Ben Folds Five Digest

> > And Daniel in Halifax: Hope you don't mind but I've subscribed you to the > list. Glad word of BFF has made it up to the harbor town that's > supposedly waist deep and sinking fast. (It isn't really, is it? Maybe > under the weight of Rita MacNeill it is.) -fjm > >

no, I don't mind, in fact I was delighted to see a message with Ben Folds Five in the subject in my inbox. I heard Underground on a compilation disc and immediately had my local Sam the Record Man order the album. I am so glad I did, like I said, they're amazing. "Best Imitation of Myself" is a song I can't get enough of. And as a piano player myself, I find BF's piano work inspiring. And I'm spreading the BF5 word around up here. My roommate phoned from home to tell me about their appearance on Conan, but I missed him, I was out Christmas visiting. I'd like to know if there is anything else by Ben Folds Five besides the last disc? Singles or other albums? I posted that message that you reprinted in the digest, but I haven't seen any responses. Any information anyone has about them would be appreciated. Thanks,

--Daniel

(and please, no more Rita MacNeil references. please understand that not every Canadian thinks she's wonderful)

how long has this mailing list been going? How many subscribers? Is there a fan club?

[Besides the album, there was a wax demo of Jackson Cannery; I don't know about an official "fan club" - guess this is it!; the list has been running about two weeks and we have 42 members at last count. -fjm]

==============================================================================

Please subscribe me to the mailing list for the Ben Folds Five. Thanks. -Stuart

P.S. Best damn pop album I've heard since the Jellyfish's "Spilt Milk." Can't stop playing the damn thing.

===============================================================================

-- [ From: Scott Morgan * EMC.Ver #2.5.02 ] --

It's great to see this amount of activity on this board. I'm local to BFF and will try and post news, dates, etc. as I run across them in the Triangle . Thanks to Frank for doing this....

I'm posting this review for the sake of completeness (hopefully it's new to this list); although it's kind of a backhanded compliment. Keep in mind as you read this review from the "New Review of Records" that BFF was their "Critic's Choice" in the Mainstream category. Parts of this are pretty laughable:

"An unmistakable student of Todd Rundgren and Joe Jackson (often to embarrassing degrees), this pianist/vocalist and his rhythm section of two (don't ask me why they're called "five") deliver some energetic Pop with a songwriting panache and musical chops that range far beyond the lowbrow Punk crowd they're aiming for. Forget masturbatory Jazz virtuosity (hello, Harry Connick, Jr.), Ben turns this 88-key instrument into a bona fide "instrument du Rock" without sacrificing its timeless sound. While Fold's at-times cloying vocals rip right off of Jackson's _Night and Day_, his nimble-yet- aggressive playing style and some rather barbed wit keep these otherwise sunny pop tunes engrossing. Plus, that wonderfully sloppy/Punk-y rhythm section keeps things from becoming too twee or show tune-y. A perfect summer album."

Maybe the author Alex Smith will find the list someday...........

==============================================================================

In article <4brbuf$nbt@parsifal.nando.net>, ejlamb@nando.net (Eric Lamb) writes: > In article <4bat66$6tt@newsbf02.news.aol.com>, INNSEE wrote: > >I realize not everyone is going to care but since it was booked on such > >short notice I thought it was my moral obligation to post this. > > > >BF5 will be on Conan this coming Tuesday, Dec 26. > Well, damn. > A lot of good this does me reading it on Wednesday morning. > Bah, humbug. > Eric sorry, it was pretty cool, did anyone else watch it? they did "underground", and they were all wearing red/green attire. they'll be back at the cradle jan 11, and at the brewery jan 13. go see em, they put on a damn good show! --alessa

==============================================================================

Okay, so on my TV it looked like red and black. Red and green, that's even punkier. And thanks Scott for the review. (Scott got me going on BFF in the first place.)

Does anyone else have as much trouble posting to Usenet as I do? I've posted announcements for this list three times, on three different news machines, and have yet to see it propogate. So if you see an article slugged "MAILINGLIST: Ben Folds Five" on alt.music.alternative, alt.music.chapel-hill, alt.punk, rec.music.info or rec.music.misc, please drop me a quick note. -fjm