American Music Club PLay XX Merge Festival

On Sunday, July 26 the American Music Club will play the Memorial Hall in Chapel Hill, North Carolina , US of A. This is part of XX Merge, the music festival to celebrate the 20th anniversary of Merge Records, a label with ties to the Club. Also on the bill that night are She & Him and Wye Oak.

New Song

It looks like Mark Eitzel has posted a video of himself singing a new song on his blog this morning. He is also sporting a spectacular black eye as well.

Live @ Noise Pop 2009 Video

Here is a nice video of Mark Eitzel performing "Decibels ..." at Noise Pop 2009.



There is also some footage of the American Music Club live in the KCRW studio

LA Gig 18th April

It seems Mark Eitzel is playing a gig at the Largo at the Coronet in LA on Saturday the 18th April. Looks like it is Mark singing and Marc Capelle playing the piano again. It costs $20 and is with Miranda Lee Richards.

There is also this curious little webpage.

(Update)
The show has been cancelled.

AMC To Play California Album - April Fools!!!

And they said it could never happen! It has been confirmed that Mark and the original lineup of the American Music Club will be getting back together and performing their California album right the way through as part of this years All Tomorrows Parties season. it seems it is a one off to take place at the New York branch of the festival where the Dirty Three, Suicide and the Feelies will also be performing their albums. Book your tickets now!

Review of Bob Mould Show

Here is a review of Marks recent support slot. Sounds like it was jolly good.

Birthday Vids

It seems there is some footage from Marks birthday bash on YouTube. It is of the local band the Enablers doing their thing.




There is also a bizarre one of Vudi cycling down the street one night.

Happy Birthday Me !!!

Would you believe it, it has now been TWO years since my first post on the "Invisible Blog"! That is a couple of albums and a couple of tours worth of news and reviews. This year looks just as busy, so lets see what happens.

Happy Birthday Mark !!!

It is the mans big 50 this year. To celebrate here is a nice interview for you to peruse.

Sleeping Beauty Played On Banjo

Here is an interesting YouTube video.

Mark To Support Bob Mould

It is only for one show but Mark Will be opening for Bob Mould at the Swedish American Hall, San Francisco on the 28 February 2009. According to Marks Facebook page "Marc Capelle will play piano and I will sing". Not the sort of line up we have seen before.

Mark Eitzel On-Line

It seems that Mark has gone and got himself a blog. It looks a lot like ramblings about life, the universe and everyting as you would expect from his blog. The first entry is interesting though.

I guess I could talk about my career in music - though that is something I usually prefer to forget. People are much more interested than i am, actually. In 2008 AMC toured for about 6 months. I was in London for 2 months working on the play I am doing called Marine Parade. I also spent a couple of months in LA thanks to the generosity of my friend Chris Buck who lets me stay in his place. I wasn’t home a lot and I am very happy now to be in San Francisco which I love no matter how much i complain about it. I guess AMC wont do anything until late next year. I am writing a solo record tentatively called “The Old Queer On The Hill” and after that I am going to finish writing the AMC record. The solo record is going to be quiet acoustic songs and the AMC record will be songs that it is fun to play live. At least that is my plan.

So it looks like one new solo record this year and probably a new AMC one next year. Hopefully he will be touring the solo album.

As well as the Band Myspace, Band Web Site and Solo Web Site Mark is also on Facebook. He added me as a friend before xmas and seems to have embraced the whole interactivity of it all. Still, there is only one place to come for all the latest information. ;)

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas
and a
Happy New Year

Toiling Midgets Gigs

The Toiling Midgets, a band that Mark Eitzel once did a great album with, are playinga couple of shows this Christmas. These are ...

December 30 - The Uptown, Oakland, CA.

January 4 - Annie's Social Club, San Francisco, CA.

It seems that Danny Pearsons band Clodhopper is on the bill for the San Francisco show. Should be worth checking out.

Picture Credit

You might have noticed a month or two ago that I got this nice new banner on the blog. Well the original pic comes from Charlie Craveros Flickr collection. I had been after a nice pic of Mark for a while and this one just seemed to do the job. Check out his This Is Hardcore set of pics for some really moody/arty shots of musicians.

Tour Pictures

Dana, the temporary bass player in the band has uploaded some pictures from the tour here.

Tour CDs Available in US

The recent CDs of Everclear and Mercury demos and rehearsals are now available in the US from the bands online store. Click here and then click on Store.

I have got a copy of both Cds, so watch out for the reviews.

Danny Pearson Gig

Our favourite bass player is playing a gig at the Cafe Du Nord in San Francisco on Monday the 10th November. Hopefully this is in preparation for the new album. He will be supported by ULTRALASH and TOUCHED BY A JANITOR.
Show:8:00pm
Doors:7:30pm
Door:$10.00
Ages:21+

Band News

Big news from the bands web site.

AMC has just finished their second European tour of the year and the new line-up with Mark just singing gave them a whole new energy and showcased some of Mark’s finest vocals in 16 years. The band were able to pull out some long lost nuggets like ‘Animal Pen,’ ‘Fearless,’ ‘Apology For An Accident’ and ‘What Godzilla Said….’ Sadly the band will not be touring the US early next year as previously reported.

Mark will be heading back into the studio in the next month to record an solo EP of 6-7 songs for release early next year which will feature some solo acoustic numbers alongside some band numbers. Mark will also continue work on his new musical “Marine Parade” which will make its stage debut sometime this next year. AMC will then go into the studio in late May/June to record their next album which should be released January 2010.

Please also check the European webstore for the new limited edtion tour cds of Mercury demos and Everclear rehersals all in great quality. We also have some new shirts. The US store should have the limited edition CDs up in two weeks.

BBC Radio Session

It seems you can hear the American Music Club in session on the BBC 6 Music web site.

Two New Tour Cds Available

The two new tour cds are available now (in Europe) to mailorder from Decor Records as well as 3 different shirts new for 2008. The US will have stock of these two tour cds within a 3-6 weeks.

The tour cds are Everclear sessions from late 1990 and Mercury demos for Virgin/Warners from 1992. Both come with a printed cover in a PVC slipcase.

Mercury is limited to 700 and Everclear is limited to 600, of these Decor will have roughly 300 of Mercury to sell and 225 of Everclear. The US 150 of Mercury and 125 of Everclear. The band took 250 of each on the road with them for the tour.

Comments On Current Tour

It seems the Blogosphere is alight with posts about the current tour. Quite a few of you have seen the shows so far and and one or two of you are turning into right groupies. ;)

New Single Out Now !!!

The "All The Lost Souls ..." EP is out now. It is a download only release available at E-Music, iTunes and possibly other places.

Tour Starts

A note from those in charge if you are still undecided about catching the beand on their current tour.

The tour kicked off ... in Belfast with some tunes they haven't played since the 80s and early 90s including Animal Pen, If I had a Hammer, Apology for an accident, Royal Cafe, What Holds the World Together plus the likes of Gary's Song, Outside this Bar, Nightwatchman and a host of others new and old. Mark and Vudi are extremely happy with the new expanded line-up. There is a promise for bringing out other tracks like Rise throughout the tour.

Please come down to the shows where we will be selling two very limited(600 copies on one and 700 copies on the other) tour cds which will not be on the web until towards the end of the tour. details to follow

Rumour the current setlist looks a bit like this

• What Godzilla said to God when his name wasn't found in the book of life


• All My Love


• Nightwatchman


• The Stars


• What Holds The World Together


• Sleeping Beauty
  
• Gratitude Walks
  
• Royal Cafe


• If I Had A Hammer


• Another Morning


• Apology for an Accident


• Home


• Windows on the world



• Animal Pen


• Gary's Song



• Outside This Bar

New Single

I haven't seen any official notification but the Interweb is alive with news of a new single. To tie in with the autumn tour they are releasing "All The Lost Souls Welcome You To San Francisco" as a digital download single with two previously unreleased tracks – Stars (demo) and Who You Are (demo). I always thought it was the more obvious single, especially when the video for it (below) surfaced.

Official Announcement

The latest news from the bands record label.

AMC will be expanding to a five piece band for the following European tour, Gone is Sean Hoffman (yes the guy on the front of the album cover) and in is Dana Schechter on bass. Dana previously played with the band back in 1994. Also Jonathan Heine joins on guitar and keyboards. This will allow the band to pull some old rare tunes out of the back catalogue that have not been played for many years as it frees up Mark to focus more on singing. The set list will be very different than the last tour.

The band has also added a date in Beirut for Oct 18th as part of a festival there. We should also have a new shirt design plus a few tour cds featuring tracks from the 92-94 period.

The new amc website webstore should be up very soon in the next few days on the new look website which features videos etc. We are hoping to have some live video added to the site in the near future as well

Makes me wish I was going to see them now.

More Videos

Loads of videos have appeared on YouTube over the last month or two including some great TV footage from 93. I will try and embed all the videos at some point but the highlights are

Gratitude Walks


Jonny Mathis Feet


Can You Help Me


????

Firefly Mailing List

As it's summer and not much is happening I think it's time to give the Firefly mailing list a plug. This is the (un)official list for gossiping about Mark Eitzel and the American Music Club. I have been on there (on and off) for about 10 years and I can say that they are a friendly bunch. Danny and Tim have been known to put in appearances as well as Chris from the bands management. Has Mark ever signed up? Possibly.

As well as AMC related chat, they are a good source for whatever is hip and happening in the Americana field. Recently things have been getting a bit excitable over the Bon Iver and Fleet Foxes albums. It is a it quiet at the moment but sign up and say hello.

Misc News

Did you know that the Willard Grant Conspiracy have covered "Miracle On 8th Street " for their new album "Pilgrim Road"?

Or that Tim Mooney and Jason Borger play on the album "Swirl" by a chap called Mark Lawrence.

Maximo love Eitzel

Over at maximopark.com one of the Diary entries (16 JUN 2008) name checks Mark Eitzels "Songs of Love Live" album. The band member (not the one with the ironic comb over) says how much they love the album and how they like to listen to it first thing in the morning.

New AMC Web Site

I don't know if you have noticed but the official American Music Club web site has been given a face lift. As well as a comprehensive Discography and Tour section it has selection of the bands promo vidoes available for viewing. Lets see if the News page is updated any more regularly than the old one? ;)

Eitzel Through The Ages

Here is a nice selection of pictures of the band taken at various stages through their career. Ah, the haircuts, the hats, the various line up changes. How they bring back memories.

Mark Eitzel Cover

Someone (possibly a regular on the Firefly mailing list) calling themselves Exit has just released a 2 track internet single, the b-side of which is a cover of "Everything Is Beautiful" from Marks "60 Watt ..." album.

Top 25 Rock Bands of the 90s

It seems the American Music Club have made it into Yahoos 25 Best Alternative Rock Bands Of The 1990s. That puts then up there with Beck, Nirvana and SonicYouth. Strange thing to note is just how many of those bands have reformed in the last couple of years.

The Best Tracks Of 2008

The Onions A.V. Club has nominated "All My Love" as one of its top tunes of the year so far.

Quick Q&A

The Music Minded blog has a short Q&A with mark about the new album.

Danny Pearson Show Tomorrow Night

Danny Pearson is playing a gig at the Starry Plough pub in Berkley tomorrow (Friday 13th June)night. He is supporting Ultralash and 20 Minute Loop.

Uncut Cover CD

The July issue of Uncut magazine features "Decibels ..." on it cover mounted CD.

Autumn American Music Club Tour Announced

Hot off the Press comes the dates for the second Eurpoean tour.

A few of them may not be on sale until later this week. Some fans asked for Finland and Portugal so we came through. There will be another three dates added in soon which will include Portugal, Belgrade and Zagreb so please stay tuned.

Sept 2 Belfast – Empire
Sept 3 Dublin – Whelan’s
Sept 4 Manchester – Academy 3
Sept 5 Glasgow – Stereo
Sept 6 Newcastle – Cluny
Sept 7 York – Princess Charlotte
Sept 9 Bristol – Thekla
Sept 10 Leicester – The Musician
Sept 11 London – Bush Hall
Sept 12 Dorset – End of the Road Festival
Sept 13 Exeter – Phoenix
Sept 15 Cambridge – The Graduate
Sept 16 Winchester – Railway
Sept 18 Spain – tbc
Sept 19 Portugal – Barriero (venue tbc)
Sept 20 Spain – Huelva – South Pop Festival
Sept 21 Spain – tbc
Sept 24 Switzerland – Luzern
Sept 25 Germany – Karlshruhe – Jubez
Sept 26 Germany - Dresden – Beat Pol
Sept 27 Germany – Wendelsterin – Jegelscheune
Sept 29 Finland – Helsinki – Tavastia
Sept 30 Luxembourg – Dudelange - CC op der Schmertz
Oct 1 Belgium – Ghent - Handlesbeurs
Oct 2 Netherlands – Haarlem - Patronaat
Oct 3 Netherlands – Den Haag – Paard van Troje
Oct 4-8 tbc
Oct 9 Italy – Milan – Casa 139
Oct 10 Italy – Florence – Viper
Oct 11 Italy – Rome - Init

The single for All the lost Souls will be promoted at the end of August so please look out for more sessions and interviews then.

American Music Club Play Ireland (again)

They have a gig at Whelans in Dublin on the 3rd September 2008.

Idler Interview

I haven't seen the latest issue yet but there is apparently an interview with Mark Eitzel in the latest issue of the Idler. For those of you that haven't see it, the Idler is a British magazine dedicated to living a more relaxed way of life. And no, that is not a drug euphemism.

American Music Club Play Belgium

The autumn leg of the tour is starting to appear now. The band play the Handelsbeuer club in Ghent, Belgium on the 1st October 2008. More details as they appear.

Tour Videos

Here are some clips of the band on their current tour.

Decibels and Little Pills


The Stars


All The Lost Souls ...


Hello Amsterdam


Wish the World Away


All The Lost Souls ...


I Know That's Not Really You


Another Morning


Hello Amsterdam (ish)

Tour Photos

Here are some pics of the band on their current tour.

All The Lost Souls ... - Video

Looks like "Lost Souls" is probably the new single as they have gone and done a video for it. The woman in the video is Grace Zabriskie who has appeared in a whole host of interesting films and TV shows. What do you think?

AMC @ Bam! Fest

Looks like another festival appearance for the American Music Club, this time at Bam! Fest in Chicago. This takes place in Roscoe Village, Chicago on June 28 & 29.

More Dates Ahead

According to the bands press bloke

We are currently booking UK, Belgian, Dutch, German, Spanish, Portuguese and hopefully eastern European & Italian dates stretching from Sept 2 until Oct 10th. There will be a new live tour cd taken from their last dates for this.

Late Gig Review

Here is a review of a gig somewhere on the North American continent. Possibly Torronto judging by the ads. One of the comments says something about one of the shows selling out.

Sean Body (RIP)

It has come to my attention (via the Firefly mailing list) that the writer Sean Body has passed away. This gets a mention here as Sean was the author of Wish The World Away, the marvellous book on the American Music Club. If you haven't read it yet, I suggest you order a copy now. As well as that, he used to run Helter Skelter book shop (no longer) on Denmark St in London. Our thought go out to his family.

AMC On The Radio

There is an appearance by the American Music Club on Minnesota Public Radio. Songs performed: "Home," "All the Lost Souls Welcome You to San Francisco," and "The Windows of the World."

A few more interviews as well.

More interviews ...

Here (quite good for the group photo), here and here.

Guaranteed Good Review

If you ever want a sure fire way of getting a good review on then net then look no further. All you have to do is dedicate a song to one of the audiences pet dogs. They will love you for it.

Mark Answers 20 Questions

In PopMatters.

Worlds Briefest Interview?

There is another interview over at the Frog and Blender magazine/blog. Some really interesting questions are asked but some of the replies given are really short.

Another Interview

This one is quite interesting. He goes into what happened with Danny and Tim and working with Vudi.

An Interview

The US tour is getting nearer so we can probably expect to see a bit more press in the coming weeks. There is an interview with Mark here.

American Music Club @ Sled Island

Yep, the American Music Club are playing the Sled Island music festival in Calgary. Thats in Canada in case you didn't know. It takes place on the 27th and 28th June if you are interested.

Bruce Kaphan On New No-Man Album

Ex Music Clubber and all round excellent pedal steel player Bruce Kaphan appears on the new album by a band called No-Man. No idea what they sound like but

"schoolyard ghosts is released by Kscope / Snapper music in mid-May, 2008, and will feature a 22 piece orchestra on the 13 minute track truenorth, as well as contributions from a number of guest collaborators (including Pat Mastelotto, Bruce Kaphan, Porcupine Tree's Gavin Harrison and Colin Edwin, and Tim Bowness Band members, Pete Morgan, Andrew Booker and Peter Chilvers)."

So there.

User Generated Content???

The tour is well underway and apart from the fact that Mark has started doing Firefly as a solo encore, there isn't much else for me to report. However, if any of you have reviews, photos, videos, audio recordings of the current tour tat you would care to share then let me know. Either leave a comment with details or e-mail me at "ThirdPrize AT Gmail DOT Com" and I will post them on the site.

Danny Pearson News

There seems to be a flurry of activity over at the web site of our favourite bass player. He has a new album coming out on Evangeline Records and is doing a few gigs in preparation for it. The next one is the 6th April at the Cafe Du Nord in San Francisco as part of a Evangeline Records showcase.

There is also a remastered version of Reds Recovery Room available for download. This features everything from the (now out of print) original as well as a couple of bonus tracks. I really liked this album so it is really worth $12 if you haven't got it already.

Nick Drake

There is an interesting interview with Mark Eitzel in Harp Magazine where he discusses the influence of Nick Drake on his work. A few interesting titbits including the fact he never got into Nick until after the band had started and that he was friends with Heath Ledger.

Atwater Afternoon CD Review

Well, a month after I got my copy I have finally got round to doing a review of it. Atwater Afternoon is a Ltd Ed release of a couple of sessions recorded by the new look American Music Club. I say a couple of sessions as the first half sounds like demos for the new album while the latter half sound like it was recorded "live" in the studio.

There are 13 tracks in all. Of these, 3 are old country standards, one is written and sung by Vudi and one is by new band member Steve Didelot. There is definitely a bit of a country vibe running through the whole thing. Steve's song is a classic bit of country all about a book called "The Insiders Guide to life". It gets passed down from generation who admit that they have "never read it son, but I really think you should". the other cover of note is "I'm your Puppet" which has Mark reaching for the falsetto he last used on "Move on Up". "Long Long Walk" is supposed to be an out take from the Golden Age. Based on the evidence of this, the new version of the AMC could have a good country album in them. The new boys know their licks and as Mark is feeling mellower these days we could have another Everclear or California.

The last 3 tracks sound a bit more live than the rest. There is lots of Cymbals there but you can't really make out much other detail.

It is also worth noting that the ones sold on the current tour make up the very limited CDR run of 300. I managed to get one of these complete with a hand drawn cover by Vudi. The ones on the Internet will be a run of 1500 proper CDs with proper printed covers.

Yeee Gods!!!

It has come to my attention that a comedian named Neil Hamburger has released a CD of country covers, among them being the American Music Clubs "Hula Maiden". And I quote ...

"But his album-closing take on Eitzel’s “The Hula Maiden” played semi-straight is a real gem, bringing out both the over the top self-pitying indulgence of the song even as he refashions it as a lost country classic. It’s almost kind of brilliant."

The Tale Of a Support Band

There is a nice blog post here from the band Dacianos about their support slot on the recent American Music Club tour. It was last Friday, 29 February at the venue called John Dee in Oslo.

More press

Nice interview with Mark here on the BrightestYoungThings website. There is also a foreign language review here along with a nice photo gallery.

Radio Interview

There is a link on this page that leads to an Interview with the American Music Club. It is a program called The World Cafe and it appears to be hosted by Sir Richard Attenborough.

The Review Of All Reviews

The lines are closed and the judges have come to their decision. The folks over at MetaCritic have averaged out all the reviews for The Golden Age and its final score is 80/100. Not a bad average, that is more then the new Kylie one but less then the Drive By Truckers.

Two More Reviews ...

while one is in the medium of words, the other is in the medium of pictures, courtesy of our friends at StripWax.

Few More Reviews

Album reviews Here, here, here, here and live reviews here and here.

Apology For An Accident

From Chris at the bands management.

"Dingwalls was the first time the band has played London without their own sound man which was a big mistake. It was probably the worst sound I have ever heard at an AMC show in 18 years. Mark and Steve also had very evil stomach bugs that kept them busy before, during and after the show with the bog...not a pretty site. So apologies all around.

Ask people who went to Brussels last night and they can tell you a different story, the venue had great sound and was broadcast on Radio1 there, I can't seem to find the link to it on their site but should have some more information next week here.

The Hamburg concert will be broadcast on NDR and Berlin will bebroadcast on Radio Eines."

Links to the concerts when they come on line.

Brighton Gig Review

I went along to the show the American Music Club were playing in Brighton the other night. Mark has always liked Brighton so I was hoping for a good one. Upon arrival the C2 seemed to be 1/3 full. Vudi was sat on the merchandising table drawing pictures on the plain covers of the tour CD. Mine has got a picture of a pig getting its head chopped off. Nice.

First band on was Butterfly McQueen. These were a Brighton band and I think they were on the bill as Mark was writing his musical with one of the singers. I missed the first part of their set but thought they were quite good for a band that doesn't even have a MySpace page. Two or three singer/guitarists taking it in turns along with keyboards, bass , drums and girl on tambourine. Their final song was dedicated to Mark as the singer said he had written it for him.

The second band was Bee And Flower. They sounded a bit like Madder Rose as the guitarist played a lot of slide and the singer had a similar voice to Mary Lorsen.

Vudi was the first to come out and taking his place stage left started singing (what I guess was) their Abba cover. Then the band came out and went straight into "Hello Amsterdam". I seem to remember that mentions Abba covers. Then it was "Revolving Door" and a couple more of the old songs. Mark seemed a bit nervous as he cracked jokes between songs and introduced the band as "Wish the World Away", an American Music Club tribute act. What can you say, it wasn't the original band so it wasn't going to sound much like them. They got through the old songs in double quick time. Then about 1/2 way through the set we got "The Stars", "Sleeping Beauty" and "Decibels" and with that the band seemd to relax and play them like the record.

The encore part of the show was interesting. The new lads left the stage leaving Vudi and Mark to play "Johnny Mathis' Feet" together. Then there was a band verson of "Western Sky" and a duo version of "Jesus' Hands". And they were gone.

Were you there? What did you think?

Another Interview

Here is another interview with Mark. It is by a San Francisco newspaper and examines Marks obsession with the town. Strangely he says he prefers performing in London "... because I get paid better there". He is also quite frank about the new line up of the band.

London Show Update

A message from the bands management regarding the upcoming London show.

"As many of you have heard Camden market burned down over the weekend so Dingwalls is closed until later in the week. We are looking to move the show to somewhere close by like the Electric Ballroom or Underworld. As soon as I have any information I will report it here. Please check back in by this time tomorrow and we should have all the new details."

I will pass on any further details as soon as I hear them. Shame about Camden Market though. It was the place to go if you were after vaguely ethnic clothing or head massagers. Rumour has it you could smell the burning incense for several miles.

Manchester Reviews

Here is a review of the Manchester gig and here is another.

Miscellaneous Media Mentions

The media machine seems to be in full swing for this tour and album.

To begin with we have a bit from the Independent about how Mark and Sean Hughes first met as well as a short but favourable review. He contributes to a discussion on the art of writing love songs. There is a mention in the Guardian.

There are also some other reviews of the album out there and some reviews of the Bristol, Bristol and Dublin gigs.

The Musical

A year after I first reported it, Mark Eitzels musical gets a mention on Teletext today.

Exclusive: Eitzel musical
American Music Club singer Mark Eitzel is writing a musical, PS can reveal."Most musicals are s***, so I wanted to see if it was possible to write one that isn't," Eitzel told PS.Eitzel has co-written the musical, Marine Parade, with his playwright friend Simon Stephens. It will open "on a stage somewhere" in 2009. Eitzel said: "It's set in Brighton. I love Simon's writing, he's a genius."

It also got a brief mention at the end of this interview with Simon and here.

Galway Set List

The European tour is now under way and the first repors are coming in. The set list for the Galway show was ...

Johnny Mathis' Feet (Mark Acoustic/Vudi Electric)
Blue and Grey Shirt
Home
Who You Are
Sleeping Beauty
Windows of the world
The Revolving Door
Western Sky
I know that's not really you
Another Morning
Decibels and The Little Pills
Hello Amsterdam
Wish the world away
Jesus Hands (Mark + Vudi)

So that's a bunch of new songs, a couple from the last album and some old faves. No Patriots Heart or Firefly? More from San Fran than Mercury?

American Music Club Play Spanish Festival

Get your sun tan lotion out. As reported here in Uncut, the American Music Club will be playing the Benicassim festival in Spain this summer. It takes place 17th, 18th, 19st and 20nd of July and features amongst others My Bloody Valentine, Babyshamble, the National, the New Pornographers and Spiritualized.

New Tour CD

Not only do the American Music Club have a new Album out but if you see them on tour (or visit the record companies web site) you could pick up a copy of "Atwater Afternoon", a limited edition tour cd they have just put out.

To quote the web site
"This puppy was recorded at rehearsals leading up to the massive 60 cities in 80 countries AMC tour. It features some well know favorites, some new tracks taken from "The Golden Age" and a song sung by Vudi as well as Steven Didelot track sung by Mark. This released on the web and tour only NOT available in shops! It comes in a simple printed card sleeve. It also features three unreleased covers, the classic Sam & Dave track "I'm Your Puppet" plus two Ray Price covers. This is in an printed card sleeve and is not a cdr. The highly collectible cdr run was limited to 300, these are limited to 1500 worldwide and never again. Available for preorder now and shipping Feb 4th. Miss it now and pay £40 on Ebay next year."

1. City Lights - (Ray Price cover)
2.All My Love
3.For the Good Times (Ray Price/Kris Kristofferson cover)
4.I'm Your Puppet (Sam & Dave cover)
5.Long Long Walk (The Golden Age out-take)
6.Little Joy (Vudi penned and sung track)
7.One Step Ahead
8.Who You Are
9.All The Lost Souls
10.Insiders Guide To Life (Steve Didelot track sung by Mark)
11.Hello Amsterdam
12.Home
13.Western Sky

Thats 3 covers, a Vudi song, a Steve song and an unreleased track.

"For US/Canadian customers please wait until the Merge copies of Golden Age are available and the band has stock of "Atwater Afternoon" to sendout from the US. We will be reserving 600 cds for the US. Otherwise you will be paying twice as much for from the UK due to the insane exchange rates."

Happy Birthday Mark !!!

I am sure you will all join me in wishing Mark Eitzel a Happy Birthday today.

"It's your birthday baby

Here's a gift you should take it

It's your birthday baby

Here's a gift you should unwrap it

It's your birthday baby

Here's some luck you should grab it

It's your birthday baby

Here's a smile you should unwrap it"

US Tour Dates

The American Music Club will be playing the following delightful venues from April onwards

Wed 4/2/08 Independent San Francisco CA
Thu 4/3/08 Harlows Sacramento CA
Fri 4/4/08 Doug Fir Lounge Portland OR
Sat 4/5/08 Triple Door Seattle WA
Sun 4/6/08 Richards on Richards Vancouver BC
Mon 4/7/08 off
Tue 4/8/08 off
Wed 4/9/08 Aquarium Fargo ND
Thu 4/10/08 Turf Club St Paul MN
Fri 4/11/08 High Noon Saloon Madison WI
Sat 4/12/08 Schubas Tavern Chicago IL
Sun 4/13/08 Pike Room Pontiac MI
Mon 4/14/08 Cafe Bourbon Street Columbus OH
Tue 4/15/08 The Andy Warhol Museum Pittsburgh PA
Wed 4/16/08 Mohawk Place Buffalo NY
Thu 4/17/08 LEE’S PALACE TORONTO ON
Fri 4/18/08 Divan Orange Montreal Qc
Sat 4/19/08 off
Sun 4/20/08 off
Mon 4/21/08 SPACE Gallery Portland ME
Tue 4/22/08 Harper’s Ferry Allston MA
Wed 4/23/08 Iron Horse Muisic Hall Northampton MA
Thu 4/24/08 Cafe Nine New Haven CT
Fri 4/25/08 Johnny Brendas Philadelphia PA
Sat 4/26/08 Williamsburg Music Hall Brooklyn NY
Sun 4/27/08 Mercury Lounge New York NY
Mon 4/28/08 off
Tue 4/29/08 Iota Cafe Arlington VA
Wed 4/30/08 The Arts Center Carrboro NC
Thu 5/1/08 E.A.R.L. Atlanta GA
Fri 5/2/08 The End Nashville TN
Sat 5/3/08 Hi Tone Memphis TN
Sun 5/4/08 Randy Bacon Gallery Springfield MO
Mon 5/5/08 Record Bar Kansas City MO
Tue 5/6/08 Vaudeville Mews Des Moines IA
Wed 5/7/08 Waiting Room Omaha NE
Thu 5/8/08 offFri 5/9/08 Larimer Lounge Denver CO
Sat 5/10/08 Urban Lounge Salt Lake City UT
Sun 5/11/08 off
Mon 5/12/08 Rhythm Room Phoenix AZ
Tue 5/13/08 Plush Tucson AZ

The Golden Age - Microsite Live

There is a new microsite promoting the forthcoming album on line now.

"There is a few free downloads on here plus video interviews and three acoustic tracks. The tracks were recorded from Mark's home away fromhome at the world famous Columbia Hotel right here in the big smoke latelast year.

Check back on it in a few weeks as we will have more videos as they come in."

Each album track seems to have a video interview explaining the story behind it and there are even a couple of acoustic songs on there as well. Very professional looking.

First US Dates Appearing

The first dates of the US tour are starting to appear. So far we have

pm on April 12th - Chicago, Schubas

April 25th - Philadelphia, PA, Johnny Brenda's

Do you know of any more? If so, leave a comment.

Warm Up Show - Yesterday

The American Music Club played a warm up show for their European tour last night at the Tiax 321 Lounge in Los Angeles. No news of any reviews yet. If you went, drop us a comment.

Promo Video On-Line + iTunes Single

There is a short video interview with Mark Eitzel on-line here. It's called "All My Love" but features him talking about writing "All The Lost Souls" while playing "The Dance" in the background.

You can also get the single "Decibels and Little Pills" on line at iTunes. Just one track with no b-sides or anything.

The Golden Age - Review II

A few of the tracks on The Golden Age deserve a bit more of a detailed look than I gave them in my main review, so in the next couple of posts I intend to put that right.

The Dance
If ever there was a song that deserved a Tarrantino directed video then it is this one. A woman (possibly a hooker) meets a cop and it is love at first sight. They start dancing around the room together, the cop holding her in one hand and his gun in the other. All is lovely, "he is pulling out all his best moves, he is cool like Wonderbread" until his finger slips and "paints her face all red". The final verse implies that he manages to save his career. I don't know if this is based on any true stories?

All The Lost Souls ...
If you ask me, this should have been the first single. It is upbeat, catchy and all those things you want from a pop song. Alright, they are not a band renowned for upbeatbut it wouldn't hurt once in a while. Lyrically its one of those songs about San Francisco and its residents, "the lost souls". The town it seems that was "built on fire trucks" and "saints who are only holy when they sin" and "people are humming a Love Supreme". Marty who supposedly owns several of the bars on 22nd St (including the Make Out Room) is called upon to cheer him up and keep him happy. He spends his time at a bar "trying to keep the good times rolling, as they are almost gone".

The Decibels and Little Pills
Some people would call that a good night out, taking some drugs and going to "the big rock show", and I guess that is what this song is about. While in the past Mark would have been in the centre trying to lose himself, now he is writing about it from a distance. "He was sweet and so was she, and you needed love to fill the dark" describes his old partying mood but hilights the reason now. He admits that wearing a cowboy hat means that "you are tonights casualty" and sees the crowds of people whose eyes say "I don't want to know". The chorus goes "No one here is gonna save you" as if to say everyone else is here for the same reason as you, so don't go looking to them for answers.

Uncut Review The Golden Age

It seems that Uncut magazine has made the new album their album of the with a 4 star review There is a scan of the review here. According to the bands management

"There was supposed to be a 3 page feature in the same issue which explains why it was not covered in the review. It has now moved back to the next issue, it features interviews with Mark and Vudi.

Decibels and the Little Pills was "single of the week" this week on Shaun Keaveny's breakfast show for BBC6, Eitzel was briefly interviewed this morning on it which you can listen to here
http://www.bbc.co.uk/6music/shows/shaun_keaveny."

The Golden Age - Review

My copy of the new album turned up in the post this morning. Played it a few times during the day and Like it. The cover is the picture of the band in a boat (vudi is in the liferaft) and period costume. Due to the layout of the pic, Sean is on the front cover while the rest of the band is on the back. What is it with singers always hiding in group shots?

1. All My Love
Starts off with a bit of picked guitar that sounds like "Jenny" off "California" before turning into a gentle love song.
2. The John Berchman Victory Choir
Comes on sounding a bit like "The Horseshoe Wreath In Bloom" and is a nice little up tempo number. Possibly something to do with the uplifting effects of choral music.
3. The Decibels and the Little Pills

This one has been getting played on the radio so possibly the first single?

4. The Sleeping Beauty

This was one of the hilights on "Candy Ass". Presumably repeated here so it gets the attention it deserves. Quite a slow tune. Less obvious keyboards here.

5. The Stars

Quite a moody number with lots of Vudi feedback on guitar. The central image is of finding someone you know dead in the road. Again it has the California vibe to it.

6. All the Lost Souls Welcome You to San Francisco

Probably the most upbeat of the numbers on the album. Another one of Marks songs about San Francisco and the places and people found there. Gorgeous sing along chorus. Love the bit of trumpet in the middle.

7. Who You Are

Another of the more uplifting songs. Sounds a bit like one of the poppy bits from "San Francisco".

8. The Windows of the World

Supposedly written about meeting someone at the top of the World Trade Centre and getting high. Sounds a bit like "Myopic Books". It is more of a story than a proper song.

9. One Step Ahead

Another good pop song. More of Vudi on guitar.

10. The Dance

I would say another love song but I think someone dies towards the end.

11. I know That's Not Really You

Is this the first use of accordion on a Music Club track? It seems to be in 3/4 time and has a whole host of instruments on it.

12. On My Way

Weird one this. Sounds a bit like the lyrics were written for another tune or something. Central theme seems to be a boat journey somewhere. Also has Vudi wigging out a bit at the end. Most experimental of the bunch.

13. The Grand Duchess of San Francisco

I would guess this is about one of Marks San Francisco chums. No drums on this one, just guitar and keyboards.

Five of the songs have been around for a while now, and they are the ones that immediately stick in the mind. That's not dissing the others, it just means I haven't heard them enough yet. There is a nice selection of happy songs and sad songs here and enough imagery to keep the fans pondering its meaning. Is there another Kathleen song on there? Who knows. Stylistically I would put it between California and San Francisco. Nothing as country as Everclear or noisy as Mercury. There are a few twangs and guitar picks that remind me of California while its as well produced as San Francisco was.

New Poll - Best Solo Album

Merry new year to you all. If you look a little to the left of this you will see that there is a new Poll running on the blog to find out which of Marks solo albums are your favourites? I have narrowed it down to the ones that got proper releases on proper labels and have left out all the various tour CDs.

European Supports Announced

The support bands for the American Music Clubs European tour have been announced. According to Chris from Undertow ...

"The support on all the UK & Dutch dates is Bee and Flower as advertised
nationally. Check them out www.beeandflower.com
www.myspace.com/beeandflower It was originally going to be Paula
Frazier who they often back but due to pressing matters she had to
withdraw. Lisa Papineau of Big Sur will be doing many of the European
gigs http://www.lisapapineau.com

Dana from Bee and Flower may be known to some trainspotters as being a member of AMC for one show back in '94. The band decided to tour the US with Danny on guitar but after the first show he decided he preferred the bass. Dana had quit her university place and job for that tour so now she is out for blood some 14 years later."

New Mini-Documentary

As mentioned in the comments of a previous post there is a great little video about one of Mark Eitzels trips to Ireland here. It was done by a company called Areaman and is a behind the scenes look at the making of one of the TV appearance that you used to be ble to find on YouTube. Note, you need the latest version of Quicktime to play it and I couldn't get it working in IE7.

Anyone know why Mark is so popular in Ireland? He has played a lot of shows there recently.

Parker Bros X mess Spectacular

On Sunday December 23, 2007 Mark Eitzel will be appearing at the MakeOut Room in San Francisco as part of the The Parker Bros. Xmas Spectacle. It is a charity do in aid of the SF Food Bank and features ...

The Parker Brothers and their guests Beth Lisick and Ralph Carney, Mark Eitzel, Kelley Stoltz, Chris Von Sneidern, Tippy Canoe, Phil Crumar, Chuck Prophet and Stephanie Finch, Tom Armstrong, Corey Alan Porter, Eric Moffat, Brian and Sandra Mello, Marc Capelle, Pete Simonelli, and Spiral Stairs. Plus the comedic stylings of Johnny Megget and Chris Portfolio.

$15 at the door or $10 with 2 cans of food. Proceeds to benefit SF Food Bank...

Caught In A Trap ... - Review

The War Against Silence has an old review of "Caught In A Trap" that makes an interesting read. Yes, it is nearly ten years old (which is reealllly ancient in Blog years) but it has a nice analysis of some of the lyrics.

Golden Age Charts at #1

Well, sort of. The January issue of Uncut magazine (the one with John Lennon on the cover) lists the new album as #1 on "The Office Stereo", their list of what they have been listening to in the office. It is up there above both the Happy Mondays and Led Zeppelin.

Mark Eitzel on Loose Ends

Mark appeared on Loose Ends on Radio 4 this weekend. It was the Saturday 24 November 2007 show and can be heard here for a bit. Mark performs “The Dance” from the new album.

Mark Eitzel @ The Luminaire Vids

Thanks to Michael from the FireFly list for posting a couple of vids from Marks recent gig at the Luminaire in London on YouTube.

I've been a mess


Firefly

"All the Lost Souls Welcome you to San Francisco" MP3

A bit more audio from a different source. Over at Merge Records they have a posting on their News page that has a nice big picture of what I guess is the new album cover as well as a link to an MP3 of "All the Lost Souls Welcome you to San Francisco". It sounds great, but is rather lacking the "gay men's choir" he always said at gigs it should have. Perhaps the budget didn't stretch that far.

New Album On-Line? *Update*

According to a comment in one of my other posts ...

"The entire new album can be streamed at http://www.imeem.com/ (for free). This might be a mistake so might not be up for long -- sounds great! Not at all upbeat though like they said--sad, moody, and very AMC."

Had a quick look and couldn't see anything but then again I am not a member. Can anyone else see it?

**Update 1**
The whole album is here.


**Update**
Back to one track now. :(

First Review Of "The GoldenAge" Appears

Thanks to Michael on the FireFly list for pointing out that Uncut (home to many an Eitzel fan)have a blog about the new American Music Club album. According to this it sounds a bit like California.

Poll Results

I don't know if you noticed but there was a poll running down the left of the screen to see which was your favourite American Music Club album. well, it is over now and I can announce the results. The winners were (in reverse order)

3rd - California with 20% of the votes
2nd - Everclear with 26% of the votes
1st - Mercury with 35% of the votes

It's a bit of a surprise but Mercury was probably one of their most successful.