The Magnetic Fields - i
I make no secret of the fact that I think Stephin Merritt of The Magnetic Fields is a song-writing genius, and this new album hasn’t altered that opinion at all. He has a lugubrious baritone voice that renders his wonderful lyrics as wistful or deadpan hilarious as appropriate. He reminds me a lot of Noel Coward or Morrissey, with the same quicksilver turn of phrase or quirky rhyme.
‘I Thought You Were My Boyfriend’ is a sad, bitter little song about a breaking up:
The joke’s on me againI know you don’t love meYou know I don’t careKeep it hidden betterDid I say the world was fair?
My favourite so far (after a few listens) is ‘I Wish I Had an Evil Twin’:
My evil twin would lie and stealAnd he would stink of sex appealAll men would writheBeneath his scytheHe’d send the pretty ones to meAnd they would think that I was he
Put those great lyrics together with catchy, bouncy tunes and you’ve got an album that sticks in your mind tenaciously.
1
Wow - I've never read that far back in your archives to know you were also a fan of the 69 Love Songs triple CD. It's one of my favourites. Thanks for posting about the new album; I'll be sure to get my hands on a copy of that as soon as I can!----- The magnetic fields are one of those bands I feel I should know better, but don't have anything by.
There was a phase, a couple of years ago, when a) lots of people kept sending me mix tapes and CDs b) all of them seemed to have either Yeah, Oh Yeah or Love Is Like A Bottle of Gin on them.
by Caitlin @ 23/05/2004 10:05 am • Permalink •
2
David (TEFL Smiler): It's greatâI'm sure you'd like it.
Caitlin: They really are well worth checking out.
by bsag @ 23/05/2004 10:06 am • Permalink •
3
Have you heard Mary Lou Lord's cover of I Don't Want to Get Over You ? If not, it's on the Live City Sounds album and it's top notch.
by David @ 25/05/2004 7:06 am • Permalink •
4
There's a great interview with Stephin in this week's ONION -- http://www.theonionavclub.com/feature/index.php?issue=4021
by neil @ 27/05/2004 7:06 pm • Permalink •
5
[...] check out this interview of Stephin Merrit at The Onion, which I got from the comments at bsag.
Comments » [...]
by biology | tech > geek » The Magnetic Fields-i @ 13/06/2004 5:06 am • Permalink •
Page 1 of 1 pages