Eels fans know that singer/songwriter Mark Oliver Everett (E for short) is known to change song arrangements rather dramatically in live shows. When I saw them a few years back, touring behind
Souljacker, they were a four-piece, and rocked out many of their softer songs, while in 2000, they toured with a full scale orchestra.
Live at Town Hall documents their most recent road trip - billed as Eels with Strings - with a scaled-down string orchestra. The songs all take on a slower pace - early hit "Novacaine For the Soul" has never sounded so pretty. The newer songs - "Railroad Man" and opener "Blinking Lights" sound great, but the real highlight is a cover of Bob Dylan's "Girl From the North Country." A must-have for Eels fans.
3.5 (out of 5)
Pretty much all the press surrounding
Rosanne Cash's
Black Cadillac is quick to mention the losses of her mother, stepmother and father, since the recording of her last album. While ghosts do haunt this album, Cash wants to make clear that's not the only thing this album is about. "I don't want to turn this record — and by extension three of my parents' deaths — into fodder for the publicity machine," she told
Entertainment Weekly. Hopefully now, she will be recognized as a stand-alone artist and one of the best in country music today. While there are moments of beauty and despair ("I Was Watching You" and "Good Intent") and nostalgia ("Black Cadillac"), the stand-out song comes in a moment of cynicism. On "World Without Sound," she sings, over a saloon beat - with horns, "I wish I was a Christian/And knew what to believe/I could learn a lot of rules/to put my mind at ease."
4 
Maximo Park leaped onto the scene last year with a shitload of UK buzz, propelled by the single "Add Some Pressure."
Missing Songs collects the b-sides from last year's album, the majority of which could have been strong singles themselves. "Ai9" and "Isolation" rival anything the Killers have ever done (and you don't have to feel guilty). It clocks in at barely a half hour, but I enjoyed every second. You know if the throwaways are this good, the album must really be something to reckon with.
4
Eels fans know that singer/songwriter Mark Oliver Everett (E for short) is known to change song arrangements rather dramatically in live shows. When I saw them a few years back, touring behind Souljacker, they were a four-piece, and rocked out many of their softer songs, while in 2000, they toured with a full scale orchestra. Live at Town Hall documents their most recent road trip - billed as Eels with Strings - with a scaled-down string orchestra. The songs all take on a slower pace - early hit "Novacaine For the Soul" has never sounded so pretty. The newer songs - "Railroad Man" and opener "Blinking Lights" sound great, but the real highlight is a cover of Bob Dylan's "Girl From the North Country." A must-have for Eels fans. 3.5 (out of 5)
Pretty much all the press surrounding Rosanne Cash's Black Cadillac is quick to mention the losses of her mother, stepmother and father, since the recording of her last album. While ghosts do haunt this album, Cash wants to make clear that's not the only thing this album is about. "I don't want to turn this record — and by extension three of my parents' deaths — into fodder for the publicity machine," she told Entertainment Weekly. Hopefully now, she will be recognized as a stand-alone artist and one of the best in country music today. While there are moments of beauty and despair ("I Was Watching You" and "Good Intent") and nostalgia ("Black Cadillac"), the stand-out song comes in a moment of cynicism. On "World Without Sound," she sings, over a saloon beat - with horns, "I wish I was a Christian/And knew what to believe/I could learn a lot of rules/to put my mind at ease." 4 
Maximo Park leaped onto the scene last year with a shitload of UK buzz, propelled by the single "Add Some Pressure." Missing Songs collects the b-sides from last year's album, the majority of which could have been strong singles themselves. "Ai9" and "Isolation" rival anything the Killers have ever done (and you don't have to feel guilty). It clocks in at barely a half hour, but I enjoyed every second. You know if the throwaways are this good, the album must really be something to reckon with. 4
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