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

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 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.

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
2. "Fucker" – 2:17
3. "My Beloved Monster" (Live from Tennessee) – 2:32
4. "Dog's Life" – 3:59
5. "Susan's Apartment" (E, Jim Jacobsen, and Jim Weatherly) – 3:29
6. "Manchester Girl" (Live on the BBC) – 3:21
7. "Flower" (Live on the BBC) – 3:17
8. "My Beloved Mad Monster Party" (Live on the BBC) – 2:33
9. "Animal" (E and Jim Lang) – 2:39
10. "Stepmother" – 2:51
11. "Everything's Gonna Be Cool This Christmas" – 2:51
12. "Your Lucky Day in Hell" (Michael Simpson remix) (E and Goldenberg) – 3:57
13. "Altar Boy" (Rickie Lee Jones) – 2:14
14. "Novocaine for the Soul" (The Moog Cookbook remix) (E and Goldenberg) – 3:10
15. "If I Was Your Girlfriend" (Live) (Prince) – 4:34
16. "Bad News" (Sally Dworsky and E) – 2:56
17. "Funeral Parlor" – 2:12
18. "Hospital Food" (Live on the BBC) (Butch, E, and Lang) – 3:24
19. "Open the Door" (BBC) (Linda Hopper and Ruthie Morris) – 3:04
20. "Birdgirl on a Cell Phone" – 3:08
21. "Vice President Fruitley" (Butch, E, and Lisa Germano) – 2:17
22. "My Beloved Monstrosity" – 2:13
23. "The Dark End of the Street" (Live) (Dan Penn and Chips Moman) – 2:35
24. "The Cheater's Guide to Your Heart" (Live) – 2:39
25. "Useless Trinkets" – 2:22

CD 2

1. "Mr. E's Beautiful Remix" (E and Simpson) – 2:54
2. "Souljacker part I" (Alternate version) (Butch, E, and Adam Siegel) – 3:04
3. "Dog Faced Boy" (Alternate version) (E and John Parish) – 2:54
4. "Jennifer Eccles" (Alan Clarke and Graham Nash) – 3:20
5. "Rotten World Blues" – 2:45
6. "Can't Help Falling in Love" (Luigi Creatore, Hugo Peretti, and George David Weiss) – 2:08
7. "Christmas Is Going to the Dogs" – 2:58
8. "Mighty Fine Blues" – 3:26
9. "Eyes Down" – 3:32
10. "Skywriting" – 2:07
11. "Taking a Bath in Rust" – 2:28
12. "Estranged Friends" (E and Koool G Murder) – 3:21
13. "Her" – 2:48
14. "Waltz of the Naked Clowns" – 2:47
15. "I Like Birds" (Live) – 2:36
16. "Sad Foot Sign" – 2:19
17. "Living Life" (Daniel Johnston) – 2:49
18. "The Bright Side" (Peter Buck and E) – 3:42
19. "After the Operation" – 1:55
20. "Jelly Dancers" (Bruce Haack and Esther Nelson) – 4:38
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
23. "I Want to Protect You" – 3:09
24. "I Put a Spell on You" (Live) (Screamin' Jay Hawkins) – 2:21
25. "Saw a UFO" – 4:37

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"

Origin of tracks

• 1:1 – Beautiful Freak German edition bonus disc & French "Rags to Rags" EP/single (both 1997)
• 1:2 and 1:3 – "Novocaine for the Soul" single (1996)
• 1:4 – Welcome to Woop Woop soundtrack (1998)
• 1:5 – "Your Lucky Day in Hell" single; "Beautiful Freak" single (1997)
• 1:6, 1:7, and 1:8 – Beautiful Freak German edition bonus disc (1997)
• 1:9 – "Rags to Rags" single (1996)
• 1:10 – "Susan's House" single (1997)
• 1:11 – "Cancer for the Cure" single (1998)
• 1:12 – Promo singles (1997 & 1998)
• 1:13 – "Your Lucky Day in Hell" single; "Beautiful Freak" single (1997)
• 1:14 – "Last Stop: This Town" single (1998)
• 1:15 – Previously unreleased
• 1:16 – The End of Violence soundtrack (1997)
• 1:17 – "Last Stop: This Town" single (1998)
• 1:18 – "Mr. E's Beautiful Blues" single (2000)
• 1:19 – "Flyswatter" single (2000)
• 1:20 – "Mr. E's Beautiful Blues" single (2000)
• 1:21 – "Flyswatter" single (2000)
• 1:22 – "Souljacker part I" single (2001)
• 1:23, 1:24 and 1:25 – Previously unreleased
• 2:1 – 22 Miles of Hard Road EP
• 2:2 and 2:3 – Previously unreleased
• 2:4 – Sing Hollies In Reverse tribute album (1995 - as E); "Souljacker part I" single (2001)
• 2:5 – 22 Miles of Hard Road/Rotten World Blues EP
• 2:6 – "Souljacker part I" single (2001)
• 2:7 – Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas soundtrack (2000)
• 2:8 and 2:9 – Holes soundtrack (2003)
• 2:10 and 2:11 – Levity soundtrack (2003)
• 2:12 – Previously unreleased
• 2:13 and 2:14 – "Saturday Morning" single (2003)
• 2:15 – Previously unreleased
• 2:16 – "Saturday Morning" single (2003)
• 2:17 – The Late Great Daniel Johnston: Discovered Covered (2004)
• 2:18 and 2:19 – "Hey Man (Now You're Really Living)" single (2005)
• 2:20 – Dimension Mix (2005)
• 2:21 and 2:22 – iTunes Store-edition of Eels with Strings: Live at Town Hall (2006)
• 2:23 – "I Want to Protect You" single (2006)
• 2:24 and 2:25 – Previously unreleased

Advertisement controversy

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

External links

• Eels page on the compilations