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The Official Eels Thread
http://archive.theskyiscrape.com/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=70107
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Author:  windedsailor [ Tue Sep 25, 2007 5:46 pm ]
Post subject:  The Official Eels Thread

I changed the name of the thread, this is for all things eels.

anyone hear about this?

http://www.thebookseller.com/in-depth/trade-profiles/45118-a-man-called-e.html

A man called E
13.09.07 Mike Haydock

You may not recognise Mark Oliver Everett—even some of his biggest fans would walk straight past him in the street. Also known as "E", the unassuming Eels frontman defines himself as a "poor excuse for a rock star", someone who shuns the limelight in favour of making music that challenges audiences and does not kowtow to the mainstream.

The Eels have therefore often been more of a critical success than a commercial triumph, although they have still had six top 40 albums in the UK over the past decade, two of which (1996's "Beautiful Freak" and "Daisies of the Galaxy" in 2000) peaked in the top 10. But alongside these highs, Everett has also had to cope with crushing lows: at the age of 44, he is the only surviving member of his immediate family.

His father, quantum physicist Hugh Everett III, died of a heart attack at 51. Everett discovered him one morning, spread-eagled on the bed. His sister, Liz, committed suicide in 1996 after several earlier failed attempts, and two years later his mum died of lung cancer. As though that wasn't painful enough, one of his cousins was a flight attendant on the plane which hit the Pentagon on September 11th 2001.

Understandably, Everett has been reluctant to reflect on his past and write down his life story, despite some badgering from friends. But now, with the Eels celebrating 10 years of existence, he felt the time was right, and the most remarkable thing about the resulting book (Things the Grandchildren Should Know, Little, Brown, January) is his optimism and lack of bitterness.

"There have definitely been times when I was angry when I was younger," he says. "I'm really fortunate because I've had a load of amazing experiences to go with all the horrible experiences, and the amazing experiences have been really amazing—I mean, I'm a rock star! That's one of the reasons why I wanted the book to come out. It could be inspiring in the way that it's about this clueless kid from Virginia that has all sorts of weird and wacky and horrible adventures, and somehow ends up making something out of his life."

Nothing to hide behind

Of course, writing his autobiography has been a whole different challenge from that of writing a song, not least because this is his life stripped bare, naked on a page. "There's always something you can hide behind in the music," he says. "Writing a book, there's no safety net. There's nothing you can change in the mix. It's just the ink and the paper and the words, and it's so exacting.

"Having to go back and revisit certain periods of my life was particularly hard. There were some days when I was working on the book that were just excruciating. I just have this mechanism where I like to rise to challenges; I'd try to write a book because it made me feel uncomfortable. And I have to say that now it's done, while I do still feel very uncomfortable about the idea of people actually reading it, it also feels good that I'm done with all that, all those years in a nice little package."

Telling it like it is

In writing his memoir, Mark was inspired by the "candid" tone of Ray Charles' autobiography, Brother Ray, and aimed for a similarly conversational tone. "I tried to imagine some person, not a fan, sitting at the kitchen table across from me and talking to them," he says. "That's how I wanted it. I wanted it to feel like it wasn't written, just said. As unpretentiously as possible."

He deliberately avoided ornate language, peeling away the details of the major episodes in his life to leave only the stark, often painful, facts. "That's how it is in real life," he says with a knowing smile. "When somebody dies or something horrible happens in your life, you're not told the news with flowery language."



I''m excited to read this in January. any other eels fans care?

Author:  Garden of Stone [ Tue Sep 25, 2007 7:02 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Things the Grandchildren Should Know E (the Eels) autobiogra

Sounds interesting, I'll get this when it's out.

Author:  windedsailor [ Thu Jan 17, 2008 7:41 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Things the Grandchildren Should Know E (the Eels) autobiogra

its out in the UK now, and in the fall for america

Author:  windedsailor [ Thu Jan 17, 2008 10:10 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Things the Grandchildren Should Know E (the Eels) autobiogra

i think i'm the only person on this board who really really likes the eels

Author:  invention [ Fri Jan 18, 2008 10:07 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Things the Grandchildren Should Know E (the Eels) autobiogra

i like blinking lights, other than that ive only heard a few songs.

Author:  windedsailor [ Sat Jan 19, 2008 3:54 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Things the Grandchildren Should Know E (the Eels) autobiogra

invention wrote:
i like blinking lights, other than that ive only heard a few songs.


get electro-shock blues, if you want me to send it i can do it later.

Author:  ThumbingMyWayToNFLD [ Sat Jan 19, 2008 5:07 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Things the Grandchildren Should Know E (the Eels) autobiogra

windedsailor wrote:
i think i'm the only person on this board who really really likes the eels


Not true. I've become a huge fan over the last month or so (I was a fan before, but not to any great degree) and McP was the one who turned me on to them, so I'm sure he's a fan as well.

Author:  McParadigm [ Sat Jan 19, 2008 6:01 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Things the Grandchildren Should Know E (the Eels) autobiogra

hellyeah

Author:  SmilinSkullRing [ Sat Jan 19, 2008 10:59 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Things the Grandchildren Should Know E (the Eels) autobiogra

I need to get more from The Eels. I only have one album, and it is great.

Author:  Chloe [ Sat Jan 19, 2008 11:01 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Things the Grandchildren Should Know E (the Eels) autobiogra

ThumbingMyWayToNFLD wrote:
windedsailor wrote:
i think i'm the only person on this board who really really likes the eels


Not true. I've become a huge fan over the last month or so (I was a fan before, but not to any great degree) and McP was the one who turned me on to them, so I'm sure he's a fan as well.

:wave:
I can't say I'm a huge fan at this point, but I'm becoming addicted to them. Can't wait to see this.

Author:  PaperNapkinNotes [ Mon Jan 21, 2008 6:42 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Things the Grandchildren Should Know E (the Eels) autobiogra

If you haven't, go see them live. Really beautiful. I also saw him open for Fiona Apple, solo, in 2000...

There's a warm up show in Santa Ana at The Galaxy on Valentine's Day (Yes, "Daisies of the Galaxy" Galaxy) And then they'll be all over the place.

d

Author:  windedsailor [ Mon Jan 21, 2008 6:55 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Things the Grandchildren Should Know E (the Eels) autobiogra

ThumbingMyWayToNFLD wrote:
windedsailor wrote:
i think i'm the only person on this board who really really likes the eels


Not true. I've become a huge fan over the last month or so (I was a fan before, but not to any great degree) and McP was the one who turned me on to them, so I'm sure he's a fan as well.


yeah i saw them on the eels with strings tour, it was great, i also saw them at the sunset junction festival a couple years ago, and that was great too

check out the documentary i posted in the arts and entertainment, i wish i could see more about it, they really scratched the surface. but its good stuff.

viewtopic.php?f=10&t=72579&p=2165099&hilit=parallel+lives#p2165099

Author:  windedsailor [ Mon Jan 21, 2008 6:57 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: The Official Eels Thread

anyway this is now the eels thread, cause they deserve their own

Author:  walls [ Mon Jan 21, 2008 9:02 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: The Official Eels Thread

electro-shock blues - :thumbsup: :thumbsup:

i've heard that one (quite a few times) and the live album. any recommendation for which one to check out next?

Author:  windedsailor [ Mon Jan 21, 2008 9:16 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: The Official Eels Thread

wallsofsound wrote:
electro-shock blues - :thumbsup: :thumbsup:

i've heard that one (quite a few times) and the live album. any recommendation for which one to check out next?


that ones great... daisy's of the galaxy is a great summer album. beautiful freak is their first and its great. blinking lights is prolly the best one to fallow up electroshock blues. souljacker is much heavier and dirtier, so if your in the mood for noise that's the way to go. there's also a greatest hits album you could check out and see where you want to go from that

Author:  windedsailor [ Wed Jan 30, 2008 1:52 am ]
Post subject:  Re: The Official Eels Thread

i listened to beautiful freak today, great stuff... you guys need to talk about thiss more

Author:  Malcolm Sex [ Wed Jan 30, 2008 2:58 am ]
Post subject:  Re: The Official Eels Thread

Electric shock blues is an amazing cd, depressing as fuck at times, but amazing none the less

Author:  deep [ Wed Jan 30, 2008 7:06 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: The Official Eels Thread

I've been a huge fan since Souljacker (still my favorite by far). I'd like him to do something like that again.

One issue I have with his more straghtforward acoustic tunes is that a lot of them sound very much the same. As well, his lyrics are either extaordinary or very poor.

having said that I really do love the Eels and own all of their material minus the new b-sides and best of discs.

Eels with strings is a pretty sweet little DVD as well.

Author:  windedsailor [ Wed Jan 30, 2008 7:20 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: The Official Eels Thread

deep wrote:
One issue I have with his more straghtforward acoustic tunes is that a lot of them sound very much the same. As well, his lyrics are either extaordinary or very poor.


i always thought that about his lyrics, but the more i listen the more i get where he's coming from and find it less and less the case. it seems like he gets across what he wants to every time.

i think souljacker is the most underrated of his cds definitely. souljacker pt 2 is one of my favorite songs, and that's not really funny, is one of the best songs he's written for sure.

you'll find on the b-sides collections there are a few songs where you hear similar melodies or musical ideas as the songs you know, which is kinda funny. as if the song didn't make the cut but he liked parts well enough that he used them to make other songs. i think its an interesting window into his creative process

Author:  Garden of Stone [ Wed Jan 30, 2008 7:27 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: The Official Eels Thread

Eels made Jennifer Eccles into a really depressing song. I never thought that'd be possible, but E managed to do it.

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