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Post by Pete on Apr 22, 2005 13:49:50 GMT -5
So is folker still awful to people? It grew on me with each listen and after every listen another piece of the Folker puzzle was put into place. A brilliant album that could have been better but is absolutely worth a listen.
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michaelb
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Post by michaelb on Apr 25, 2005 6:14:14 GMT -5
So is folker still awful to people? It grew on me with each listen and after every listen another piece of the Folker puzzle was put into place. A brilliant album that could have been better but is absolutely worth a listen. after being on tour with pw, getting to know him better, and learning the majority of the songs on "folker", i've come to the realization that this album is a necessary step in his development as an artist, as well as a man. "folker" is an honest portrait of a man, an artist in his mid-forties, not only struggling with the normal challenges that come with having a family and experiencing loss, but also facing somewhat of an identity crisis, musically. "folker" is not only the meeting point between rock and roll and folk, which have influenced paul equally according to him, it's the meeting point between a young boy and an old man. during rehearsal for the pantages shows, i thought i remembered paul saying something to chris riemenscneider about wiping his son's ass, and in the same day, wiping his father's. i believe he said something about that experience turning him into an adult. "folker"is an adult. and adulthood is not a commodity in the world of art. most succesful art is about what's to come, or what has already been. few people are interested in hearing about the present, it seems. and that's all "folker" is. the extension of a man in transition. one stop on a long journey. and the great thing is, whether you love it or hate it, "folker" is real. just like paul. paul is not just a man between... he's also a man apart. and i think most of you know that he's a true artist swimming in a sea of artistic relativism. and yeah, i agree that there will be much talk about this record for years... which is unfortunate. 'cause even while i'm typing this post, pw is moving on with his life, figuratively and artistically. and while i personally think that "folker" is brilliant and stands alone, he looks at it as just another experiment. i think "now i wonder" is such an artistic triumph. and what's funny is pw seems to take more delight in my enjoyment than in the the actual song itself. i have to remind him to play it. and let me just say this..... it's cool if you didn't get "folker". paul jokes about how the record is dead, and that nobody liked it...yet, i see the youngest members of the audience, every night, singing along, and knowing every word whenever we play a song from that album. i think this is an indication that paul's audience is becoming younger, and will eventually be comprised of more people who are meeting him where he's at, and less people that villify him for moving forward. i keep saying that it's time for paul to have a renaissance, similar to the blues legends that resurfaced and regained their relevance through colleges and other institutions that were not available to them at the time that their music was considered counter-culture. "folker" does have an audience.... and it's okay if it's not you. michaelb
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Post by paulie on Apr 25, 2005 6:56:22 GMT -5
when Folker came out you could put me in the '' didn't get folker" group especially after hearing the two songs that came out prerelease. After some listening its definitly become one of my all time favorites and a record with the honesty i tend to compare my music and all others i listen to.
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Post by ih8music on Apr 25, 2005 12:52:30 GMT -5
Awful? No. Still disappointing? Yes.
I think the songs on Folker are great - and as evidenced by this tour, they really come alive when performed in person by Paul and HOF.
That's my biggest issue with Folker - unlike Stereo/Mono (and CFMT to a lesser extent), the songs on Folker don't seem to be well suited to the one-guy-in-a-basement approach. What came across as beautifully flawed and/or spontaneous in Stereo/Mono just sounds like sloppy recording (bordering on apathy) in Folker. There are some gems on the album, no doubt, but many of the songs are just too aesthetically painful for me to really get into. "Breathe Some New Life" is like fingernails on a chalkboard - I just can't tolerate the vocals.
I dunno - I think if he treated these recordings simply as demos and got HOF into a studio for a couple of days to knock out the final version of the songs, we'd be talking about an entirely different performance. And I think this is a case where different would have equaled better.
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Post by deebee76 on Apr 25, 2005 14:03:08 GMT -5
I think "Folker" stands up shoulder to shoulder with the rest of the 'basement sessions' albums released since 2002. I don't see it as being a weak link in the chain. I liked the album pretty much instantly and still listen to it quite regularly. There are songs on the record that will stand up with Paul's best in the history books, and I think more people will be turned on to the record years down the road...it is a classic 'sleeper' album, and songs like "23 Years Ago" and "Now I Wonder" are songs that will eventually grow on people, if they haven't already...
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JimP
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Post by JimP on Apr 25, 2005 22:03:16 GMT -5
Folker is like the artwork your kid brings home from school. To me and Mom it is beautiful and we can see our kids heart and soul in it. Its innocent and its a gift to be measured against nothing but itself. I love the basement recordings because they are a gift from Paul to us, his fans. If you want to listen to a big band sound there is plenty of music out there to choose from. I hope he keeps putting out music from his heart and doesn't listen to anyone but himself. At 45 he deserves to make any kind of record he wants and to hell with those who laugh. My 7 year old son keeps asking me to burn him a copy of Folker, I told him to buy his own!
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Rene'
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Post by Rene' on Apr 28, 2005 15:17:04 GMT -5
after being on tour with pw, getting to know him better, and learning the majority of the songs on "folker", i've come to the realization that this album is a necessary step in his development as an artist, as well as a man. "folker" is an honest portrait of a man, an artist in his mid-forties, not only struggling with the normal challenges that come with having a family and experiencing loss, but also facing somewhat of an identity crisis, musically. "folker" is not only the meeting point between rock and roll and folk, which have influenced paul equally according to him, it's the meeting point between a young boy and an old man. during rehearsal for the pantages shows, i thought i remembered paul saying something to chris riemenscneider about wiping his son's ass, and in the same day, wiping his father's. i believe he said something about that experience turning him into an adult. "folker"is an adult. and adulthood is not a commodity in the world of art. most succesful art is about what's to come, or what has already been. few people are interested in hearing about the present, it seems. and that's all "folker" is. the extension of a man in transition. one stop on a long journey. and the great thing is, whether you love it or hate it, "folker" is real. just like paul. paul is not just a man between... he's also a man apart. and i think most of you know that he's a true artist swimming in a sea of artistic relativism. and yeah, i agree that there will be much talk about this record for years... which is unfortunate. 'cause even while i'm typing this post, pw is moving on with his life, figuratively and artistically. and while i personally think that "folker" is brilliant and stands alone, he looks at it as just another experiment. i think "now i wonder" is such an artistic triumph. and what's funny is pw seems to take more delight in my enjoyment than in the the actual song itself. i have to remind him to play it. and let me just say this..... it's cool if you didn't get "folker". paul jokes about how the record is dead, and that nobody liked it...yet, i see the youngest members of the audience, every night, singing along, and knowing every word whenever we play a song from that album. i think this is an indication that paul's audience is becoming younger, and will eventually be comprised of more people who are meeting him where he's at, and less people that villify him for moving forward. i keep saying that it's time for paul to have a renaissance, similar to the blues legends that resurfaced and regained their relevance through colleges and other institutions that were not available to them at the time that their music was considered counter-culture. "folker" does have an audience.... and it's okay if it's not you. michaelb Michael - this post is lovely. I met the Mats a long time ago but at the time I wasn't a fan - just had not yet been exposed to their music. They just happened to be playing on my night off so that's where we went. After the show my friend & I were invited to a party so we went. I talked with him all night and it was probably months before my friend saw a photo of them and we realized that he was with that band we saw. I have always listened to see where "that guy I met that night"s head is at and how he's doing (the fact that I have loved his songs is a bonus). Over the years there have been alot of parallels in our lives (I'm not still 20 and out every night, I just lost my Mom, divorce,etc) so I've always loved the changes that come with each album. The old band and songs are part of who he is but life goes on and that's reflected in each next album he releases. He has such die hard fans because his music has continued to be relative to their lives. The 20 year olds who've just discovered the Mats will likely be into Folker when they're 40. I've only been to the show in Austin, which I loved, but from this board it sound like ya'll are kicking ass. I hope you're all having a blast and that I'll get to see ya'll again sometime. (I'm a lurker so I hope I've done this right)
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Post by FreeRider on Apr 28, 2005 19:42:44 GMT -5
MichaelB,
great fucking response, very eloquent. thank you for your insights into "Folker" as someone who's helping to bring those songs to life for Paul onstage. And thanks for the personal glimpses of Paul and what he's thinking.
I too hope for a renaissance for Paul. If anyone's music deserved to be heard by a larger audience, I'd pick Paul. I get something from him that I don't get from anyone else out there today. There's honesty, poignancy, an emotional relevancy to what he does, and he's not one dimensional.Man, I'd run thru a brick wall for the guy. Maybe that's extreme and all, but I just don't get that from anyone else today....
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michaelb
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Post by michaelb on Apr 28, 2005 21:48:03 GMT -5
Awful? No. Still disappointing? Yes. I think the songs on Folker are great - and as evidenced by this tour, they really come alive when performed in person by Paul and HOF. That's my biggest issue with Folker - unlike Stereo/Mono (and CFMT to a lesser extent), the songs on Folker don't seem to be well suited to the one-guy-in-a-basement approach. What came across as beautifully flawed and/or spontaneous in Stereo/Mono just sounds like sloppy recording (bordering on apathy) in Folker. There are some gems on the album, no doubt, but many of the songs are just too aesthetically painful for me to really get into. "Breathe Some New Life" is like fingernails on a chalkboard - I just can't tolerate the vocals. I dunno - I think if he treated these recordings simply as demos and got HOF into a studio for a couple of days to knock out the final version of the songs, we'd be talking about an entirely different performance. And I think this is a case where different would have equaled better. you could be right, and you are certainly entitled to your opinion. but keep in mind that when "exile on main street" came out, stones fans hated it, and so did the critics. it was a minimum of 15 years before bands started modeling their sound after it. michaelb
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Post by Smorgasberg on Apr 28, 2005 22:12:13 GMT -5
You write like a poet yourself, MichaelB. Paul is very lucky to have an "Only Friend" like you.
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Post by GtrPlyr on Apr 28, 2005 22:13:09 GMT -5
"Breathe Some New Life" is like fingernails on a chalkboard - I just can't tolerate the vocals. I kinda wish that this song would be added to the setlist. I have a feeling it would come across great in a live setting. I don't know, maybe I'm the only one that loves this song.
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Post by michaelb on Apr 28, 2005 22:27:51 GMT -5
I kinda wish that this song would be added to the setlist. I have a feeling it would come across great in a live setting. I don't know, maybe I'm the only one that loves this song. i'll toss it out there, and see what reaction i can get. i'm into learning more songs, but i don't think paul wants to add any more songs from the new album. we've already learned and thrown out "$100 groom", and "folkstar" has become somewhat confusing to play.... don't know why. plus, "my dad" was getting butchered 'cause there are alot of words to it. michaelb
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Post by jagger46 on Apr 28, 2005 22:28:36 GMT -5
I kinda wish that this song would be added to the setlist. I have a feeling it would come across great in a live setting. I don't know, maybe I'm the only one that loves this song. I will agree with you. I like the way the vocals sound so raw and filled with emotion.
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Post by TomT on Apr 28, 2005 22:30:48 GMT -5
What About Mine? is another gem off Folker that I really like.
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Post by A Regular on Apr 28, 2005 22:33:19 GMT -5
i'll toss it out there, and see what reaction i can get. i'm into learning more songs, but i don't think paul wants to add any more songs from the new album. michaelb Ok, so how about Everything Goes Wrong? (Not that it matters to me any, I have to work).
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Post by FirstAveFiend on Apr 28, 2005 22:35:16 GMT -5
i'll toss it out there, and see what reaction i can get. i'm into learning more songs, but i don't think paul wants to add any more songs from the new album. we've already learned and thrown out "$100 groom", and "folkstar" has become somewhat confusing to play.... don't know why. plus, "my dad" was getting butchered 'cause there are alot of words to it. michaelb Folkstar is so great. UaBH and I were shouting for that one last night at one point. I'm sorry to hear that $100 Groom was cut out. All the songs from Folker sound so great live that I would want to hear all of them. I agree that Breath Some New Life would sound exceptional. Seeing How Can You Like Him live gave me an even deeper appreciation for that song which I didn't think was possible. I'm really glad I got to hear Gunshy. It seems the lyrics aren't all getting there but that doesn't matter it still sounds great. I wanted to hear the guitar and the drums in that song and its really great.
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Post by GtrPlyr on Apr 28, 2005 22:36:19 GMT -5
I will agree with you. I like the way the vocals sound so raw and filled with emotion. I think if Paul could get into the idea of performing this one, it could be quite powerful. I know it's not an obvious choice from the record, so this would make it a pleasant surprise in a show. "Meet Me Down the Alley" would be another great one to add. Hopefully Michael B can convince him.
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Post by FirstAveFiend on Apr 28, 2005 22:48:52 GMT -5
Last night we got one line of Meet Me Down The Alley. UaBH asked for it for Rankel.
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Post by pline on Apr 29, 2005 10:39:02 GMT -5
... i think "now i wonder" is such an artistic triumph. and what's funny is pw seems to take more delight in my enjoyment than in the the actual song itself. i have to remind him to play it. ... michaelb Thanks for the wonderful insight Michael. "Now I Wonder" is my favorite Folker song too and it was a perfect cap to a great Louisville show. To be able to get down on your knees is an acknowledgement that you sometimes need guidance - a hard thing to do for many. I think those of us closer to Paul's age may like Folker a little more because of its relevancy to our lives - he likes Barney ![:)](//storage.proboards.com/forum/images/smiley/smiley.png) and I went through similar times with my dad and even though the message may be simple it is very powerful. I guess this can be said about most of his songs. I have to admit that it took a few months for Folker to grow on me (as did Suicaine) but that is just because I didn't take to the time to really sit and listen to it without a million other distractions. Thanks again and enjoy the rest of the tour.
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Post by FreeRider on Apr 29, 2005 11:17:16 GMT -5
pline,
good point. as someone who's in Paul's age bracket, I'm definitely in step with his viewpoints too and it becomes more relevant as time marches on. I had similar experiences with my father dying as well, so that stuff rings true. He's really writing about universal experiences. If you hadn't had them, then at some point you will. And I think Folker will certainly become germane and a sort of blueprint or marker for that particular stage in your life. I dig Folker.
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