On the eels Live Album

I've never been all that big a fan of live albums, especially ones that release a DVD of the performance at the same time. The main reason I dislike them is that in typical marketing fashion, certain songs are relegated to the DVD exclusively, leading me to ask "Why not just put the whole performance on the CD? People aren't going to get the DVD because of the extra songs. They'll get it so they can watch the band perform as well as listen to it!" Coldplay had the right idea releasing Live 2003 as a CD/DVD combo, but they still stifled the CD release by hacking several songs off of it.

This leads me to the new live album by eels, a band whose excellent double album Blinking Lights and Other Revelations made my top ten list of 2005. The live album, entitled With Strings: Live at Town Hall, collects several tracks from that release, as well as a grab bag of songs from past albums like Beautiful Freak and Daisies of the Galaxy. Bandleader Mark Oliver Everett ("E") also tackles an intriguing trio of covers, from Bob Dylan's "Girl from the North Country" to Johnny Rivers' "Poor Side of Town," my pick for the best track on this album.

What's most impressive about this live album is that, despite the missing eight songs from the performance, it is masterfully recorded and edited together. Audio mixer Douglas Trantow should be applauded for making such an intimate recording of E's performance, as well as the performances by a pair of multi-instrumentalists and a very talented string quartet, that at some points, it almost feels like you're listening to a studio album.

Naturally, it wasn't until I purchased a physical copy of the album that I discovered the iTunes Music Store offering it for ten bucks, with three bonus tracks. Dontcha hate when that happens?