Eels - Rags to Rags

And one day I'll come through my American Dream

But it won't mean a fuckin' thing

The Eels are a band I found out about sort of randomly. I won't get into the details of it but my friend named them while playing a game and neither of us were sure if such a band even existed. He was a little more certain than I was. In fact, I was sure they didn't exist. The next day he proved it to me via, I believe, a link to their Last.fm page. Anyway, I ended up listening to their debut album, Beautiful Freak, and enjoyed it. Moral of the story: there isn't one!

Mark Oliver Everett, better known as simply "E," is the mastermind behind the Eels. His story, at first, sounds like something we've heard before. He grew up tinkering with the instruments in his home and developed a love for music thanks to his sister's record collection. However, E has had a life filled with several tragedies. His father died while he was a teenager, which only further fueled his already "troubled" life. After releasing Beautiful Freak, both his sister and mother died.

Despite these unfortunate circumstances, E continued to write music and has released several LPs. The Eels songs also comprise most of the soundtrack to Jim Carrey's Yes Man. As a matter of fact, their songs appear on a lot of soundtracks including all three Shrek movies, American Beauty, Hot Fuzz, Hell Boy II, etc. "Rags to Rags" is a great number reminiscent of '90s alt rock because that is, in fact, what it is.

Favourite Part: When the music pauses around 2:43 and the drums and electric guitar come crashing back down.

Coldplay - 42

Those who are dead are not dead

They're just living in my head

Those are rather dark lyrics for Coldplay, come to think of it. "42" (Chris Martin's favourite number) begins with mournful piano, but as Martin laments about their being more to life the music suddenly picks up pace and is filled with crashing cymbals and electric guitar. That's pretty much what makes this song so great--the music is as emotional as the lyrics.

This is probably my favourite track off their latest album, Viva La Vida, a name borrowed from a Frida Kahlo painting. The cover art is also borrowed from an artist--Eugène Delacroix's Liberty Leading the People. If artsy is what the band was aiming for with this album, I think they accomplished it or at least came close. Produced by Brian Eno, the album features a lot more instrumental sections than their previous albums. The songs sound very orchestrated and perfect for filling up an arena. Unfortunately, I missed both their shows in L.A.

On an interesting side note, guitarist Joe Satriani filed a lawsuit against Coldplay for copyright infringement on the track "Viva La Vida," claiming that it incorporates "substantial original portions" of a song he wrote back in 2004. I'm assuming it's just a mere coincidence but I suppose you can hear for yourself. The band, of course, denies his accusations.