I make no apology for ‘bigging up’ Eels again this week. Firstly, it’s my site! Secondly, I genuinely write about what I listened to when baking. Thirdly, Eels are probably just about the best band around at the moment.
I tend to be susceptible to any influences around me i.e. if I hear a song I know on a tv programme or advert, or read about an artist I like, I think “yeah, I’ve got that record – I need to listen to it”. This week during my train commute I have been reading Eels frontman E’s (aka Mark Oliver Everett) autobiography entitled “Things the Grandchildren Should Know”. If you appreciate the dry, dark wit of his lyrics then you will love his book. It’s particularly interesting to see how directly he turned the awful events in his life into songs. Listening to the song knowing the background makes the emotion so much stronger; I felt quite shaken listening to the song “Electro shock blues”, for example.
It’s also worth reading to find out what he said to his hero, Neil Young, the one time he met him!
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