I've been on a massive Ben Folds (and his Five) trip recently, reminding myself why they (and he) are so absolutely fantastic and one of my favourite ever artists.
My colleague Quinty however, made the shocking admission the other day that she didn't like them. When discussing further it turns out she was getting them confused with someone else and she didn't know them at all. So I swore I would educate her. What follows is an attempt at a twelve-track best of that reflects the Five and Ben Folds' solo stuff.
I did just want to give the whole of "Whatever and Ever Amen" over, as it's one of my favourite albums of all time, but decided instead to go for a representative spread. The original rule was a maximum of 12 tracks, and was going to be no more than two tracks from each album, but I've broken that for WEAE because it's so very, very good. However, I've tried to be as varied as possible. Thoughts welcome please, particularly from those Folds connoisseurs out there...
1. One Angry Dwarf and 200 Solemn Faces (from "Whatever and Ever Amen", Ben Folds Five)
2. Zak and Sara (from "Rockin' the Suburbs", Ben Folds)
3. Don't Change Your Plans (from "The Unauthorised Biography of Reinhold Messner", Ben Folds Five)
4. Hiro's Song (from the Japanese edition of "Rockin' the Suburbs", Ben Folds. NOTE: the version on Spotify is the demo from the recent Ben Folds Retrospective. I can't track down the studio version anywhere)
5. Where's Summer B (from "Ben Folds Five", Ben Folds Five)
6. Kate (from "Whatever and Ever Amen", Ben Folds Five)
7. Your Dogs (from "Lonely Avenue", Ben Folds & Nick Hornby)
8. Effington (from "Way to Normal", Ben Folds)
9. Selfless, Cold & Composed (from "Whatever and Ever Amen", Ben Folds Five)
10. Time (from "Songs for Silverman", Ben Folds)
11. The Last Polka (from "Ben Folds Five", Ben Folds Five)
12. Lullabye (from "The Unauthorised Biography of Reinhold Messner", Ben Folds Five)
Click here for the Spotify link
That is all.
Saturday 14 April 2012
synthetic sounds of april
So, this week's playlist started life as an attempt to compile my favourite bass lines in one playlist. But then it went a bit wrong and ended up as some bizarre 80s synth mix with a couple of modern bits thrown in the mix. Let's see what you all think:
1. Blue Monday - New Order (because let's face it - it's an absolutely stone-cold classic).
2. This Charming Man - The Smiths (not synthy, but definitely got one of the best basslines in the history of popular music. Plus, the lyrics are frankly hilarious).
3. Don't You (Forget About Me) - Simple Minds (my friend Matt and I were driving to the coast a few weekends ago listening to this and singing along. I'm very glad there weren't doors in the back of the car, though, or I think Lou may have made a bid for freedom. She definitely doesn't like this one...)
4. The Rip - Portishead (actually from only a couple of years ago, but I really like how the song breaks down into that one repetitive synth riff at the end. I think it fits well with the mood of this playlist).
5. Enjoy the Silence - Depeche Mode (a key track on "Now That's What I Call Music 17", the first album that my sisters bought me when I was young 'because they thought I was really weird' because I only listened to jazz and classical).
6. Get Down on It - Kool & the Gang (you'd never credit that the same guys also did "Jungle Boogie". This was definitely during their more commercial period...).
7. This Is The Day - The The (great song, really fantastic lyric).
8. Rio - Duran Duran (another survivor from the "great bass tracks" project. Plus another great singalong tune).
9. A Celle Qui Dure - M (another modern one. One of my favourite artists, M (Matthieu Chedid) is a really famous French multi-instrumentalist, and he's got some amazingly funky tracks. It was a toss up between this and a track called "Bonobo", but this one won because of the bass line...again...)
10. Close To Me - The Cure (another one from "Now 17", but a gloriously cheery sound. Interestingly, covered by M on the album that track 9 is taken from, and also included in a track from Sufjan Steven's "Illinoise" album).
11. On Her Majesty's Secret Service - Propellerheads (it is my life's aim to produce a bass sound like this one. Absolutely magnificent).
So, here's the link. Let me know what you think.
P.S. I wrote this a while ago, but never published it. There'll be a new list following shortly.
1. Blue Monday - New Order (because let's face it - it's an absolutely stone-cold classic).
2. This Charming Man - The Smiths (not synthy, but definitely got one of the best basslines in the history of popular music. Plus, the lyrics are frankly hilarious).
3. Don't You (Forget About Me) - Simple Minds (my friend Matt and I were driving to the coast a few weekends ago listening to this and singing along. I'm very glad there weren't doors in the back of the car, though, or I think Lou may have made a bid for freedom. She definitely doesn't like this one...)
4. The Rip - Portishead (actually from only a couple of years ago, but I really like how the song breaks down into that one repetitive synth riff at the end. I think it fits well with the mood of this playlist).
5. Enjoy the Silence - Depeche Mode (a key track on "Now That's What I Call Music 17", the first album that my sisters bought me when I was young 'because they thought I was really weird' because I only listened to jazz and classical).
6. Get Down on It - Kool & the Gang (you'd never credit that the same guys also did "Jungle Boogie". This was definitely during their more commercial period...).
7. This Is The Day - The The (great song, really fantastic lyric).
8. Rio - Duran Duran (another survivor from the "great bass tracks" project. Plus another great singalong tune).
9. A Celle Qui Dure - M (another modern one. One of my favourite artists, M (Matthieu Chedid) is a really famous French multi-instrumentalist, and he's got some amazingly funky tracks. It was a toss up between this and a track called "Bonobo", but this one won because of the bass line...again...)
10. Close To Me - The Cure (another one from "Now 17", but a gloriously cheery sound. Interestingly, covered by M on the album that track 9 is taken from, and also included in a track from Sufjan Steven's "Illinoise" album).
11. On Her Majesty's Secret Service - Propellerheads (it is my life's aim to produce a bass sound like this one. Absolutely magnificent).
So, here's the link. Let me know what you think.
P.S. I wrote this a while ago, but never published it. There'll be a new list following shortly.
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