Eels contest

Over the last dozen years or so, Mark Oliver Everett (aka E) has pulled together an ever changing cast of characters to perform a diverse range of music under the band name The Eels. Tomorrow, he's poised to release a pair of albums that highlight a decade of audio accomplishments:



The first of the pair is titled MEET THE EELS: Essential EELS Vol. I, 1996-2006 (CD+DVD), and it includes two discs: one containing 24 audio tracks, and one DVD with 11 videos. The tracks on the audio CD span the group's creative output over the decade with tracks from their releases as well as a couple additional tracks (a live version of Dirty Girl and the unreleased Get Ur Freak On).



The second, and perhaps more interesting for die-hard Eels fans, is titled EELS Useless Trinkets: B-Sides, Soundtracks, Rarities and Unreleased 1996-2006, which easily tops their last digital rarities release B-Sides & Rarities 1996-2003 by including a mouth watering 50 tracks split between two audio CDs AND an additional DVD with footage from Lollapalooza 2006. Some of the songs include longtime concert favorite Living Life from the Daniel Johnston tribute album, the previously unreleased 2006 cover of Screamin’ Jay Hawkins’ I Put A Spell On You and other covers including James Carr’s Dark End of The Street and Prince’s If I Was Your Girlfriend. There are also a large handful of BBC performances, unique live versions of Novocaine For The Soul and My Beloved Monster, and tracks from films (The End Of Violence, Holes, Levity and How The Grinch Stole Christmas).

You can check out the full track listings for both at the Eels website.

The only thing better than the fact that both of these are coming out tomorrow is that I have one copy of each to give away to lucky readers. All you have to do to enter is leave a comment (or e-mail me) with your name and e-mail address. Next Mondayish I'll randomly pick two different winners to give them away to. Since you might just be interested in one or the other, when you enter tell me if you are yearning for the Essential Eels discs, the Useless Trinkets discs, or whatever you can get for free!


Eels - Can't Help Falling in Love (Elvis cover) : B-Sides & Rarities 1996-2003 (no longer available - is on Useless Trinkets)

Eels - Saturday Morning : Music From The OC: Mix 2 (is on Essential Eels)

Visit their website and become their friend on MySpace.