Vagrant Records
2006
With Strings: Live at Town Hall
About This Album
Mark Oliver Everett, or "E," as he is more commonly known in rock & roll circles, did something magical in 2005 with the brilliant and moving double CD Blinking Lights and Other Revelations. According to his website, E was sitting in his L.A. backyard smoking a cigar, not wanting to tour, when he had the idea for an Eels concert with strings and a band that played melodica, celeste, lap steel, pump organs, and whatever else. And, like everything else he does, he went and put that band together: seven pieces with no proper drummer. This concert, recorded at New York's venerable Town Hall, was also filmed (the DVD contains eight more songs than the CD as well as interviews and other goodies). From the start, the gig feels special. E begins with "Blinking Lights (For Me)." His acoustic guitar sweetly introduces the set; the strings enter on the second verse. The sheer deadpan emotion calls the demons out of hiding and, as he looks at the world around him, he asks them to leave. Then Big Al's autoharp commences to start the theme for "Blinking Lights," and Chet plays a haunting celeste as the strings court the melody. But the drama begins on "Bus Stop Boxer," with its ambiguous introduction and assertive lyrics.
Track List (try tracks 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13,14,15 and 16)

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