MAGNETIC FIELDS 10/15 IN BOULDER!!
MAGNETIC FIELDS 10/15 IN BOULDER!!
the show is not yet sold out, which is mind boggling.
here is an excellent review i swiped from the boulder theater's web page..
tix at bouldertheater.com
you do not want to miss this show. seriously.
THE MAGNETIC FIELDS
w/ Michael Hearst
The Magnetic Fields are the music of songwriter- producer-instrumentalist Stephin Merritt, who lives and records in New York City. Adept at computer music programming and production, Merritt records his own albums and plays almost everything on them with help from cellist Sam Davol, banjo player/second guitarist John Woo, and percussionist/pianist Claudia Gonson.
"Three-Way," the opening song on Distortion, introduces, in a deceptively exuberant blast of pop noise, the themes and obsessions of Magnetic Fields' eighth album. The lyrics simply consist of gleefully repeated exclamations, by male and female voices, of the song title. While "Three-Way" may summon images of Twister-like physical exertions in a situation where three is not a crowd, the subsequent material describes scenarios in which desire itself is twisted into dark, alluring shapes and love remains tantalizingly unrequited. Using a modest number of instruments, composer and producer Stephin Merritt creates a veritable wall of sound. He employs no synthesizers; instead, he generates waves of feedback that envelop every track like a spiky black gift-wrapping.
"I wanted to make a record of three-minute pop songs, then they turned into three-minute power-pop songs," Merritt explains. "The previous Magnetic Fields record had been self-consciously soft rock, with all the songs starting with the letter 'i.' The idea here was to make this record quickly and use the same instrumentation on every song. And if I had to use the same instrumentation all the time, what would I want it to sound like? Well, like the first Jesus and Mary Chain album! So I attempted to adapt the sound of Psychocandy to the orch-pop reality of the Magnetic Fields, where we have a pianist and a cellist. And the occasional accordionist.
The upfront metal-machine drone and submerged Ronettes romanticism of Psychocandy made that Scottish quartet's sullenly beautiful 1985 debut a post-punk landmark. Merritt set out to take that concept a step further, radically altering the entire sound of his chamber-pop ensemble-cellist Sam Davol, pianist Claudia Gonson, and lead guitarist John Woo, plus Daniel Handler on accordion.
Michael Hearst is a composer, multi-instrumentalist, writer, and producer. He is a founding member of the band One Ring Zero, which has released at least seven CDs--including the acclaimed lit-rock album As Smart As We Are. His most recent works include a solo album titled Songs For Ice Cream Trucks and the website Songs For Newsworthy News. As a writer, Michael's work has appeared in such journals as McSweeney's, Parenthetical Note, and Post Road. He hosts a podcast series with Rick Moody called Eighteen Fifty Nine and is a producer for the website Cassette From My Ex. Hearst has performed and given lectures and workshops at universities, museums, and cultural centers around the world. He has appeared on such shows as NPR's Fresh Air, A+E's Breakfast With The Arts, and NBC's The Today Show.
the show is not yet sold out, which is mind boggling.
here is an excellent review i swiped from the boulder theater's web page..
tix at bouldertheater.com
you do not want to miss this show. seriously.
THE MAGNETIC FIELDS
w/ Michael Hearst
The Magnetic Fields are the music of songwriter- producer-instrumentalist Stephin Merritt, who lives and records in New York City. Adept at computer music programming and production, Merritt records his own albums and plays almost everything on them with help from cellist Sam Davol, banjo player/second guitarist John Woo, and percussionist/pianist Claudia Gonson.
"Three-Way," the opening song on Distortion, introduces, in a deceptively exuberant blast of pop noise, the themes and obsessions of Magnetic Fields' eighth album. The lyrics simply consist of gleefully repeated exclamations, by male and female voices, of the song title. While "Three-Way" may summon images of Twister-like physical exertions in a situation where three is not a crowd, the subsequent material describes scenarios in which desire itself is twisted into dark, alluring shapes and love remains tantalizingly unrequited. Using a modest number of instruments, composer and producer Stephin Merritt creates a veritable wall of sound. He employs no synthesizers; instead, he generates waves of feedback that envelop every track like a spiky black gift-wrapping.
"I wanted to make a record of three-minute pop songs, then they turned into three-minute power-pop songs," Merritt explains. "The previous Magnetic Fields record had been self-consciously soft rock, with all the songs starting with the letter 'i.' The idea here was to make this record quickly and use the same instrumentation on every song. And if I had to use the same instrumentation all the time, what would I want it to sound like? Well, like the first Jesus and Mary Chain album! So I attempted to adapt the sound of Psychocandy to the orch-pop reality of the Magnetic Fields, where we have a pianist and a cellist. And the occasional accordionist.
The upfront metal-machine drone and submerged Ronettes romanticism of Psychocandy made that Scottish quartet's sullenly beautiful 1985 debut a post-punk landmark. Merritt set out to take that concept a step further, radically altering the entire sound of his chamber-pop ensemble-cellist Sam Davol, pianist Claudia Gonson, and lead guitarist John Woo, plus Daniel Handler on accordion.
Michael Hearst is a composer, multi-instrumentalist, writer, and producer. He is a founding member of the band One Ring Zero, which has released at least seven CDs--including the acclaimed lit-rock album As Smart As We Are. His most recent works include a solo album titled Songs For Ice Cream Trucks and the website Songs For Newsworthy News. As a writer, Michael's work has appeared in such journals as McSweeney's, Parenthetical Note, and Post Road. He hosts a podcast series with Rick Moody called Eighteen Fifty Nine and is a producer for the website Cassette From My Ex. Hearst has performed and given lectures and workshops at universities, museums, and cultural centers around the world. He has appeared on such shows as NPR's Fresh Air, A+E's Breakfast With The Arts, and NBC's The Today Show.
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