Cd - Ben Folds
The Age
Saturday November 25, 2006
WHO Ben Folds
WHAT Super sunny speed graphic, the LP (Sony/BMG)Ben Folds recorded these 12 songs as internet throwaways. The jewels of the LP version are two "explicit content" covers: a remake of Dr. Dre's and Snoop Dogg's Bitches Ain't Shit, and a manic jazz piano take on the Darkness' Get Your Hands Off My Woman. The ingrained irony in Folds' delivery and his ingenuity as an arranger reduce their macho bluster to parody. In geek self-help tunes There's Always Someone Cooler Than You and Learn To Live With What You Are, Folds combines the sophistication of Stephen Sondheim, Randy Newman's unflinching eye for human frailty. -- MICHAEL DWYER
© 2006 The Age