January 18, 2006 | Posted by David B. at 8:50 AM

Pick me up a little piece of ground

Eels

Mark Oliver Everett's voice is simultaneously not unusual and totally distinctive. I think it's because of how he uses it; he sometimes croons and then, a few bars later, squawks out a cry for help.
Everett's the one-man band known as Eels, and he's better known simply as E. He toured with a string quartet last year, and a live album from that tour, Eels With Strings: Live at Town Hall, comes out on Feb. 21.

Eels - Bus Stop Boxer (live with strings).

I haven't heard the whole record yet (but Mark has; how is it, Mark??) but how couldn't it be good? I meant to check out this tour last year and didn't, and now I'm kicking myself. His records are always eclectic, to say the least, but they never sound like he's stretched too far or that he's trying to do too much. Even his ambitious double album from last year, Blinking Lights and Other Revelations, is full of restraint. I hear this tour was a good example of E's ability to take a seemingly ludicrous idea and suit it exactly to his songs.

Live at Town Hall is sold separately as a CD and DVD. I haven't seen any purchase info for the CD, but you can pre-order the DVD from Amazon.

Comments

Good stuff. Eels is probably one of my favorite bands of all time. The live stuff is awesome. Thanks for putting this song up. Its great.

Posted by: Nick at January 18, 2006 1:00 PM

As an Eels fan, I feel I can say that Bus Stop Boxer was awful in recorded form, and is even worse live with strings. E is the king of hit and miss.

Posted by: sutang at January 20, 2006 11:33 AM

Sutang, I like this song, but you're totally right about E being the king of hit and miss.

Posted by: Robot David at January 20, 2006 3:19 PM
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