Useless Trinkets: B-Sides, Soundtracks, Rarities and Unreleased 1996–2006

Useless Trinkets: B-Sides, Soundtracks, Rarities and Unreleased 1996–2006
Compilation album by
Eels
ReleasedJanuary 15, 2008 (2008-01-15)
Recorded1996–2006
GenreIndie rock
Length149:11
LabelDreamWorks/Universal
ProducerE
Eels chronology
Blinking Lights and Other Revelations
(2005) 		Useless Trinkets: B-Sides, Soundtracks, Rarities and Unreleased 1996–2006
(2008) 		Hombre Lobo
(2009)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[1]
Crawdaddy!favorable[2]
Pitchfork Media5.5/10[3]
Tiny Mix Tapes[4]

Useless Trinkets: B-Sides, Soundtracks, Rarities and Unreleased 1996–2006 is a rarities compilation to celebrate the tenth anniversary of rock band Eels, featuring a live performance DVD from Lollapalooza 2006, behind-the-scenes photos, and commentary by lead singer Mark Oliver Everett.[5] It was released on January 15, 2008 in the United States and on January 21, 2008 in the United Kingdom, where it debuted on the UK Album Chart at #69.[citation needed]

It was released in conjunction with the greatest hits collection Meet the Eels: Essential Eels, Vol. 1 (1996–2006).

Track listing

CDs

All songs written by E, except where noted:

CD 1
  1. "Novocaine for the Soul" (Live from Hell) (E and Mark Goldenberg) – 3:18
    • Originally from "Rags to Rags" single (1997)
  2. "Fucker" – 2:17
    • Originally from "Novocaine for the Soul" single (1996)
  3. "My Beloved Monster" (Live from Tennessee) – 2:32
    • Originally from "Novocaine for the Soul" single
  4. "Dog's Life" – 3:59
    • Originally from Welcome to Woop Woop soundtrack (1998)
  5. "Susan's Apartment" (E, Jim Jacobsen, and Jim Weatherly) – 3:29
    • Originally from "Beautiful Freak" single (1997)
  6. "Manchester Girl" (Live on the BBC) – 3:21
  7. "Flower" (Live on the BBC) – 3:17
    • Originally from Beautiful Freak [Germany exclusive]
  8. "My Beloved Mad Monster Party" (Live on the BBC) – 2:33
    • Originally from Beautiful Freak [Germany exclusive]
  9. "Animal" (E and Jim Lang) – 2:39
    • Originally from "Rags to Rags" single (1996)
  10. "Stepmother" – 2:51
    • Originally from "Susan's House" single (1997)
  11. "Everything's Gonna Be Cool This Christmas" – 2:51
    • Originally from "Cancer for the Cure" single (1998)
  12. "Your Lucky Day in Hell" (Michael Simpson remix) (E and Goldenberg) – 3:57
    • Originally a Promotional single, released 1998
  13. "Altar Boy" (Rickie Lee Jones) – 2:14
    • Originally from "Beautiful Freak" single
  14. "Novocaine for the Soul" (The Moog Cookbook remix) (E and Goldenberg) – 3:10
    • Originally from "Last Stop: This Town" single (1998)
  15. "If I Was Your Girlfriend" (Live) (Prince) – 4:34
    • Previously unreleased
  16. "Bad News" (Sally Dworsky and E) – 2:56
    • Originally from The End of Violence soundtrack (1997)
  17. "Funeral Parlor" – 2:12
    • Originally from "Last Stop: This Town" single
  18. "Hospital Food" (Live on the BBC) (Butch, E, and Lang) – 3:24
    • Originally from "Mr. E's Beautiful Blues" single (2000)
  19. "Open the Door" (BBC) (Linda Hopper and Ruthie Morris) – 3:04
    • Originally from "Flyswatter" single (2000)
  20. "Birdgirl on a Cell Phone" – 3:08
    • Originally from "Mr. E's Beautiful Blues" single
  21. "Vice President Fruitley" (Butch, E, and Lisa Germano) – 2:17
    • Originally from "Flyswatter" single
  22. "My Beloved Monstrosity" – 2:13
    • Originally from "Souljacker part I" single (2001)
  23. "The Dark End of the Street" (Live) (Dan Penn and Chips Moman) – 2:35
    • Previously unreleased
  24. "The Cheater's Guide to Your Heart" (Live) – 2:39
    • Previously unreleased
  25. "Useless Trinkets" – 2:22
    • Previously unreleased
CD 2
  1. "Mr. E's Beautiful Remix" (E and Simpson) – 3:54
  2. "Souljacker part I" (Alternate version) (Butch, E, and Adam Siegel) – 3:04
    • Previously unreleased
  3. "Dog Faced Boy" (Alternate version) (E and John Parish) – 2:54
    • Previously unreleased
  4. "Jennifer Eccles" (Allan Clarke and Graham Nash) – 3:20
    • Originally from Sing Hollies in Reverse tribute album (1995 – as E) and "Souljacker part I" single (2001)
  5. "Rotten World Blues" – 2:45
  6. "Can't Help Falling in Love" (Luigi Creatore, Hugo Peretti, and George David Weiss) – 2:08
    • Originally from "Souljacker part I" single
  7. "Christmas Is Going to the Dogs" – 2:58
  8. "Mighty Fine Blues" – 3:26
  9. "Eyes Down" – 3:32
    • Originally from Holes soundtrack
  10. "Skywriting" – 2:07
  11. "Taking a Bath in Rust" – 2:28
    • Originally from Levity soundtrack
  12. "Estranged Friends" (E and Koool G Murder) – 3:21
    • Previously unreleased
  13. "Her" – 2:48
    • Originally from "Saturday Morning" single (2003)
  14. "Waltz of the Naked Clowns" – 2:47
    • Originally from "Saturday Morning" single
  15. "I Like Birds" (Live) – 2:36
    • Previously unreleased
  16. "Sad Foot Sign" – 2:19
    • Originally from "Saturday Morning" single
  17. "Living Life" (Daniel Johnston) – 2:49
  18. "The Bright Side" (Peter Buck and E) – 3:42
    • Originally from "Hey Man (Now You're Really Living)" single (2005)
  19. "After the Operation" – 1:55
    • Originally from "Hey Man (Now You're Really Living)" single
  20. "Jelly Dancers" (Bruce Haack and Esther Nelson) – 4:38
    • Originally from Dimension Mix compilation (2005)
  21. "I Could Never Take the Place of Your Man" (Live at Town Hall) (Prince) – 3:37
  22. "Mr. E's Beautiful Blues" (Live at Town Hall) (E and Simpson) – 3:04
    • Originally from Eels with Strings: Live at Town Hall (iTunes exclusive)
  23. "I Want to Protect You" – 3:09
    • Originally from "I Want to Protect You" single (2006)
  24. "I Put a Spell on You" (Live) (Screamin' Jay Hawkins) – 2:21
    • Previously unreleased
  25. "Saw a UFO" – 4:37
    • Previously unreleased

DVD

  1. "Saturday Morning"
  2. "Eyes Down"
  3. "My Beloved Monster"
  4. "From Which I Came/A Magic World"
  5. "Not Ready Yet"
  6. "Souljacker part I"

Eels attempted to run a one-second edit[6] of their seven-second ad[7] during the television broadcast of the 2008 Super Bowl to promote Useless Trinkets, but were denied by the National Football League.[8]

Lead singer E reported: "In the end we were told that the NFL would have to find 29 other advertisers to buy 1 second spots to fill a standard 30 second advertising slot and that they do not sell advertising time by the second. They also noted that a rapid fire 30 second segment of thirty 1 second commercials could cause people with certain medical conditions to have seizures and that it was against network regulations."[9]

References

  1. ^ Allmusic review
  2. ^ Crawdaddy! review
  3. ^ "Pitchfork Media review". Archived from the original on 2008-02-28. Retrieved 2008-03-02.
  4. ^ Tiny Mix Tapes review
  5. ^ Eels homepage
  6. ^ The one-second spot
  7. ^ The seven-second spot
  8. ^ Eels gatecrash Super Bowl
  9. ^ Eels' homepage accessed 2008-02-02