tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1068887141761067808.post6293850859827940109..comments2013-09-12T06:20:11.063+01:00Comments on Heavy Soil: The Ben Folds Bastard EffectTom Parnellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15585203595319919384noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1068887141761067808.post-27964742208669025632009-07-07T18:41:43.365+01:002009-07-07T18:41:43.365+01:00My enjoyment of music is enhanced by the impressio...My enjoyment of music is enhanced by the impression that the creator would be the kind of person I'd respect. Not necessarily someone I'd want to know -- I love Thelonious Monk's music, I have great respect and affection for him and his sense of humour (in music and deed) appeals to me, but I imagine he'd be very difficult person to hang out with. But I don't get the impression he was ever truly unpleasant.<br /><br />Bitterness has been a humorous undercurrent to Ben Folds' work, but I agree Way To Normal made him come across as a total bastard. Even if rumour tells you an artist isn't very nice, it's problematic when it actually comes across in the music. Maybe he's just lost his way a bit recently.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1068887141761067808.post-28106883115024422992009-07-07T03:15:05.202+01:002009-07-07T03:15:05.202+01:00On creativity:
Every artist should be allowed a &q...On creativity:<br />Every artist should be allowed a "dry patch" or "less than amazing" period in his or her lifetime. We can't all be incredible all the time. Having said that, I personally believe that once an artist has attained a certain credibility, comfort level, and studio of his/her dreams, it becomes more difficult to create edgy music...because the edge has been eliminated. <br /><br />On Ben Folds:<br />In my opinion, his genius as of late has resided in his ability to produce other artists' albums. Take Amanda Palmer's first solo album. To hear the originals, then hear what he did with instrumentation, is nothing short of amazing.<br /><br />On personalities:<br />I, too, am guilty of gauging an artist's personality by his/her music. We humans are critics, label-ers, and categorizers by nature (I believe it goes back to our evolutionary cycle) and I am more than willing to admit that I judge a person by the music he/she listens to. Favorite band is Nickelback? Let's <i>not</i> hang out. <br /><br />I see nothing wrong with this, as long as it doesn't turn into moral classification. Zappa's music sounds like it's on drugs, but Zappa was as sober as the chair I'm sitting on.Ameliehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09596072674639869222noreply@blogger.com