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ivan@stellysee.de
| From | shawn campbell <thursdayinjune@yahoo.com> |
| Subject | new Mag Fields = tasty! |
| Date | Fri, 25 Jan 2008 16:11:19 -0800 (PST) |
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Oh, why not an audities post? I'm sure one non-list
post every year or so won't kill me.
The new Magnetic Fields record, Distortion, is really
good. I was a Stephin Merritt lover from way back,
but the last Mag Fields album, I, was such a
disappointment that I started to lose interest (the
side projects and solo work didn't help much either --
always a few gems, but too much chaff -- to mix my
metaphors dreadfully).
This new one is being called Magnetic Fields' Jesus
and Mary Chain record by some, but that's really an
exaggeration. Instead, the album hearkens back to the
days before the genre exercises of 69 Love Songs, when
Merritt and Co. were just making fuzzy little indie
pop records. At different moments, Distortion is
reminiscent of Get Lost, The Charm of the Highway
Strip, and the best cuts from the first 6ths record
(I'm not opposed to ALL side projects).
Don't get me wrong, I loved about 49 of 69 Love Songs,
but Distortion reminds me of what I liked about
Magnetic Fields in the early days. It's a smart
record, but less arch and self-conscious than the
other recent releases, and it hangs together as a
complete work far better than other recent Merritt
projects.
--Shawn
P.S. the new Los Campesinos! full length is really
fun, but it would be far too much for me to write -
gasp - TWO reviews in one post. Maybe another day.
In the meantime, check out the band's "The
International Tweexcore Underground single." Nothing
but catchy pop and tongue-in-cheek (or perhaps
extremely honest) indie rock anti-namedropping ("I
never cared about Ian MacKaye!" "Amelia Fletcher
never meant anything to me!") there.
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