THE MAGICAL ARMCHAIR
The Ben Folds Five Digest
Issue #1499 - May 1, 1999
Magical Armchair Digest Saturday, May 1 1999 Volume 01 : Number 1499
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TOPICS IN THIS DIGEST:
Latest tour dates
army
gettin shot down...as usual
VALUABLE POSSESSION IS COOL
"Brick" & "Army" SWITCHAROO vs TUBORM or FOPV2!
Irving Plaza, Counterfeit tickets, John Mark Painter, Alan Wolmack, and one sore arm.
regrets
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: Fri, 30 Apr 1999 15:39:50 -0400 (EWT)
From: Frank Maynard <maynard@oeonline.com>
Subject: Latest tour dates
These just announced in the last day or so:
May 27: Raleigh, NC - The Ritz - Tix on sale May 1 at The Ritz and at
Cat's Cradle in Carrboro
and Schoolkids in Chapel Hill and Raleigh
May 28: Charlotte, NC - Blockbuster Pavilion "Koncert for Kosovo"
Tickets via Ticketmaster
May 29: Atlanta, GA - Tabernacle
May 30: Nashville, TN - Ryman Auditorium - Tickets via Ticketmaster
On sale May 3
-fjm
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 30 Apr 1999 16:26:52 EDT
From: MFH333@aol.com
Subject: army
i was looking in my weaea cover for no apparent reason, and was just checking
it out and happened to notice that next to where they wrote 'KATE', there is
written right next to it 'army'. maybe this has no connection at all, but i
thought it was weird.
mess is still my favorite song. it slightly reminds me of REM's 'losing my
religion'. god, i can't stop listening to tuborm. my friends are already
getting sick of it. i am definitely going to the kosovo thing, anyone with
me? it will kick ass, but does anyone know what time they play?
Adriane
but i don't believe in god
so i can't be saved
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 30 Apr 1999 15:54:09 -0400
From: bf5 <bf5@SURRY.NET>
Subject: gettin shot down...as usual
Here is an interestingly shitty review of TUBORM out of the Winston-Salem
Journal (n.c., usa). The only good thing about this review was the huge
picture that came with it...
GROWING PAINS HAMPER BEN FOLDS' LATEST CD (2 stars out of 4)
The third album by North Carolina's Ben Folds Five reveals to be,
not an alternative-pop aesthete or nerdy ironist, but a consummate pro
intent on writing pop-rock show tunes for a generation that accepts The Lion
King as Broadway fare. The million fans who bought the Five's last album,
WAEA, probably will not view TUBORM for what it is--a transitive work of
growth. Granted, Messner is still driven by the omnivorous hummability of
Folds' songwriting--with the added treat of "Magic," a lovely balled by
drummer Darren Jessee. Still, it lacks the sardonic hubris and kinetic
hubba-hubba that fans expect of Folds; only "Your Redneck Past" swerves into
wry territory. Instead, Folds, insecurities on his sleeve, explores
romantic desecration and deprivation through straight-ahead popcraft that
owes far more to the Tin Pan Alley craft of Burt Bacharach than the punk-pop
snottiness of Joe Jackson. The overblown "Narcolepsy" and "Regrets" buckle
under contrived ambition, but Folds' avoidance of all things familiar and
formulaic make even his relative failures worth hearing.
- ----------
Was that not completely shitty for the most part, or what? After I read it,
I ripped it up. To top it all off, the caption under the picture reads;
"NEW GROUND: The Ben Folds Five ventures into new territory with TUBORM."
Of course that added touch of calling them "THE Ben Folds Five" really
helped the whole thing.
whatever...
\ \/ /
~\/\/hitney =o)
*i wanna be kate*
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 30 Apr 1999 14:14:28 -0700 (PDT)
From: Brian Wopershall <bwoper@yahoo.com>
Subject: VALUABLE POSSESSION IS COOL
Hey gang,
Contrary to many other reports, I think Your Most Valuable Possession
is great. Ive heard it probably 100 times so far and I still crack up
when Dean says with his southern drawl, "your most valuable
possession.......your mind" and ben sighs in the background while
delivering the smooth, cheezy 70's jazz sound.
Actually I think its perfect after Your Redneck Past. I think Reinhold
realizes in the last 4 tracks that he's got it pretty good. Sure hes
got regrets, but he's become the best he can be with his most valuable
possession, his mind and without the Army plus he's not living for the
expectations of anyone else (should tell you thats not right). (run on
sentence? yes)
Bye,
Brian
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------------------------------
Date: Fri, 30 Apr 1999 17:28:11 EDT
From: Kudzugrits@aol.com
Subject: "Brick" & "Army" SWITCHAROO vs TUBORM or FOPV2!
Ya know what. The people that loved "Brick" were most likely
disappointed when they bought WAEA because that was the only song on the CD
like that. On other hand, the people who like "Army" are going to be very
disappointed with TUBORM when they get an album full of songs that are not
like the big single. They should've put "Army" on with WEAE and put "Brick"
on TUBORM. Then the CD's would make more sense as a whole in the music style
category.
Or we could just leave "Army" on TUBORM as what the fans have come to
love BFF for (fun music with piano, bass, drums, and vocal harmonies) and add
some more of those type songs to it, and then make the rest of the music on
TUBORM into FOPV2. I think that would work out better.
I've been waiting sooooooo long for some more BFF-ish music and now I
have to wait until the NEXT album or even FOREVER if they keep going the way
they are going. I still love BFF and think that they are great musical
talents, but I just want some more good ol' "anry fun" music that they have
done up til now.
Well, anyway, thanks for listenin, bye,
Ryan
PS. Sorry about ramblin! I love "Army", but I want MORE of it!
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 30 Apr 1999 17:54:57 -0400
From: Sean Kiely <seank@CYBERNEX.NET>
Subject: Irving Plaza, Counterfeit tickets, John Mark Painter, Alan Wolmack, and one sore arm.
Well... I went to Irving Plaza, got there about 8:30, holland tunnel was
running relatively light for the time of night... Was supposed to be on
the guest list, but only my father and his friend were on it, so my
dad's friend got two extra tix from his friend at the club, and I had to
go find a ticket from some very scary looking men. Got the ticket, paid
$25, and it had burn marks on it. I was fairly scared my friend wasn't
going to get in. Expecially since he was the one with the minidisc
recorder. Upon further inspection of the ticket in question, we found
there to be numerous more discrepencies between ours and his. Getting
progressively more scared. But we got in, all three of us (while my dad
was sitting pretty upstairs). Then we got stopped because of our mike
stand, and then doug cleared it, then we went inside and set up, and got
harrassed again, but then doug cleared it again. Then Fleming and John
played, and I was thoroughly impressed... sort of a poppier and slightly
more sophisticated Cardigans type deal, very cool, a little too
ecclectic at points, but good all the same. Then Fleming and John came
out and talked to people, Fleming was really popular so I talked to
John, made some lame jokes, commented on his excellent arranging, yada
yada yada... Went back to our spot behind the soundboard, started
getting everything ready, when some little dude with a beard tells us we
can't use a mic stand... so I say, "but doug said..." and he says, "well
I'm doug's boss!" and I say, "whoa, are you THE alan wolmack?" and he
says, "yeah." so we take the mic stand down, and he explains how it's
some sort of liability they can't handle to have mic stands where they
can fall and impail people. Damn, the world's getting way to anal
retentive about lawsuits. So we take it down, then after the first song
I get the brilliant idea to put the mic in the top part of the stand,
and just hold that up, a little bit easier on the arms. No dice, our
friend Alan made us put it away, then proceeded to tell the woman in
front of us to keep an eye on us. We're houligans I tell you, annoying
MoFo's trying to *gasp* tape a concert! I guess you can't really blame
my bud Alan though, it's not his fault people sue the crap out of
anything that moves. So I held the mic for about half the show. I'm
still sore, but that's the price we pay. so after the show I was waitin
for the band to come out and talk to people, and we got kicked out (but
not before meeting FANATIC BOY). so I waited outside, but my dad wanted
to go to sleep, so we went home. So I return only having met john mark
painter, alan wolmack, and Keyserdan, without any autographs, but
thankfully the memory of a pleasantly spent evening (well except for
the whole mic stand thing), some sore arm muscles, and an open mind to
suggestions on how to record a concert easier without a mic stand. I do
believe this is the longest post I've ever attempted, oh well, I
apologize. Have an enjoyable weekend!
sean
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 30 Apr 1999 15:44:38 PDT
From: "Crystal Cooper" <crystal_bf5@hotmail.com>
Subject: regrets
i was just listening to regrets, and that is a song that belongs on fear of
pop volume II. the harmonies sound just like slow jam 98 (i think, haven't
listened to fop in while so i'm having a bit of a mental blank)
Crystal
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
you're worried there might not be anything at all inside
but that you're worried should tell you that's not right
don't try to see yourself the way that others do
it's no use
- --> "Jane", Ben Folds Five
Coming Up For Air -- Crystal's Ben Folds Five page
http://members.xoom.com/DrPyser265/bf5/
______________________________________________________
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------------------------------
End of Magical Armchair Digest V1 #1499
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