LOUNGE-A-PALOOZA  -  VARIOUS ARTISTS

YEAR:  1997
LABEL:  Hollywood Records
TRACK LISTING:  Miniskirt - Combustible Edison and Esquivel,  This Guy's In Love With You - Fastball,  She Don't Use Jelly - Ben Folds Five,  A Rose Is A Rose - Poe,  Black Hole Sun - Steve Lawrence & Eydie Gorme,  The Girl From Ipanema - Pizzicato Five,  Zaz Turned Blue - Polly Jean Harvey & Eric Drew Feldman,  I'm Not In Love - Fun Lovin' Criminals,  Wichita Lineman - Glen Campbell & Michelle Shocked with Texas Tornados,  Witchcraft - Edwyn Collins,  Love Will Keep Us Together - Jimmy Scott & Flea,  Music To Watch Girls By - The James Taylor Quartet,  The Good Life - Cassandra Wilson,  Robert Goulet (On the River Nile) - Chris Ballew (of the Presidents of the United States of America)
IMPRESSIONS:  During the mid-90s, there was an explosion of interest in lounge music aka space-age bachelor pad music aka exotica aka whatever other moniker slapped on this genre of music.  This was also the heyday of so-called "alternative music" and the Lollapalooza concerts.  So naturally somebody thought of combining the two.  This album is the very definition of a "mixed bag".  There are some absolutely top-notch songs here and there are some extremely forgettable kitsch.  The album kicks off appropriately with the master of space-age bachelor pad music Esquivel and his classic tune "Miniskirt" performed with Combustible Edison.  Although, no one's gonna convince me that it isn't simply the original Esquivel recording with Combustible Edison playing over it.  Still, it's good fun and a nice way to start the album.  The album continues in an even stronger fashion with the Burt Bacharach/Hal David classic "This Guy's In Love With You" nicely covered by Fastball.  Next is a classic version of the Flaming Lips' "She Don't Use Jelly" by Ben Folds Five, Poe's cover of her brother's "A Rose Is A Rose", Steve & Eydie's hilarious cover of Soundgarden's "Black Hole Sun", Pizzicato Five's quirky cover of Jobim's "The Girl From Ipanema" and an absolutely fabulous cover of Mel Torme's "Zaz Turned Blue" by PJ Harvey & Eric Drew Feldman.  Next there's the rather uninspired Fun Lovin' Criminals cover of 10cc's "I'm Not In Love" followed by a truly terrific version of Glen Campbell's Wichita Lineman by the man himself teamed with Michelle Shocked and Freddy Fender's Texas Tornados.  From here on out, the album peters out.  But up to this point, for the most part, we have a nicely idiosyncratic listen and a snapshot of the mid-90's music scene.
MY FAVOURITE TRACKS:  This Guy's In Love With You - Fastball,  She Don't Use Jelly - Ben Folds Five,  A Rose Is A Rose - Poe,  Black Hole Sun - Steve & Eydie,  Zaz Turned Blue - Polly Jean Harvey & Eric Drew Feldman,  Wichita Lineman - Glen Campbell & Michelle Shocked with Texas Tornados
FACT SHEET:  LOUNGE-A-PALOOZA is a compilation of lounge music mashed up with alternative music.  Or something.

ROCKIN' THE SUBURBS - Ben Folds

YEAR: 2001

LABEL: Epic

TRACK LISTING: Annie Waits, Zak and Sara, Still Fighting It, Gone, Fred Jones Part 2, The Ascent of Stan, Losing Lisa, Carrying Cathy, Not the Same, Rockin' the Suburbs, Fired, The Luckiest

IMPRESSIONS: Ben Folds was the sad sack of the Penguin Awards for a long while. This album is really magnificent and should've won the Penguin Award for album of the year but the competition was so incredibly fierce that year that there was no joy. The same thing happened later when Folds' song "Late" should've won for song of the year and didn't again. Folds was probably known as the artist whose had the strongest material NOT win a Penguin Award for several years. Thankfully for him he finally won a Penguin Award for cover song of the year with "Bitches Ain't Shit" but the fact remains that I still want to award him some sort of honorary Penguin Award for the album ROCKIN' THE SUBURBS because it's 100 times stronger than any of the Penguin Award winners for album of the year lately. Sometimes there's no justice! This album was first recommended to me by my Borders co-worker Tuba Dave and, not having ever listened to Ben Folds Five I was dubious; however I soon fell in love with the incredible melodies.

MY FAVOURITE TRACKS: Annie Waits, Zak and Sara, Still Fighting It, Gone, Fred Jones Part 2, The Ascent of Stan, Losing Lisa, Carrying Cathy, Not the Same, Fired

FACT SHEET: ROCKIN' THE SUBURBS is Ben Folds' first album after several with his band Ben Folds Five. The album had the misfortune to be released on September 11, 2001 but still became Folds' most successful album to date. "Not the Same" is based on a true story of a friend who climbed a tree at a party while on LSD, stayed there all night and came down a born-again Christian. ROCKIN' THE SUBURBS was nominated for the Penguin Award for album of the year and song of the year for "Carrying Cathy".