A collection of Ben Folds recent material.
Ben Folds has always been an artist I was interested in investigating, yet the sheer volume of albums both solo and with his band Ben Folds Five, made the task seem too daunting. Such investigation could easily be dangerous for a compulsive audiophile like myself too, so I tried to resist. So when 'Supersunnyspeedgraphic' arrived on my doorstep I was pleased, seeing it as a 'sign' I should give Mr Folds a chance.
A collection of songs taken from internet only Eps, B-sides, cover versions and soundtrack material, there is a danger of this album reeking of songs not good enough to be included elsewhere. Yet after the initial trepidation of another Cure cover, Ben Folds breezy, piano-led take on 'In Between Days' easily managed to win me over, and created a sense of expectation about what else this collection might have to offer.
'All U Can Eat' is a lyrical triumph, with Ben Folds' wry lyrics such as, "Son look at all the people in this restaurant, What d'you think they weigh? And out the window to the parking lot at their SUVs taking all of the space" a song which is cleverly charming and an acerbic take on America's wanton consumerism. Another insightful slice of Ben Folds wisdom comes in the form of 'There's Always Someone Cooler Than You' an obviousl take on the "to be cool or not to be cool" theme, with blunt yet supremely witty lyrics such as "they know your Mom fucked you up or maybe let you watch too much TV". Ben Folds' piano is dominant in the majority of songs but he isn't afraid to mix things up a little, such as on the strings laden 'Learn To Live With What You Are' and the jazz inflected 'Rent A Cop', a superbly written song about a lack of job satisfaction and complete with siren noises.
Further covers are included in the form of Dr Dre's dubious hit 'Bitches Ain't Shit' which is given a Ben Folds makeover; the sparse instruments highlighting the disturbing nature of the lyrics. Another cover is 'Get Your Hands Off My Woman' by The Darkness, for which Ben adopts a falsetto and includes similarly 1980s style guitars to the original, but still making good enough use of his trusty piano to give his version its own sound.
Many albums comprising of a collection of non-albums serve no purpose other than to highlight the lazy output of the artist, but 'Supersunnyspeedgraphic' is nowhere near this definition. With a strong selection of original material nestled alongside a well-judged and diverse selection of covers, this album has an awful lot to offer. My final word is simple, if these songs were somehow not deemed worthy of inclusion on an album, I can only guess that Ben Folds' albums are truly magnificent, as this collection is better than most fully polished albums. The only downside of course is that I have a lot of catching up to do, online purchasing awaits I fear!