Mark Eitzel – Whelans – Live Review – 26/03/25

 Review for www.nomoreworkhorse.com 

A Year in Music – 2018 – Mark Eitzel

Review for www.nomoreworkhorse.com

https://nomoreworkhorse.com/2018/12/20/a-year-in-music-2018-mark-eitzel/

Best Albums of 2017 – Killian Laher

Article for www.nomoreworkhorse.com

https://nomoreworkhorse.com/2017/12/12/best-albums-of-2017-killian-laher/

Mark Eitzel - West

For Mark Eitzel's second solo album, released in 1997, he teamed up with REM's Peter Buck.  Both artists were riding high at the time, in their own particular way, having come through an imperious decade from the late 80s through to the mid 90s.  The album opens promisingly with what turns out to be it's best track, If You Have To Ask.  Dominated by strings, it features a really strong vocal by Eitzel and a clever lyric about lighting "a fire in your brain".  It's a really lush arrangement, and it suits Eitzel down to the ground, it's one of the finer songs in his solo work.  After that, we come (relatively) down to earth.  Songs like Free of Harm, Stunned and Frozen, and In Your Life are fairly straightforward, sub-REM pop-rock songs with bright guitar lines and catchy, repeated choruses.  Mark Eitzel will surely never sing a simpler chorus than "I live in your life".  The moodier side is well represented here too on Helium, Then It Really Happens and the almost apologetic Lower Eastside Tourist, any of which you could nearly imagine Michael Stipe singing.  Which is kind of the problem with this album: it's not distinctive enough, not Eitzel enough.

Chirpier moments like Three Inches of Wall and Move Myself Ahead don't suit Eitzel that well, and even when he wallows, on Old Photographs and Live or Die it seems simplistic.  The chorus of the latter is flat and obvious ("no-one cares if I live or die").

It's one album in Mark Eitzel's back catalogue that you could pop on in the background and it wouldn't really upset anyone.  Which isn't really the point with Eitzel.

Mark Eitzel - Whelans - Gig Review - 12-02-17

Review for www.nomoreworkhorse.com https://nomoreworkhorse.com/2017/02/14/mark-eitzel-whelans-gig-review-12-02-17/

Mark Eitzel - Hey Mr Ferryman - Album Review

Review for www.no more workhorse.com

https://nomoreworkhorse.com/2017/01/30/mark-eitzel-hey-mr-ferryman-album-review/

Interview with Mark Eitzel – Hey Mr Ferryman

Interview for www.nomoreworkhorse.com

https://nomoreworkhorse.com/2017/01/27/interview-with-mark-eitzel-hey-mr-ferryman/

Crystal Ball – Music in 2017

Article for www.nomoreworkhorse.com https://nomoreworkhorse.com/2017/01/02/crystal-ball-music-in-2017/

Top 10 posts of 2015

Here's a rundown on the most popular posts of 2015:

10 Smashing Pumpkins - Machina/The Machines of God

http://sacredcowpats.blogspot.ie/2015/04/album-review-smashing-pumpkins.html

9 Elliott Smith - New Moon

http://sacredcowpats.blogspot.ie/2015/11/album-review-elliott-smith-new-moon.html

8 Midlake - The Courage of Others

http://sacredcowpats.blogspot.ie/2015/08/midlake-courage-of-others.html

7 Midlake - The Trials of Van Occupanther

http://sacredcowpats.blogspot.ie/2015/06/album-review-midlake-trials-of-van.html

5 Songs: Ohia

http://sacredcowpats.blogspot.ie/2015/11/album-review-songs-ohia.html

5 Midlake - Antiphon

http://sacredcowpats.blogspot.ie/2015/05/midlake-antiphon.html

4 Adam Bryanbaum Wiltzie - Travels In Constant

http://nomoreworkhorse.com/2015/05/15/adam-bryanbaum-wiltzie-travels-in-constant-vol-24-ep-review/

3 Mark Eitzel - Caught In A Trap And I Can't Back Out 'Cause I Love You Too Much Baby

http://sacredcowpats.blogspot.ie/2015/07/album-review-mark-eitzel-caught-in-trap.html

2 The Posies - Frosting On The Beater

http://sacredcowpats.blogspot.ie/2015/08/album-review-posies-frosting-on-beater.html

1 Sufjan Stevens - Carrie & Lowell

http://sacredcowpats.blogspot.ie/2015/06/album-review-sufjan-stevens-carrie-and.html

Album Review: Mark Eitzel - Caught In A Trap And I Can't Back Out 'Cause I Love You Too Much Baby

Mark Eitzel released his third solo album in 1998.  Despite the sardonic humour of the title, this was a bleak piece of work even for him.  Most of the tracks focused on Eitzel guitar and voice.  And what a voice.  His vocals are as powerful as on any of his other albums, pushed out to the front he sounds impassioned, desperate and at times completely bereft of hope on these tracks.  After the cheery misery of Are You The Trash, proceedings get more downbeat on Xmas Lights Spin.  Picking out a simple, descending guitar part, Eitzel sings of "a man doing an imitation of Satan" on a track with very little seasonal cheer ("St Nicholas left your toys behind at the bar").

The stark music of these tracks is matched perfectly by some pretty downbeat lyrics, sung with an absence of hope but a generous helping of passion.  Auctioneer's Song with its tale of "buried underneath not moving a bone" and White Rosary about a little girl "calling to heaven to take her away from the trap her life turned out to be," with the most minimal of guitar accompaniment, Eitzel literally only plays notes that are absolutely necessary.

If I Had A Gun varies the sonic formula a little, adding Kid Congo Powers on growling electric guitar as Eitzel sings about how if he had one he would "seal my fate with you" over a gloriously miserable picked acoustic guitar.  After this they are joined by a rhythm section of Steve Shelley and James McNew for the world weary Goodbye and the uptempo trio of Queen of No One, Cold Light Of Day and Go Away.

But the acoustic tracks are the heart and soul of the album, showing off Eitzel's incredibly fine guitar picking.  Never mind your Nick Drakes etc, the closing pair of Atico 18 and Sun Smog Seahorse compare favourably with any acoustic melancholia you care to name.

Yep, sure, it's a bit much.  But as well as being a downer, it contains some of Mark Eitzel's prettiest melodies and no frills guitar playing.  Avoid this like the plague unless you like your depression leavened with a heavy dose of bleak misery.  But for the rest of us, enjoy a bravura vocal performance, that's for sure.  A shame he doesn't record his voice like this any more, as similar to his live performance, he inhabits the songs, making them sound like they really matter.

Most-read articles in 2014

Here are the most-read articles on Sacred Cowpats in 2014:

10. Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds - Abattoir Blues

http://sacredcowpats.blogspot.ie/2014/03/album-review-nick-cave-and-bad-seeds.html

One half of Cave and co's 2004 set of albums, reviewed for your delectation

8. Juliana Hatfield - Only Everything

http://sacredcowpats.blogspot.ie/2014/08/album-review-juliana-hatfield-only.html

Hatfield's underrated follow-up to Become What You Are jointly with...

8. The Lemonheads - Car Button Cloth

http://sacredcowpats.blogspot.ie/2014/06/album-review-lemonheads-car-button-cloth.html

This Lemonheads album is a bit all over the shop, but when it works... (a bit like the band really)

7. Mark Eitzel - 60 Watt Silver Lining

http://sacredcowpats.blogspot.ie/2014/07/album-review-mark-eitzel-60-watt-silver.html

Eitzel does smooth, wine bar jazz.  You know it couldn't last.

6. Leonard Cohen - I'm Your Man

http://sacredcowpats.blogspot.ie/2014/07/album-review-leonard-cohen-im-your-man.html

An oldie but a goodie.  The album too.

5. Top albums of 2014

http://sacredcowpats.blogspot.ie/2014/12/top-10-albums-of-2014.html

One of the many broken-hearted lists of the year.

4. The Jesus and Mary Chain - The Power of Negative Thinking

http://sacredcowpats.blogspot.ie/2014/04/album-review-jesus-and-mary-chain-power.html

More Jesus and Mary Chain B-sides than any normal person could possibly deal with.

3. Tom Waits - Swordfishtrombones

http://sacredcowpats.blogspot.ie/2014/08/album-review-tom-waits.html

Inscrutable, uncategorisable Tom Waits

2. The Durutti Column - Short Stories For Pauline

http://sacredcowpats.blogspot.ie/2014/05/album-review-durutti-column-short.html

Exquisite guitar goodness from Vini Reilly.

1. A Winged Victory for the Sullen - Atomos VII

http://www.meg.ie/a-winged-victory-for-the-sullen-atomos-vii-ep/

Transcendent EP teaser for the full album.

Album Review: Mark Eitzel - 60 Watt Silver Lining

Mark Eitzel released his first post-American Music Club album in 1996.  It was quite jarring upon first listen with a smooth, jazzy sound involving copious brass.  Typically, despite being one of the foremost songwriters of his generation, he chose to open with his version of Goffin & King's torch-song No Easy Way Down.  He pulls it off, but then follows up with some pleasant but unremarkable tracks, the smooth shuffle of Sacred Heart, and the soulful Always Turn Away.  Later, Aspirin transcends these arrangements via the steel guitar of Bruce Kaphan.

A handful of torch-jazz songs make the cut.  Utilising Mark Isham on horns, Saved and Mission Rock Resort work quite well as vehicles for Eitzel's passionate vocals.  Some Bartenders Have The Gift of Pardon is a kind of weary, "last orders" version of this, featuring a fine turn on piano from Kaphan.

Cleopatra Jones and Southend On Sea are funky jazz experiments that don't work at all.  But for those looking for classic Eitzel, he does deliver.  When My Plane Finally Goes Down is a shimmering, drawn out ballad with goose-bump inducing chilly keyboards blowing through it.  Wild Sea is a largely acoustic track that functions like an update of Johnny Mathis' Feet, bearing a fine, desperate vocal.  Bleakness closes in on final track Everything Is Beautiful as Eitzel sings "the thinnest rope won't hang you" over descending piano and a sensitive accompaniment from the rest of the band.  

So a departure for Eitzel, the introduction of Eitzel as doomed torch singer.  And, though uneven, it works.

Best of 2013 - Spill Magazine

Contributions to this: http://www.spillmagazine.com/Best_Of_2013.html

Most-read articles in 2013

Here are the 10 most-read articles on Sacred Cowpats in 2013:

10 Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds:

 

Kicking Against the Pricks - http://sacredcowpats.blogspot.ie/2013/06/album-review-nick-cave-and-bad-seeds.html

 

Henry's Dream - http://sacredcowpats.blogspot.ie/2013/10/album-review-nick-cave-bad-seeds-henrys.html

 

Thanks to those who stuck with this as I have hobbled through Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds' back catalogue.  A joint entry at number 10 for covers album Kicking Against the Pricks and for 1992's Henry's Dream.

 

9 J Mascis + The Fog - More Light:

 

http://sacredcowpats.blogspot.ie/2013/01/album-review-j-mascis-fog-more-light.html

 

Mascis goes solo on this 2000 effort.

 

8 Mark Kozelek & Jimmy Lavalle - Perils From The Sea:

 

http://www.meg.ie/mark-kozelek-jimmy-lavalle-perils-from-the-sea/

 

Kozelek's most unusual release of his career to date, and undoubtedly a triumph.

 

7 Bob Mould - Body of Song:

 

http://sacredcowpats.blogspot.ie/2013/07/album-review-bob-mould-body-of-song.html

 

Late period Mould from 2005.

 

6 Top albums of 2013:

 

http://sacredcowpats.blogspot.ie/2013/12/top-10-albums-of-2013.html

 

You liked this.  Or it so it seems.

 

5 The Mission - The Brightest Light:

 

http://sacredcowpats.blogspot.ie/2013/08/album-review-mission-brightest-light.html

 

Hussey and co miraculously still around.

 

4 The Savings and Loan - Today I Need Light:

 

http://sacredcowpats.blogspot.ie/2013/08/album-review-savings-and-loan-today-i.html

 

Scottish band, not too many of those on this blog usually...

 

3 Sparklehorse - Dreamt For Light Years In The Belly of A Mountain

 

http://sacredcowpats.blogspot.ie/2013/01/album-review-sparklehorse-dreamt-for.html

 

Final album from Linkous.

 

2 Small Town Boredom - Notes From The Infirmary

 

http://sacredcowpats.blogspot.ie/2013/01/album-review-small-town-boredom-notes.html

 

And another (defunct) Scottish band.

 

1 Mark Eitzel - Glory

 

http://sacredcowpats.blogspot.ie/2013/03/album-review-mark-eitzel-glory.html

 

Fans only release and I take it everyone who bought it read this!

Album Review: Mark Eitzel - Glory

One of the side benefits of catching Mark Eitzel on his current tour is that he's selling a 12 track CD of new songs, Glory. This album is light years away from his live performances, and light years away from his 'classic' American Music Club material. Sonically, it resembles his Klamath album from 2009 with several numbers using mainly electronic instrumentation and Eitzels breathy vocals over the top.

It's not all low key. I Hope We Can has a strong melody and could have fitted in on last year's Don't Be A Stranger. Another standout, for different reasons is the very electronic It's Alright which could have sat on The Invisible Man. But most of it is sparse, late night electronica, epitomised by opening tracks The Road and I Missed You. Numbers succeeds reasonably well as an electronic instrumental in its own right.  However, few memorable songs make this one mainly for the fans. If you missed him on tour it's available from http://decor.limitedrun.com/products/512136-mark-eitzel-glory

Concert Review: Mark Eitzel | The Workman’s Club, Dublin, 21st Feb 2013

Review for www.meg.ie http://www.meg.ie/mark-eitzel-the-workmans-club/

2012, something different for music

Article for www.meg.ie http://www.meg.ie/2012-something-different-for-music/

Least worst 20 albums of 2012

No point in waiting any longer.  I’ve decided to do a top 20 this year of the least worst albums of 2012:

20 Lee Ranaldo – Between the Times and the Tides

19 Paul Buchanan – Mid Air

http://www.meg.ie/paul-buchanan-mid-air/
 

18 I Like Trains – The Shallows

http://www.meg.ie/i-like-trains-the-shallows/
 

17 Leonard Cohen – Old Ideas

http://www.meg.ie/leonard-cohen-old-ideas/

16 Peter Broderick – www.itstartshear.com

http://www.meg.ie/peter-broderick-httpwww-itstartshear-com/

15 Earth – Angels of Darkness, Demons of Light II

http://www.meg.ie/earth-angels-of-darkness-demons-of-light-ii/ 

14 Bob Mould – Silver Age

http://www.meg.ie/bob-mould-silver-age/

13 The Soulsavers – The Light, The Dead See

http://www.meg.ie/the-soulsavers-the-light-and-the-dead-see/

12 Seti the First – Melting Cavalry

http://www.meg.ie/seti-the-first-melting-cavalry/

11 Tindersticks – The Something Rain

http://www.meg.ie/tindersticks-the-something-rain/

10 RM Hubbert – Thirteen Lost & Found

Scotland’s most accomplished guitarist turns in a stellar follow up to First & Last.

http://www.meg.ie/rm-hubbert-thirteen-lost-found/

9 Dinosaur Jr – I Bet On Sky

J Mascis can still churn out the heavy riffs like nobody else.

http://www.meg.ie/dinosaur-jr-i-bet-on-sky/ 

8 Sun Kil Moon – Among the Leaves

A Mark Kozelek private joke?  Possibly.  He’s still a damn good guitarist.

http://www.meg.ie/sun-kil-moon-among-the-leaves/

7 Dirty Three – Toward the Low Sun

Epic comeback album from the Aussie rockers.

http://www.meg.ie/dirty-three-toward-the-low-sun/ 

6 Dakota Suite – An Almost Silent Life

A more varied release than usual for Dakota Suite…

http://www.meg.ie/dakota-suite-an-almost-silent-life/

5 Mark Eitzel – Don’t Be A Stranger

This album sounds like nothing special at first, but it’s quite an addictive collection of songs, from the most enjoyable whiner in music today.

4 Neil Young & Crazy Horse – Psychedelic Pill

In Driftin’ Back this album has one of the tracks of the year and definitely the longest.

http://www.meg.ie/neil-young-crazy-horse-%e2%80%93-psychedelic-pill/

3 Mark Lanegan Band – Blues Funeral

A strong collection of songs from the uber-serious Lanegan.

http://www.meg.ie/mark-lanegan-band-blues-funeral/

 

2 Caught In The Wake Forever – Against A Simple Wooden Cross

Not an easy listen.  But what an album.  Debut album of the year.

http://www.meg.ie/caught-in-the-wake-forever-against-a-simple-wooden-cross/

 

1 The Twilight Sad – No One Can Ever Know

This should have been a wrong move, but the electronic-tinged material is brilliantly cold.  Now if they could just find directions to Ireland…

http://www.meg.ie/the-twilight-sad-no-one-can-ever-know/

Album Review: Mark Eitzel - Don't Be A Stranger

Review for www.spillmagazine.com http://www.spillmagazine.com/album_reviews.html#Mark_Eitzel

Preview: most anticipated albums of 2011

2011 is already shaping up to be a good year for albums. The following is just what I know about, doubtless there are things I’ve missed, or some of this may not materialize:

Dakota Suite & Emanuele Errante – North Green Down

This is scheduled for release on January 14th, so first out of the blocks for this one. It’s another album of classical pieces. I have heard the title track (which also featured on live album Vallisa) which is a filmic, piano-led piece perfect for January contemplation. Would be nice to get a ‘singer-songwriter’ album with Chris Hooson playing some guitar. As far as I know there is one in the works, You Can Leave But You’ll Never Make It Home Again, due next autumn. Also in progress are The Hearts of Empty, an ambient/late night counterpoint to 2008’s The End of Trying, recorded with David Buxton, and The Side of Her Inexhaustible Heart, four pieces to be recorded with composer Quentin Sirjacq featuring string quartet, clarinet and celeste. Looks to me that Chris’ heart is really in the classical side of his work at the moment.

Mogwai – Hardcore Will Never Die, But You Will

Due out February 14th (how romantic) the next Mogwai has a typically uncompromising title. They have released Rano Pano for fans like myself to have a listen. This one is rather upbeat, in the mould of The Sun Smells Too Loud from their last album, The Hawk Is Howling, though there’s some healthy distortion going on. Hopefully the whole album won’t be in the same vein, as I do like to use Mogwai to soundtrack a good brooding session.

Low – C’mon (?)

It’s been a while since Drums and Guns, Low’s last album, released in 2007. This one was a major departure for the band, with percussion and sampling a lot more prominent. What’s good about this band is that, having looked a few years ago like they were in danger of painting themselves into a corner, they now have torn up the formula with 2 very different albums, The Great Destroyer and the aforementioned Drums and Guns. Alan Sparhawk has also been indulging his classic rock side on his work with Retribution Gospel Choir.

Twilight Sad

High expectations of these Scottish guys after 2009’s storming second album, the MBV-influenced Forget the Night Ahead. Personally I’d be very happy with more of the same, but it looks like they have moved on a bit with 2010’s epic Eastern influenced The Wrong Car single. They have also done some interesting remixes of older material with fellow Scots Errors and Mogwai. I just hope they don’t stray too far into the epic, stadium-oriented territory that The Wrong Car dips its toe into.

And So I Watch You From Afar

Next year is shaping up to be a big year for Derry’s finest, capitalizing on the excellent Letters EP and some chaotic live shows. Recent single Straight Through The Sun downplays their heavy distorted side, leaving them sounding like A Little Solidarity Goes A Long Way off their first album or a proggy Queens of the Stone Age. I expect more brain-crushing riffs on their second album.

Peter Broderick

Next year should see the delayed (through injury) follow up to 2008’s Home. Broderick can turn his hand to piano pieces, acoustic folk, classical and experimental music. Previously these elements were kept apart on separate albums and side-projects, but hoping to see them all coalesce on his next.

Others of note: Mark Eitzel will be doing a ‘strictly acoustic album’, the Horrors are recording their third album. Thurston Moore is recording a solo album Benediction with doppelganger Beck. Hopefully it’ll be in the vein of excellent previous solo album Trees Outside the Academy, which had an acoustic feel but still allowed for some electrics.

Lloyd Cole will be recording an instrumental album with Joachim Roedelius of Cluster, probably in the vein of 2001’s Plastic Wood and Queens of the Stone Age are going into studio to record a hopefully much improved follow up to Era Vulgaris, though Josh Homme may be distracted with his non-involvement in the Kyuss reunion.

On the reissue front, Neil Young is planning to release Archives 2, which hopefully will contain some of his unreleased albums from his prolific mid-seventies period. Rumoured are Homegrown, a somewhat downbeat album which was shelved in favour of Tonight’s the Night; Oceanside-Countryside, an acoustic version of 1978’s Comes A Time; and Chrome Dreams, some of which surfaced on the second side of American Stars n Bars. Hopefully they will be available on a reasonably priced CD set rather than some expensive box format.

And I haven’t mentioned Radiohead!