The Sound of the Life of the Mind

I was planning on going off on several musical tangents in the last couple of weeks, primarily to make everyone feel like the only partially obscure, cool artist I know is Ben Folds. But ultimately, two things prevented me from doing that. 1) I didn't have enough time to go on and add company to the lonely Ben Folds recommendation that sits dustily at the top of the newsfeed and 2) A new Ben Folds album came out, which might say something about my appreciation for this brilliant man that only such an event could convince me to donate the time to reading this.
So. I gave a little exposition last time, but this is now more relevant. Back in the day, around twenty years ago, Ben Folds had a three-man band called Ben Folds Five consisting of a piano, a bass and drums. He broke off of from them because lets face it, he had all the musical talent and proceeded to make several tracks, which in my opinion became steadily less appealing, culminating in Lonely Avenue, where he didn't even write his own lyrics for any of the songs. Anyway, I had always wanted to go to a concert, and I had heard he occasionally did Reunion Gigs with his old band members who are now substantially less cool and more chubby than he is. Little did I know that on September 19th they would be dropping their first album in over a decade. Dubbed The Sound of the Life of the Mind and all of the paradoxical implications that come with that, I wasn't sure to expect, but I sure wasn't disappointed. The man rocks even as a 40-plus-year-old and that is impressive.
Feel free to go check out his songs, and I would recommend just a few, and in this order:

• The Sound of the Life of the Mind (Have to start with the namesake)
• Michael Praytor, Five Years Later (Brilliant song, recalls Whatever and Ever Amen era)
• Erase Me - Quick note on this song, its very common to have artists on their eighth or ninth album to start to sound repetitive, and I was beginning to think that was true with this album, but Erase Me reversed all expectations and sent the band in an entirely new direction with different progressions and melodies that didn't seem so Folds-esque.
• Do It Anyway (So far the most popular song on the album, great piano in the background)

This is just a sampler, feel free to investigate more, respond back with other music suggestions that I can take a look into!

Cheers!

Fired

Ben Folds is possibly my favorite artist of all time; therefore, he occupies the space of Music Recommendation Post #1. Fired comes off of one of his first solo albums, Rockin' the Suburbs, and is one of my personal favorites. This song best combines Folds' underlying jazz/ragtime themes into an quick-paced, upbeat song that goes beautifully with some of the most witty lyrics describing the clinically insane Lucretia. One common thread among a lot of Ben Folds songs--and trust me, there will be more--is an interlude he usually takes to display considerable keyboard skills about halfway through the piece. For this piece, it goes from about 2:05 to 2:26 and is sheer syncopated goodness.




If you feel so inclined to download Fired, be warned that it is basically the Macaroni-n'-Cheese of the music world, and primarily a feel good piece, but the fact that Ben Folds almost as an underlying current of sadness in all of his pieces makes it relatable at pretty much anytime. In case you become addicted to Ben Folds songs and start looking out for some more of his music, you should know that they're pretty much all good.

Even though I will be referencing more of his songs continually, here are some basic guidelines. Start out with a little Ben Folds Five, Ben Fold's original group and try out Whatever and Ever Amen, one of their most popular albums. Rockin' the Suburbs, Supersunnyspeedygraphic and  Songs for Silverman are also fantastic. Ben Folds is now in his late forties, doesn't tour much anymore, except for some Ben Folds Five reunion gigs and he is a judge on the a-cappella show The Sing Off. His latest work is in Lonely Avenue but please don't start with that album. He co-wrote it with Nick Hornby and while the music is still fantastic, Hornby's lyrics don't even start to compare with the cynical melancholy of Folds' earlier works. OK enough. There will be more. Enjoy Fired.