NEW YORK (Top40 Charts/ Legacy Recordings) With The Best Imitation of Myself: A Retrospective, a career-spanning anthology of the music of
Ben Folds arriving October 11, Legacy Recordings is proud to announce the release of "House," the first new studio track from
Ben Folds Five in more than 11 years, streaming on NBC.com, beginning Tuesday, August 23. Ben is returning to NBC's "The Sing-Off" this fall as a celebrity judge.
"House," the first single from The Best Imitation of Myself: A Retrospective, is one of three new Ben Folds Five tracks recorded in 2011 especially for this collection, marking the trio's first official studio recordings of original material since 1999's The Unauthorized Biography of Reinhold Messner (Ben Folds Five reunited for a one-off live performance of the album in 2008). The other new BFF tracks - "Tell Me What I Did" and "Stumblin' Home Winter Blues" - are available on the three-disc retrospective.
For the cover of his first major career-spanning retrospective, Ben Folds commissioned a new work of art from Opie Otterstad. Renowned for his iconic high-energy sports paintings (and a distinctive brushless palette-knife technique), Opie has been a lifelong fan of Ben's music, attracted to the passion and intensity of Ben's sound, attitude and aesthetic. In making the cover, Opie literally "deconstructed" an old dilapidated piano he found on Craig's List, ripping out the strings and hammers and keys to use as physical, emotional, psychological and compositional elements in his 36" x 24" portrait of Ben. "I wanted it to tell a story," says Opie, who uses the terms "calm" and "violent" when discussing art and Ben's music.
The most comprehensive and definitive Ben Folds collection ever assembled, and first-ever domestic overview of Folds' music, The Best Imitation of Myself: A Retrospective is remastered from original master tapes, bringing together Ben's biggest hits, deep catalog fan favorites, hidden treasures, and collectible rarities while premiering the first newly recorded Ben Folds Five tracks in 11 years.
Available as a single disc or in an expanded three disc set, The Best Imitation of Myself: A Retrospective features liner notes and track-by-track song annotations by Ben Folds. Fans purchasing the three-disc expanded edition of The Best Imitation of Myself: A Retrospective will be given an individual code redeemable for the "Free Folds Five" EP from the Ben Folds '55' Vault (55 ultra-rarities available for purchase exclusively on the site�territory restrictions apply*... *Ben Folds 55 Vault only available in the following territories: Australia (AU), Austria (AT), Canada (CA), Germany (DE), Indonesia (ID), Ireland (IE), Italy (IT), Netherlands (NL), New Zealand (NZ), Singapore (SG), South Africa (ZA), South Korea (KR), Spain (ES), Sweden (SE), United Kingdom (GB), United States (US)).
"Free Folds Five" EP bonus tracks include:
Underground (Demo 1992)
Steven's Last Night In Town (Demo 1994)
Song For The Dumped (Demo 1994)
Narcolepsy (with Ben Folds Five) (Recorded live on 11/21/1999, Brussels, Belgium)
Dr. Yang (Recorded live on 11/23/2008, Leuven, Belgium)
"This is the album I will submit for the next Voyager to be launched into space," says Ben Folds in his liner notes for The Best Imitation of Myself: A Retrospective. "It's my best shot at an honest assessment of where I was in each period of my career. . . . In the end we tried to put together a collection of the unrepeatable, each recording hopefully representing a moment that was somehow otherwise beyond my ability."
A bonanza for dedicated Ben Folds aficionados, the expanded three disc version of The Best Imitation of Myself: A Retrospective includes a 28-page booklet and two additional discs containing previously unreleased live and studio material, rare solo and BFF demos and studio outtakes, alternate mixes, scorching concert performances and the debut releases of "Tell Me What I Did" and "Stumblin' Home Winter Blues," a pair of brand new Ben Folds Five tracks, recorded in 2011.
Along with his first major career retrospective arriving in October, Ben Folds is reprising his role as celebrity judge on "The Sing-Off," (https://www.nbc.com/sing-off/about/benfolds.shtml ) the a cappella singing competition series returning for its third season as part of the NBC Fall line-up beginning September 19 (8-10 p.m. ET). This fall Ben is also producing the upcoming EP from Sara Bareilles, who joins him as a judge on "The Sing-Off" panel this season.
For embeddable clips and full episodes from NBC shows, please visit NBC.com's official show site: https://www.nbc.com/sing-off .
For artwork and a complete press kit from the show please visit the NBC Universal Media village website at https://www.nbcumv.com/mediavillage/ .
Please follow us on https://www.facebook.com/TheSingOff and at https://www.twitter.com/thesingoff.
Ben Folds - The Best Imitation of Myself : A Retrospective
Disc 1:
The Best Imitation of Myself
01. Brick (Radio Mix) (with Ben Folds Five)
Taken from Brick single - 1998
02. Annie Waits
Taken from Rockin The Suburbs - 2001
03. Philosophy (with Ben Folds Five)
Taken from Ben Folds Five -1995
04. Underground (with Ben Folds Five)
Taken from Ben Folds Five - 1995
05. Landed (Strings Version)
Taken from Landed (Digital Single) 2005
06. One Angry Dwarf and 200 Solemn Faces (with Ben Folds Five)
Taken from Whatever and Ever Amen - 1997
07. Don't Change Your Plans (with Ben Folds Five)
Taken from The Unauthorized Biography of Reinhold Messner - 1999
08. The Luckiest
Taken from Rockin The Suburbs - 2001
09. Smoke (with the West Australian Symphony Orchestra)
Audio taken from Live in Perth - 2005
10. Rockin' the Suburbs
Taken from Rockin The Suburbs - 2001
11. Kate (with Ben Folds Five)
Taken from Whatever and Ever Amen -1997
12. Gracie
Taken from Songs for Silverman -2005
13. Still Fighting It (Extended Version)
Alternate Mix from Rockin The Suburbs -2001
14. You Don't Know Me (featuring Regina Spektor)
Taken from Way To Normal -2008
15. There's Always Someone Cooler Than You
Taken from Supersunnyspeedgraphic, The LP - 2006
16. Still
Taken from Over The Hedge-Music From The Motion Picture- 2006
17. From Above (with Nick Hornby)
Taken from Lonely Avenue - 2010
18. House (with Ben Folds Five)
New Track � 2011
Disc 2:
Live (1997 - 2011)
All tracks previously unreleased (except where noted)
01. Julianne (with Ben Folds Five)
02. Video (with Ben Folds Five)
Recorded at Studion in Stockholm, Sweden on March 12, 1997
03. Song for The Dumped (with Ben Folds Five)
Recorded for Hard Rock Caf� Live television program on June 12, 1998
Originally released June 20, 2000 on album The Best of Hard Rock Caf� Live
04. Missing the War (with Ben Folds Five)
05. Mess (with Ben Folds Five)
06. Magic (with Ben Folds Five)
Recorded at Royal Albert Hall in London, UK on December 14, 1999
07. Selfless, Cold and Composed
Recorded at Bowery Ballroom in New York, NY on December 9 2001
08. Zak and Sara
09. Girl
Recorded at Roseland Ballroom in New York, NY on June 13, 2002
10. Just Pretend (with the Bens)
Recorded at Palais Theatre in Melbourne, Australia on March 24, 2003
11. Fred Jones Part 2 (with the West Australian Symphony Orchestra)
Recorded at Kings Park in Perth, Australia on March 12 & 13 2005
Originally released December 6, 2005 on the Epic DVD "Live in Perth"
12. Careless Whisper (featuring Rufus Wainwright)
Recorded at Mountain Winery in Saratoga, CA on August 24, 2005
13. All U Can Eat
Recorded at Ben's Studio in Nashville, TN on October 24, 2006
Originally released February 27, 2007 on the DVD "Live at My Space"
14. Long Tall Texan
Recorded at the Warehouse in Houston, TX on October 24, 2008
15. Army (with Ben Folds Five)
16. Battle of Who Could Care Less (with Ben Folds Five)
Recorded at UNC Memorial Hall, Chapel Hill on September 18, 2008 for the MySpace "Front to Back" series
17. Kylie from Connecticut
Recorded at the State Theatre, Detroit, MI on October 9, 2008
Originally released on April 7, 2009 on the iTunes release The Sound of Last Night ... This Morning
18. Effington
Recorded at Ax Hall, Seoul, South Korea on June 9, 2011
19. Picture Window
Recorded at HMV Hammersmith Apollo in London, UK on February 20, 2011
20. Sentimental Guy
Recorded at A.E.C. Theatre in Adelaide, Australia on May 22, 2011
21. Not the Same
Recorded at A.E.C. Theatre in Adelaide, Australia on May 22, 2011
Disc 3:
Rarities (1991 - 2011)
All tracks previously unreleased (except where noted)
01. Unrelated
Unfinished Song Demo - 1996
02. Best Imitation of Myself
Demo - 1992
03. Rocky
4 Track Home Demo � 1993
04. Boxing
Demo - 1992
05. Julianne (with Ben Folds Five)
Unreleased 1st Album - 1994
06. Evaporated (with Ben Folds Five)
Unreleased 1st Album - 1994
07. Alice Childress (with Ben Folds Five)
Originally released on Rare on Air 3: KCRW Performances - 1997
08. Barrytown (with Ben Folds Five)
Originally released on Me, Myself and Irene Soundtrack - 2000
09. Amelia Bright (with Ben Folds Five)
Mitch Easter Sessions - 2000
10. Tell Me What I Did (with Ben Folds Five)
New Track -2011
11. Rock Star
Demo - 2000
12. Losing Lisa
Demo - 2000
13. Break Up at Food Court
Demo 2000
14. Hiro's Song
Demo - 2000
15. Wandering
Demo - 2000
16. The Secret Life of Morgan Davis
Alternate Mix - 2001
17. Such Great Heights
Alternate Mix from MySpace sessions - 2006
18. Bitches Ain't Shit
Originally released as b-side of Landed 7" vinyl single
19. Time
Alternate Version - 2004
20. Sleazy
Originally released on Download to Donate's Tsunami Relief - 2011
21. Because the Origami (with 8in8 - Ben Folds, Amanda Palmer, Neil Gaiman and Damian Kulash)
Originally released on Nighty Night - 2011
22. Stumblin' Home Winter Blues (with Ben Folds Five)
New Track - 2011
