elton John was to the '70s and Joe
Jackson the '80s: a piano-pounding popster whose songs bubble with the
inspiration of innumerable styles.
It's a curious coincidence that all three performers happened to be in
town over the weekend. But while his elders largely rely on their old
hits, Folds is unmistakably this year's model.
In a decade during which just about every creative effort can be
meaninglessly described as ``postmodern,'' the music of the Ben Folds
Five is drenched with fragmentation and irony. Even the band name is a
joke: There are only three musicians.
At the Warfield on Saturday night, the nerdy North Carolinian led his
band on a romp through the history of 20th century pop, borrowing
everything from Gatsby-era speakeasy music to crew-cut '60s harmonies
and flame-breathing heavy metal, often within the same song.
With just two albums and a new collection of early tracks (``Naked Baby
Photos'') on the shelves, the Ben Folds Five is currently enjoying its
biggest hit to date, the format-hopping ballad ``Brick.'' When Folds
dispatched with that melancholy song midway through his 20-song set,
boys and girls throughout the audience fell into each other's arms.
Given the uncomfortable nature of ``Brick's'' subject matter -- it's
about a couple breaking up over an abortion -- the scene was a little
unnerving.
But Folds' music is a heck of a lot more uplifting than that. So much
so, in fact, that bassist Robert Sledge often finds himself pogoing to
the delirious rhythms he lays down with exceptionally gifted drummer
Darren Jessee.
After some mediocre power pop from the Gladhands and a crowd-pleasing
set of wry alternative country by Robbie Fulks, both Carolina neighbors
of the headliners, Folds and his sidekicks took the stage with a
percolating instrumental, making like a revue in miniature.
It's almost impossible to avoid the Elton comparisons with Folds, and
at the Warfield the band began with the cascading keyboard runs that
introduced ``Philosophy,'' the second number. But Folds refuses to be
stuffed into that small a box, and at the end of the song he hammered
out a meat-headed nod to George Gershwin's ``Rhapsody in Blue'' and
joined his bassist in a falsetto parody of the Scorpions' hard-rock hit
``Rock You Like a Hurricane.''
For much of the night, Sledge played his bass with a fuzz-tone effect.
Lost in the mix early on, the buzzing sound carried the melodies of
later songs like ``Fair'' and ``Song for the Dumped.''
On the latter, the bassist pulled his pickup from his guitar and kept
time with the live connection by tapping it against his palm. Folds,
meanwhile, stood up and flailed his piano strings like a zither,
creating a cacophony that had little to do with either instrument's
refined image.
Folds is almost as irreverent about his own generation as he is toward
musical tradition. He sings comically vengeful lyrics about childhood
traumas like having his lunch money stolen, and he pillories the
hipster obsessions of his peers on songs like ``Underground.''
Still, he and his band represent the arrival of a new sort of goofy,
ambisexual heartthrob in the aftermath of the self-serious grunge era.
On the encore-closing number ``Julianne,'' Folds sang about ``a girl
who looked like Axl Rose,'' then climbed atop his piano and dropped
trou, exposing a pair of unflattering boxers.
Flaunting a wonderful range of emotions, he had just finished playing
the brittle ``Boxing,'' a self-described ``waltz about Muhammad Ali''
that addresses the fleeting nature of success for even the most blessed
among us.
Obviously, Ben Folds knows how to enjoy success.
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 9 Feb 1998 21:37:13 EST
From: BenFoldsJ@aol.com
Subject: Change of name.../Brubeck
Hey armchairers.,
I'm switching names on the list from BenFoldsJ to FoldinFive@aol.com.
Sorry if it pisses anyone off.
Oh...does anyone have any comment on the Dave Brubeck Quartet influence?
Cheers,
Jordan
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 9 Feb 1998 22:53:50 -0500
From: "idaho" <idaho@appstate.campus.mci.net>
Subject: The end of Summer B
I always thought that the lyrics were "We'll smoke a bowl with Jay, Fly
away, and settle down" and all that. Maybe he does say Kate. Now you've
got me curious as well.
blb
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 9 Feb 1998 20:10:53 -0800 (PST)
From: selfless cold and composed <sullenmoon@rocketmail.com>
Subject: Attitude???
Hmmm, I was half asleep this morning, when I hear Brick on the radio.
(I leave it on while I sleep) Now, after the song was over, the DJ's
said something like "well, that was Ben FOlds Five. They were here in
the studio last week...." I hadn't heard about that. Anyway, they went
on to say that that (in short) they were real assholes and had a lot
of "attitude" . Something about acting like "rock stars". Well, I had
heard that the guys were pretty nice, it kinda took me aback that
these guys were saying such bad stuff on the air. I'm in Seattle, I
think I was listening to Star 101.5. Did anyone hear this this
morning? I think it was around 8ish. Or is anyone heard when they were
in the studio, I'd love to hear what happened.... Thanks a bunch.
~Jennifer
By the way, would anyone else like to have the option to get this list
not as a digest? I would love more immediate responses, and those poor
people who wanted tickets/rides or whatever, shortly before the show
are just screwed. Actually, I had an extra ticket earlier that day i
had to get rid of, but I knew the post would'nt get in your mailboxes
for a day or two. Anyway I don't know if there is a reason you can't
get it in list format or not, but if not, here's a plea for it!
===
Jennifer Morton Sullenmoon@Rocketmail.com
My NEW Homepage! http://members.tripod.com/~SullenMoon/index.html
" I could never sleep my way to the top, 'cause my alarm-clock always
wakes me right up...-TMBG
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------------------------------
End of Magical Armchair Digest V1 #816
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