Video Documentary On-Line

Here is a nice little documentary about the American Music Club. I remember downloading and watching this years ago but it seems its available on YouTube now. I guess it's a promotional film from around the time of Mercury. It is worth watching just to hear Vudi say something.

Holiday Destinations

If you are looking for somewhere different to go on holiday this year then here are a few places to try.
Myopic Books.
This is a bookstore in Chicago where as legend has it the staff are "super skinny and they play Dinosaur Jr".
Mission Rock
"Lets have a drink at the Mission rock ...". Well, you won't be alone as its one of the more popular restaurants in San Francisco.
Sacre Coeur
Well worth a visit if you ever go to Paris. You get a lovely view of the city from there. Messiaen on the walkman is entirely optional.
Southend On Sea
One of the UKs finest holiday resorts. Not! Seems Mark had a really bad experience there judging by the song.
Hotel Utah
San Francisco venue where some of the live tracks on United Kingdom were recorded.
Make Out Room
Another venue song though this one never got officially released.
Bernal Heights
There was a "Memo from Bernal Heights" on the b-side of one of the Mercury singles.

Finally, from what I gather, the Mission District was once a dodgy part of San Francisco but is now its equivalent to Camden/Greenwich Village. Here is a nice tour round the area by Marc Capelle, the trumpet player on 60 Watt.

Have I missed anywhere?

A Couple Of New Live Dates

According to Rich on the FireFly mailing list, Mark Eitzel is playing the Handelsbeurs at Gent in Belgium on 14th September supporting Joan As Police Woman. After that Mark will be in the UK working on his play/musical and the only other show will be London's Luminaire on October 14th.

Everclear Review

Here is a nice review of Everclear. "It’s definitely the most emotional, sad, bittersweet, and depressingly beautiful album of all time ..." he says and we wouldn't disagree with that. The site is a music site called Mog which also has another member of note.

Anyone else out there want to review their favourite Mark Eitzel related album? Send them in and I will post the best.

Mark On German Radio Show : Update

It seems that on Sunday Radio Bremen broadcast a recording of one or Marks shows from earlier in the year. A quick translation of the page doesn't reveal any links to on-line versions so I guess we have missed it. Unless anyone out there recorded it? Anyone?

Update
it seem the show is available on Bittorrent. It's available at dimeadozen or hopefully at a good FTP site near you soon. Thanks to LargeHeartedBoy for pointing that out.

Message From Mark

As noted by Kyle on the Firefly mailing list, Mark has posted a message up on his MySpace page regarding the new incarnation of the band.


Message from Mark Eitzel


it has come to my attention that there is some major controversy
surrounding the 'new' band members of amc.

how do i say this... it was my and vudi's decision not to work with
tim and danny. i think they are great musicians and people but a lot
about making music has to do with enthusiasm. frankly they hadn't even
spoken to me for about 6 months before we decided to move on. there
was some money problem and tim would not return my calls. danny
disappears into the woods every once in a while and would not return
my calls. it was like pulling teeth.

vudi and i had started working on arrangements in la and he found
steve and sean to play bass and drums. the three of them made me feel
excited about making this record - and i kept thinking - this is a
great band.

we wanted to call this collection of people something else than amc
but i couldn't find anyone who would release the record with a new
name. we are known in some circles but not to the world at large and
the gesture of using a new name would have fallen flat. no one would
care if we didn't use a name they never heard of before.

i am sure that a lot of long time fans will resent this and to them i
am sorry - but - i wanted this record to be a 'band' record - not a
record that you have to edit together. i mean it is hard to have a
band that lives in different cities. i wanted vudi to be front and
center - not someone who flies up every other week to work. honestly
it killed me to make this decision.

the new album "the golden age" is intended to sound like a classic
amc record - much like 'california' and so far i am really proud. i
hope the fans will hold their noses and check it out.

love,

Mark

I think the gist is that he wanted to make a new album, the record companies said it had to be another American Music Club one otherwise it wouldn't sell so well. It seems he has "issues" with Danny and Tim and as Vudi lives in LA it seems sensible to move the "band" there. On the plus side the new album "The Golden Age" is supposed to be a return to the golden age of albums like California.

Do you think it matters what the new band is called or who is in it? Would you skip the new album just because it didn't have the original line up or will you but anything that comes out with Marks name on it? Let us know.

Tribute Videos

YouTube seems to be flooded with videos set to music by Mark and the Music Club. Most of them seem to be from a chap called Zenmac from Portugal.

If Zenmac gets in touch and explain why he chose the films he chose, then I will let you know. Anyway, here they are for you to watch and enjoy.

Western Skyline


Goodbye To Love


Faux Poney


Loves Humming


Revolving Door

Another California Review

Here is another review of the classic American Music Club album California. It seems to be the critics choice as it has a nice selection of sounds and lyrics to anlyse. Having said that, I was raised on the CD version which came with the "United Kingdom" album tacked on the end as bonus tracks. The two are merged into one for me. It's only now I have my iPod that I have separated them out. This review is by Tony Heyward at the HighwayFive music blog. Tony is a regular contributor to the FireFly mailing list.

Universal Audio Ad

If anyone was wondering what the story behind the video of Mark Eitzel extolling the virtues of the new DCS Remote Preamp are, then head over to here. It is an interview with him on the makers web site. He mentions the "MacArthur Park Music Club" and his favourite producers and engineers.

Details Of New AMC Album

FROM MARK EITZEL
June 20, 2007

American Music Club has a new line up.
Vudi - guitar
Sean Hoffman - bass - vocal
Steve Didelot - drum vocal
Mark Eitzel - guitar vocal

AMC moved from the Bay Area to Los Angeles. The original members Danny Pearson(bass) and Tim Mooney (drums) still work in San Francisco and perform in various bands. Danny is releasing a solo record by the end of the year. Mark and Vudi started working with Steve and Sean about a year ago. The chemistry was great and so they continued with the project and called it the MacArthur Park Music Club but this work eventually became the new AMC record.

Members of the band:
Vudi lives in LA, drives a city bus and also plays with the popular rock band Ariel Pink.

Sean Hoffman is a producer, commercial music maker, ex skate punk and plays all the shredding guitar that you enjoy whilst watching Fox Sports. He also plays guitar in a band called the Larks.

Steve Didelot is a songwriter, drummer, surfer, and a Mathematics teacher in the LA public schools system. He also plays in the Larks

Mark Eitzel still lives in San Francisco, loves the Bay Area but spends a lot of time in Los Angeles. He says he 'loves all the trees' and says Los Angeles is "so "triumph of the will"'.

The new album:
Tentatively called MacArthur Park because Vudi lives in that neighborhood and because we all enjoy the original song by Jimmy Webb. It will be produced by expert producer Dave Trumfio at his studio called King Size. We are very excited by this....

The overall sound is lighter than on previous AMC recordings. Of course there are many reasons why. 1) AMC refutes the label of 'Emo Pioneers'. For the record they hate Emo and have never been on the soundtrack for any W.B. network show. (yet) 2) Dark music is for people who are healthy enough to take it - and AMC want to appeal to all people - including the sick. 3) Mark Eitzel comments: "What will my neighbours in my retirement community think? How will I charm the nurse that tends to me? I want to fill my mouth with sugar and spit it on everyone when I talk. I want to cover the world with chocolate cake icing."

Yes there is a song about the World Trade Center. But such controversy is nothing new for this 'Right On' political band. Sean (bass) is a right leaning liberal texan who hates NPR and is the proud owner of a Segway. Vudi (guitar) dreams of an imperialist world of powdered wigs and waltz's in ballrooms. Mark (vocals) is a gay communist who once wrote an article: 'How Secure Will Your House Be During The Apocalypse'. Steve (drums) is a Christian activist who only plays in this band because the end times are upon us and what the fuck.
Plans.

The new album should be released in early 2008. When the ice and snow is thick and heavy. When your winter depression finally kicks in. No Christmas or New Years to look forward to - just the iron grip of the cold and the bleak endless news reports on the death we bring to the middle east and to ourselves. Perfect. Merge did much market research and focus group after focus group said this would be the perfect time to release our new record. Of course it will be. After that we tour and bring our own version of American Freedom to a waiting and willing world.

Kiki & Herb: Alive from Broadway

A show called Kiki & Herb : Alive from Broadway is currently playing in Boston. It is a cabaret type thing and features amongst many pop tunes a version of "Patriots Heart". It runs through to the 30th June and you can read a review here. The mind boggles but having seen their MySpace page it sort of makes sense.

Updated: Guest Appearances

Down the side now you will see that I have added a list of compilations and guest appearances that Mark Eitzel has made over the years. I have included links to the tracks, the CD or (in some cases) the only references I can find. There are still a few more to add but there are a few mentioned there I haven't seen anywhere else. The Mitchell Froom one sounds interesting from the two words you get in the sample clip.

• Cane 141 - New Day Parade EP
• Congo Norvell - Abnormal Anonymous
• Mitchell Froom - Dopamine
• Pine Valley Cosmonauts - The Executioner's Last Songs: Volumes 2 & 3
• Sonny Smith - One Act Plays
• The Shallows - Crooked Rain
• Toiling Midgets - Son
• Tuatara - East Of The Sun
• V/A - Acuarela Songs
• V/A - Clubbo Sampler Vol. 1
• V/A - Comes With A Smile #8,#12 & #16
• V/A - Esopus Magazine 1
• V/A - New Sounds of the Old West Vol.3
• V/A - No Alternative
• V/A - Offbeat A Red Hot Soundtrip
• V/A - Shanti Project Collection 2
• V/A - Sigmatropic : Sixteen Haiku and Other Stories
• V/A - You Can Never Go Fast Enough
• Virgil Shaw - Still Falling

Have I missed any others?

Heart And Soul Video

Here is a another clip from the recent tour of Mark Eitzel performing Joy Division's 'Heart and Soul' live at Edinburgh Cabaret Voltaire. The video doesn't quite make it to the end of the song but you get most of it. Thanks to the Perspective blog for this one.

American Beauty Recording

There is a recording of the Grateful Dead tribute show that took place back in Jan in New York. I only menton it as Mark Eitzel took part covering "Friend Of The Devil". He is on track 2.

KCRW Radio Sessions

It seems there is a nice archive of Mark eitzel and American Music Club related stuff here at the website for the KCRW radio station. There are interviews and songs from "60 Watt", "West" and "Patriots". I believe Mark as already released one of these as a CD.

Obscure Compilations

Seems there are a couple of obscure CDs out there with Mark Eitzel contributions that I had never heard of before. First is "Dopamine" by Mitchell Froom. Mark contributes the track "Watery Eyes". Second is something called "One Act Plays" by Sonny Smith. I can't find much trace of it on the net anywhere but he is a fellow performer from San Francisco and chums with Mark. Supposedly it is 10 one act plays written for his friends in the form of songs.

Video from Loppen

The tour may be over for Mark Eitzel but the videos keep coming in. Here is one from Loppen where "Johnny Mathis' Feet" get rewritten as "Robbie Willams Feet".

Norwich Review

There is a review of Marks gig in Norwich on the BBC web site.

Couple More Videos

Lets see. Today we have the original promo video for Rise. It features a relatively young and clean shaven looking Mark Eitzel.



and then a couple more live clips of the American Music Club.

A shot of the back of the band ?!?!


Jesus' Hands


I thought I had had a lot of hits recently. That is probably something to do with the mention over at indiefolkforever, a lovely blog about all things indie/alternative.

Musical Differences???

In shock news it seems that the American Music Club are down to a duo consisting of Mark Eitzel and Vudi. The official word is that the band will be based in LA from now on and as Danny (Pearson) and Tim (Mooney?) have families they won't be able to make the commute from SF. Presumably Vudi has given up his job on the bus' to go full time now.

However, the unofficial word in a posting from Danny on the Firefly mailing list is that;

"tim and i never left amc, we were not invited to continue! I WOULD JUST LIKE IT ON THE RECORD THAT I HAD NEVER THOUGHT OF NOT PLAYING IN AMC, I DID NOT QUIT. danny pearson"

So there you go. It cold be San Francisco all over again. For me Danny has always been as much of the Club as Vudi or Mark.