Independent songstress Eleni Mandell recently scored some commercial success due to a popular and controversial Carls Jr. commercial, featuring a scantily clad Paris Hilton (imagine that)….along with Eleni’s suped-up cover of "I Love Paris" by Cole Porter. You can now download it exclusively on itunes.
In this recent news story, Eleni says, "Well, I’ve been wondering for a long time when the hell it would happen and how," she says. "I certainly wouldn’t have guessed that it’d be a rock version of a jazz song sung for a hamburger. It’s somehow very apropos … or ironic. Maybe even both at once, if that’s possible."
Some of you know I’ve been a big fan of the Eleni. I first heard her through a CMJ magazine cd sampler, which featured the brilliant song "Pauline". I’ve been hooked ever since…
Eleni releases one or two records a year, and they are all fabulous, with the best, hippest producers and musicians. Stylistically, she is very eclectic, which I like of course, typically drawing comparisons to Tom Waits and PJ Harvey. Everything from avant folk, to pop rock, to torchy jazz, to old school country. She gets to do whatever she wants basically. And it’s really some of the best songwriting around. In June 2003, Eleni, along with the late great Elliott Smith, was voted Best Songwriter by LA Weekly. Cathy and I have trekked up to Chicago to see her a couple times, once at the Hideout and once at Gunther Murphy’s…each time an intimate show to a very lucky packed room of music lovers.
Here’s a list of the Eleni records I have in my collection. I love ’em all, but Snakebite and Wishbone are my top two favorites…
- Snakebite
- Wishbone (her debut)
- Thrill
- Country For True Lovers
- Maybe, Yes (EP)
- Afternoon
You can order these records through her website or through your local independent record store.
Anyway, since Eleni is in the national news, it’s a good excuse to salute a great independent artist that is making a living making exceptional music, doing it her way. Pretty cool.
100yearpicnic.com 
Leave a comment