has the rather brilliant 'Steven's Last Night In Town' which sounds to my ears like Sufjan Stevens more upbeat moments, while the five's self-titled debut is also worth the five or so quid that it tends to cost most places.

Ben's Supersunnyspeedgraphic also has some great covers ( The Cure's In Between Days in particular) but it is a bit filler-y.

but agree on the recommendation for the debut. It's more on the muscular side in general than "Silverman" - don't know "Rockin' the Suburbs". An analogy probably unfair to both parties would be that it's more like his acknowledged inspiration Joe Jackson's early "Joe Jackson Band" albums rather than later recordings.

What I've heard of his most recent doesn't grab me in the same way as "Silverman" but admittedly that's a hard act to follow. The track featuring Regina Spektor works pretty well though.

Yes THAT William Shatner and his album Has Been with Ben is wonderful. There I've said it.

That's Me Trying with Aimee Mann http://open.spotify.com/track/5IKkvNZfDjMcxaJXFLtIme

is a classic:-

Contains: -

Underground

Philosophy

Alice Childress
Jackson Cannery
Best Imitation OF Myself
etc. - all great tracks

'Whatever' contains 'Brick', 'Battle of who could care less', 'Kate' ,@Song For The Dumped' etc. all good stuff
Also worth a listen is the 'Naked Bay Photos' EP

I realise my recommendation of the Ben Folds "debut" album suffers from a need to play catch-up just a little bit more ... what I was referring to is "Whatever".

...bit of a mixed bag but worth it for a wonderful cover of Bitches Ain't Shit if nothing else

my favourite song Missing The War

I'm also rather partial to The Unauthorized Biography of Reinhold Messner

which has this on it

Highly subjective, of course, but here's my tuppen'orth:

Ben Folds Five - lively, funny debut, great collection of songs.

Whatever & Ever Amen - similar live feel to debut, but broader range of styles, a few more mellow moods. A personal favourite.

Naked Baby Photos - odds 'n sods collection. First half studio, second live. Not bad, but nothing really vital here.

The Unauthorzied... - noticeably more "mature" and polished than previous efforts, feels weightier. First half is fantastic, but starts to disappear up it's own cleverness in the second.

Rockin' The Suburbs - One of my favourite albums *ever*! Got it all, wit, warmth, sadness, and tremendous music.

Songs For Silverman - oh dear, he's gone all grown up again. Admirable, but hard to love.

Supersunnyspeedgraphic - nice collection of songs from EPs, recorded between Rockin' and Silverman, and sound like somewhere in between the two.

Way To Normal - Sense of fun returns, good songs, but highly compressed production and odd choice of sequencing spoil it a little.

Stems & Seeds - basically Way To Normal remixed to take the edge off, and resequenced in an order that seems to work better. One of my favourites now.

Also includes a load of extra tracks originally leaked as a fake version of the new album - written and recorded in a matter of days, deliberately silly/self-important/bad, but actually a few turned out to be great anyway (Bitch Went Nutz is up there with any of his best). Plus a second disc of audio Stems of the main album, so you can listen/remix/muck about with it on your computer to your heart's content.

In summary, I'd direct UtrechSimon towards Ben Folds Five, Whatever... and Stems and Seeds.

Good songs, accessible, jolly.

... definitely try and see him live, he's a brilliant performer and can capture an audience utterly solo (i.e. just him & a piano) as well as anyone I've ever seen. The "Ben Folds Live" album is a good summary of his one-man tour, with great versions of "Not The Same" and "Army", the audience providing the backing.

My personal fave remains the debut BF5 album, but "Songs For Silverman" proved to be a real grower and is worth sticking with. Pretty much everything he's done is on Spotify, BTW.

is one of the loveliest love songs ever written. It's on 'Rocking the Suburbs'. It's one of the few songs he doesn't say 'motherfucker' on.

I totally agree, a magnificent love song.

Cadabra listens with the same ear as me and, as such, I'd agree completely with Cadabra's pointers.

he is great

I understand he has been writing with Nick Hornby in a kind of Elton/Bernie type of relationship