The Magnetic Fields Return With Realism

Good news for lovers of cantankerous, hyperacusis-afflicted songwriters (also, just plain old good news): Stephin Merritt and his Magnetic Fields will be back with their eighth LP Realism on January 26th. This comes after a year that offered a particularly... CONTINUE READING THE MAGNETIC FIELDS RETURN WITH REALISM »

Posted on November 10, 2009 in Album Art (8 comments)
Tags: Grizzly Bear | Stephin Merritt | The Magnetic Fields

Peter Gabriel's Scratch My Back Features Arcade Fire, Radiohead, Bon Iver Covers

Peter Gabriel's first album in seven years is a Bob Ezrin-produced orchestral covers collection called Scratch My Back. It reportedly features reinterpretations of the folks mentioned above along with Elbow, the Kinks, Talking Heads, Lou Reed, David Bowie, and Neil... CONTINUE READING PETER GABRIEL'S SCRATCH MY BACK FEATURES ARCADE FIRE, RADIOHEAD, BON IVER COVERS»

69 Love Songs Turns 10

69 Love Songs was released September 7, 1999 by Merge. I was in school in Buffalo at the time and taking a break from music writing, so I was able to approach the collection entirely as a fan, which has... CONTINUE READING 69 LOVE SONGS TURNS 10»

Posted on September 8, 2009 (40 comments)
Tags: Stephin Merritt | The Flaming Lips | The Magnetic Fields

Robin Pecknold/Throw Me The Statue @ Neumos, Seattle 7/11/09

Saturday night was the closing to a week of benefits in support of the Vera Project, a "music and arts center run by and for youth," dubbed A Drink For The Kids and featuring Grand Hallway, Throw Me The Statue,... CONTINUE READING ROBIN PECKNOLD/THROW ME THE STATUE @ NEUMOS, SEATTLE 7/11/09»

Stephin Merritt Does Coraline, Promises Many More Musicals

Vanity Fair has pics and a preview of the Magnetic Fielder's adaptation of Neil Gaiman's creepy kid's book. Merritt says: "This is part of my plan to make 50 successful Hollywood musicals." Don't doubt it. ... CONTINUE READING STEPHIN MERRITT DOES CORALINE, PROMISES MANY MORE MUSICALS»

Posted on May 13, 2009 (1 comments)
Tags: Dirty Projectors | Stephin Merritt | The Magnetic Fields

Stream Shins, Bright Eyes, National Covering Merge Classics

Merge Records turns 20 this year and the celebration is well underway. Last week we told you about the five-day summer fest in North Carolina with Superchunk, Spoon, Conor Oberst, M. Ward, Destroyer, and others. If that's a party you... CONTINUE READING STREAM SHINS, BRIGHT EYES, NATIONAL COVERING MERGE CLASSICS»

Magnetic Fields Offer Their "Underwear" To Puma L.I.F.T.

From his "Wheels On The Car" to his Wrigley commercial that's impossible to find on-line, etc., the Magnetic Fields' crooner certainly isn't shy about writing jingles or allowing his songs to be transformed into them. See, for instance, this new... CONTINUE READING MAGNETIC FIELDS OFFER THEIR "UNDERWEAR" TO PUMA L.I.F.T.»

Posted on March 17, 2009 in Commercial Appeal, Video (6 comments)
Tags: Britta Phillips | Dean And Britta | Lady Gaga | Stephin Merritt | The Magnetic Fields

Stephin Merritt Goes Backstage With Other Music

These days live video is all the rage (well, that and nostalgia, repetitious festivals, and getting too excited about things that don't deserve it because you want to be "first"). But yeah, from Take-Aways to Black Cabs to P4K.tv, we... CONTINUE READING STEPHIN MERRITT GOES BACKSTAGE WITH OTHER MUSIC»

Posted on July 29, 2008 in Video (7 comments)
Tags: Stephin Merritt | The Magnetic Fields

The Magnetic Fields @ Town Hall, NYC 2/23/08

By Amrit Singh As with most Magnetic Fields albums, Distortion is organized around a singular concept. Unlike say 69 Love Songs (love songs, guess how many) or i (songs all beginning with the same letter, guess which one), though,... CONTINUE READING THE MAGNETIC FIELDS @ TOWN HALL, NYC 2/23/08»

Posted on February 25, 2008 in Concert (14 comments)
Tags: Stephin Merritt | The Magnetic Fields

Stephin Merritt On The Strokes, "Horrible Bitch" Scary Spice

Mr. Magnetic Fields is always good for a snarky quote or two (or yeah, oh yeah, three), especially when he's talking about folks other than himself. And we say this as huge fans of the man and his music (and the Fields' show at Town Hall this weekend -- post TK). He's actually fairly mellow in this Time Out New York interview, commenting on the Strokes' "Ask Me Anything" and the Boss's "Girls In Their Summer Clothes" and their Fields-y sounds: "I think they're lovely. I completely agree in the case of the Strokes. I think it sounds like a parody of me, done beautifully -- it's a great melody. [Springsteen's] 'Girls in Their Summer Clothes' is just a Phil Spector pastiche done in a style that resembles my Phil Spector pastiche." He's pissier about Scary Spice -- with good reason -- recounting a tale from when he himself was a writer for TONY and had problems with his cassette recorder while interviewing the Spice Girl: "Melanie B, Scary Spice, was an unbelievably horrible bitch about it. [In loud, obnoxious voice] Have you ever interviewed anybody before? Do I really have to sit and listen to you fiddle with your tape deck?"

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Posted on February 25, 2008 (5 comments)

Arcade Fire Cover The Magnetic Fields In Tokyo

No, they didn't cover this Mag Fields song, which is what we were first thinking when we heard about this. Still, this past Monday, Arcade Fire did get to give a nice little local shout out during their final night... CONTINUE READING ARCADE FIRE COVER THE MAGNETIC FIELDS IN TOKYO»

Posted on February 18, 2008 in MP3, Video (8 comments)
Tags: Arcade Fire | The Magnetic Fields

Stream The Magnetic Fields' Distortion

We've already mentioned how much we love Distortion and how obvious it is Stephin Merritt loves the Jesus & Mary Chain. Now you can listen to the entire record and decide for yourself. Though we know we're right.

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Posted on January 14, 2008 (3 comments)

Stephin Merritt Is Psycho For Psychocandy

Listening to the super duper Distortion -- which we've already prematurely sainted -- it's pretty clear Stephin Merritt likes the Jesus & Mary Chain and their rainy feedback. Listen no further than the a-clang backdrop of "Too Drunk To Dream,"... CONTINUE READING STEPHIN MERRITT IS PSYCHO FOR PSYCHOCANDY»

Posted on January 7, 2008 (39 comments)
Tags: Stephin Merritt | The Jesus And Mary Chain | The Magnetic Fields

New Magnetic Fields - "Too Drunk To Dream"

We already told you how much we love the blustery, lonesome, Jesus & Mary Chained Distortion and its confounding-in-pink artwork, so we wanted to pass along the link to an MP3 of "Too Drunk To Dream" -- which was highlighted... CONTINUE READING NEW MAGNETIC FIELDS - "TOO DRUNK TO DREAM"»

Posted on January 3, 2008 in MP3 (5 comments)
Tags: The Magnetic Fields

Premature Evaluation: The Magnetic Fields - Distortion

The Magnetic Fields can't be accused of false advertising in titling studio album eight Distortion: Each tune's wrapped in a fuzzy, clamoring shell, even when the feedbacking acoustic piano and guitar hum's relegated to deep in the background. Distortion's consistent... CONTINUE READING PREMATURE EVALUATION: THE MAGNETIC FIELDS - DISTORTION»

Posted on November 30, 2007 in MP3, Premature Evaluation (22 comments)
Tags: The Magnetic Fields

The Magnetic Fields' Distortion Album Art

Just started dipping into the Magnetic Fields' forthcoming Distortion, loving every second. A more in depth evaluation's sure to follow; in the meantime, chant along to the LP's surf-y lead track "Three-Way," and have a gander at Stephin's conception of... CONTINUE READING THE MAGNETIC FIELDS' DISTORTION ALBUM ART»

Posted on November 26, 2007 in Album Art (15 comments)
Tags: The Magnetic Fields

New Magnetic Fields - "Three-Way" (Stereogum Premiere)

Last we heard from Stephin Merritt, he was talking ABBA and speed writing for NPR, resulting in the gothy, somber, and pop-rific "The Man Of A Million Faces." Upping the pace some, "Three-Way," the opener from the Magnetic Fields's forthcoming... CONTINUE READING NEW MAGNETIC FIELDS - "THREE-WAY" (STEREOGUM PREMIERE)»

Posted on November 16, 2007 in MP3, Tour Dates (8 comments)
Tags: The Magnetic Fields

NPR Asks Stephin Merritt To Write A Song (Very Quickly), Hosts Carrie Brownstein's Blog

NPR's All Songs Considered has this new segment "Project Song" where a musician type's given 48 hours to write a tune based on the materials the Public Radio peeps provide. The first person selected, our favorite hangdog Stephin Merritt, kick... CONTINUE READING NPR ASKS STEPHIN MERRITT TO WRITE A SONG (VERY QUICKLY), HOSTS CARRIE BROWNSTEIN'S BLOG»

New Gothic Archies - The Tragic Treasury

It's been almost a decade since Stephin Merritt's last Gothic Archies album, but that's about to change thanks to Lemony Snicket. We haven't actually read Daniel Handler's Series Of Unfortunate Events books but, from what we gather, the author and... CONTINUE READING NEW GOTHIC ARCHIES - THE TRAGIC TREASURY»

Posted on September 27, 2006 (13 comments)
Tags: Stephin Merritt | The Gothic Archies | The Magnetic Fields

The Shins Cover Magnetic Fields

By request... The Shins - "Strange Powers (Live In Toronto 4/17/05)" (MP3) You can read Frank's review of that Kool Haus show at Chromewaves. While you're there, download another cool cover: Mountain Goats' acoustic take on "The Boys Are Back... CONTINUE READING THE SHINS COVER MAGNETIC FIELDS»

Posted on April 26, 2005 (7 comments)
Tags: The Magnetic Fields | The Mountain Goats | The Shins

Arcade Fire Become Eclectic, Cover Mag Fields

Montreal's big buzz band did a sweet set on KCRW's Morning Becomes Eclectic yesterday, reworking some of their more bombastic funereal anthems into gentle, chugging ballads. Highlights included a Magnetic Fields cover... The Arcade Fire - "Born On A Train"... CONTINUE READING ARCADE FIRE BECOME ECLECTIC, COVER MAG FIELDS»

Posted on January 18, 2005 (32 comments)
Tags: Arcade Fire | The Magnetic Fields

More Stephin Merrit Rock Reviews

"Rock That’s Oh So Stupid Yet Oh So Intelligent" By STEPHIN MERRITT The New York Times 5/16/04 DELAYS You can't tell a word Greg Gilbert is saying on this English band's debut album, "Faded Seaside Glamour" (Rough Trade), and you... CONTINUE READING MORE STEPHIN MERRIT ROCK REVIEWS»

Posted on May 16, 2004 (8 comments)
Tags: Billy Corgan | Morrissey | The Magnetic Fields | The Smiths | Tila Tequila