Search - Magnetic Fields :: 69 Love Songs

Quantity and Quality in one epic package

Alex Junaid | Denver, CO | 02/13/2004

(4 out of 5 stars)

"I suspect a certain worldview is required to fully enjoy this album, the major component of which is an almost preternatural attraction to the weird and excessive. Fortunately I have that in spades, so when a drunken friend (in whose tastes I have great faith - he reccomended Pulp and Six Feet Under, after all) mentioned this doozy, I was intrigued enough to go out and buy it.First of all, this album achieves two reasonably important things: it delivers exactly what it promises, and it does so with an almost frightening consistency. Any album with just shy of three full hours of music is bound to have some filler, but there's almost nothing here that doesn't work on at least some level, and a good third of the songs are actually great. That's more than some bands achieve in an entire career. Musically speaking, this is a low-fi, indie pop album (read: it sounds like it was recorded in a basement - and that's a virtue). That said, it runs the gamut. 'Fido, Your Leash is Too Long' is an odd, synth-drenched, funky jam; 'A Chicken With Its Head Cut Off' is a sweet and lowdown number that draws on classic country influences; 'My Sentimental Melody' sounds like something They Might Be Giants would record in one of their softer moments (at least to me), 'Absolutely Cuckoo' is a four-part harmony vocal dubbed over a ukelele - and that's just a scratch on the surface of disc one. From a lyrical point of view, these are all love songs, true. But love is a many splendored thing, isn't it? There are happy love songs ('Papa Was a Rodeo', for example, seems to expect rejection until it finds a shared experience), sad love songs ('I Don't Believe in the Sun' asks why everyone else seems happy when it's miserable after the loss of a lover), abstract, emotional love songs ('The Book of Love' is a rumination on the nature of the emotion itself), lustful leerings ('Underwear' claims there's nothing better than either sex in their ... well, underwear), etcetera, etcetera. To dissect every song would take a very LONG time, but you get the idea.While each song has the same identifying overall aesthetic, a distinct variety is well achieved. It's this diversity that gives the album it's part of it's substantial appeal. Part of the joy of listening to this is just hearing each unique point of view back to back, trying to expect what's going to come next.Stephen Merritt covers all this in a pleasant, ever-so-slightly slurred croon and with a pervasive sense of wry, somewhat self-depricating humor. The other vocalists all do a good turn when they come around, which happens often enough, but Merritt is the driving force, and he carries the project.So, conclusions: I watch a lot of tv, and I listen to a lot of music. The former has miniaturized my attention span to that of a hyperactive squirrel and the latter has made me that much harder to impress. Yet I was not only able to sit down and listen to this entire album in one sitting, I was singing along (or trying to) by the second song on disc one. While it's true that this may not sit quite as comfortably on someone else's palate, odds are if you like pop music at all, you'll find at least a handful of tracks you'll like. And that's kind of the point - there's something for everyone. It's worth paying the price even if you end up distilling it down to one mixtape after a few listens. By the way, this record can be purchased as three seperate discs, but I'd go ahead and get the box - the cumulative cost is about the same, and with the box you get a..um..box to keep the jewel cases in as well as an extensive booklet in which Merritt is interviewed about each song.Overall, an immense artistic statement that succeeds incredibly well given it's mass. 9/10, or 4.5/5"

MERRITT IS GOD

Greg Cleary | Marquette, MI United States | 04/09/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"In the Sixties, people used to sometimes write "Clapton is God" on the sides of buildings, so let me be the first to write "Merritt is God." (Though I wouldn't be surprised if somebody beat me to it.) The sheer number of great songs in this collection is staggering. After getting used to each volume separately, I now typically listen to the entire collection in sequence, setting aside three hours for the experience. It's amazing how consistently high the quality is here. There are only three songs I hate--"Punk Love," "Love Is Like Jazz," and "Promises of Eternity"--and Merritt has gotten so far into my head that I wonder if the first two, at least, were intentionally designed to be hated. The theme of this album is diversity, after all, and how could a 69 song collection be diverse if you liked every song? Merritt and his merry band of guest vocalists (24 songs are not sung by him) mix images of joy, sorrow, male, female, gay, straight, lust, true love, and just about anything else you can think of that has to do with romantic love. Merritt wisely avoided trying to string the songs together thematically, instead choosing a looser approach that gives "69 Love Songs" the feel of a really good (and delightfully long) mix tape. A list of the songs I like, or even the songs I love, would be too lengthy to include here. For example, the first eight songs on Volume One are all knockouts, and even the ninth one, "Let's Pretend We're Bunny Rabbits," is an amusing and entirely harmless OMD ripoff. There are great tunes in the 80s pop mode that Merritt has always favored ("The Death of Ferdinand DeSaussure" and "Long Forgotten Fairytale" are highlights), excellent piano ballads ("My Only Friend," "Busby Berkely Dreams"), and even some folky songs, though nothing seems too far removed from Broadway--and I usually don't even like showtunes. Then there are true oddities like the very first track, "Absolutely Cuckoo," which to me resembles a pop song that has been shattered into hundreds of colorful pieces and whirled around in a kaleidoscope. Unless you're sure you're going to like this, I would suggest buying Volume One first (preferably used) and giving yourself some time to get used to it. Songs that sound almost throwaway on the first few listens may become favorites. If you find yourself becoming addicted to the disc, you can then trade it in and buy the entire set. You will want the whole thing because it comes with a big fat booklet in which Stephin Merritt discusses every single song in the collection. Considering that there are actually four albums' worth of material here (each disc is just under an hour long) it is actually a great buy. I have two other Magnetic Fields discs, "The Charm of the Highway Strip" and "Holiday," and neither of them contain the range that you'll find here. The sound of "69 Love Songs" is based mostly on acoustic instruments, though often they are recorded or mixed in unusual ways. (I suspect that Merritt has Brian Eno's early albums in his collection.) So even if you're familiar with Stephin Merritt's other work but do not consider yourself to be a fan, you owe it to yourself to give "69 Love Songs" a try. There's nothing else like it. You may even end up, like me, with a strange compulsion to go out and buy yourself a ukelele."

NO ONE WILL EVER LOVE YOU

iheartcrass | 06/20/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Ok. I debated this purchase for about two weeks. I looked at itfrom a cost stand point ($! yikes) but you have to devide that by 3cd's. Or better yet, devide that by 69 amazing songs. Very cheap cost if you think about it... So, I bought this collection and it is one of the most sound purchases I have ever made.As the historians tell it, there were supposed to be 100 love songs written for a boxed set. Somehow 100 turned into 69 and the rest is musical genius on 3 discs.If you're not familiar with the sound of the magnetic fields...think They Might Be Giants (circa FLOOD) or a new wave Tom Waites (circa Small Change) or the punk rock Burt Bacharach. I have found that disc two is my personal favorite...with songs like the poetic 'Very Funny', the 80's new wave inspired 'If You Don't cry', the spector-esque 'Washington DC' and my personal fave 'Papa Was a Rodeo'. Yee-haw.Disc one holds just as many gems but i think they would mostly be considered b-sides. Take for instance the swank 1970's show tune wanna-be 'The Luckiest Guy on the Lower East Side', the uber minimal 'punk love', or the coulda been a Johnny Cash hit in 1968 'Chicken With Its Head Cut Off'.Disc three is my second favorite of the three Cd's. The stalker anthem 'Im Sorry I Love You' is fun, The traveling menstral vibe of 'The Night You Can't Remember' and the lo-fi buck rodgers vibe of 'Strange Eyes' are ...'as lovely as a tree...'. Also, I can just hear 'Underwear' as a back drop for a Haines commercial in 2010. If you are looking for something new and origional look no further. Amusing, Inspriational, Arty and fun. Steven Merrit scores a 3 way home run."