Ben Kweller (album)

Ben Kweller is the self-titled third album by Ben Kweller. It was released September 19, 2006 on ATO Records.

Ben Kweller
Studio album by
Ben Kweller
ReleasedSeptember 19, 2006
RecordedLos Angeles, CA
GenreIndie rock
Length40:10
LabelATO Records
ProducerGil Norton
Ben Kweller chronology
On My Way
(2004)		 Ben Kweller
(2006)		 Changing Horses
(2009)
Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic74/100 link
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic link
Drowned in Sound link
Gigwise.com link
HARP(positive) link
IGN link
Rolling Stone link
Pitchfork Media link
This Is Fake DIY link
URB link
Yahoo! Music link

One Minute Pop Song

For the 9 weeks leading up to the release of the album Ben Kweller previously took footage of himself and made an internet mini-show called "One Minute Pop Song." Each episode would usually run for 2–6 minutes.

Topics of the videos were varied. Some of the topics were about a fan who sent in a cover version of a song, talking about laying down the tracks and playing all the instruments on the album, showing a tour of the studio, Ben Kweller rating himself on each instrument, telling a story about Neil Young, and talking about how he learned to play the drums from his father.

Recording process

On his MySpace website, Kweller described the making of the album as "very exciting, emotional and challenging." He explained that since he played all the instruments on the album it "was a big change for me and it produced something really intimate and special. It's such a different way of working but if you can pull it off it makes a very cool and unique sound." He also described a song on the album, "A bonus for me, and you, is I think I might have written my best song while I was in the studio. It's called 'Thirteen'. It's very personal and almost hard for me to listen to."

"This Is War" off the album is featured in the 2011 film Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules.

Track listing

All songs and instruments by Ben Kweller.

  1. "Run" – 3:07
  2. "Nothing Happening" – 3:53
  3. "Sundress" – 4:06
  4. "I Gotta Move" – 3:10
  5. "Thirteen" – 4:17
  6. "Penny on the Train Track" – 4:28
  7. "I Don't Know Why" – 3:06
  8. "Magic" – 3:08
  9. "Red Eye" – 4:20
  10. "Until I Die" – 4:07
  11. "This Is War" – 2:25

Chart positions
Chart (2006) Peak
position
US Billboard 200 117
US Independent Albums 7
US Top Heatseekers 1

Credits
  • Charles Attal – Management
  • Jakub Blackman – Publicity
  • Matt Boynton – Digital Editing
  • Adrian Bushby – Mixing
  • Brian Dawson – Live Sound Engineer
  • John Dunne – Engineer
  • Roger Greenawalt Demo – Engineer
  • Sam Kersherbaum – Photography
  • Ben Kweller – Art Direction, Design, Photography, Layout Design, Instrumentation
  • Ray Lego – Photography, Cover Photo
  • Steve Mazur – Engineer
  • Michael McDonald – A&R
  • Sarah McGoldrick – Design, Layout Design
  • Gil Norton – Producer, Mixing, Pre-Production
  • Michael Palmieri – Photography
  • Steve Ralbovsky – A&R
  • Brian Thom – Engineer
  • Elizabeth Weinberg – Photography
  • Ken Weinstein – Publicity
  • Richard Woodcraft – Engineer
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