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A Brief History of the Magnetic Fields
Posted at 4:00 PM on January 15, 2008
by Mac Wilson
(40 Comments)
The Magnetic Fields are releasing a new album, Distortion, today; it also happens to be the Current's CD of the Week. Because the Magnetic Fields are one of my very favorite bands, I couldn't let the occasion of their first album in four years pass without saying a few words about the band and their history.
The band's brainchild and frontman is Stephin Merritt, a grouchy yet endearing misanthrope with a knack for wry, subversive songwriting. Before recently moving to Los Angeles, he wrote his material in coffee shops and recorded most of his music in his apartment in the Lower East Side of New York City. Fellow bandmates include vocalist Claudia Gonson, guitarist John Woo, and cellist Sam Davol; Merritt has also worked on numerous side projects over the years, including the Future Bible Heroes, the 6ths, and the Gothic Archies, in addition to penning several operas. Merritt draws from the classic pop songwriting school of Cole Porter and the Brill Building, while retaining contemporary rock touchings like synthesizers and feedback, often changing his sound from album to album. One of his primary goals is to establish a distinct concept for each new Magnetic Fields album, whether sonically, lyrically, or structurally.
The Magnetic Fields began in the early '90s as a duo between Merritt and vocalist Susan Anway. After two albums, Distant Plastic Trees and The Wayward Bus (the latter of which strove for a pop sound in the vein of the Crystals), Anway departed and Merritt took over vocal duties as well. The instrumentation of the band's mid-90s work was produced almost entirely on keyboards, stemming from Merritt's adoration for Human League-esque synth pop. The album themes ranged from traveling (Holiday), escape (Get Lost) and vampires (The Charm of the Highway Strip) -- these characterizations are given by Merritt himself in the 69 Love Songs liner notes. Some of the band's songs from this period also appeared in the Nickelodeon series The Adventures of Pete and Pete. As the decade drew to a close, some critics wondered whether the band would step beyond morose synth-pop. Merritt embarked on the conception and development of the most audacious project in pop music history - 69 Love Songs. The album was exactly what it said it was -- sixty-nine songs evenly spread over 3 CDs, approaching the love song from literally dozens of angles. The successful completion of the record was an accomplishment in itself, but even more amazing was the overall quality and diversity displayed over three hours. Some of the songs are goofy intermediaries (just like some of our relationships, let's admit it), but song after song displayed new insights into love -- and writing songs about love. Merritt employed numerous guest vocalists on 69 Love Songs, and the album was performed in its entirety (spread out over two nights) on several occasions. One interesting hallmark of the band's live shows was their almost entirely acoustic nature; the songs were performed with no rhythm section whatsoever. The band's album i was released in 2004, in which all songs began with the letter I and were sequenced in alphabetical order. The new record released today, Distortion, calls upon Merritt's love of the Jesus and Mary Chain and swathes all the songs in heavy feedback and distortion(!).
Most of the attention the Magnetic Fields have received have been for their album concepts and for Merritt's sardonic lyric-writing. He has never met a rhyme he didn't like, but a lot of what makes the songs endearing is their ability to make you chuckle or grown at first, but then to sit up and realize that there was actually a profound insight hidden in there. Perhaps the most common point of comparision is Jonathan Richman, and this brand of storytelling has been adopted lately by lyricists like Jens Lekman. Merritt is openly gay, and he has never been afraid to write from his own perspective on love: the lovers being beaten up in "Take Ecstasy with Me" just for holding hands, and the epic "I Thought You Were My Boyfriend", which is meticulously-constructed lyrically so that while the sentiments could apply to any breakup, the song itself specifically deals with male/male love. Merritt has also gained a reputation as being notoriously irrascible, responding coolly to just about anyone outside his inner circle of friends (just check out his appearance on the Atlanta FOX News affiliate to see the glaring contrast between him and the overly enthusiastic anchor).
There's a lot more, of course, but that's as concise a recap as I could hope to come up with. I'm obviously very excited for the new record, Distortion; maybe I'll check back in a week or so to see what I think.
Comments (40)
Nice work, Mac.
The Magnetic Fields are one of my favorite bands as well. I prefer 69 Love Songs and I to the earlier incarnations. I just prefer to hear Stephen Merritt sing. His voice is great, and yes, he never met a rhyme he didn’t like. My all time favorite is from “Nothing Matters When We’re Dancing”…. “be we in Paris or in Lansing, nothing matters when we’re dancing..” Brilliant!
Don’t forget that coming up we can enjoy 69 Love Songs Live on Valentine’s Day
at the Turf Club. I might have to mosey down for a little bit to see what our local artists can do with the songs.
I’m looking forward to hearing the new album. One could only hope they’d be touring behind it at some point. I would love to see them live.
I'm excited about the new album, too. I've always dug his baritone. It's a much needed antidote to all the yelp-rock out there.
Plus, it's The Current's CD of the Week!
He's the Stephen Sondheim of pop
LOVE TMF but can't get into this new one too much save for 2-3 songs... oh well.
also not too big on the newer female singer on here either, liked Claudia a lot more.
Thanks for the Mag Fields history lesson, Prof. Mac! I do so heart "69 Love Songs" and I Don't Believe You from I, but unlike Frick I also really enjoy "Plastic Trees" and "Wayward Bus" with Anway as lead vocalist. I can't help but be happy when listening to 100,000 Fireflies, despite the first line
"I have a mandolin
I play it all night long
It makes me want to kill myself".
Such is the charm of Merritt's songwriting ;-)
Awesome job Mac! You'll have to pick one of the 69 Love Songs for our Valentines Day show?
Our friends at NPR also like Stephin...
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=18114951
I'm really blown away by the song "California Girls" on the new album. I had one of those "whoa" moments when I heard it the first time.
yeah, that's definitely one of the great tracks for me too Jill
for some reason though i just gravitate more towards his earlier releases, specifically Holiday & The Charm of the Highway Strip. i enjoy about 1/2 or less of 69 Love Songs (which is still quite a feat), and would agree that "I Don't Believe You" (the single versoin anyway) is a fantaastic song, even if the album 'i' was hit or miss.
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