08-02-2012, 13:56
online listen
nice connection with his dad being mates with Nils Lofgren
no sounds like comes to mind
good intelligent lyrics
best of the month thusfar
makes the list
1.8 from me and a converted 2.1 from the pros at allmusic
from the album - Free
Ben Kweller - Free***NEW*** - YouTube
released Feb 7th, 2012
![[Image: r06430xnc72.jpg]](http://image.allmusic.com/00/amg/cov200/drr000/r064/r06430xnc72.jpg)
Bio - from allmusic
Children are often raised in musical families, but few receive the same introduction to music as singer/songwriter
Ben Kweller. Before he was old enough to enter kindergarten, a young Kweller emulated Nils Lofgren (who, during his
time with Bruce Springsteen's E Street Band, would hang out with Kweller's father) by playing his toy version of
the guitar. He also played piano, and by the age of eight, Kweller had begun penning his own songs. The following
year, he received a nod of encouragement from Billboard magazine when it conferred an honorable mention on the
youth for his entry into Billboard's yearly songwriting competition. By the time he hit his teenage years, Kweller
was an accomplished guitarist and had begun playing drums as well. He pulled together his first band, Mirage, and
followed up with groups like Green Eggs & Ham and Foxglove. All the while, he honed the skills that would later
launch his respected solo career.
With help from bassist Bryan Blur and drummer John Kent, Kweller established Radish in 1993. The group made its
mark on the local Dallas scene, not far from Kweller's hometown of Greenville, TX. In 1994, the musical wunderkind
and his teenaged outfit released the Hello EP through Practice Amp Records. That same year, the label released the
full-length album Dizzy, which convinced producer Roger Greenawalt to partner with the group. Under his wing,
Radish produced another demo and inked a contract with Mercury Records during the summer of 1996. Ben Kweller was
still a teenager at the time, having turned 15 years old that June.
Mercury Records released Restraining Bolt the following spring, and Kweller led Radish through European and
American tours (as well as several late-night TV appearances, including The Conan O'Brian Show and Late Night with
David Letterman). Despite scoring a Top 40 hit in the U.K. with "Little Pink Stars," Radish failed to enjoy
significant success at home, and changing tides at their label (Polygram, Mercury's parent company, was absorbed
into Universal Music Group in 1998) prevented them from releasing another album. When the group disbanded in 1999,
Kweller headed east to Guilford, CT, where he stayed only a short time before relocating to Brooklyn, NY. Not yet
20 years old, he signed with Island Records as a solo artist.
Ben Kweller launched his solo career with a series of EPs, some of which reprised the material that Radish had
written but not released. His heartland hooks and folksy flourishes made fans out of several artists, and Kweller
soon found himself touring with the likes of Juliana Hatfield, Guster, Kristin Hersh, and Evan Dando. He inked a
deal with ATO Records in 2001 and released one final EP before issuing Sha Sha, his solo full-length debut, in
2002. More touring followed, as did a collaboration with Ben Folds and Ben Lee known as the Bens. Kweller's
sophomore effort, the subdued On My Way, followed in spring 2004 and was supported by a co-headlining tour with
Death Cab for Cutie. Two years later, he returned with his self-titled third album, on which he played all the
instruments. Kweller furthered his experimentation with 2009's Changing Horses, which saw the songwriter embracing
country music and employing a pedal steel guitarist. The singer continued to explore pop music on 2012's Go Fly a
Kite, which found Kweller dabbling in everything from power pop to alt-country.
Album Review - from allmusic
It's strange to think that at 30 years old, Ben Kweller has spent over half of his life professionally crafting pop
songs, and while it's rare for someone to be both relatively young and a grizzled pop veteran, it's precisely this
combination of youth and experience that the singer/songwriter calls upon on his fifth solo album, Go Fly a Kite.
With a sugary mix of youthful exuberance and practiced craftsmanship, Kweller delivers a group of songs that cover
the pop spectrum, drifting from the fuzzy, driving power pop of the album-opener "Mean to Me," to the lonely pedal
steel of the alt-country-inflected "I Miss You." This willingness to explore different sounds paints a picture of a
songwriter who, even with a wealth of experience under his belt, isn't willing to settle into one sound quite yet.
This idea is taken a step further when the listener digs into the liner notes to find the detailed notes on how to
play each song along with the lyrics. Moves like that speak to a kind of openness, as if the songwriter is not only
giving his fans the songs to listen to, but to also re-create on their own. This kind of candor makes Go Fly a Kite
a refreshing album on a number of levels, as it delivers the goods with its collection of summery jams while
keeping nothing, not even the chord progressions, secret.
Track Listing
1. Mean to Me
2. Out the Door
3. Jealous Girl
4. Gossip
5. Free
6. Full Circle
7. Justify Me
8. The Rainbow
9. Time Will Save the Day
10. I Miss You
11. You Can Count on Me
nice connection with his dad being mates with Nils Lofgren
no sounds like comes to mind
good intelligent lyrics
best of the month thusfar
makes the list
1.8 from me and a converted 2.1 from the pros at allmusic
from the album - Free
Ben Kweller - Free***NEW*** - YouTube
released Feb 7th, 2012
Bio - from allmusic
Children are often raised in musical families, but few receive the same introduction to music as singer/songwriter
Ben Kweller. Before he was old enough to enter kindergarten, a young Kweller emulated Nils Lofgren (who, during his
time with Bruce Springsteen's E Street Band, would hang out with Kweller's father) by playing his toy version of
the guitar. He also played piano, and by the age of eight, Kweller had begun penning his own songs. The following
year, he received a nod of encouragement from Billboard magazine when it conferred an honorable mention on the
youth for his entry into Billboard's yearly songwriting competition. By the time he hit his teenage years, Kweller
was an accomplished guitarist and had begun playing drums as well. He pulled together his first band, Mirage, and
followed up with groups like Green Eggs & Ham and Foxglove. All the while, he honed the skills that would later
launch his respected solo career.
With help from bassist Bryan Blur and drummer John Kent, Kweller established Radish in 1993. The group made its
mark on the local Dallas scene, not far from Kweller's hometown of Greenville, TX. In 1994, the musical wunderkind
and his teenaged outfit released the Hello EP through Practice Amp Records. That same year, the label released the
full-length album Dizzy, which convinced producer Roger Greenawalt to partner with the group. Under his wing,
Radish produced another demo and inked a contract with Mercury Records during the summer of 1996. Ben Kweller was
still a teenager at the time, having turned 15 years old that June.
Mercury Records released Restraining Bolt the following spring, and Kweller led Radish through European and
American tours (as well as several late-night TV appearances, including The Conan O'Brian Show and Late Night with
David Letterman). Despite scoring a Top 40 hit in the U.K. with "Little Pink Stars," Radish failed to enjoy
significant success at home, and changing tides at their label (Polygram, Mercury's parent company, was absorbed
into Universal Music Group in 1998) prevented them from releasing another album. When the group disbanded in 1999,
Kweller headed east to Guilford, CT, where he stayed only a short time before relocating to Brooklyn, NY. Not yet
20 years old, he signed with Island Records as a solo artist.
Ben Kweller launched his solo career with a series of EPs, some of which reprised the material that Radish had
written but not released. His heartland hooks and folksy flourishes made fans out of several artists, and Kweller
soon found himself touring with the likes of Juliana Hatfield, Guster, Kristin Hersh, and Evan Dando. He inked a
deal with ATO Records in 2001 and released one final EP before issuing Sha Sha, his solo full-length debut, in
2002. More touring followed, as did a collaboration with Ben Folds and Ben Lee known as the Bens. Kweller's
sophomore effort, the subdued On My Way, followed in spring 2004 and was supported by a co-headlining tour with
Death Cab for Cutie. Two years later, he returned with his self-titled third album, on which he played all the
instruments. Kweller furthered his experimentation with 2009's Changing Horses, which saw the songwriter embracing
country music and employing a pedal steel guitarist. The singer continued to explore pop music on 2012's Go Fly a
Kite, which found Kweller dabbling in everything from power pop to alt-country.
Album Review - from allmusic
It's strange to think that at 30 years old, Ben Kweller has spent over half of his life professionally crafting pop
songs, and while it's rare for someone to be both relatively young and a grizzled pop veteran, it's precisely this
combination of youth and experience that the singer/songwriter calls upon on his fifth solo album, Go Fly a Kite.
With a sugary mix of youthful exuberance and practiced craftsmanship, Kweller delivers a group of songs that cover
the pop spectrum, drifting from the fuzzy, driving power pop of the album-opener "Mean to Me," to the lonely pedal
steel of the alt-country-inflected "I Miss You." This willingness to explore different sounds paints a picture of a
songwriter who, even with a wealth of experience under his belt, isn't willing to settle into one sound quite yet.
This idea is taken a step further when the listener digs into the liner notes to find the detailed notes on how to
play each song along with the lyrics. Moves like that speak to a kind of openness, as if the songwriter is not only
giving his fans the songs to listen to, but to also re-create on their own. This kind of candor makes Go Fly a Kite
a refreshing album on a number of levels, as it delivers the goods with its collection of summery jams while
keeping nothing, not even the chord progressions, secret.
Track Listing
1. Mean to Me
2. Out the Door
3. Jealous Girl
4. Gossip
5. Free
6. Full Circle
7. Justify Me
8. The Rainbow
9. Time Will Save the Day
10. I Miss You
11. You Can Count on Me
![[Image: 9.gif]](http://bestsmileys.com/sleeping/9.gif)
