EELS CELEBRATE FIRST DECADE WITH BEST OF AND RARITIES COLLECTIONS

FIRST RETROSPECTIVE, MEET THE EELS: ESSENTIAL EELS VOL. 1 (CD+DVD), AND FIRST RARITIES COLLECTION, EELS USELESS TRINKETS (2CD+DVD), SPAN 1996-2006 FOR THE ACCLAIMED ALT-ROCK ENTITY

Release date:
USA January 15, 2008
UK January 21, 2008

The EELS are one of music's most acclaimed and idiosyncratic enterprises, accomplishing what The New Yorker calls "that rarest thing in contemporary pop: a unique sound." The ever-changing lineup of musicians that play the songs of singer/songwriter/multi-instrumentalist Mark Oliver Everett (aka E), unveils both its first best of compilation, Meet The EELS: Essential EELS Vol. 1 (CD+DVD), and its first collection of rarities, B-sides, film contributions and unreleased tracks, the EELS Useless Trinkets (2CD+DVD), each issued by DreamWorks/UMe on January 15, 2008 (US) and January 21 (UK).

Meet The EELS: Essential EELS Vol. 1 spans the first decade of the EELS with 24 selections on CD and 12 promotional videos on DVD. The CD opens with four tracks from the band's 1996 debut Beautiful Freak, two tracks from the Eels' highly acclaimed second album 1998's Electro-shock Blues follow plus a previously unreleased Jon Brion remix of "Climbing to The Moon."

Four songs from 2000's Daisies Of The Galaxy, which NME dubbed "a masterpiece in almost every way," are represented on the Essentials album plus three tracks from 2001's Souljacker, which Time Magazine crowned as one of the best albums of the year, was acclaimed overseas with NME calling it "downright brilliant" and the London Sunday Times named it Album Of The Year, writing that "the conventional wisdom that (the earlier album} Electro-shock Blues was E's masterpiece will have to be reassessed: it was clearly just one of his masterpieces."

2003's live-in-the-studio Shootenanny! (awarded four stars by Rolling Stone) adds two fan favorites, while five songs from the highly acclaimed, and best charting album in the band's history Blinking Lights and Other Revelations are included. Also on the Essentials album are the previously unreleased "Get Ur Freak On", a live version of "Dirty Girl" from 2006's With Strings: Live At Town Hall and "I Need Some Sleep" from the Shrek 2 soundtrack.

Highlights within the 50 CD tracks of EELS Useless Trinkets are longtime concert favorite "Living Life" from the Daniel Johnston tribute album, the previously unreleased 2006 cover of Screamin' Jay Hawkins' "I Put A Spell On You" and other covers including James Carr's "Dark End of The Street" and Prince's "If I Was Your Girlfriend. " Useless Trinkets also includes a large handful of BBC performances, unique live versions of "Novocaine For The Soul" and "My Beloved Monster," tracks from films-- The End Of Violence, Holes, Levity and How The Grinch Stole Christmas and several previously unreleased tracks including the original collections title track which frontman Everett performs backed by a 28 piece orchestra. The DVD features six performances from the EELS' Lollapalooza 2006 performance, including a gospel rave-up take on "My Beloved Monster" and a high octane rumble through "Souljacker part I".

Meet The EELS: Essential EELS Vol. 1 and EELS Useless Trinkets prove why, following that 2006 Lollapalooza performance, Rolling Stone wrote: "EELS define coolness. "

Both packages will be packed with never before seen photos, artifacts and Everett's notes about each track.



TRACKLISTS:


MEET THE EELS
Essential EELS Vol. I
1996-2006
01 novocaine for the soul
02 susan's house
03 my beloved monster
04 your lucky day in hell
05 3 speed
06 last stop: this town
07 climbing to the moon (jon brion remix) (previously unreleased)
08 flyswatter
09 i like birds
10 mr. E's beautiful blues
11 it's a motherfucker
12 souljacker part 1
13 that's not really funny
14 fresh feeling
15 get ur freak on (previously unreleased)
16 saturday morning
17 love of the loveless
18 dirty girl (live at town hall)
19 i need some sleep
20 hey man (now you're really living)
21 i'm going to stop pretending that i didn't break your heart
22 trouble with dreams
23 railroad man
24 losing streak


EELS VIDEO COLLECTION DVD:
01 Novocaine For The Soul
02 Susan's House
03 Rags To Rags
04 Your Lucky Day In Hell
05 Last Stop: This Town
06 Cancer For The Cure
07 Flyswatter
08 Souljacker part I
09 Saturday Morning
10 Hey Man (Now You're Really Living)
11 Trouble With Dreams
12 Dirty Girl (Live at Town Hall)




EELS
USELESS TRINKETS
B-sides, soundtracks,
rarities and unreleased
1996-2006
DISC 1:
01 novocaine for the soul (live from hell)
02 fucker
03 my beloved monster (live from tennessee)
04 dog's life
05 susan's apartment
06 manchester girl (BBC)
07 flower (BBC)
08 my beloved mad monster party (BBC)
09 animal
10 stepmother
11 everything's gonna be cool this christmas
12 your lucky day in hell (michael simpson remix) (previously unreleased)
13 altar boy
14 novocaine for the soul (moog cookbook remix)
15 if i was your girlfriend (live) (previously unreleased)
16 bad news
17 funeral parlor
18 hospital food (BBC)
19 open the door (BBC)
20 birdgirl on a cell phone
21 vice president fruitley
22 my beloved monstrosity
23 dark end of the street (live) (previously unreleased)
24 the cheater's guide to your heart (live) (previously unreleased)
25 useless trinkets (previously unreleased)


DISC 2:
01 mr. E's beautiful remix
02 souljacker part I (alternate version) (previously unreleased)
03 dog faced boy (alternate version) (previously unreleased)
04 jennifer eccles
05 rotten world blues
06 can't help falling in love
07 christmas is going to the dogs
08 mighty fine blues
09 eyes down
10 skywriting
11 taking a bath in rust
12 estranged friends (previously unreleased)
13 her
14 waltz of the naked clowns
15 i like birds (live) (previously unreleased)
16 sad foot sign
17 living life
18 the bright side
19 after the operation
20 jelly dancers
21 i could never take the place of your man (live at Town Hall)
22 mr. E's beautiful blues (live at Town Hall)
23 i want to protect you (previously unreleased)
24 i put a spell on you (live) (previously unreleased)
25 saw a ufo (previously unreleased)

EELS LOLLAPALOOZA 2006 DVD:
01 Saturday Morning
02 Eyes Down
03 My Beloved Monster
04 A Magic World
05 Not Ready Yet
06 Souljacker part I

How many Eels fans are there on the org? Two? Three?

I should start threads for bands that only I like and see how fast they sink.

sextonseven said:

well, you gave me one response, which was more than i was expecting.

Anxiety said:

I didn't want all your enthusiasm to fall on deaf ears.

"Novocaine For The Soul" is the only Eels song I know.

I never heard of them...

MikeMatronik said:

if you've ever seen a shrek movie you've heard them. i haven't seen any shrek movies so i don't know how prominent their songs are, but i think eels have a song in each of the movies.

Anxiety said:

I only digged the Bowie cover that a lame group did. I was nice to see David also doing it has a duet.