Stephin Merritt

Search: Busby Berkely Dreams Destroy: EVERYTHING ELSE EVER ASSOCIATED EVEN TANGENTIALLY WITH THIS MAN ARRRRGH.

Hope that's cleared that up.

Destroy : The Melanie track on "Hyacinths and Thistles"

destroy: "love is like jazz," "sugar world," "for we are the king of the boudoir," the mata hari line in "as you turn to go."

2. Agree about the Melanie track.

3. Never heard the Merritt 6ths tracks.

4. Ukulele? Or is it 'ukelele'?

destroy: "acoustic guitar"

I was having this conversation with Ned: had 69LS NOT been, erm, 69 songs and was instead a single album, would ANYONE give a damn? Judging by the "Oh, that's nice" basically-ignoring-them reaction to previous Merrit work by the mainstream press, I say no. You're welcome to have your own opinion, but if there was no gimmick to 69LS I really doubt it'd get the bloody rating it gets now. It's like the modern day White Album: ooh, but there's SO MANY TRACKS! Yes, but I think most of them are crap so what's the point?

Maybe Blur should try it. They might get rated.

Destroy: the idolators

I would refer you to my rant last year, but alas, the tanking of FT means it's currently somewhere in the ether. I will allow for "I Die: You Die," though.

And yeah, the destruction of New York sounds like a FANTASTIC idea and I'd flip the switch. I'd save my friends first, though, no reason they should suffer. ;-)

ned, i thought you mentioned in your rant that you hadn't even heard much sm, that you were attacking indie culture and its hero-worship. your sm-hostility is puzzling in that context.

"busby berkeley dreams" is a good choice though.

Destroy: Ned's attitude ;)

DESTROY: nothing, well maybe punk love.

2. No, 69LS is not only significant cos there are so many tracks. It's significant cos there are so many tracks and so many of them are outright death-defyingly wonderful.

3. Have never heard that Gary Numan cover. Probably don't want to.

4. It's nice that all these people like Get Lost, but I think it's a mix of the sublime and the dull. For 'Desperate Things' alone, worth the entrance fee, but there's that godawful slow one - track 6 or something - which is close to being a 'Destroy' candidate. In fact, 'You & Me and the Moon' is bland, too, and 'Save A Secret For the Moon' is only just redeemed by the line 'Write it on a black balloon', and 'The Village In The Morning' is average. Too much of it is too average, given his standards elsewhere. That said, I still think it beats the overrated Holiday on account of its high points.

This is pointless. I do apologize.

4. Nominating 'loads of 69LS' or whatever is unhelpful - it doesn't tell us what you don't like about 69LS, or why. Stevie T, for all his errors of judgement elsewhere, has surely made the definitive defence of the 'weak' tracks on 69LS, re. their part in a larger pattern which ought not to be disturbed.

Destroy: "Love Is Like Jazz", "It's a Crime", "For We Are The King Of The Boudoir", "I've Got New York", "The Dead Only Quickly", "Waltzing Me All The Way Home".

But do *you* want to be the one to tell ld?

The best other record to get is the single CD which collects the first two albums: Distant Plastic Trees (1989) / The Wayward Bus (1991). The first LP is somewhat experimental, the second LP more a pure pop-fest, but still underlaid with loads of strange noises that take some getting used to. The melodies are magnificent and astounding.

The later LPs are more patchy. Holiday, I think, is overrated: irritating production, average songs. The Charm of the Highway Strip is an electronic, inorganic version of country music which works extremely well but is a tad short. Get Lost mixes sublime songs with dull ones and is somewhat lusher in sound than the previous records. There was also a sort of ep, The House of Tomorrow, which has two corkers and three duller tracks (as far as I can remember). It's worth having but overpriced.

Then there are the other bands. I don't know much Future Bible Heroes: that's a kind of disco project as far as I can make out. I don't really know any Gothic Archies either: that's difficult goth rock as far as I can make out. The 6ths = Merritt songs sung by other singers, only a few of whom are really well-know. Both 6ths LPs are mixed bags but worth having. The first, Wasps' Nests, is a bit murky and samey (Tom E has said this elsewhere) but does kick off with three aboslute peaches: almost worth it for its opening track 'San Diego Zoo' alone. The 2nd 6ths LP, Hyacinths & Thistles, is a record of two halves: a load of really strong material on side 1, a load of disappointing throwaway camp nonsense on side 2 (plus one good song that should have been on side 1: then you could cut it in half and throw away the worse half, as I think Hamlet says of his mother's heart).

Lots of people are not interested in this stuff anyway, but if you are, I think the list of essential purchases should go:

69 Love Songs - The Wayward Bus / Distant Plastic Trees - The Charm of the Highway Strip - Get Lost - Holiday - Wasps' Nests - Hyacinths & Thistles - House of Tomorrow // then all the other records I don't know.

The rhino can wait. Start with the zebra.

But why?

Destroy : I find "Asleep & Dreaming" slight, but I haven't actually been exposed to too many universally-panned SM tracks (my SM exposure largely due to ILM & filesharing).

god, this was a while ago. we were all so innocent in our indiscriminate genocidal impulses.

Yet I still count myself among his supplicants

http://www.playbill.com/news/article/92694.html

BTW, am I the only one here who LOVES both the music and the concept of the Gothic Archies. Has anybody listened to the songs he did for Lemony Snicket?

pure spinal tap!

anyone who loves (especially Holiday-era) Magnetic Fields should check The Russian Futurists
Matt tends more to the swoony heartache side of Merritt than ironic detachment
but nails the humour too. you can get choked up just reading the lyric sheet...
"A Telegram From The Future" has a melody as aching as anything Brian Wilson wrote!

Magnetic Fields/The 6ths?
Search especially Holiday, Charm..., Get Lost, Wasp's Nests, loads of good songs on those albums
Destroy? don't like the more campy ironic stuff as much - he can get rather cutesy
he's stronger when subversively straight

Hmm? Closer to pure Frank Loesser. "Inchworm, inchworm / Measuring the marigolds..."

>was just thinking today he must know about ILM<

You sure? When he was on Merge he bristled hugely when anyone attempted to place him in an 'indie' genre.

http://www.wfmu.org/playlists/ML

Tune in Friday, May 12 from noon-3pm as guest DJ Stephin Merritt joins
Monica for a celebration of the song "Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah." My, oh my,
it'll be a wonderful day.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=15859351

'wielder of flails and maces'

Almost like watching the Foxgloves at work, save that he is a better lead guitarist; certainly a better one than I had imagined.

This is very cool. I hope they do more.

Is there a thread about this yet?

http://www.strangepowersfilm.com/

I'm kind of surprised Merritt would agree to do this, pleasantly surprised.

I gotta say the trailer looks kinda disappointing though.

hadnt ever heard this, its on the obscurities collection now, <3

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Or8IdHEuvGA

as overrated as outkast.

― gareth, Thursday, April 26, 2001 7:00 PM (10 years ago) Bookmark

lol

http://watching-tv.ew.com/2011/11/01/craig-ferguson-neil-gaiman-stephin-merritt-moby-halloween/

The obscurities collection is horrible, but I'm still wanting to see the documentary about Merritt. Anyone seen it?

Haven't, but it's on Netflix.

I saw its one local cinema screening last year. Was weirdly compromised by trying not to get too indepth for casual viewers, and assuming large parts of the narrative would be commonly known. Would have enjoyed a longer, more leisurely cut more.

http://watching-tv.ew.com/2011/11/01/craig-ferguson-neil-gaiman-stephin-merritt-moby-halloween/

― Dr Morbois de Bologne (Dr Morbius), Saturday, November 5, 2011 5:47 AM (4 hours ago) Bookmark

I loved this!!

I like the Obscurities collection! Some real gems on there.

The doc is good, gets to the essence of his persona and m.o.

The Obscurities collection is OK, it works if you're in the mood for a Merritt mixtape, but there's nothing essential on there.

this is the greatest magnetic fields song of all, t/f

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

Enjoyed the documentary very much.

Resented the description of the typical Magnetic Fields fan as being variously "from Brooklyn or Manhattan," "looking like they're from Brooklyn or Manhattan," "gay," or "young." I am none of these things. I also disliked how they glossed over I, which I think is a way underrated album (I know I'm in the minority here).

maybe this was descriptive of a 1995 vintage MF fan?

It took me a while to come around to I, which was kind of his breakthrough in Britain (bunch of Guardian/Observer features etc).

Glossed over? They really don't talk about any of the albums in depth, and only mention Distortion and 69 Love Songs in any sort of detail at all. I suppose like most docs it captures the man/band at a particular time and place, with bits and pieces of interesting bio stuff scattered throughout.

exactly, it wasn't aiming for a career survey.

I know. I just thought it seemed abrupt to be showing footage of the 69 Love Songs shows and then immediately cut to the recording of Distortion.

http://la.curbed.com/archives/2012/06/magnetic_fields_frontman_lists_pink_craftsman_in_hollywood.php

tonight on WFMU's Morricone Island (7pm EDT):

Tue. May 14th, 7pm - 8pm: Stephin Merritt
Stephin Merritt stops by to discuss his upcoming original live score for Tod Browning's 1925 silent film "The Unholy Three" starring Lon Chaney at Town Hall on May 18th, with accordionist/novelist Daniel Handler and violist Pinky Weitzman. In addition to releasing albums with The Magnetic Fields, The 6ths, The Gothic Archies and Future Bible Heroes, Merritt has composed for films "Pieces of April," "Eban and Charley" and "In The Courtyard" as well live scored the 1916 silent "20,000 Leagues Under the Sea" and Tod Browning's 1927 "The Unknown."

http://www.wfmu.org/playlists/PE