Tune in to NPR's World Cafe today to hear Folds and Hornby discuss their new album, Lonely Avenue, and to hear Folds perform a few of its songs. Folds's US tour takes him to Buffalo tonight, where Artvoice says the unexpected collaboration behind Lonely Avenue is a success: "Folds flourishes on this album, and his curious choice to collaborate with an author, when Folds himself is recognized by fans for his words, is a trick that pays off." The duo is the subject of a new piece on the BBC News.
Ben Folds and Nick Hornby are today's guests on NPR's World Cafe. Tune in on NPR stations across the United States or listen in online at xpn.org starting at 2 PM ET to hear Folds and Hornby talk with host David Dye about their collaboration on the recently released Nonesuch album, Lonely Avenue. Folds will also perform a few songs from the album, for which he set Hornby's lyrics to music.
The singer/songwriter is currently touring the US with his band, performing music from Lonely Avenue plus favorite songs from throughout his career. Following last night's stop at Club Zoo in Pittsburgh, the tour heads up to Buffalo, New York, for a concert at Town Ballroom tonight, and then back down to Pennsylvania, for a show at the Tower Theatre in World Cafe's hometown of Philadelphia on Saturday. For complete tour information, visit nonesuch.com/on-tour.
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The duo is featured in a new piece from the BBC News, in which the BBC's Shanon Cook follows Folds and Hornby into a New York studio and talks with New York public radio station WNYC's John Schaefer about the collaboration. You can watch the piece at bbc.co.uk.
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Buffalo's Artvoice previews tonight's concert with a review of Lonely Avenue. "Collaboration is a risk, but it’s a risk that can pay off," says reviewer Cory Perla. "On his latest studio album, Lonely Avenue, singer-songwriter Ben Folds took a risk, and the chemistry is evident."
The review goes on to suggest that the collaboration with Hornby added something new to Folds's already rich skill set, referencing, perhaps unintentionally, Folds's own interest in another medium. "Folds is like a photographer who has turned from shooting landscapes to portraits, pushed outside of his comfort zone by Hornby’s descriptive, pop-culture-influenced prose, and a new freedom to structure songs that tell a story through their notes and tones as well as their words," Perla writes.
(Folds's own photography will be on display at the National Geographic headquarters in Washington, DC, on December 3, when he joins moderator Mark Seliger for Music on ... Photography, a National Geographic Live! event. Tickets are available at nationalgeographic.com.)
"Folds flourishes on this album," Perla concludes of Lonely Avenue, "and his curious choice to collaborate with an author, when Folds himself is recognized by fans for his words, is a trick that pays off."
Read the full review at artvoice.com.
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Head to the Nonesuch Store to pick up a copy of Lonely Avenue on vinyl, CD, or in the deluxe edition with the album on CD, four short stories by Hornby, 15 images by acclaimed photographer Joel Meyerowitz, all in a hardbound, 152-page book.
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