**1/2 Ben Folds

FEAR OF POP VOLUME I

(550 Music)

Most piano-playing rockers, when they do side projects, try to show off their classical chops. Not Ben Folds. On his first (uncredited -- you won't find his name next to the title) vacation from Ben Folds Five, the ivory tickler goes back to the old school -- not Chopin or Liszt or even Professor Longhair, but Earth Wind and Fire. Yep, it's a '70s-style electro-funk fest from Folds, who plays every instrument on Fear of Pop's collection of aggressive jams. None of these mostly instrumental tracks is memorable enough to make listeners suggest that Folds quit his day job, but on a scale of Jon Spencer to Fatboy Slim, they're not bad. Still, this being the '90s, not even Folds's most casual dabblings can be tossed off without self-conscious craft or irony. Hence, "In Love" (and a reprise, "Still in Love"), featuring a witty dissection of relationship-psychobabble platitudes, as recited by William Shatner, who is so hammy that he goes beyond mere self-parody into some transcendental state of perverse purity. So does Folds, for whom being taken seriously and not being taken seriously are equally inadequate responses. Just groove, man.

-- Gary Susman