Pick of the Week #33: Ben Folds Presents University A-Cappella

The typical fare in this here Pick of the Week have been mostly independent, Canadian bands, with a few exceptions (Bowerbirds, The Antlers, Glasvegas); but mostly, as my buddy Kurtis would say, they have been bands from Woodstock, Ontario who need haircuts (note: I'm pretty sure I've never written about a band actually from Woodstock). Either way, it felt like it was time to mix things up a little bit with the PotW, and there is probably nothing further from what I usually write about than the barbershop a cappella's of Ben Folds' quirky pop songs.

I used to be a Huge (hence the capitalization) Ben Folds/Ben Folds Five/The Bens fan; like, with a couple of friends I (someone else) drove 5-6-7 hours to see him in some college gymnasium in Oswego, NY, kind of liked him. Now, not so much. I mean, I still think Rockin' the Suburbs, Ben Folds Live, Whatever and Ever Amen are terrific albums - especially BFL - but if this were another Ben Folds album I probably wouldn't have even bothered to download it.

However (as the title of the album suggests) Ben Folds Presents University A Cappella is most certainly not a run of the mill Ben Folds album. It is (as the title of the album suggests) a collection of University A Cappella groups covering the work of BF. The songs are strategically selected from the entire BF catalogue, which unfortunately means that there are a smattering of songs from Songs for Silverman and (barf) Way to Normal. The vomit inducing songs from Way to Normal notwithstanding, the album is pretty serious amount of fun... if you're a fan of Ben Folds, The Be Sharps, or Andy Bernard (who someone has created a myspace for, awesome) then you are going to want someone to beer you this disc.

See the University A Cappella Documentary (15 mins on Youtube) here.

Pick of the Week #1: Ketch Harbour Wolves
Pick of the Week #2: Rah Rah
Pick of the Week #3: Glasvegas/Animal Collective
Pick of the Week #4: Bruce Peninsula
Pick of the Week #5: The Antlers
Pick of the Week #6: The Darcys
Pick of the Week #7: Ohbijou (Swift Feet for Troubling Times)
Pick of the Week #8: Gentlemen Husbands
Pick of the Week #9: Chris Whitley
Pick of the Week #10: Alela Diane
Pick of the Week #11: K'naan
Pick of the Week #12: TOR/Sufjan Stevens
Pick of the Week #13: Timber Timbre
Pick of the Week #14: Justis
Pick of the Week #15: Hibiscus & Rosehips Compilation
Pick of the Week #16: Patrick Watson
Pick of the Week #17: Olenka and the Autumn Lovers
Pick of the Week #18: The Liptonians
Pick of the Week #19: Sunparlour Players
Pick of the Week #20: Black Hat Brigade
Pick of the Week #21: Howie Beck
Pick of the Week #22: Pink Mountaintops
Pick of the Week #23: Still Life Still
Pick of the Week #24: Hayden
Pick of the Week #25: Snailhouse
Pick of the Week #26: Dog Day
Pick of the Week #27: Ohbijou (Beacons)
Pick of the Week #28: Dog is Blue
Pick of the Week #29: Parkas
Pick of the Week #30: The Wooden Sky
Pick of the Week #31: Bowerbirds
Pick of the Week #32: Miss Maya

The 'Nard Dogg would be so proud... Ben Folds A Capellas

Initially I planned on waiting for a dry spell to post these videos, but they are just to good to sit on...

They're all video solicited by the once great, now firmly in the Dave Matthews Zone where it wouldn't be a surprise if he put out an album of songs he has sung in the shower, Ben Folds, who is releasing Ben Folds Presents University A Capella. Andy Bernard would be so proud...


"Kate" by Belmont University's Jazzmin


"Stephen's Last Night in Town" by NYU Law's Substantial Performance


"Army" by the University of Washington Stereotypes (who coincidentally do an awesome version of Katy Perry's "I Kissed A Girl")


"Still Fighting It" by Washington University (St. Louis) Mosiac Whispers



"Annie Waits" by Webster Groves High School"A-Men"


"Landed" by the Yale Spizzwinks


"Song for the Dumped" by Swathmore College's Sixteen Feet


and this is just TOO good to avoid...
JT's "My Love" by UNC's Clef Hangers

Best Songs (that aren't on a Best Album) of '08 - In No Particular Order

... and so it begins... the lists have been coming in, which is excellent, but I thought I might push things back a little bit so that we have maximum participation. So far, I've got about a fifteen lists or so, but I'm hoping to bump that number up a little bit...

At any rate, maybe we'll push the deadline back a week until next Friday and see whether that helps at all... and again I'll stress that all you need to do is write down 5 things... anything at all... don't feel like you need to include any type of explanation...




1. "Chasing Ghosts" from The Day Before EP by Snob Scrilla (Sydney, Australia)
The song: A fast paced rap song with a female backing vocal... I don't know why I even try and explain the songs...

The album and why its not on "the list": I haven't heard the EP, but I'm pretty sure I'd get sick of this in about... okay, I'm sick of it, next song.


2. "Beautiful Girls (Sean Kingston Cover)" by Deer Tick (Brooklyn, NY)


The Song: A cover of the dance track by an indie rock/pop band. The lead singer has kind of a scratchy voice - which I like - that kind of reminds me of Nils from the RAA... (Rob ponders whether his next cover project [now that Maya has agreed to do 'Valarie'] will be to try and convince Nils to do a cover of the Deer Tick cover of 'Beautiful Girls')

The album and why its not on "the list": N/A - I'm pretty sure its not on an album.


3. "Hiroshima (B-b-benny hit his head)" from -An Album I'd rather not mention - by Ben Folds
The Song: A great energetic intro song that is kind of reminiscent of the Ben Folds Live era Ben Folds. In other words, the song is an upbeat piano driven song that tells a (relatively) interesting story.

The album and why its not on "the list": because its terrible. Just god awful. I wrote about it a little while ago. And, you know what, I think I like it less and less... god, I'm getting angry just thinking about it... moving on...


4. "27 Jennifers" or "Put it Down (below)" from Golden Delicious by Mike Doughty (Brooklyn, NY)


The Songs: Singer-songwriter stuff that gets eaten up by college kids everywhere. In the live performances that I've seen (on video) he does this really cool vocal thing that is probably the singer-songwriter equivalent of scatting (the singing thing, not dropping a deuce). The live stuff is really cool and well worth checking out.

The album and why its not on "the list": because its really, really, really, overproduced. Like John Mayer overproduced.


5. "Caught on Video" from Happymatic by the Hilotrons (Ottawa, On)
The song: kind of a bloopy and bleepy pop song, with a really catchy hook.

The album and why its not on "the list": I haven't heard it, but the other other songs I've got are a still bloopy and bleepy, but without the hook and catchy melody.... and, that's about as descriptive as its going to get.

Way to Normal by Ben Folds

I've been a fan of Ben Folds for a long, long, time. I've seen him more than just about any other artist/band/act. I've driven - well, I've been in a car for more than six hours - to go see him in a gym in Oswego, NY. In fact, and I'm embarrassed to admit this, I'm pretty sure I used to have a login ID to a Ben Folds message board; and, I'd count Whatever and Ever Amen and Ben Folds Live as two of my, say, 50 favourite albums ever. Then, there was the disaster that was ... I don't even remember... googling... googling... Songs for Silverman.

Folds, I thought, was always his best when he was punchy, critical, and telling hilarious stories (fictional or not) about crazy shit, and since he's got married and had a daughter he's probably been doing his best work writing music for children's movies.

My first impression of Way to Normal is that he's trying to return to that energetic story telling that made him (kindof) famous. Pitchfork has, surprisingly, decided that they don't really buy his act anymore. And, after a few listens, neither do I. I do really like the first song 'Hiroshima (B-b-b-benny hit his head)', but that's the only story that: a) is not really boring; b) doesn't feel like he's trying to relive his youth by pounding on the keys for just about no reason; or c) more generally, writing songs just to write.

Frankly, I think he ought to just embrace the stage of life that he's in and maybe start writing songs about going to Bed, Bath & Beyond... so, in the words a once great song-writer "give me my money back/give me my money back, you b@#ch"