I just heard that Ben Folds and Nick Hornby have collaborated on an album, and I'm afraid to listen to it.
I've probably listened to the first Ben Folds Five album over 1000 times and was a big Ben Folds fan up until about the time he started doing the Ben and a Piano thing. I was interested in the idea before it happened, and even remember talking about it at a show on the Rockin' the Suburbs tour. But when it finally happened, despite the rest of the world loving it, I was done. I guess I finally started to see the Billy Joel that my non-ben-folds-liking friends always taunted me with. I saw the chat roulette videos and thought that was funny, but with the whole a-ca-pella thing, I feel that me and Ben have drifted apart.
Then there's Nick Hornby - I read High Fidelity when it came out (Working in the music dept at Borders, someone was nice enough to give me a galley copy thinking I'd like it) and loved it. Never had i felt more close to characters in a book. I told everyone I worked with they had to read it. I tried to decide which character each of my colleagues was. I read a couple of his other books and stories and enjoyed them. Then in 2003, he released a collection of essays about songs. I was very excited. I got the book. I never finished. Maybe it was his choice of songs, only a few that I know very well, but I thought it was quite a snore.
That brings us back to my fear. Why fear? I probably won't like this album. The CNN article mentions strings. Nothing turns me off of music faster than strings. But then there's that minute possibility that I'll enjoy it. And I'm afraid of the consequences if I do. I mean, I like tomatoes don't you know. (but that's another story for another day)
I'm not listening to it today. Maybe I will later. If I do, I'll post my reaction here...
