The collection of 56 historical Ben Folds tracks, the Ben Folds Fifty-Five Vault, is now live and available for download. The list includes many remastered and original songs from Ben’s collection of demo and alternate takes and material from Sony’s vaults as well. More than half the tracks are previously unreleased. The tracks can be purchased here from myplayonline.com. The complete collection costs $29.99, but individual tracks can be purchased for 99 cents each. Those who purchase Best Imitation of Myself, which goes on sale Tuesday, Oct. 11, will get a code which can be redeemed for a free five-song EP containing a sampling of the tracks available for download. The Free Folds Five EP, as it’s known, contains the tracks Dr. Yang, Narcolepsy (with Darren and Robert), and early demos of Song For the Dumped, Steven’s Last Night in Town and Underground. (more…)
The vault is open
Lustre fading a bit for “The Sing-Off”
Second-episode overnight ratings numbers are in for the third season of NBC’s The Sing-Off, and it confirms the ratings drop for last week’s season premiere when compared with season two. Monday’s (Sept. 26) ratings averaged 1.7, with close to 5 million viewers at the start of the two-hour episode, but falling to just under 4 million toward the end of the program. The first week posted slightly better ratings, averaging 1.8 and around 5 million viewers. Overall, the show is in fourth place for Monday nights, behind shows on CBS, ABC and Fox. (more…)
Folds to appear at AES convention
The Audio Engineering Society, an international association of audio and acoustic professionals, has announced that Ben Folds will be the guest for a special interview segment during the society’s 131st convention in New York in October. The interview will be conducted by Errol Kolosine, Assistant Arts Professor at New York University’s Clive Davis Institute of Recorded Music. Kolosine is formerly general manager of the Caroline/Astralworks record label, on which Ben Folds Five released its first two albums, the self-titled debut and Whatever and Ever Amen, as well as Naked Baby Photos, a collection of b-sides and alternate takes after the group signed with Sony. (more…)
Ben co-hosting Today Show
Ben reports he’ll be co-hosting with Hoda Kotb (pictured left) on the late-morning segment of NBC’s The Today Show on Friday, September 30. The show, which airs on the NBC-TV network from 10-11 AM Eastern time (but check your local listings), features the lighter side of its newsier early-morning cousin, with celebrity gossip, entertainment news, and segments such as cute baby contests. Now that Ben’s a mainstream TV celebrity as judge on the peacock network’s The Sing-Off, he’ll need to keep it clean for the daytime audience. Kathie Lee Gifford, Hoda’s regular co-host, has been in Seattle working on a theatrical production. Update: In case you missed it, you can watch the show online. Ben said his drink of choice was a Gin & Tonic, and Tweeted “What the hell did I just do? after the show. (30 Sept 2011)
Free LA show on Monday
Ben will be performing in Hollywood Monday, September 26 as part of It’s a School Night, a Monday night regular series at Bardot, 1737 Vine Street. Free entry may be had by RSVPing at the It’s a School Night website. Hosted by DJ Chris Douridas, formerly the music director at KCRW in Santa Monica and host of the station’s long-running music program Morning Becomes Eclectic, the show will also feature live sets by English singer-songwriter Charlie Winston, and the pop escapist sound of Chad Valley, the side project of Jonquil’s frontman Hugo Manuel, along with sets by two local DJs.
