The End of Ideas

Ben Folds Five Jump On The “Let’s Have Bands Perform Their Old Albums Live” Bandwagon

noah | September 3, 2008 11:00 am
noah | September 3, 2008 11:00 am

benfoldsfive.jpgCheeky piano-heavy trio Ben Folds Five have announced that they’re reuniting for a show where they play their 1999 album The Unauthorized Biography of Reinhold Messner in its entirety. The concert–which takes place in Chapel Hill, N.C., on Sept. 18–is the first installment in the “let’s have bands play the albums you love so they can keep raking in the nostalgia cash” series Front To Back, which is sponsored in part by nowwhat.com. (As Al Shipley put it, the site’s “named after the phrase bands utter after they stop making good albums and have to just play the old ones.” Ha ha! OK, it’s actually an ethics-lite site sponsored by the insurance giants at State Farm. Same diff?) Anyway, as with so many music-publicity claims these days, there’s something a little strange about the video announcement of the show, which I’ve embedded after the jump.

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Attention Everybody: Aqua Is Back (And They’re Looking Back)

noah | August 8, 2008 4:00 am
noah | August 8, 2008 4:00 am

A long, long time ago (by which I mean nine months), we first heard talk of a reunion by the Norwegian pop group Aqua, I guess in honor of the fact that their Mattel-angering hit “Barbie Girl” is now 11 years old. Well, they have come back indeed, and they have a new song… More »


Does The World Need A “Rock N Roll High School” Remake? (Even If It’s Written By Bill S. Preston, Esq.?)

noah | July 31, 2008 1:30 am
noah | July 31, 2008 1:30 am

Well, too bad, because it’s getting one: Howard Stern is co-producing a remake of the 1982 film that will have its script penned by Alex Winter, a.k.a. Bill from the Bill & Ted movies and the director of Extreme’s video for “Decadence Dance.” More »


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