Other Mixes By Pop Kulcher
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Theme
Cassette
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Theme
Cassette
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CD
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Single Artist
CD
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Theme - Narrative
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) |
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| Ben Folds Five |
She Don't Use Jelly (Flaming Lips cover) |
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| Ben Folds Five |
Raind rops Keep Falling On My Head (BJ Thomas et al. cover) |
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| 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) |
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| Ben Folds |
Golden Slumbers (Beatles cover) |
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| Side B | ||
| Artist | Song | Buy |
| 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) |
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| Ben Folds |
Tiny Dancer (live) (Elton John cover) |
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| Ben Folds | Protection | |
| Ben Folds |
In Between Days (Cure cover) |
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| 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) |
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| 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.
Feedback:
And the cover art:
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."
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."
I am not really a fan, but I've liked what I've heard of him.
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.
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.
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).
He never really bothered me. Some good songs here for sure, I found him a bit sacc-harine but not without merit.