THE MAGNETIC FIELDS

'Magnetic Fields' is a band led by New York City singer-songwriter Stephin Merritt. Albums released by Merritt under the name "Magnetic Fields" usually consist of synth-pop music in a 1980s style underlying clever 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, all subsequent albums are principally sung by Merritt himself.
The band began as Merritt's studio project, 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 TT the Bear's Place in Boston, MA in 1991 where they played to a sparse audience expecting to see Galaxie 500 spinoff Magnetophone. The live performance sounded nothing like the recordings.
One of the group's most significant albums to date is the 1999 triple album ''69 Love Songs''. It showcased Merritt's songwriting abilities and the group's musicianship, demonstrated by the use of unorthodox instruments (including ukulele, banjo, accordion, cello, mandolin, flute, xylophone, and Marxophone, in addition to their usual setup of synthesizers, guitars, and effects). The album features vocalists Shirley Simms, Dudley Klute, LD 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".
Their 2004 album ''i'' continues Merritt's love of themed albums, with each of the 14 songs beginning with the letter (or, in the case of half the songs' titles, the pronoun) "I". The liner notes claim the album was made without synthesizers.
It was announced that the band is at the studio recording and that the new album is to be released through Nonesuch^[1] in early 2008.^[2]

Contents

Members

Discography

Albums

Singles

Trivia

References

See also

External links

Members

★ Stephin Merritt

★ Claudia Gonson – percussion/piano/vocals (and group manager)

★ Sam Davol – cello

★ John Woo – banjo/guitar
Past contributors include the singers Susan Anway, Dudley Klute, Shirley Simms, and LD Beghtol, as well as instrumentalists Daniel Handler and Chris Ewen.

Discography

Albums

★ '''Distant Plastic Trees'''
1991

★ '''The Wayward Bus'''
1992

★ '''The House of Tomorrow''' (EP)
1992

★ '''Holiday'''
1994

★ '''The Charm of the Highway Strip'''
1994

★ '''Get Lost'''
October 24, 1995

★ '''69 Love Songs'''
September 7, 1999

★ '''i'''
May 4, 2004
#152 (Billboard 200)

Singles

★ "100,000 Fireflies" (7")

★ "Long Vermont Roads" (7")

★ "All The Umbrellas In London" (7")

★ "Why I Cry" (7")

★ "I Don't Believe You" (7")

Trivia

★ The American Undercore band Deadsy covered the song "My Only Friend" for the soundtrack of Winter Passing That song talks about Billie Holliday and how she would understand the singer's heartache

★ Peter Gabriel covered the song "The Book of Love" for the soundtrack of Shall We Dance

★ Eva Longoria and Tony Parker danced to song "The Book of Love" at their wedding.

References

1. Assorted Appearances + Magnetic Fields Update
2. Quick Update: Magnetic Fields + Stephin Merritt

See also

★ The 6ths

★ The Gothic Archies

★ Future Bible Heroes

External links

★ The House of Tomorrow - The official site of Stephin Merritt, The Magnetic Fields, Future Bible Heroes, The 6ths, and The Gothic Archies