Eels

Eels With Strings: Live At Town Hall

[3/5] Even though one-man bands occasionally have trouble making their music work onstage, Eels leader Mark Oliver Everett has gained a reputation for being an adept live performer by following his muse into whatever incarnation makes sense at the time. In support of the superb Blinking Lights And Other Revelations, Everett assembled a septet–highlighted by a string quartet–that interpreted and reinterpreted a wide range of songs from his discography (as well as a handful of covers) with such grace and force that it was easy to overlook his pretentious cane and cigar. This 22-track document from a performance in Manhattan finds the outfit in fine form, but it seems unlikely that the casual fan will fully appreciate what Everett has done with his songs here.
(VAGRANT) March Hawthorne