The Magnetic Fields

For other uses, see Magnetic field (disambiguation).

The Magnetic Fields
Magnetic Fields. From left to right: John Woo, Sam Davol, Claudia Gonson, Stephin Merritt.
Background information
Origin	Boston, Massachusetts, USA
Genres	Synthpop Indie pop Noise pop Folk-pop Indie folk
Years active	1989–present
Labels	Feel Good All Over Merge Records Nonesuch Records
Associated acts	The 6ths, The Gothic Archies, Future Bible Heroes
Website	Official website
Members
Stephin Merritt Claudia Gonson Sam Davol John Woo Shirley Simms
Past members
Susan Anway

The Magnetic Fields (named after the André Breton novel, Les Champs Magnétiques^[1]) is the principal creative outlet of singer-songwriter Stephin Merritt. While the particular musical style of the band is usually as malleable as Merritt's songwriting, they are commonly attributed to pop genres and subgenres: synthpop, indie pop, noise pop, and, most recently, folk-pop.

Earlier in the band's career, The Magnetic Fields were characterized by synthesized instrumentation by Merritt with lead vocals provided by Susan Anway (and then by Stephin Merrit himself). A more traditional band later materialized, currently composed of Merritt, Claudia Gonson, Sam Davol, and John Woo, with occasional guest vocals by Shirley Simms. The band is recognizable for Merrit's lyrics, often about love, that are by turns ironic, bitter, and humorous. Their best known work is the 1999 three-volume concept album 69 Love Songs. It was followed in the succeeding years by a "no-synth" trilogy: i (2004), Distortion (2008),^[2] and Realism (2010).

History

The band began as Merritt's studio project, under the name Buffalo Rome,^[3] 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 T.T. the Bear's Place in Cambridge, Massachusetts, in 1991 where they played to a sparse audience that was expecting to see Galaxie 500 spin-off Magnetophone.

The 1999 triple album 69 Love Songs showcased Merritt's songwriting abilities and the group's musicianship, demonstrated by the use of such varied instruments as ukulele, banjo, accordion, cello, mandolin, flute, xylophone, and Marxophone, in addition to their usual setting of synthesizers, guitars, and effects. The album features vocalists Shirley Simms, Dudley Klute, L.D. Beghtol, and Gonson, each of whom sings lead on six songs as well as various backing vocals, plus Daniel Handler (who has written under the pseudonym 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."

The band's recent albums, i (2004) and Distortion (2008), both followed the album theme structure of 69 Love Songs: The song titles on i begin with the letter (or, in the case of half the songs' titles, the pronoun) "I", whilst Distortion was an experiment in combining noise music with their typically unconventional musical approach. The liner notes claim the album was made without synthesizers. According to an article: "To celebrate the release of Distortion, Merritt and The Magnetic Fields played mini-residencies in cities around the country, culminating with six shows at Chicago's Old Town School of Folk Music." ^[4]

Realism was released in January 2010, concluding what Merritt termed the "no-synth" trilogy (following i and Distortion).^[5] The next album produced will feature synthesisers "almost exclusively".^[6]

In 2010, the documentary film "Strange Powers: Stephen Merritt and the Magnetic Fields" mades its debut in film festivals around the world. It was directed by Kerthy Fix and Gail O'Hara. It was shot over a period of 10 years discusses the formation of the band, Stephin's friendship with Claudia Gonson, the production of various albums, and Stephin's move to California from New York. It won the Outfest 2010 Grand Jury Prize for Feature Documentary and Starigrad Paklenice Prize for Directing.^[7]

Members

• Stephin Merritt – ukulele/keyboard/lead vocals
• Claudia Gonson – percussion/piano/vocals (and group manager)
• Sam Davol – cello/flute
• John Woo – banjo/guitar

Past and current contributors include singers Susan Anway, Dudley Klute, Shirley Simms, Nell Beram, and LD Beghtol, as well as instrumentalists Daniel Handler and Chris Ewen.

Selected discography

Main article: The Magnetic Fields discography

• 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 (1995)
• 69 Love Songs (1999)
• i (2004)
• Distortion (2008)
• Realism (2010)

References

1. ^ Morse, Erik. "The Magnetic Fields Get Real", Interview Magazine, February 11, 2010.
2. ^ Thiessen, Brock." Magnetic Fields Feeds Back ", and Exclaim!, February 2008.
3. ^ LD Beghtol, 69 Love Songs, A Field Guide (Continuum, 2006), p. 135
4. ^ http://www.theredalert.com/features/magneticfields.php
5. ^ Baron, Zach. "Interview: Stephin Merritt", The Village Voice, October 1, 2008.
6. ^ Gourlay, Dom. "DiS meets The Magnetic Fields' Stephin Merritt", Drowned in Sound, January 23rd, 2010.
7. ^ Strange Powers film info Facebook page. Accessed 2011-06-04.

External links

• The House of Tomorrow, official site
• The Magnetic Fields at The House of Tomorrow
• Magnetic Fields article February 2008
• NY Mag interview
• Strange Powers documentary title sequence
• Stephin Merritt interview at musicOMH February 2010