Ben Folds - Live At Myspace

Remember Myspace? It was the precursor to Facebook, and, for its time, almost as ubiquitous online. By August 2006, Myspace had over a hundred million member accounts, and, in October of that year, it decided to launchits first-ever webcast. The artist chosen for this epochal event?Ben Folds. The hour-long program featured Folds in front of a smallaudience housed in a custom set built right in Folds' home studio in Tennessee, performing songs from his third and latest solo album, Supersunnyspeedgraphic, as well as a couple of tunes from his previousgroup, Ben Folds Five. As the first concert offered in real-time by the socialnetworking site, Folds and his band (bassist Jared Reynolds and drummerLindsay Jamieson) were arguably positioning themselves on the leadingedge of entertainment-meets-technology.Well, it felt like someone was, Folds says today with a chuckle, But Ididn't think it was me. My fans and people around me were always reallycomputer savvy, and there was a lot of hyping of [the event].Now�just like it did with its release of Ben Folds Five: The CompleteSessions at West 54th�Real Gone Music is bringing this superlative show toCD and LP for the first time with its release of Ben Folds: Live at Myspace, asingle CD/double vinyl package featuring all 12 songs from Folds' Myspaceperformance along with five bonus tracks from the digital-only iTunesOriginals series. Featuring pictures from the Myspace gig and liner notesby Bill Kopp offering Ben Folds' reminiscences about the concert, this isas close as you can get to being there, and the studio-quality sound mayjust convince you that you are there if you just shut your eyes. We've alsocreated custom gatefold jacket art for the vinyl release, which is beingpressed in white vinyl limited to 1000 copies.Though Folds was focused on showcasing his newer material, he happilyperformed fan favorites in the all-requests Live at Myspace set. The highlightamong these is the audience singalong on Army, a song originally releasedon 1999's The Unauthorized Biography of Reinhold Messner. Long-timeFolds fans know that the crowd stepping in for the studio album version'sbrass section is a concert staple, and the Myspace audience does notdisappoint with its call-and-response verve. Another highlight of Live atMyspace is a cover of hip-hop giant Dr. Dre's Bitches Ain't Shit. Possiblytaking advantage of the fact that webcasts aren't subject to the same rulesimposed upon American radio stations by the FCC, Folds and his bandmates sink their collective teeth into the rap classic from Dre's 1992 debutalbum, The Chronic, radically transforming the track�just as Folds had donewith the Flaming Lips' She Don't Use Jelly�into something wholly unlikeits original version. And, the bonus iTunes Originals performances from2005 are practically a greatest hits encore, featuring the much loved songBrick. Another long-awaited addition to the Ben Folds canon!