Tag Archives: The Magnetic Fields
Poetic Memory: The Yellow Dress (List)
The planet known as twee might be in the Descendant at the moment, but no one told The Yellow Dress that.
The seven-piece San Francisco band wears its heart on its sleeve, fashioning adorable ballads out of acoustic guitar strums, hand claps, whistling, and frontman Dan Weiss’ delirious game-show-host vocals. On their just-released sophomore album, Humblebees, The Yellow Dress leave apathy and pretentiousness to the buzz bands, opting instead for relentlessly cheery, homespun ditties with a heartfelt edge. Continue reading…
Poetic Memory: Bone Quida Ida (List)
Bone Quida Ida is one of San Diego’s most promising new musicians, and he only has three songs. Continue reading…
Video: TV Girl – “Baby You Were Thereâ€
Anyone who lists The Magnetic Fields and Leonard Cohen as influences clearly knows their stuff. It’s no surprise, then, that TV Girl‘s music is so engaging. The droll humor and lyrical richness of those heavyweights permeate the San Diego band’s triumphant new EP, Benny and the Jets, available for free download on their Facebook page.
The local duo has just released a video for the EP track “Baby You Were There,” which you can watch above. In it, the magic of stop-motion allows formerly inanimate objects to flit about in various shapes and patterns, their manic energy serving as a stark contrast to the apathy of the couple on the couch. Plus, the video gives new meaning to the phrase “fully-clothed sex.” You can watch it above.
Stephin Merritt Unveils His ‘Obscurities’
MP3: Stephin Merritt – “Forever and a Day”
Magnetic Fields frontman Stephin Merritt has just announced the release of Obscurities, a rare tracks compilation set to drop on August 23:
Obscurities features 14 tracks in all, including five previously unreleased songs, all recorded prior to The Magnetic Fields’ seminal album 69 Love Songs. Three of the unreleased tracks hail from The Song From Venus, the unfinished science fiction musical written by Merritt and Daniel Handler, aka Lemony Snickett. Also included on the record are five songs culled from various Merge-era 7†vinyl singles by The Magnetic Fields, along with one from Merritt’s guest vocalist-laden side project the 6ths, one from an audio book, one from the Oh, Merge compilation CD, and a track from a rare K Records cassette-only release.
You can check out the tracklist below. Continue reading…