Mark Eitzel

Mark Eitzel曾是美國音樂俱樂部樂隊The American Music Club的靈魂，Mark Eitzel性格古怪，恃有一種頗為陰郁、孤獨(dú)的生活理念，但是性格上的缺陷不能掩飾他在音樂上的才華。這位沮喪的創(chuàng)作者制造出一種脆弱而痛苦的音樂氛圍，適合同樣沮喪的人在夜晚靜靜傾聽。樂隊的作品多數(shù)以悲傷的情緒作為主題，但Mark Eitzel堅韌、不肯屈服的一面在其中也有體現(xiàn)。1991年推出的專輯Everclear是樂隊的巔峰之作，博得了評論界的一片喝彩，并被《滾石》雜志評為年度最佳搖滾專輯。之后，樂隊也推出了不少精彩的作品。
by Jason Ankeny
As both a solo artist and the frontman for enduring cult favorites American Music Club, Mark Eitzel established himself among the truly powerful forces in contemporary music; a hauntingly evocative singer, he earned even greater notoriety for his brilliance as a composer, combining the energy of punk, the pastoral beauty of folk, and the melodrama of lounge music to build one of the most impressive and darkly poetic bodies of songs in the modern pop canon. Born January 30, 1959 in Walnut Creek, CA, Eitzels military upbringing led him everywhere from Great Britain to Columbus, OH; as a teen, he became a born-again Christian, but at the age of 16, he rejected religion in favor of alcohol, his love/hate relationship with the bottle going on to fuel much of his subsquent work as a performer. Inspired by punk, he eventually formed his own group, the Naked Skinnies, and with them relocated to San Francisco in 1980; there the band quickly dissolved, and three years later he formed American Music Club.
AMCs 12-year existence was tumultuous, to say the least; Eitzel, prone to facing his demons while onstage, earned a notorious reputation as a loose cannon, and despite the lavish critical praise heaped on albums like 1991s Everclear and 1993s Mercury, the group never rose beyond a fierce cult following. Eitzel quit the band on numerous occasions, once joining another Bay Area group, the Toiling Midgets; in 1991, while still fronting American Music Club, he issued his solo debut, Songs of Love, a live acoustic set recorded in London (British audiences being much more receptive to his music than their American counterparts). A subsequent solo single on Matador, the lovely Take Courage, increased rumors of the bands impending breakup, but they did not truly implode until after the release of 1994s San Francisco. At that point, Eitzel began pursuing his solo career in earnest, debuting in 1996 with the jazzy 60 Watt Silver Lining. Eitzels subsequent solo career soon found him following a wildly eclectic path. In 1997, Eitzel teamed up with R.E.M. guitarist Peter Buck, and in a matter of days they wrote and recorded West, which matched Eitzels verse with Bucks intelligent and engaging pop melodies. His next album, 1998s Caught In A Trap And I Cant Back Out Cause I Love You Too Much, Baby, was an unusually stark and downbeat affair, recorded in part with the assistance of Steve Shelley of Sonic Youth and James McNew from Yo La Tengo. Eitzel next embraced both pop and electronics with 2001s The Invisible Man, and in 2002 he recorded two albums of covers - a tribute to the work of other songwriters on Music for Courage and Confidence, and a look back at his own songs for American Music Club as performed with a group of Greek folk musicians on The Ugly American. A new album of solo material called Candy Ass was released on the Cooking Vinyl label in 2005.