Ben Folds

Ben Folds Five的核心人物Ben Folds，以钢琴为基础的流畅旋律，再搭建上其干净的嗓音、精巧但前卫的和弦以及直导人心的合音，配合充满想像力的歌词，建立他个人独具一格的乐风.就像闭关潜心修行的修士，Ben Folds与两位乐手关在录音室里几个星期，完成这张继首张大受好评的个人专辑rocking the suburbs的第二张个人大碟songs for silverman。这张专辑原本就在2004年春天就已经完成，但是Ben Folds为了改变个人独自制作的方式，于是加入了2位成员负责鼓与贝斯的位置，以一个乐团的形式重新录制专辑。这是自从2000年Ben Folds Five解散后，Ben Folds第一次以乐团的录制音乐，与之前不同的是，Ben Folds得到更多在音乐上的灵感，不再拘泥于成员间对音乐上的紧密关系，更像是一种自由态度将三人在录音室里释放出音乐的能量聚集成11首兼具钢琴摇滚的沉稳与民谣内省的纯酿谣。

　　Ben Folds在Ben Folds Five的创作时期便展现身为钢琴手对流行旋律的掌控能力，单飞之后，Ben Folds似乎逐渐收敛摇滚叛逆的因子，朝向更为成熟内省的创作风格。这张新专辑可以听出这股明显的音乐取向。几乎那些可以拿来单曲的歌曲例如”Landed”、”Trusted”、”Late”、”Give Judy My Notice”都有着漂亮的旋律，与四平八稳的编曲，当然他还依然保有那手明亮激昂的钢琴旋律。”Give Judy My Notice”明晃晃如湖面泛光的Pedal Steel音色，与轻快的钢琴旋律合奏出一段恋人分手的告白。向去年自杀身亡的美国民谣摇滚歌手Elliot Smith致敬的”Late”这首歌，隐隐约约的吉他刷弹声像是Elliot的回音，Ben Folds抑郁的歌声娓娓道出他对Elliot Smith之死的惋惜。至于首支单曲”Landed”鲜明的歌词意象与流畅的旋律绝对是他的经典之作。

Singer/pianist Ben Folds (born September 12, 1966, in Winston-Salem, NC) is best known as the leader of the power pop trio Ben Folds Five, but has also struck out on his own as a solo artist. Despite playing in bands in high school, his musical career didn't really get off the ground until the late '80s, as a bassist for Majosha (the outfit issued such obscure releases as Party Night: Five Songs About Jesus and Shut Up and Listen to Majosha). Proving his multi-instrumental talents, Folds also played drums as a session musician in Nashville. After relocating to New York, Folds started acting again (he'd done some theater in high school previously) and signed a publishing deal with Sony Music.

Moving back to North Carolina, Folds in 1994 formed Ben Folds Five, a trio that also included bassist Robert Sledge and drummer Darren Jessee. Whereas most alternative bands of the '90s specialized in distorted teen-angst rock, the guitarless trio was a refreshing break from the norm, their sound akin to such past power popsters as Todd Rundgren, Jellyfish, early Joe Jackson, and such piano-driven artists as Billy Joel and early Elton John. But like punk bands, Ben Folds Five put on a high-energy, blistering live show. The band was signed to the independent Caroline Records shortly afterward, resulting in their self-titled debut one year later. Due to airings of their humorous anthem "Underground" (which poked fun at the politics of the punk/alternative scene) on MTV's 120 Minutes) and constant touring, quite a buzz was stirring for the band by the time of their second album.

Released in 1997, Whatever and Ever Amen was pure pop perfection -- easily one of the year's best releases and perhaps the best power pop release of the '90s. The band's songwriting and sound had improved even further, as evidenced by such gems as "One Angry Dwarf and 200 Solemn Faces," "Fair," "Kate," and "Battle of Who Could Care Less," plus their whimsical tribute to breakups, "Song for the Dumped." But it was the ballad "Brick" that broke the band commercially -- unlike the majority of their material, which was upbeat, the song contained melancholic music and vocals, as the lyrics told the story of a teenage couple who decides to get an abortion (it has been speculated that the tale was autobiographical for Folds). The single didn't hit until several months after the album was released, which meant that the band stayed on the road for well over a year, playing with such notables as Dave Matthews, Beck, and as part of the 1997 H.O.R.D.E. festival -- earning Whatever platinum status.

While 1998 didn't see a new studio album by the band, BF5's former label issued a 16-track rarities collection (Naked Baby Photos), as Folds released his first solo album, Volume 1, under the pseudonym Fear of Pop. Although the album went largely unnoticed, it included the song "In Love," which included overly dramatic vocals from none other than Captain Kirk himself, William Shatner (comparable in approach to Shatner's must-hear 1968 album, The Transformed Man) and which was performed on The Conan O'Brien Show shortly after the album's release. Ben Folds Five regrouped with 1999's The Unauthorized Biography of Reinhold Messner, which was a more mature work than its predecessors, although the energetic lead-off single, "Army," showed that Folds' humorous approach hadn't dulled at all. Folds officially went solo again in 2001 with Rockin' the Suburbs. A series of EPs followed, with the new long-player Songs for Silverman dropping in 2005. He released Supersunnyspeedgraphic: The LP in 2006, followed by the full-length Way to Normal in 2008. In 2009 Folds contributed two songs to University A Cappella, a collection of covers of some of Folds' best tracks by various university groups. Lonely Avenue, a collaboration with British novelist/essayist Nick Hornby (High Fidelity, About a Boy), arrived the following year. ~ Greg Prato, Rovi