DIY Melody: 'Ben Folds Presents: University A Cappella!'

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BEN FOLDS HAS become quite the cheerleader for college a cappella. Not only has he invited collegiate groups to open for him at recent shows, but he has also devoted his latest album, "Ben Folds Presents: University A Cappella!" (Epic), to showcasing their versions of his songs.

It started last fall, when Folds put out an open call for groups to submit videos of their covers. After sifting through over 250 submissions, he picked his favorites and then flew from school to school to record them himself. (Truth-in-advertising alert: one of these groups, The Newtones, is still in high school, but their version of "Evaporated" holds up solidly alongside the 13 collegiate groups also included.)

Folds' songs translate to vocal arrangements remarkably well: the cover of "Magic" by the University of Chicago group Voices in Your Head is even more haunting than the original, while Washington University in St Louis' take on "Still Fighting It" captures the angst of growing up with a poignancy of a collegiate viewpoint that's completely different from the original father/son dialogue of the song.

Sure, some of the soloists sound like clones of Folds, but that's to be expected from groups trying to replicate the tone of the original song. Taking a different tack, though, there are two all-female groups among the included tracks: the University of North Carolina Loreleis take on "Jesusland," while The Gracenotes from West Chester College cover "Fred Jones Part II". Even without the lowest bass notes, these two songs still sound full, with the ladies' voices deftly conveying Folds' piano lines and female soloists tackling his light tenor melodies.

This album is far from perfect, of course, due in part to the limitations Folds imposed upon the project. Instead of enlisting the help of an experienced a cappella recording engineer, Folds and Co. captured each group themselves, with a four-hour deadline, and they did each recording with six area microphones instead of capturing each singer or voice part separately. The result sounds more like a live album instead of the polished, slickly produced recordings that have come to be the norm in the college a cappella circuit.

But despite the occasional flubbed note or audible breathing, the lo-fi, DIY feel of these field recordings doesn't detract from the compelling covers of these songs. Not to be outdone by a bunch of college kids, Folds chose to remake two of his own songs, sans instruments, for this compilation. His new version of "Boxing" is a fairly straightforward take on the original, but reinterpreting the bouncing piano line in "Effington" as a vocal infuses the song with an infectious energy.

Folds' own a cappella efforts are interesting enough, but he is far outshone by the more innovative interpretations of college groups he recruited to join him.

Written by Express contributor Catherine Lewis
Photo courtesy Big Hassle Media