The Magnetic Fields Get Lost POLL

I voted for Famous but it wasn't easy.

Umbrellas!

"don't look away" was the first mp3 i ever downloaded!

still voting for "famous"

usually I'd vote umbrellas, but save a secret needs a vote.

need to relisten ... good excuse to unpack my CDs (a year later)

The rest of the album pales in significance...

Amazing record, maybe their best. Between "Famous," "Umbrellas," and "Save a Secret" for me. "Famous" is the one I like playing most, but there's so little IN it that maybe I can't vote for it. I mean, what's in it is perfect, but it's just a very small song. There's an argument for "Umbrellas" but no single piece of it is as good as

I can show you sadder poetry
than you ever dreamed there could be
I know all the saddest people
Most of them are dead now

(though I always heard that "dreamed" as "thought," which would be better)

So, "Save a Secret For the Moon."

there's something humanizing about the idea that dr morbius likes this record

Love Is Lighter Than Air 4EVA!!!! One of his very best.

"the dreaming moon", yo.

"Smoke and Mirrors" is probably my favorite Magnetic Fields song, so voting for that obviously. But "Umbrellas" is a close second.

village in the morning

Umbrellas/Famous/Old and Lonely for me, though it's all great. This and Holiday are my two favourite Merritt albums without doubt. Went with Umbrellas in the end (which I imagine will win by a mile).

Yeah, Holiday is pretty much unfuckwithable.

Love is Lighter Than Air by a mile!

"Smoke and Mirrors". Easy.

...or is it?

No, has to be "Smoke and Mirrors". Sorry "Umbrellas". Great album.

I think I have to go with The Desperate Things You Made Me Do. "...and I will be the chair you kick away..."

my favorite mag fields album. it's between umbrellas & all the desperate things (totally not getting enough love on this thread - "you don't even like anything you like" merritt at his caustic best) & save a secret, which takes it for me. but these are all gems.

Voted "Desperate". Haven't listened to this band in years but that was the song that made me a fan when I was a fan.

"Why I Cry", probably my 2nd favorite Merritt song ("All Dressed up In Dreams" is number one).

I like how there's at least like 10 correct choices. I hope every song gets a vote.

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

poor hmmmmm

haha i'll be ok. it was pretty close

Can't remember if I actually voted... wouldn't have made a difference in the result, anyway.

"the dreaming moon" might be his best album closer still

i love this album so much. my answer might be "why i cry" or "all the umbrellas in london"

or the desperate things you made me do

"you don't even like anything you like or the people you know"

and ya for sure the dreaming moon is his best closer. the closer of 69 love songs sucks. that album is frustrating--contains some of my favorite moments in pop music, and conceptually it should be the ulysses of pop--but there are a lot of false notes. (guess ulysses is like that too. weirdly, i could never get into the final chapter of ulysses which many say is their favorite)

molly's soliloquy is not the best part of ulysses but it's still great and also a breeze compared to the rest of the book idk

(i don't really think there's a single false note in ulysses though)

i don't think the soliloquy was a false note i was just disappointed it didn't make as big of an impact on me as some other sections, like hades or nausicaa

Umbrellas easy. Then 'Smoke and Mirrors'

"I don't know the stations' names/ I'll spend my life on this train"

the closer of 69 love songs sucks.

Nah, it ends perfectly!

that album is frustrating--contains some of my favorite moments in pop music, and conceptually it should be the ulysses of pop--but there are a lot of false notes.

Like what? It’s been a long time, but I think the only song I could ever do without is “Love in the Shadows”...

'how fucking romantic,' 'punk love,' 'love is like jazz,' 'underwear,' 'zebra,' others

'for we are the king of the boudoir.'

Most of those are fine/fun (and short — they’re little things which they break up the flow and keep the mood varied). I can get not liking “Punk Love” (maybe also “Love Is Like Jazz,” but even that has a kind of charm).

The moments of whimsy and varied moods (some of them silly) are a bit part of what makes such a long album “work,” IMO

This and the first 6ths album is his pop/synth peak. Everything after is exhausting/insufferable/indulgent/uneven.

the first 6ths album is one of the best albums ever made

While it may come as a shock, I wasn't born to love you
Though you've tried every trick known to Madison Avenue
I'll eat all chocolate fed to me, I'll ride in the park
But it's only fair to tell you you're whistling in the dark.

I can't remember anything you've ever said
You don't hold a candle to the movies in my head

brutal stuff. some madame bovary shit.

Time provides the rope, but love will tie the slipknot
And I will be the chair you kick away

yeah that song is amazing. i don't know why it didn't do better.

Because the production/sound/performance is dull and non-engaging?

IMO, his songs were undermined by all those choices until 69LS.

the droll delivery is what sells it though.

another chill song on this record is "smoke and mirrors." i love the effect of a japanese woman speaking over the track. feel like i've heard it elsewhere -- beautiful language vaguely conveying futurism

actually this exists on the first track of ashes to ashes too. that's probably what it reminds me of/why i like it.

First song on "Scary Monsters" does that, doesn't it?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vWTQ3vshLNY

Thanks to this thread, I went back to revisit this and earlier albums. Everything before this can be hit or miss (high highs and a handful of duff tracks) but "Get Lost" is absolutely perfect.

Next up will be "69 Love Songs" which, thanks to seeing it played over two nights in Somerville at the time, captured my heart. I don't recall a wasted moment, even the throw-away tunes.

I know all the saddest people
Most of them are dead now

Is his real personality as dour as his songs can be?

Yes. And he can be bristly/a dick.

The woman at the end of Smoke and Mirrors is speaking in French (although she could still be Japanese)

But speaking of that song, this is great:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QYERMDk9dTM

EBTG chose great covers

Thorn's cover of Femme Fatale from her first solo album is the definitive version

Because the production/sound/performance is dull and non-engaging?
― growing up in publix (morrisp), Saturday, September 22, 2018 4:45 PM

It seems like I'm the only one but I feel like it's the case for Get Lost and Holiday, they sound muddled, I hate the prod. I prefer my Magnetic Fields bright and indulgent and triumphant, so either 69LS or the two Susan Anways. I truly like The Charm of the Highway Strip, the songs are too good and the prod is closer to the first two (I guess they could also be accused of having a plastic prod, but it fits Merritt's art so much).

Is his real personality as dour as his songs can be?

I met him once, briefly, after a show. It was very strange - but a good kind of strange. I think.
After the show, all band members except for Stephin Merritt were walking back and fro from the stage to the backstage area. I spoke to Claudia and told her that I had proposed to my wife by singing her 'It's Only Time' (from 'i') and would like to speak to him. She then helped me out & got him over, while it was clear that he normally doesn't go out to meet with fans. I told him my story and thanked him for those words. He responded, "No - thank you!", while Claudia was pushing him, saying "Isn't it nice how people use that song for proposals?", trying to get more excitement out of him. He mostly nodded. Maybe smiled a little bit. Then left.

He's got an entire contingent/scene of booster friends/enablers pushing him and guiding him and backing him up and excusing him and helping him. I think otherwise he would just disappear. I have friends that cross paths with that group sometimes, and they say it gets pretty insufferable. "Oh, Stephin, will you look at this!" "Hey, Stephin, that's great!" "Ha ha, that's a good one, Stephin!" But by most accounts he's a pretty dour dude.

not everyone has to be nice

I didn't say -or think- that he wasn't nice. He was rather unusual, it was an odd experience, but I enjoyed that strange interaction and felt that his response was positive, in his own peculiar way.

i don't think he's mean or anything, just, yeah, unusual, or at least the kind of personality you would expect.

His in-studio appearance on the local radio station was one of the more awkward things I’ve ever heard.

“Was this particular moment in last night’s show by design or unintentional?”

“Well, I suppose every part of the show is unintentional, because if I had my choice it wouldn’t happen.”

“...”

I remember that he has stage fright and only began touring late in his career, so that helps put it into perspective, but yeah, talk about damping dark humor :)