Mark Eitzel

Talkhouse Contributing Writer Mark Eitzel used to be certain that the aliens would listen in on his dreams where he wrote amazing pop songs. Then they would record them and release them illegally the next day. He used to listen bitterly to the radio for his stolen songs. He has many tragic flaws. You can follow him on Twitter here.

@MarkEitzel

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Bio

Mark Eitzel (born January 30, 1959) is best known as lead singer of the San Francisco band american music club. He was voted Rolling Stone's Songwriter of the Year in 1991. Eitzel's first solo album was the (now elusive) cassette-only 'Mean Mark Eitzel Gets Fat' (1982), which pre-dates his AMC work. He released a solo live album, songs of love live in 1991, featuring raw and emotional acoustic versions of his best AMC songs. His first solo album proper was 1996's 60 Watt Silver Lining, a highly personal, jazz-inflected work. He went on to release albums of varying styles and quality, including another difficult-to-find effort in Lover's Leap USA, produced as a tour-only CD and notable for including two songs which Eitzel's own sleeve notes instruct the listener to skip past. This was followed by 1997's West, a collaboration with REM's Peter Buck, and the stark and harrowing Caught in a Trap and I Can't Back Out 'Cause I Love You Too Much, Baby in 1998. 2001 saw him take a new electronic direction with The Invisible Man, followed in 2002 by two covers projects: Music for courage & confidence and The Ugly American, which included re-interpretations of American Music Club songs by Eitzel and a traditional Greek band! american music club reformed in 2003, and released an album, Love Songs for Patriots, as well as touring the United States and Europe. Eitzel released new solo material in 2005, candy ass, which saw a return to the electronic experimentation of the invisible man. A new AMC record, The Golden Age was released in February 2008. The Mark Eitzel discussion list Firefly can be found at http://mail.neurotica.com/mailman/listinfo/firefly Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.

Talks

Mark Eitzel (American Music Club) Talks Mercury Rev’s The Light in You

By Mark Eitzel | October 2, 2015

Mark Eitzel (American Music Club) Talks Mercury Rev’s The Light in You

Mercury Rev has made a very generous and personal record that is like a President's smile, a friend's yacht and a big European cathedral.

Mark Eitzel (American Music Club) Talks Jimi Goodwin’s Odludek

By Mark Eitzel | March 24, 2014

Mark Eitzel (American Music Club) Talks Jimi Goodwin’s Odludek

I can go on and on about songwriting and the coming end of our civilization (15 years from now). I have killed countless conversations with self...

Mark Eitzel (American Music Club) Talks Damien Jurado’s Brothers and Sisters of the Eternal Son

By Mark Eitzel | January 23, 2014

Mark Eitzel (American Music Club) Talks Damien Jurado’s Brothers and Sisters of the Eternal Son

Brothers and Sisters of the Eternal Son is a good name for a record that spins like a top shooting sparks. The production is enormous: lots...

Mark Eitzel (American Music Club) Talks Volcano Choir’s Repave

By Mark Eitzel | September 1, 2013

Mark Eitzel (American Music Club) Talks Volcano Choir’s Repave

In 2008 at a festival in Groningen, Holland, my bandmates got me stoned out of my mind in an effort to arrest my post-show angst. (I’m certain they...

Mark Eitzel (American Music Club) Talks David Lynch’s The Big Dream

By Mark Eitzel | July 16, 2013

Mark Eitzel (American Music Club) Talks David Lynch’s The Big Dream

I wanna love this because I love David Lynch, and if I could just relax for 40 minutes, dammit, I would. Music is purity and pleasure and those...