eMusic

Start Your Trial

The Invisible Man

by

Mark Eitzel

 
The Invisible Man

Rate it!

Avg: 4.0 (47 ratings)

  • We Say...

    The sad troubadour of San Francisco (and American Music Club) embraces electronics, and a kind of maturity, on this museful disc, whose highlight is the philosophical fantasia "Christian Science Reading Room."

  • They Say...

    Mark Eitzel seems to have had no problems writing songs since the breakup of American Music Club, but finding a musical setting for them that suits him as well as AMC's brooding folk-punk has proven to be a daunting task. After the neo-jazz of 60 Watt Silver Lining, the warm R.E.M.-ish pop of West, and the stark postmodern folk of Caught in a Trap..., Eitzel takes yet another left turn with The Invisible Man, his first album after a three-year layoff. This time out, Eitzel has built his arrangements around spare keyboard lines, atmospheric electronic samples, and percussion loops that blend with his voice and acoustic guitar to create an effect that suggest a more spare, organic version of Portishead, or a Jon Brion production that's stuck in a blue funk. But the new surroundings suit the songs quite well, and surprisingly enough, by Eitzel's standards The Invisible Man doesn't sound especially doomstruck. Anyone looking for his usual failed-romantic gloom will find plenty of it on songs like "Sleep," "Bitterness," and "Steve I Always Knew," the latter in a take markedly superior to that on the limited-edition Lover's Leap USA. But there's also a haunting wistfulness to the lovelorn "Anything" and "Without You,"; "Can You See" and "Seeing Eye Dog" are love songs that at least acknowledge the possibility of a functional relationship with wit and compassion; and the surreal humor of "Christian Science Reading Room" is a welcome reminder of how funny Eitzel can be when he feels like it. And the final track, "Proclaim Your Joy," is shocking in its good cheer -- it's a goofy Lou Reed-esque talking blues that winds into a rollicking singalong chorus that's the most life-affirming message Eitzel has offered to date. As a writer, Eitzel hasn't sounded this warm and approachable since American Music Club's California, and musically, this his most satisfying work since going solo; on all levels, The Invisible Man is an experiment that succeeds.

  • You Say...

    Write a Review

    I would like to say...

    Artist: Mark Eitzel

    Album: The Invisible Man

    Review Title: (maximum 50 characters)

    Your Review: (maximum 1,000 characters)

    Cancel

    Please keep your comments to the recordings themselves, and be courteous and respectful. Thanks! For further info, read our Community Guidelines.

The indie iTunes — Hardcore music fans are migrating to eMusic, the iTunes Music Store's cheaper, cooler cousin.


Rolling Stone
Start Your Trial

Recently Viewed

Back
Forward

© 1998-2009 eMusic.com Inc. eMusic and the eMusic logo are either registered trademarks or trademarks in the USA or other countries. All rights reserved.

All Music Guide © 1992 - 2009 All Media Guide, LLC
Portions of content provided by All Music Guide, a trademark of All Media Guide, LLC

Facebook®, YouTube, Flickr™ and Wikipedia® are registered trademarks of their respective owners, Facebook Inc., Google, Inc., Yahoo! Inc. and Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. Neither Facebook Inc., Google, Inc., Yahoo! Inc. nor Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. are partners or sponsors of eMusic. eMusic uses the Facebook, Flickr, YouTube and Wikipedia API but is not endorsed or certified by Facebook, Flickr, YouTube and Wikipedia. eMusic does not pre-screen, monitor, endorse nor assume any liability for websites, contents, products, services or claims made by Facebook, YouTube, Flickr™ and Wikipedia®.