Traditionally, Greatest Hits albums have been albums to skip over for real fans because they are usually made up of songs that everybody's heard before. This was until
Ben Folds came along with his latest greatest hits compilation,
Ben Folds Presents: University A Capella. Instead of simply regurgitating old material onto one CD, Ben Folds has enlisted the help of University choirs across the country to record a capella versions of some of his most famous songs. And no there is no "Rockin' the Suburbs" on this one. Instead we have The Mosaic Whispers from Washington University in St. Louis performing "Still Fighting It" and The Sacramento State Jazz Singers performing "Selfless, Cold and Composed". And performing Mr. Folds' most famous number, "Brick" we have The Leading Tones from Ohio University. Along with the 14 a capella versions of Folds' career highlights, there are two new a capella songs that Folds arranged himself.
This innovative greatest hits compilation will be in stores as of April 28th and Folds isn't stopping there. After having released his latest LP of new music just last year, entitled
Way To Normal, he will also be releasing a 2 disk version of the album called
Stems and Seeds. The first disc will be a remixed, re-mastered and re-sequenced version of the original record while the second disk will be files that when opened, will pop up in Garageband, giving listeners the opportunity to mix the songs themselves. This begs the question: What will he think of next? While you ponder the idea of mixing your own Ben Folds songs, take a look at Ben Folds sans 5's upcoming tour dates. -
Greg Lozoff
Ben Folds on Tour
24 Apr - House of Blues - Atlantic City, New Jersey
26 Apr - Syracuse University - Syracuse, New York
28 Apr - Collins Center for the Arts - Orono, Maine
14 May - Paramount Theater - Seattle, Washington
15 May - Roseland Theater - Portland, Oregon
17 May - Fox Theater - Oakland, California
19 May - House of Blues - Las Vegas, Nevada
20 May - Hollywood Palladium - Hollywood, California
21 May - House of Blues - San Diego, California
27 May - 9th Street Summerfest - Columbia, Missouri
28 May - Cain's Ballroom - Tulsa, Oklahoma
29 May - AR Music Pavilion - Fayetteville, Arkansas
30 May - Crossroad - Kansas City, Missouri
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Ben Folds on Myspace