2007年 11月 5日 月曜日 14:50
http://img158.imageshack.us/img158/449/eelswithstringsba7.jpg
Okay, so http://www.last.fm/user/Zeppledelin has a Song of the Week thing going on, which he ripped off some other guy, so now I’m ripping it off him again, although I’m bored with the idea of “Song of the Week”, so I’m doing “Album of the Week”, and this is the first one, yay!
So the first album I’m going to talk about and recommend is a live album; Eels - With Strings: Live at Town Hall. Eels is a contemporary indie/alternative rock band, but basically a vehicle for singer-songwriter Mark Oliver Everett, or as he’s known professionally, E. With Strings is Eels first official live album, and the last album to this date to be released by Eels, in 2006. The concert is unique in that it redefines several of the Eels catalogue, using, thats right, only strings; violins, guitars, acoustic bass ect. Although some few songs contain drumming, most don’t, and this gives the songs an almost classical sonata feel to them. The result is quite impressive and beautiful. This is in ironic contrast to E’s voice, which has become much more nasal than since Blinking Lights. The choice of songs is somewhat disappointing, containing mostly songs from the last four albums, as well as some covers, most notably the beautiful rendition of Bob Dylan’s Girl From The North Country. Still I wish we saw some more songs from Beautiful Freak and Electro-Shock Blues. Nonetheless, the songs that are performed are still very good, and the songs are still some of the best off the respective albums. The sparse texture of the songs makes E’s lyrics seem even more powerful and touching, and they are some of the best contemporary lyrics. In my opinion of course.
So what can I say, I recommend it a lot! However, it might be a hard buy if you don’t have any other Eels material, I would rather recommend Beautiful Freak or Electro-Shock Blues. For anyone who like Eels, indie or contemporary alternative rock, this is a must buy!
Oh, and some random connections, for attention ;)