THE MAGICAL ARMCHAIR
The Ben Folds Five Digest
Issue #543 - October 18, 1997
Magical Armchair Digest Saturday, October 18 1997 Volume 01 : Number 543
THE MAGICAL ARMCHAIR
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TOPICS IN THIS DIGEST:
phone
Best Album
[none]
Re: Magical Armchair Digest V1 #540
Broadway Man
Re: Magical Armchair Digest V1 #540
Ringing off the hook
DC SHOW
Verbow
Re: Which is better?
Re: Magical Armchair Digest V1 #539
The Ritz
BFF Australian bootlegs?
Philosophy Sheet Music
DON'T MAKE TAPES!
Tix
how to hear b-sides/singles
Which album is best?
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: Fri, 17 Oct 1997 03:49:44 -0400 (EDT)
From: Shiry@aol.com
Subject: phone
<< has there been a discussion about the phone ringing at 2:54 in "Steven's
Last Night in Town" or not? That was the first thing that struck me about
the album.
jess >>
I don't know if there's been a discussion or not since I'm new too but all I
have to say is that for the longest time I would reach for the phone whenever
that part came on.. ugh.. how annoying.. :) oh yeah.. something else I
noticed for sounds in the background is that there are crickets or something
in Cigarette.
DK
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 17 Oct 1997 18:35:13 +1000
From: Nick Memmott
Subject: Best Album
HEY ALL!!!
>Now, I know that BFF has only had 2 albums, but as an overall impression
>which one do you guys like better? I know we all love both of them, and
>we are all sure that the next studio album will be great--but do you
>think it will be better than the first two. Its hard to imagine isn't
>it???
Glad you asked. From the reviews I have read of the albums (which have not
changed my mind that BFF are the greatest band in the universe!!!!!), it
seems that one of the main criticisms of WEAEA is that it is so similar to
the first album. Personally, I don't see this as a bad point, and it just
shows how much of a good thing they both are. The second is really an
extension of the first, but the band has developed and matured so secretly,
that you don't notice it. I think that the songs on the first album have a
more homey, domestic feel to them, whereas on WEAEA, the songs are more
universal in content, and show a more mature BFF. Whatever the truth, they
are both excellent albums, and every song is a winner, not just a few hits.
I would like to hear your opinion. Mail me, or post your views.
P.S. THanks for lightening up on us Aussies. We just want to talk about the
boys, without anyone being called a "wanker".
CYA
Nick
"What else should I be??..All apologies..." - Kurt Cobain
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 17 Oct 1997 12:00:35
From: "W.C. Vis"
Subject: [none]
Hi y'all once again....
I personally think that WaEA is better....though the first
album was world class as well....
I'ts so strange that hardly 2 months ago...i didn't know who bff were..
and now im totally addicted......
Maybe its nice if you all send top 3 lists with your fav songs....
so that i can make a poll with what people think is the best song...
Mine would be 1. Selfless Cold and Composed
2. Philosophy
3. Underground.
Tot ziens, Wim.......
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 17 Oct 1997 11:00:58 GMT
From: "Mark Piper"
Subject: Re: Magical Armchair Digest V1 #540
John Boyer wrote:
>Also, I just got this new album by BabyBird, and it kicks mucho ass.
> If you like Belle and Sebastian and Stereolab, you will absolutely
>go nutty over this album. Pure pop brilliance. I love it!!!!!!!!
Heh! Just wait until "You're Gorgeous" is on the radio 24 hours a
day, 7 days a week. And all the couples start dancing to it and
completely misunderstanding what the song is about! Then you will
wish to smash Mr. B. Bird's face in relentlessly (despite the fact
that, yes, some of his songs are pretty good). At least R.E.M.'s "The
One I Love" was a great song.....
Mark
Because yooooooouuuuuu'rrrrrrreeeee goooooorgeeeeeeouuuuss........
aaaaarrrrgggghhhhhhh....
+------------------------------------------------------+
| mfp540@bham.ac.uk pipermf@phymat.bham.ac.uk |
| Ben Folds Five: Looks, Brains & Everything - |
| http://www.geocities.com/SunsetStrip/5430/bff.html |
+------------------------------------------------------+
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 17 Oct 1997 13:54:42 +0100
From: David.J.Holloway@student.shu.ac.uk (David J. Holloway)
Subject: Broadway Man
Hey you crazy crazy cats,
According to the official Sony biography Ben spent six months playing "every instrument in the
Broadway production of Buddy" and I guess they'd know...
BLATANT PLUG COMIN' UP!
If you wanna read the whole biog go to 'Ben and His Folding Five' at
http://www.geocities.com/hollywood/lot/5009
Smile crocodile(s)
Dave
"Its important to have a job that counts. That's why I manually masturbate caged animals for
artificial insemination." - Clerks
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 17 Oct 1997 09:08:49 -0400 (EDT)
From: marc s kaplan
Subject: Re: Magical Armchair Digest V1 #540
You wrote:
- -)First off, to the person who cited the Mighty Mighty Bosstones as an
- -)overnight success, they are sadly mistaken. The Bosstones have had an
- -)BFF'esque fanbase for at least 6 years now, and are only now getting
- -)hugely popular since this so-called skaplosion. But the Bosstones have
- -)been around the music scene a long time.
You are right, I was not really thinking.
But bands who "run into success" quickly often rush their second album,
and often times it is just not as good as the first.
-/\/\arc
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 17 Oct 1997 09:19:55 -0400 (EDT)
From: marc s kaplan
Subject: Ringing off the hook
Jess wrote:
- ->has there been a discussion about the phone ringing at 2:54 in "Steven's
- ->Last Night in Town" or not? That was the first thing that struck me
- ->about the album.
Yea, me too. The first like 5 times I heard it I picked up my phone and
said "hello...". It is kinda weird, but it seems normal BFF routine to me
now. They have a tendency to put weird noises in their songs, that seem
to fit just right to the music. Like the sound of trash(being dragged up
and down the road), and the "I like that one" at the end of a copule of
songs. It kinda gives you that "produced at home feel" like during the
recording of steven's last night the phone actually rung, and they just
decided to take it anaway or somthing.
-/\/\arc
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 17 Oct 1997 09:22:31 -0500 (EST)
From: Christina Scarmeas <15SCARMEAS@cua.edu>
Subject: DC SHOW
I called Georgetown today, and asked them about the December Ben Folds
Five Show, and they knew nothing of it. Has anyone found tickets, if
there really is a show? Help,I am freaking out!!!!!!
Tina
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 17 Oct 1997 09:37:51 -0500
From: john_oc@juno.com
Subject: Verbow
As previously noted...
Verbow is opening for Ben Folds...the reason being is that both bands are
on Epic/550 Music. This is a popular trend nowadays...promote the label,
don't promote the competition. Also Travis is on Independiente Records,
a subsidiary of Epic Records.
Keep in mind, maybe the Verbow Cello player will jam with Ben and the
gang.
Peace out!!
Everyone buy the new Babybird album, Ugly Beautiful, pure pop
brilliance!!!!!
John Boyer
WOBN-FM 101.5 the ROCK Columbus, Ohio
Asst. Music Director, Triple A Dir. and Research Dir.
Email: John_OC@juno.com Phone: (614) 823-2969
"Call it what you want, you'll never fool anyone with what you've got."
- --Luxury
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 17 Oct 1997 09:51:31 -0400 (EDT)
From: Brad654@aol.com
Subject: Re: Which is better?
In a message dated 97-10-16 13:20:38 EDT, you write:
> Now, I know that BFF has only had 2 albums, but as an overall impression
> which one do you guys like better? I know we all love both of them, and
> we are all sure that the next studio album will be great--but do you think
> it will be better than the first two. Its hard to imagine isn't it???
For me, the first one is hands down the better effort. Now, don't flame me
(on or off the Chair), because I'm just voicing my opinion. I think that
while WAEA is a great recording, it doesn't measure up to the first one for a
few reasons:
1) It's not the first one. OK, I'll be less cryptic. When the debut came out,
we heard it and thought "I can't believe someone figured out how to make this
work!" and "Holy shit, this guy's bad!" But when WAEA came out, we already
knew those things. I suppose an analogy rests in the movies-- "Lethal
Weapon," "Die Hard," "Raiders of the Lost Ark," and the seminal trilogy
kickoff "Star Wars" are all the best films of their respective sets (again,
my opinion, so don't write me a note telling me I'm a buttslammer for not
naming any films from the "Elm Street" set). "The Empire Strikes Back" and
all the rest of the sequels to the films listed above were great, but they
weren't the first. Am I making sense?
2) The songs are rawer on the first CD. Now, that might be a quality that
some people consider makes the first CD suffer, but not me. I dig the raw
sound of the debut, and though WAEA is raw, too, it's WAY more produced than
the debut.
3) The "sophomore slump." DO NOT FLAME! What I mean goes along the lines of
what the great Seal said several years ago: "It takes 25 years to write your
first album, but then you have 2 or 3 years to write your second one. Of
course it's going to suffer." And he's right. We all know that "Video" was a
Majosha tune, and any tune that's been around longer than the band who plays
it must have had some time to be really worked on, tinkered with, perfected.
At least my tunes are that way.
So that's my reasoning. I like the first one better. But I do love WAEA. In
fact, it's playing right now, so don't write me to ask how I can call myself
a fan when I hate the second disc (because I don't).
Brad
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 17 Oct 1997 09:33:42 -0400 (EDT)
From: marc s kaplan
Subject: Re: Magical Armchair Digest V1 #539
Que wrote:
- ->Thanks for bringing this up, becuase i'd actually like to know what
- ->everyone thinks as well. personally, by a very slim margin (very, very
- ->slim), WaEA wins. For me anyway, it seems slightly more polished, and i
- ->get the idea that they've really been developing as individual musicians
- ->and a band as a whole from it. or maybe it's just that they've added
- ->other instruments in this one...dunno, i've changed my mind
See thats the problem I have. WaEA has some really great songs, and I mean
great. But with the first album, its like all the songs are good, and a
copule great. So as an overall impression, I personally like the first
one better, but the second one has great songs that I like equaly as much
as the songs on the 1st album.
I guess its just easier to just say the songs you like rather than the
albums you like.
and if I was an aussie, I would use the word 'wanker', but I'm not, so I
guess I will have to use "yankee" words. :/
"(peace)
-/\/\arc
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 17 Oct 1997 10:36:46 -0400
From: "Lance E. Johnson"
Subject: The Ritz
Hi, all!
I'm heading-out today for the show tomorrow at the Ritz. Hope to see some
of you there if you wear your nametags.
Reports later!
Lance
P.S. Does anybody know whether or not Ben has been married before Kate or not?
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 17 Oct 1997 11:09:03 -0400
From: Steffen Donath
Subject: BFF Australian bootlegs?
Hello all you BFF Fans in OZ! (and of course everybody else)
Did anybody manage to record a decent quality audio bootleg of BFFs
Australian Tour 1997?
If so, please contact me, I have got loads of stuff to trade.
Steffen
http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/SDonath - BFF webpage
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 17 Oct 1997 07:30:37 -0700
From: "Kamp, Marcus S"
Subject: Philosophy Sheet Music
The helmethead who posted saying she has sheet music to Philosphy is
Carrie Shanafelt. Her email is cds9@po.cwru.edu. (I say "helmethead"
not because I want to reopen the debate about a collective nickname for
those of us on this list, but because (a) she's totally obsessed + (b)
she is a dork:-)!)
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 17 Oct 1997 11:51:57 -0400 (EDT)
From: Brad654@aol.com
Subject: DON'T MAKE TAPES!
In a message dated 97-10-16 13:20:38 EDT, you write:
> i have been getting request after request from my friends for me
> to make them a tape of the band. i tell all of them to buy their cd
> and they all say they will after they hear if they like them. for some
> reason, no one is willing to take my advice and take the chance (a
> lack of funds may be the reason!!).
>
> i got all excited and took his tape...and the list is growing.
I really don't want to come off as an asshole here, so everyone take this in
the spirit it's meant: We've got to stop making tapes for people! I mean, mix
tapes are great (especially when they are masterpieces), but as a former
recording artist, I have to take issue with making tapes.
Now certainly, I'm glad that people are getting to know the boys and wanting
to listen to them, but "lack of funds" is no excuse. You probably know where
I'm going with this: Ben and the boys get money for each CD or cassette sold,
but when we make copies for our friends, they don't get any money for that.
And we all know that those friends are NOT going to go buy the disc unless
they become rabid, die-hard fans (because we've all gotten these homemade
tapes and never bought the corresponding CD or cassette).
Bottom line is this: support the band finacially, and make the new fans do
the same. Talk the boys up, play their CDs at high volume and repeatedly, but
don't make tapes for your friends. If they like BF5 enough, they can go buy
the music themselves. And CERTAINLY don't record BF5 on one side and WAEA on
the
other. Then they get nothing!
My opinion--
Brad
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 17 Oct 1997 12:59:44 -0400 (EDT)
From: CLOSERGIRL@aol.com
Subject: Tix
Hi all,
I just got my tix for the show in NYC at the Supper club. Does anyone know
anything about the opening acts? Are they any good? Is anyone else from the
list going? WEll E-me & let me know. Maybe we could meet up for a few
drinks & BS for a while. See ya
Carrolyn
Closergirl@aol.com
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 17 Oct 1997 15:54:17 -0400 (EDT)
From: JCannery@aol.com
Subject: how to hear b-sides/singles
Lately it seems like a lot of people have mentioned BFF songs that are on
singles or unreleased. One of the great things about the web is that you can
download songs from it. I've downloaded basically all of their songs from
singles and demo albums from this page:
http://php.indiana.edu/~wsarles/bffmp3.html All you need is a MP3 player
which you can download at that site. Of course, you could buy all those
cheap import singles... Another good page is this one:
http://www.geocities.com/SunsetStrip/Palms/7544/bf5.html where there is a
Real Audio of the week and he has demo/b-side songs. (this week it's
Protection). Hope I helped!
lindsay
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 17 Oct 1997 16:14:32 -0500
From: grauler@bgnet.bgsu.edu (Graham Raulerson)
Subject: Which album is best?
I'm excruciatingly new here, so please don't kill me if I break a rule of
etiquette or something. Anyway, the discussion over which album everybody
likes better caught my eye. Although I love both albums dearly, the first
comes to the fore for me. Que said, "...WaEA wins. For me anyway, it
seems slightly more polished, and i get the idea that they've really been
developing as individual musicians and a band as a whole from it," and I
agree, but that's one reason why I like the first album a little better.
It's a little more exposed, and personally, if I want to hear textbook
virtuosity on the piano, bass, and drums, there are a hundred other bands
out there who can provide that. Granted, they won't have the same sound as
BFF, but they'll sound just like conservatory-trained musicians. I'm not
saying BFF isn't extremely talented, just that they sound like every now
and then somebody might possibly play a note slightly out of tune. I like
that; it makes them sound more human than some other groups. But that's
just my opinion.
I also kind of prefer the first one because I consider about 95% of
the songs classics that I could listen to endlessly without getting tired
of them. For the second album, it's more like 85%.
Well, I'm sorry this is so long. I hope I didn't offend. Thanks
for reading this!
Gray Raulerson
------------------------------
End of Magical Armchair Digest V1 #543
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