I just got my Apple New Music Tuesday email and discovered that Ben Folds has released a new EP entitled Speed Graphic. Ben, on the tracks:

“1. in between days – old cure song
2. give judy my notice – i just wrote it last week
3. protection – old song written with anna goodman and never recorded for real
4. dog – old song written with evan olson and never recorded for real
5. wandering – the lost folds/jessee collaboration. kinda like brick in that he wrote the chorus (the part people like to sing ‘she’s a brick’ … ‘all this wandering’ etc) and i wrote the rest (the part that leads up to the part people like to sing). he passed me the chorus a few years ago. i tried to do it justice… ”

Ben, on why he’s releasing 3 EPs this year as opposed to one full-length album and why they’re only available via www.attackedbyplastic.com or iTunes (Mac OSX users only) or on the road:

“quietly releasing my music as EP’s allow me to get it out there as i finish it. with a minimum of hype. it’s for people who buy my music anyway. it won’t be sold in the big ass chains, because that puts the price up and starts the big ass machinery – press, radio etc. then i have to pose naked at the piano, and really, i’m not a piece of meat, you know. the music will be available at gigs, and online, and on vinyl in some smaller stores. ” �read more at benfolds.com

I love him for concentrating on the music and not the marketing and for getting the whole “online distribution” thing. Hello? Lars Ulrich he is not. I can’t wait to buy the album tomorrow and listen to it at work.

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