I'm Going To Stop Pretending That I Didn't Break Your Heart

Greetings Ideological readers. Today's post has a very somber tone, as our beloved US men's hockey team was thwarted from attaining an improbable gold medal by none other than Sidney Crosby in overtime (and yes, those of us in Buffalo who follow hockey could have told you that he would be the one to beat Ryan Miller - we've seen it way too many times). We're still very proud of our team and its silver medal, but being rewarded for losing is never the way to go.

What better way to "celebrate" our collective melancholy than with a post about Mark Oliver Everett and the Eels. Unquestionably modern rock's greatest hopeless depressive, Everett has lived the life to back it all up. Check out his fantastic autobiography Things the Grandchildren Should Know for the full details of how absolutely fucked up his life has been - available from the official Eels website here.
He is truly an artist who has channeled his pain into great art. Sometimes, as with the Eels latest album - End Times, Everett takes depression to the extremes and ends up barely listenable. When he's on, though, his songs are achingly beautiful and, in paradoxical fashion, almost uplifting.
There's no bad place to start with the Eels. Their first "official" album (Everett put out two albums as E in the early 1990s), Beautiful Freak, almost became nothing more than a one hit wonder vehicle, as its first single, "Novocaine for the Soul" hit big. With time, the album was recognized as the quirky masterpiece that it is. Some find Electro-Shock Blues (written in the wake of his sister's suicide and mother's death from cancer) to be the "essential" Eels record, but 2000's Daisies of the Galaxy is better, for my money (not that you can go wrong with the Eels - all of their albums are solid). As outlined in this previous post from the Decade's Best List, With Strings: Live at Town Hall is another favorite of ours from the Eels catalogue, for its reworking of classic Eels tunes and perfectly-chosen covers.
For the uninitiated, here are some of our favorite Eels tracks in chronological order (links to tracks courtesy of Lala.com):
From Beautiful Freak:
"Spunky"
"Beautiful Freak"

From Electro-Shock Blues:
"Going to Your Funeral - Part I"

From Daisies of the Galaxy:
"Grace Kelly Blues"
"It's a Motherfucker"
"Wooden Nickles"
"Jeannie's Diary"

From Souljacker:
"Dog Faced Boy"
"Souljacker Pt. I"
"Bus Stop Boxer"

From Shootenanny!:
"Dirty Girl"
"Saturday Morning"

From Blinking Lights and Other Revelations:
"Blinking Lights (For Me)"
"Suicide Life"
"Railroad Man"
"I'm Going To Stop Pretending That I Didn't Break Your Heart"
"Hey Man (Now You're Really Living)"
"If You See Natalie"
"Losing Streak"

From With Strings: Live at Town Hall:
Screw it, you need to hear the whole thing: HERE

From Useless Trinkets:
"Fucker"
"Mr. E's Beautiful Blues (Remix)"
"My Beloved Mad Monster Party (BBC)"

From Hombre Lobo:
"That Look You Give That Guy"
"In My Dreams"

From End Times:
"End Times"
"Little Bird"

Sit back, relax, don't have any sharp objects nearby, and enjoy.
And, oh yeah, screw you, Sidney Crosby.