DISCOVERIES: Ben Folds' "Selfless, Cold & Composed" (A Capella)

I'm not terribly familiar with Ben Folds' work, though I have enjoyed a couple of tracks that his group, Ben Folds Five, has contributed to compilation albums over the years. Yesterday, Folds released a striking approach to his past work with BEN FOLDS PRESENTS: UNIVERSITY A CAPELLA! It's exactly what you would expect from the title: a bunch of university a capella choirs performing his music. While I haven't finished listening to the entire thing, there is already one performance that has literally rocked my world--The Sacramento State Jazz Singers performing "Selfless, Cold, and Composed." It's a brilliant choral performance, and happily you can catch it on YouTube here:



Perhaps it's not for everyone--I'm admittedly a huge fan of choral music and have always been entranced by the power of harmonizing voices writ large--but I can't imagine failing to recognize how kickass this rendition is, between the insistent sung percussion lines and thick, gorgeous unison chords backing really lovely featured vocals. Simply astounding!

Songs I Adore:David Sylvian's "Nostalgia" (1984)

Voices heard in fields of green
Their joy their calm and luxury
Are lost within the wanderings of my mind

One of the most extraordinary songs from one the best-produced albums I know, David Sylvian's "Nostalgia" from his album Brilliant Trees (1984) hooked me the moment I heard it nearly 25 years ago. From the opening strains of a wordless (Hindi? Hebrew?) vocal/chant, "Nostalgia" is deeply steeped in the album's lush musical layers of East-meets-West influence and Sylvian's own metaphoric lyrics.

I'm cutting branches from the trees
Shaped by years of memories
To exorcise their ghosts from inside of me

There are long, gorgeous instrumental passages within "Nostalgia". Sylvian's collaborators suggest Eastern musical influences electronically here, while Kenny Wheeler's jazz-like flugelhorn drifts in and around the proceedings. Co-produced with Steve Nye (Penguin Cafe Orchestra, Bryan Ferry, Frank Zappa) Brilliant Trees was Sylvian's first solo foray after leaving his reasonably successful rock/punk band, JAPAN. "Nostalgia" remains my favorite track on Brilliant Trees, and it heralds the complex beauty that Sylvian has built in subsequent recordings.

The sound of waves in a pool of water
I'm drowning in my nostalgia