The Magnetic Fields

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For other uses, see Magnetic field (disambiguation).
The Magnetic Fields

Magnetic Fields. From left to right: John Woo, Sam Davol, Claudia Gonson, Stephin Merritt.
Background information
Origin Boston, Massachusetts, USA
Genres Indie pop
Years active 1989 – present
Labels Feel Good All Over
Merge Records
Nonesuch Records
Associated acts The 6ths, The Gothic Archies, Future Bible Heroes
Website Official website
Members
Stephin Merritt
Claudia Gonson
Sam Davol
John Woo
Former members
Susan Anway

The Magnetic Fields is a band led by singer-songwriter Stephin Merritt. Albums released by Merritt under the name "Magnetic Fields" often make extensive use of synthesizers underlying lyrics, often about love, that are by turns ironic, bitter, and humorous. While The Wayward Bus and Distant Plastic Trees (now available together as a compilation) are sung by Susan Anway, later albums were principally sung by Merritt himself (though Shirley Simms handles about half of the vocal duties on Distortion).


Contents

[edit] History

The band began as Merritt's studio project, under the name Buffalo Rome[1], with him playing all instruments. With the help of friend Claudia Gonson, who had played in Merritt's band The Zinnias during high school, a live band was assembled in Boston, where Merritt and Gonson lived, to play Merritt's compositions. The band's first live performance was at T.T. the Bear's Place in Cambridge, Massachusetts, in 1991 where they played to a sparse audience that was expecting to see Galaxie 500 spin-off Magnetophone.

One of the group's most significant albums to date is its 1999 triple album 69 Love Songs. It showcased Merritt's songwriting abilities and the group's musicianship, demonstrated by the use of such unorthodox instruments as ukulele, banjo, accordion, cello, mandolin, flute, xylophone, and Marxophone, in addition to their usual setting of synthesizers, guitars, and effects. The album features vocalists Shirley Simms, Dudley Klute, L.D. Beghtol, and Gonson, each of whom sings lead on six songs as well as various backing vocals, plus Daniel Handler (A.K.A. Lemony Snicket) on accordion, and longtime collaborator Christopher Ewen (of Future Bible Heroes) as guest arranger/synthesist. Violinist Ida Pearle makes a brief cameo on "Luckiest Guy on the Lower East Side."

The band's recent albums, i (2004) and Distortion (2008), both followed the album theme structure of 69 Love Songs: The song titles on i begin with the letter (or, in the case of half the songs' titles, the pronoun) "I", whilst Distortion was an experiment in combining noise music with their typically unconventional musical approach. The liner notes claim the album was made without synthesizers. According to an article: "To celebrate the release of Distortion, Merritt and The Magnetic Fields played mini-residencies in cities around the country, culminating with six shows at Chicago's Old Town School of Folk Music." [2]

Merritt recently announced he was working on a new Magnetic Fields album, and that it would be the third in the "no-synth" trilogy (following i and Distortion)[3]. This album will be called Realism and will be released on January 26, 2010.[4]


[edit] Members

Past and current contributors include singers Susan Anway, Dudley Klute, Shirley Simms, Momus, and LD_Beghtol, as well as instrumentalists Daniel Handler and Chris Ewen.

[edit] Selected discography

Main article: The Magnetic Fields discography

[edit] References

  1. ^ LD Beghtol, 69 Love Songs, A Field Guide (Continuum, 2006), p. 135
  2. ^ http://www.theredalert.com/features/magneticfields.php
  3. ^ Baron, Zach. "Interview: Stephin Merritt", The Village Voice, October 1, 2008.
  4. ^ http://pitchfork.com/news/37079-magnetic-fields-announce-new-album/


[edit] External links

v • d • e
Stephin Merritt
The Magnetic Fields
The Gothic Archies
The 6ths
Future Bible Heroes
Soundtracks
Related articles
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