Tuesday, February 19
Eban & Charley soundtrack - Stephin Merritt (Merge, 2002)
This is Stephin Merritt country. For whatever reason, the modern day pop troubadour's various musical projects seem to have a larger following here on Swarthmore's campus than just about anywhere else. Even people who don't listen to indie rock listen to the Magnetic Fields. If you're unfamiliar, just tune in to WSRN and chances are you'll hear Merritt's deliciously dry bass voice and impeccable pop melodies within the half-hour. Despite his knack for coming up with some of the best band names on record (besides the flagship MagFields, there's the Future Bible Heroes, the Gothic Archies, and 6ths), he's decided to resort to his birth moniker for the first time on his latest release.
That's not the only thing that makes this unusual for a Stephin Merritt record. After a simple thirty-second piano introduction, the first appreciable track, "Cricket Problem," is not properly a song at all, but a sort of interlude comprised entirely of mechanical whirs and rattles and the sounds of baby toys, interrupted occasionally with a stumpy drum machine. This is quickly followed by a more typical piece, a downcast folky tune about postponed love, but similarly odd, 'experimental' tracks continue throughout the majority of the album. Naturally, the preponderance of instrumentals and mood pieces (including dulcimer-sounding renditions of "Greensleeves" and "O Tannenbaum") is due to the fact that this is a soundtrack. (The film, set for release in July, apparently chronicles "unflinchingly" an intergenerational Gay relationship between a fifteen-year-old and an "ex-soccer coach," who sounds like a real loser.) It's hard to know if Merritt put together the instrumental fragments to augment and justify the inclusion of his other songs in the movie, or if he was more interested in experimenting with filmic incidentals and included the pop tunes out of obligation to his fans. Though there's nothing wrong with the instrumentals (they work quite nicely as background music and lend an interesting flow to the album), I suspect that most people are more interested in the songs. There are six of them, and they are very much worth your time. The hummable melodies are very typical of Merritt, as are the quirky, reverb-laden arrangements. Standouts include the gorgeously sung "Maria Maria Maria" and the appropriately titled "This Little Ukelele," but the best thing here is probably "Poppyland," a bouncy ode to a utopia where, in a line whose authorship is unmistakeable, "all your favorite things/are painted on the wings/of the butterflies." In comparison with other Merritt releases (say, oh, 1999's staggering 69 Love Songs, these six pretty little ditties hardly make this a must-purchase. But they should serve perfectly adequately to tide fans over for now. (Oh, by the way, the Magnetic Fields just signed a new record deal with Nonesuch, besides which Stephin is apparently working on a new Future Bible Heroes album, as well as some project of songs based on childrens books.) I won't be surprised to hear them blasting out of some dorm windows this spring. Hey, why isn't this on the playlist yet? (6/10)
This is Stephin Merritt country. For whatever reason, the modern day pop troubadour's various musical projects seem to have a larger following here on Swarthmore's campus than just about anywhere else. Even people who don't listen to indie rock listen to the Magnetic Fields. If you're unfamiliar, just tune in to WSRN and chances are you'll hear Merritt's deliciously dry bass voice and impeccable pop melodies within the half-hour. Despite his knack for coming up with some of the best band names on record (besides the flagship MagFields, there's the Future Bible Heroes, the Gothic Archies, and 6ths), he's decided to resort to his birth moniker for the first time on his latest release.
That's not the only thing that makes this unusual for a Stephin Merritt record. After a simple thirty-second piano introduction, the first appreciable track, "Cricket Problem," is not properly a song at all, but a sort of interlude comprised entirely of mechanical whirs and rattles and the sounds of baby toys, interrupted occasionally with a stumpy drum machine. This is quickly followed by a more typical piece, a downcast folky tune about postponed love, but similarly odd, 'experimental' tracks continue throughout the majority of the album. Naturally, the preponderance of instrumentals and mood pieces (including dulcimer-sounding renditions of "Greensleeves" and "O Tannenbaum") is due to the fact that this is a soundtrack. (The film, set for release in July, apparently chronicles "unflinchingly" an intergenerational Gay relationship between a fifteen-year-old and an "ex-soccer coach," who sounds like a real loser.) It's hard to know if Merritt put together the instrumental fragments to augment and justify the inclusion of his other songs in the movie, or if he was more interested in experimenting with filmic incidentals and included the pop tunes out of obligation to his fans. Though there's nothing wrong with the instrumentals (they work quite nicely as background music and lend an interesting flow to the album), I suspect that most people are more interested in the songs. There are six of them, and they are very much worth your time. The hummable melodies are very typical of Merritt, as are the quirky, reverb-laden arrangements. Standouts include the gorgeously sung "Maria Maria Maria" and the appropriately titled "This Little Ukelele," but the best thing here is probably "Poppyland," a bouncy ode to a utopia where, in a line whose authorship is unmistakeable, "all your favorite things/are painted on the wings/of the butterflies." In comparison with other Merritt releases (say, oh, 1999's staggering 69 Love Songs, these six pretty little ditties hardly make this a must-purchase. But they should serve perfectly adequately to tide fans over for now. (Oh, by the way, the Magnetic Fields just signed a new record deal with Nonesuch, besides which Stephin is apparently working on a new Future Bible Heroes album, as well as some project of songs based on childrens books.) I won't be surprised to hear them blasting out of some dorm windows this spring. Hey, why isn't this on the playlist yet? (6/10)
