Monday, December 27, 2010
E for Eccentric, Endearing...
...and for entertaining.... Happy Holidays to all, and, to my fellow East Coasters, Happy Blizzard!
But neither sleet nor snow can stop Song of the Week!
I'm so glad there's a terrific new record from those indie-mope-rock stalwarts, The Eels, mostly the brainchild of 'E', aka Mark Oliver Everett. 'Spectacular Girl,' the lead-off single, is one of his best 'romantic' tracks. Romantic, for him, is a girl who's like a ray of sunshine breaking into dark depression and conquering it..
Everett is a sui generis - one of a kind in the universe - he's made inspiring, wry, deeply felt art out of much personal despair and family tragedy, including the suicide of a schizophrenic sister, his mother's death from lung cancer, and a cousin flown into the Pentagon on 9/11... His sound "alternates between furious indefatigableness, black humor, and strikingly authentic desperation." One critic praised him thusly..."Excellent eponymous effort, energizingly eclectic. Early enthusiasm effectively ensures E's eminence."
Here's a fairly simple but strange clip for 'Spectacular Girl'...
And on with the Eels classics, starting with 'Novacaine for the Soul,' their anthemic and witty but despairing 1997 breakthrough. Many nice touches, including 5 seconds of sudden silence at 1:34...
Brilliant, kinoscopic video for their downbeat but whip-smart midtempo 'Your Lucky Day In Hell'..
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