Pop Kulcher

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Member Since: 7/1/2002
Total Mixes: 376
Total Feedback: 895

This Should Cheer You Up For Sure: The Deluxe Ben Folds

Side A
Artist Song
Ben Folds Five  Philosophy 
Ben Folds Five  Jackson Cannery 
Ben Folds Five  Julianne 
Ben Folds Five  Alice Childress 
Ben Folds Five  Best Imitation Of Myself 
Ben Folds Five  Emaline 
Ben Folds Five  Tom & Mary 
Ben Folds Five  Satan Is My Master (live) 
Ben Folds Five  One Angry Dwarf & 200 Solemn Faces 
Ben Folds Five  Fair 
Ben Folds Five  Brick 
Ben Folds Five  Kate 
Ben Folds Five  Battle Of Who Could Care Less 
Ben Folds Five  Video Kil led The Radio Star
(Buggles cover) 
Ben Folds Five  She Don't Use Jelly
(Flaming Lips cover) 
Ben Folds Five  Raind rops Keep Falling On My Head
(BJ Thomas et al. cover) 
Ben Folds Five  Don't Change Your Plans 
Ben Folds Five  Mess 
Ben Folds Five  Army 
Ben Folds Five  Your Redneck Past 
Ben Folds Five  Barrytown
(Steely Dan cover) 
Ben Folds  Golden Slumbers
(Beatles cover) 
Side B
ArtistSongBuy
Ben Folds  Annie Waits 
Ben Folds  Zak and Sara 
Ben Folds  Still Fighting It 
Ben Folds  Gone 
Ben Folds  Losing Lisa 
Ben Folds  Not The Same 
Ben Folds  Doctor My Eyes
(Jackson Browne cover) 
Ben Folds  Tiny Dancer (live)
(Elton John cover) 
Ben Folds  Protection 
Ben Folds  In Between Days
(Cure cover) 
Ben Folds  There's Always Someone Cooler Than You 
Ben Folds  Adelaide 
Ben Folds  Bastard 
Ben Folds  Landed 
Ben Folds  Trusted 
Ben Folds  Heist 
Ben Folds  Lost In The Supermarket
(Clash cover) 
Ben Folds  Hiroshima (B B B Benny Hit His Head) 
Ben Folds  Dr. Yang 
Ben Folds w/ Regina Spektor  You Don't Know Me 
Ben Folds  B*tch Went Nuts 

Comment:

I've always wavered on the quality of Ben Folds' music, both with his original Ben Folds Five trio and as a solo artist. On the plus side, his piano-based indie rock has always had a distinctive sound that sets it apart from most semi-mainstream left-of-the-dial pop from the past decade. He has a gift for melody, and, when not drowning in smarminess, the lyrics have an entertaining bite. On the minus side, there is a bitterness (and, let's admit it, some misogyny) that can be distracting. And for all his songwriting gifts, he's never really recorded an album that's truly consistent from start to finish (though his debut, Rockin' The Suburbs, came close). Of course, it's this inconsistency which makes him particularly apt for mixing. Pulling a few highlights from each album (plus myriad ep tracks and soundtrack contributions) results in a pretty great single artist mix. Having just picked up the (rather lame) recent album, it was time to expand my old mix into a 2-cd compilation. Folds detractors won't buy in, but it's a good reminder of some of the truly great songs he's recorded over the past 13 years.
image for mix

Feedback:

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Pop Kulcher
Date: 11/8/2008
And the cover art:
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Mixxer
Date: 11/8/2008
What? You detect misogyny in his cover of "Bitches Ain't Shit"?
Nice collection. A lot of your picks are household favorites here, such as "Don't Change Your Plans," "Army," and "There's Always Someone Cooler Than You."
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doowad
Date: 11/8/2008
I am not really a fan, but I've liked what I've heard of him.
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gabechouinard
Date: 11/8/2008
I don't think I could handle a double-disc of Ben Folds, as I usually only like him in small doses, but this sure does cover a lot of ground.
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avocado rabbit
Date: 11/8/2008
He always seemed to me a candidate for that midwest chain of piano bars, "Howl at the Moon." You're absolutely right, though, there's some good songs once you separate the granola from the grit.
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Rob Conroy
Date: 11/10/2008
I can pretty much only stomach his Ben Folds Five debut, but what a debut it was. I listened to that album quite literally non-stop for months in the fall of '95-early '96 (my roommate at the time loved that). After that, there were a couple of decent tracks on the second album ("Kate" and "Brick," although I got very sick of the latter when it became a mega-hit) and that's where I got off the boat. The third record was a disappointment, and I HATED Rockin' the Suburbs (so much so that I couldn't care less about anything else that he's released).
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Barrydali
Date: 11/11/2008
He never really bothered me. Some good songs here for sure, I found him a bit sacc-harine but not without merit.