Hal Sparks

I was just on the King's X site and discovered that Doug ran into Hal Sparks at KNAC.com promoting his band. Yes, Hal Sparks has a band. The sample track at halsparks.com at first is unimpressive. Not all that bad, just not too interesting. It is a bit catchy though and the occassional harmony works. But really you know the only reason you are going to follow the link is because dude its Hal Sparks.

Oh yeah, King's X has a new album called Ogre Tones. I have it ordered from Amazon and will report back once it arrives.

Abandoned Pools

Though I have had it for a few years now, I was just really giving Abandoned Pools "Humanistic" a good listen yesterday. Now I remember why I got! What a fantastic album. Abandoned Pools is simple Tommy Walter formerly of the Eels. You can check out his latest EP at Abandoned Pools. A full LP to come this fall.

eels - Live at the Galaxy Theatre in Santa Ana, CA

Just got back from the show. It was great! I haven't heard the new album, but based on what I heard tonight, I'll be picking it up. After reading Jon's review of the new album, I was a little reluctant about the show, since I really dig the more up-tempo stuff. I'm happy to report that the strings section, or the "eels girls," was a great addition to the band and sounded fantastic. They had their moments rocking out as well. There were 3 encores. The third was with the house lights on and for only one song, a cover which I can't name, but I recognized the song. If it comes to me, I'll post it.

They performed a ton of songs, hitting the stage at about 8:40 and playing until about 10:30. Eels songs are pretty short, so you can imagine how many they played. I can't name all of the songs they played, but among them all were "Hey Man (Now You're Really Living)," "Wooden Nickles," "My Beloved Monster," "Dog Faced Boy," "Daisies of the Galaxy," "Souljacker Pt. 2," "I Like Birds," "Flyswatter," "Railroad Man" and more. they did NOT perform some songs you think they would have, like "Novacaine for the Soul," or "Rags to Rags" or really anything from Electro Shock Blues. But I don't have the whole catalog memorized like I should, so I could have missed some tunes. Honestly, I only really know 3 albums from eels, but it was enough to get me to go to the show, and I'm glad I did. Monique and I both really enjoyed it. We were told my some eels show veterans that were with us that this show with the string section was really unique.

One friend that went with us recorded the show and I'm looking forward to hearing how that turned out. Let me know who's interested and if it's any good I'll see that you get a copy.

(post written by Joe)

New Eels album released last week

On April 26, the Eels released a double-disc new album, "Blinking Lights and Other Revelations". You might know the Eels from their first near-hit of 1996 called "Novocaine for the Soul" or maybe from their appearances on the Shrek soundtracks ("My Beloved Monster" and "I Need Some Sleep"). They started out with a promising debut almost 10 years ago, but then singer/song-writer "E" was hit with the suicide of a sister and death of a parent. So their next release "Electro-Shock Blues", was greatly influenced by these personal events and, while being an excellent album, was much darker and personal. The marketing push from the record label seemed to completely disappear.

In the meantime, the Eels have consistently produced fantastic Adult Alternative Pop/Rock, Indie Rock albums to great critical acclaim. If not for the strong language peppered throughout, these discs would be spun often at my house. I highly recommend you checking these guys out, especially their first album.

Back to the new release... it seems to be a dark re-visiting of a diary of dealing with the past seven years since the deaths of "E"'s family members. So, I have to admit... I'd like to hear this first before I buy or recommend it. But at least now you know. If you hear this one, let me know what you think.