Artist: [Stephin Merritt]

Ondi Timoner’s ability to spend 7 years filming the Brian Jonestown Massacre and Dandy Warhols for the brilliant documentary DiG! was quite the feat, but Kerthy Fix and Gail O’Hara’s upcoming decade-spanning Stephin Merritt documentary may give that flick a run for its money (though it definitely won’t in terms of controversy). According to a press release last month ( via Pitchfork ), the pair spent 10 years filming the Magnetic Fields mastermind, covering “his first musical forays, his development as a writer— from proofreader and copy editor at [...]

Watch a fabulous trailer for Strange Powers below. Learn lots more here. MP3: The Magnetic Fields - The Book Of Love

Sample quote from the trailer for the documentary Strange Powers: Stephin Merritt and the Magnetic Fields : "The Best of Olivia Newton John. I've haven't heard her version of 'Me and Bobby McGee.' That's audacious of her." Cannot wait to see this. [via The Awl ]

"What are they making a documentary about you for?" a cabbie asks a man in a tan baseball cap. "Because I'm fascinating. I write wonderful music," says the man. Egotistical? Maybe. But even if he's speaking with tongue in cheek, the film's subject, Stephin Merritt , isn't exaggerating a bit. So begins the trailer for a documentary about The Magnetic Fields that's taken ten years to make. Combining concert footage and insightful interviews with Merritt, his bandmates and an unusual cast of celebrity fans from Neil Gaiman and Daniel Handler (who also sometimes sits in [...]

Seems that the long awaited and slaved over Stephin Merritt documentary now has both a name and a trailer. Strange Powers: Stephin Merritt and the Magnetic Fields is set to debut at the San Fran... Continue reading "Here Is the Trailer for the Strange Powers: Stephin Merritt and the Magnetic Fields Documentary" >

The beloved Magnetic Fields album 69 Love Songs is finally going to exist as an elaborate deluxe vinyl box set. The impressive-looking set-once released as three CDs-is spread across six 103 vinyl records and comes with the original CD booklet, which will get up-sized to match the 103 records. Buyers will also get a pass to download the digital version of this remastered album. This must-have box set is slated for a release on April 20 via Merge Records. You can pre-order it on the Merge website , where you will receive a $10 discount [...]

:: " Evil dwarf choir ." Thank you, Stephin Merritt. :: Noel is gearing up to play his first post- Oasis shows . Hopefully you still end up punching someone in the face, Noel. :: The How Bizarre guy died . For some reason, that song was huge way back when... how bizarre. Sorry, couldn't resist. :: Not sure about the lineup, but I am sure about the name: Midwest Fuckfest . What do y'all think? Got any better fest names to throw down? [...]

Il titolo è ironico "Scratch my back" ( Grattami la schiena ). Vi avevamo anticipato l'uscita del nuovo album di Peter Gabriel già lo scorso ottobre. Un album in cui l'ex cantante dei Genesis , fondatore della Real World si cimenta nelle cover di alcuni dei maggiori successi pop e rock degli ultimi anni. Non solo colleghi altrettanto famosi ma nomi dell'indie che ormai (almeno all'estero) sono molto più che personaggi di culto. Arcade Fire , Bon Iver e Stephin Merritt aka [...]

From the opening notes of The Magnetic Fields' new record Realism you feel at home.  There's the familiar jangly acoustic instruments and Stephin Merritt's low drone of a voice mixing with Claudia Gonson's sweeter one.  The lyrics are clever and the longest song comes in at 3:26.  This isn't the strange distorted Magnetic Fields of [...]

Not that the trilogy has officially come to an end , The Magnetic Fields' Stephin Merritt has plenty of extra times on his hands (well, ahead of those Realism tour dates of course!) So, he recently completed a score for the 1917 silent film version of 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea , and, on May 4th, will unveil the finished product during a live performance at an Francisco's Castro Theatre, as part of the San Francisco Film Festival , Pitchfork reports. "I'm going to [...]

Magnetic Fields mastermind Stephin Merritt is busy plotting a new synth-heavy record, prepping a documentary , and heading out on tour to support the release of Realism this week, but his calendar isn’t quite packed yet: “I’m working on a score for the 1917 silent film version of 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, ” Merritt told Exclaim , adding later: “I’m going to try to musicalize it to be more or less in sync with the moving lips of the actors, who actually talk a great deal, considering it’s a silent [...]

Enjoy today's full Q&A here. Last week, The Magnetic Fields debuted a video for 'We Are...'. Realism is out today! Catch The Magnetic Fields on their NA tour. MP3: The Magnetic Fields - Zombie Boy

Filed under: News , New Music , Exclusive The last song on the Magnetic Fields ' new record, 'Realism,' is about a shipwreck. Surprisingly, the subject pops up often in frontman Stephin Merritt 's songwriting. "I did almost drown as a child, and I've had drowning nightmares, so I guess every few months or so, drowning comes forcefully to mind," Merritt tells Spinner. "I have songs about desert islands a lot. I think it's because it might be so cheap to make movies with very small [...]

Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars When The Magnetic Fields last put some tracks down on tape with Distortion, we saw the band with a wash of feedback and, well, distortion.  They return, however, with Realism , a record with cleaner production, purposefully, and one that allows the minimalist chamber pop group to open up their doors once again to the more enchanting orchestration of mastermind Stephin Merritt. Choosing to open the album with "You Must [...]

• The Magnetic Fields - You Must Be Out Of Your Mind

It's our experience that Stephin Merritt is far more open about his life and work than people seem to give him credit for, but those who've found him impenetrable in the past will now have another... Continue reading "Stream the Realism, the Newest from Magnetic Fields, or Watch the Stephin Merritt Documentary Premiering in San Francisco Next Month" >

Filed under: News , New Music , Exclusive Magnetic Fields singer and songwriter Stephin Merritt is indignant when it's suggested that his band's new album, 'Realism,' follows reasonably quickly on the heels of its 2008 predecessor, 'Distortion.' "It's been two years!" Merritt tells Spinner. "I'm used to putting out a record a year, so I don't feel like it's been a short amount of time." Fair enough, though two years is a flash compared to the four-year gap between 'Distortion' and 2004's 'i,' or [...]

Filed under: Concerts and Tours , News , New Music The final tracklisting of the tribute album for New Zealand indie godfather Chris Knox -- who suffered a massive stroke at his home in Auckland in June -- has been confirmed. 'Stroke -- Songs for Chris Knox'', which will raise money for the musician and his family, will be released in New Zealand on Monday (Nov. 16) and in the US next February. The album features covers of some of Knox's material from a three-decade-long career in [...]

Unos meses después de haber celebrado el décimo aniversario de su clásico 69 Love Songs , los Magnetic Fields estarán de regreso con un nuevo álbum, el cual será publicado el próximo 26 de enero a través de Nonesuch. La placa llevará por nombre Realism , contará con 13 temas y una portada bastante simple, con uno de estos monitos de los anuncios de baño, el nombre de la placa y de la agrupación, todo en tonos café. Todavía no se ha anunciado cuál será el primer sencillo, sin [...]

Filed under: News , New Music Good news, chamber pop fans. The Magnetic Fields will release the follow up to 2008's 'Distortion' early next year. Titled 'Realism,' the newest collection of songscapes from pop savant Stephin Merritt comes, like its predecessor, with its very own restroom-door-inspired album art. If that's not enough, the man who brought us Future Bible Heroes, the Gothic Archies and the 6ths is serving up some of his most intriguing song titles yet. While we haven't yet heard 'You Must Be Out [...]

(In which I face the reality that I rarely wake up before noon on Mondays, so titling a series "Monday Morning Video Fun" was just stupid.) Cortney Tidwell - whose musical virtue we've espoused here on multiple occasions - has a new video out.  It's the third video releaed  from her latest album, Boys , which you still can't get in the states because American record labels seem to have lost their ear for good music.  What a bunch of jagoffs.  Anyway, this came to my attention via the fine folks [...]