Patrick Klepek
furiously molesting tim burton
this is the last of ben folds' series of EPs before releasing a new LP, and it's the biggest mixed bag of songs he's released yet. either this EP is an indication that ben has no idea which direction to head in with his new album, or he's just sonically screwing around before laying down solid ideas for the next full release. either way, "super d" is going to polarize most fans, as the songs are pretty love/hate.
here's my brief rundown after one full listen:
get your hands off my woman - interesting cover. i think it's funny when he plays it live, but i don't see the point in recording it. there are better songs he's been road-testing (such as the elliot smith tribute, "late") that would have been far superior choices. so, while it's good for a chuckle, the massive overlaying of ben's voices over one another produces a disappointing feeling of overproduction, which was already a problem on his last LP.
kalamazoo - apparently this is a re-do of an old, old demo. pretty good song, though. not much to say so far; will need some more listens before i can see how it ranks.
adelaide - great, great track! so far, the best on the EP. it reeks of old ben.
rent-a-cop - i really, really dug this song live because ben played it solely on the bass guitar. on the record, it's pretty long and drawn out for no reason. there's a sweet synth breakdown towards the end, which i appreciate, but this is another one of ben's novelty songs that are fun to hear, but i'm glad it's on an EP and not on a full record.
them that got - ben does a respectable cover of a ray charles classic. for whatever reason, though, he doesn't do the entire song, despite having performed the entire song at other concerts. so, that's strange.
here's my brief rundown after one full listen:
get your hands off my woman - interesting cover. i think it's funny when he plays it live, but i don't see the point in recording it. there are better songs he's been road-testing (such as the elliot smith tribute, "late") that would have been far superior choices. so, while it's good for a chuckle, the massive overlaying of ben's voices over one another produces a disappointing feeling of overproduction, which was already a problem on his last LP.
kalamazoo - apparently this is a re-do of an old, old demo. pretty good song, though. not much to say so far; will need some more listens before i can see how it ranks.
adelaide - great, great track! so far, the best on the EP. it reeks of old ben.
rent-a-cop - i really, really dug this song live because ben played it solely on the bass guitar. on the record, it's pretty long and drawn out for no reason. there's a sweet synth breakdown towards the end, which i appreciate, but this is another one of ben's novelty songs that are fun to hear, but i'm glad it's on an EP and not on a full record.
them that got - ben does a respectable cover of a ray charles classic. for whatever reason, though, he doesn't do the entire song, despite having performed the entire song at other concerts. so, that's strange.