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Reviews

“So There” album reviews this week

sothere_200Here are a few of this past week’s reviews of So There:

  • Straight-up chamber pop, by Samantha Vincenty in PopCrush
  • A dramatic turn on par with Bob Dylan’s electric set at Newport, from Lee Zimmerman of Glide Magazine
  • Deceptively happy ruminations, by Bill Lamb in the Wisconsin Gazette
  • Never the same album twice, by Annie Zaleski in A.V. Club
  • I want to piss in your yard with this record, in which Ben drinks Scotch, plays knives like they’re drumsticks and gets all potty-mouthed with Danielle Bacher of Billboard Magazine
  • Pleasant, affable personality (could this be the same Ben? Never the same interview twice, I suppose) of whom the orchestra draws out the purest essence, by Adam Kivel writing in Consequence of Sound
  • Definitely sounds like a Ben Folds record but with strings and horns that aren’t merely part of the background, says Michael Quick writing in the University of New Haven Charger Bulletin
  • Kurt Weill meets Randy Newman and Leon Russell is Jon Sobel’s impression, writing in BlogCritics

Release day for “Best Imitation”

So, what do you think of it?

Today (October 10) is the day that Ben’s retrospective compilation Best Imitation of Myself goes on sale in the United Kingdom, and tomorrow (October 11) in the US. If you’ve picked up your copy (that is, if there are any record stores left where you are), have had it delivered, or have downloaded it, let us know what you think! Leave your review in the comments section of this post and we’ll publish the best ones and bounce them over to the Magical Armchair e-mail discussion list (you can subscribe as well, using the box to the right). Is your favorite concert-only song on it? A song from a show you attended? Something you’ve only heard on a fifth-generation mixtape or bootleg, finally in the clear? Let everyone know your first impressions, and enjoy!

HullabaLOU review

Here’s louisville.com’s writeup.

Brandeis show

Review of the November 9, 2009 show here.