Ben Folds focases on vocals only set

May 24, 2009

Ben Folds Focuses On
Vocals-Only Set 5/25/09

Ben Folds’ songs have long been the subject of unaccompanied university vocal group performances - and that quirky fact, which he discovered while browsing YouTube, actually gave him the idea for his newest album, Ben Folds Presents: University A Capella! The album is set to feature over a dozen university vocal groups performing detailed arrangements of Folds’ songs, such as “Army,” “Evaporated,” and “Brick” - Folds himself selected the groups and songs and produced the album, and he also threw in two of his own a capella tracks, “Effington” and “Boxing.” The production for the new CD was completed while Folds was flying back and forth to gigs on his 2008 Way to Normal tour; and as if that wasn’t enough activity, Folds is back to work again on a collaborative album with Brit writer Nick Hornby, who’s writing the lyrics while Folds takes care of the music...
Kings of Leon have joined the roster of performers for the upcoming 2009 MTV Movie Awards, which will air Sunday night, May 31, at 9:00 PM on MTV. Even though the show’s a mere week or so away, MTV’s keeping a close cap on its announced bands, as Kings of Leon are only the second band actually confirmed for the show; they’ll play the most recent single from their latest album, Only by the Night...
Portland, Oregon duo-turned-quartet Viva Voce have just presented a new album of their own; their Rose City set hit stores last week, and is being promoted with an extensive tour that will see the newly-expanded band hit stages from Washington state across the country with opening act Cut Off Your Hand in tow. Viva Voce will make stops in Chicago (5/29 and 5/30), Philly (6/3), Kansas City, MO (6/10), Austin, TX (6/13), and Los Angeles (6/17) along the way, and the whole thing will wrap up with a homecoming show for the band at Portland’s Wonder Ballroom on June 20...
The longest-running outdoor music festival in the world - namely Denmark’s famed Roskilde Festival - is slated for July 2nd through the 5th this year, and will feature an environmentally-conscious theme called “Green Footsteps” which will include CO2-friendly concerts and donation opportunities to assist environmental projects. Among the artists performing at this year’s Roskilde will be Royskopp, The Mars Volta, Oasis, Coldplay, and the aforementioned Kanye...

MODERN ROCK LINK OF THE WEEK:
Arcade Fire have signed 250 copies of the deluxe edition of their Mirior Noir CD, and are offering them alongside hand-silk-screened posters for purchase, with all proceeds going to the charity Partners in Health, which delivers high-quality health care to the poor; snag your copy and support a great cause, too, at www.arcadefire.com...

MINI BUZZ:
The only performance ever caught on film of John Lennon and the Plastic Ono Band will be released on concert DVD on June 23rd...
The debut disc from the neighborhood’s Harlem Shakes has just been released; the set, dubbed Technicolor Health, has already been called “a joyous, danceable opus” by the press...
Rockers Collective Soul and singer-songwriter Gavin DeGraw are teaming up for a co-headlining tour this summer that kicked off last week in Cleveland, and will continue through July 15...
Meanwhile, Gavin’s equally-talented brother Joey DeGraw has a brand new album called Say Something Strong; both DeGraws will be touring together in Europe for part of this summer in between Gavin’s aforementioned Collective Soul dates...
Bonnie Raitt is hitting the road with Taj Mahal for their BonTaj Roulet Tour, which will kick off in Pennsylvania on August 6th...
Winnipeg band Grand Analog are offering up their sophomore album, which they’ve dubbed Metropolis is Burning, next week...
And this week, these artists are offering up their newest discs... ON CD: Simple Minds’ Graffiti Soul... Rancid’s Dominos Fall... Klaxons’ A Bugged Out Mix By...... Patrick Wolf’s The Bachelor... Eels’ Hombre Lobo... Silversun Pickups’ Swoon... ON DVD: Paul Weller’s Just A Dream: 22 Dreams Live... and Glass: A Portrait of Philip in Twelve Parts... and that’s the buzz for this week’s Modern Rock.
Questions, comments, rants, raves, suggestions on this column or your favorite musicians? Send ‘em to Kristi at modernrocker@gmail.com