BEN FOLDS TO RELEASE NEW RECORD, WAY TO NORMAL, SEPTEMBER 30, 2008
LONG AWAITED FOLLOW UP TO SONGS FOR SILVERMAN FEATURES RAUCOUS TRACKS, TRADEMARK HUMOR
New York, NY -- Epic Records is proud to announce the release of the much-anticipated new album from Ben Folds, WAY TO NORMAL, on September 30, 2008. The album, Folds' third as a solo artist since the break up of the Ben Folds Five in 2000, was mostly recorded at his studio in Nashville and produced by Dennis Herring (Elvis Costello, Modest Mouse, The Hives). Featuring Folds on vocals and piano, Way to Normal also features long-time bassist Jared Reynolds and drummer Sam Smith as well as a guest vocal from indie pop heroine Regina Spektor on the album's first single, "You Don't Know Me."
Way to Normal is an exuberant, raucous, and sometimes profane mix of sure-fire crowd-pleasers ("Hiroshima," "Bitch Went Nuts," and the frenetically fuzzed-out "Dr. Yang"), cheerful snark-fests ("The Frown Song," "Brainwascht"), and thoughtful, moving ballads ("Cologne," "Kylie From Connecticut") that Folds wrote at the end of 2007 following the finalization of a two-year divorce.
But it should not be assumed that Way to Normal is Folds' version of Marvin Gaye's Here My Dear or Bob Dylan's Blood on the Tracks (though Folds says that in the early stages of recording he came close to calling the album "Blood on the Keyboard").
"The songs are not topical," Folds says. "I was not interested in making a record about the D-word. I got all that stuff out of my system on the last record [2005's pensive Songs for Silverman], which was deliberately stoic. This new album is really about me being free, which is why it feels cathartic and expressive. It's about me coming back to being myself." (Hence the title.) "I came out of the courthouse, kissed the ground, and walked straight into the studio. I felt like a bottle of champagne that had been shaken for 18 months and popped open in the studio. That's why this record has so much energy."
Folds has been going pretty much non-stop since the 2001 release of his debut solo album Rockin' the Suburbs. In short order, Folds has released a live album (2002's aptly titled Ben Folds Live) and a pioneering series of three Internet-only digital EPs: Speed Graphic, Sunny 16, and Super D in 2003-2004; co-wrote and produced William Shatner's 2004 solo album Has Been; released Songs for Silverman (which featured the Adult Top 40 hit "Landed"); contributed three original songs to the soundtrack for the 2006 film Over the Hedge; and produced a forthcoming solo album by Dresden Dolls frontwoman Amanda Palmer.
In 2006, Folds released Supersunnyspeedgraphic, The LP - a compilation of tracks from the Internet-only EP's and B-sides, including an inspired cover of Dr. Dre's "Bitches Ain't Shit." Along the way, there have been numerous tours, including a few with The Bens, a "supergroup" Folds formed with fellow singer-songwriters Ben Kweller and Ben Lee in 2003, as well tours with Rufus Wainwright and Guster in 2004, The Fray in 2005, and John Mayer in 2007. A classically trained percussionist whose musical chops could not be denied, Ben Folds also performs with orchestas, including a stint with the West Australian Symphony Orchestra in Perth, which led to his dvd "Ben Folds and WASO: Live at Perth" as well as Baltimore, Boston Pops for their season opener in 2007 and a stint of residencies with all five major Australian symphonies in 2006: Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth and Adelaide which set a number of ticket sales records for the esteemed Australian orchestras. In 2008, Folds will perform with the Nashville Symphony, opening their 2008-2009 season (September 7, 2008) and will also perform with the local symphonies in Philadelphia, Ft. Wayne, IN and Louisville, KY.
Ben Folds has been performing at many summer festivals this year, and will continue to tour worldwide in support of Way To Normal throughout the fall and into 2009.
_________________ it's saturday night... i have no date, a 2 liter bottle of shasta, and my all-rush mix tape. let's rock.
Read these lyrics...I know it's long...the best...
Quote:
Son look at all the people in this restaurant What d'you think they weigh? And out the window to the parking lot At their SUVs taking all of the space
They give no fuck They talk as loud as they want They give no fuck Just as long as there's enough for them
Gotta get on the microphone down at wallmart Talk about some shit that's been on my mind Talk about the state of this great of this nation of ours Poeple look to your left, yeah look to your right
They give no fuck They buy as much as they want They give no fuck Just as long as there's enough for them
[Piano Solo] (oooaaahhhhhhhh) (oooaaahhhhhhhh)
Son look at the people lining up for plastic Wouldn't you like to see them in the national geographic? Squatting bare-assed in the dirt eating rice from a bowl With a towel on their head and maybe a bone in their nose See that asshole with a peace-sign on his licence plate Giving me the finger and running me out of his lane
God made us number one because he loves us the best Well maybe He should go bless someone else for a while, give us a rest [They give no...] Yeah and everyone can see [They give no...] We've eaten all that we can eat
_________________ CrowdSurge and Ten Club will conduct further investigation into this matter.
He's opening for the Crows in December in England. Sucks. They play with M5 here and England gets crows and Ben Folds.
But yeah I'll definitely give this one a listen. I
_________________ "Socialism never took root in America because the poor see themselves not as an exploited proletariat but as temporarily embarrassed millionaires." -- John Steinbeck
He's opening for the Crows in December in England. Sucks. They play with M5 here and England gets crows and Ben Folds.
But yeah I'll definitely give this one a listen. I
They get Ben Folds and we get fucking Maroon 5! haha.
Get this: The first Counting Crows concert I saw, in 1996 (I was 17) - Ben Folds Five opened. This was the first time I had ever heard them and immediately purchased Whatever and Ever on the ride home from the concert. I have now probably seen them each 10-15 times. Definitely biggest impact opening band I've ever seen.
_________________ CrowdSurge and Ten Club will conduct further investigation into this matter.
Last edited by given2trade on Thu May 07, 2009 12:36 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Why I Leaked It: Ben Folds Comes Clean About His Fake (And Real) New Album, "Way To Normal" Plus: A track-by-track comparison of the false and actual tunes
DAVID DOWNS
Posted Aug 13, 2008 10:34 AM
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Singer-songwriter Ben Folds responded to the inevitable leak of his forthcoming album Way To Normal in a unique way: he leaked it himself. Only the songs weren't real — he spent eight hours recording "fake" versions of six tracks during a late-night Dublin, Ireland session in early July, then let friends work their magic on the Web.
"You see so many rock bands in the studio and it's serious, serious business," the 42-year-old singer-pianist tells Rolling Stone. "They got the making-of camera up their ass the whole time and they're on the BlackBerry the other half of the time. I just think that we all need to remember how to have fun."
The self-leak idea came during an early July flight to Europe with drummer Sam Smith and bassist Jared Reynolds (the trio were traveling as part of a year-long tour that includes 15 dates in the fall; Way To Normal hits stores September 30th). Folds says the group rented studio time with nine joke songs in eight hours as the goal. They finished six at the pace of Sixties studio musicians and had a blast.
"The word 'fake' came up when we started doing it and it takes all the responsibility out," he explains. "You can just be free to write and let it go." Some of the session went a little too well, though. Folds really likes "Bitch Went Nutz" — a song told from the narrative perspective of an ignorant ex-boyfriend — and is now hosting it on his MySpace page.
"They sound like roughs because they haven't been worked over and ruined like everything else that gets released these days," Folds says. "I figured a lot of people would get it and a lot of people wouldn't, but that's the way it is with my music in general."
Folds' friends leaked the six tracks in late July, bundling them with real singles "Hiroshima," "You Don't Know Me" featuring Regina Spektor, and a piano-and-orchestra version of real song "Cologne." A week went by without a response. "Fan sites would delete it," he says, explaining Webmasters were afraid of being sued. If people must scrutinize new Folds files for authenticity, Folds says, "I'd be happy with that.
"I may be on crack, but I think if that was half the real record, it'd be good," he adds. "Everyone I know keeps wanting to put it in and play it. We're all not honest these days about the way we listen to music. It all has to have context. I think some people hate it because they were told it was a joke. In the end people got free songs and we had something to do on July 11."
Keep reading for Folds' track-by-track comparisons of the leaked and real songs from Way To Normal.
Post subject: Re: Ben Folds - Way To Normal (Sept 30, 2008)
Posted: Sun Aug 17, 2008 5:15 pm
Stone's Bitch
Joined: Mon Oct 18, 2004 4:25 am Posts: 17123 Location: Maspeth, NY Gender: Male
That's pretty fucking clever... I'm looking forward to the "real" album, but I think it would be great if there was a version that came with a 2nd CD of the "fake" songs.
_________________ Gotta say it now.... better loud than too late.
I think so too, Did they ever get to play that record much live or did they break up sometime after its release?
yah, they did. i remember seeing them on that tour. it's odd they are choosing that record over whatever and ever but ben said in an interview on itunes that he thought the last bff album was the best.
as my buddy said "i guess the divorce was expensive"
i wonder if they have a full blown reunion tour
_________________ CrowdSurge and Ten Club will conduct further investigation into this matter.
this is supposed to have just the "fake" released songs. everything else I've found said it was no good, but I don't know if some of these people know that story.
Just finished. Some of this stuff is pretty damn good for being a joke.
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