distortion

Yes, the day has come!  Most bloggers have already talked about this one, because most bloggers already downloaded this awhile ago.  But as I stated before, I don't do leaks.  So today I woke up, went to the local record store, and picked up the CD you see pictured above.

New Stephin Merritt albums are always something to look forward to, and last year we had none.  The year before, you see, we had two.  So I've been excited, as I've loved just about everything he's done.  Future Bible Heroes are a bit questionable, as are the very first Magnetic Fields albums.

OK, what am I getting at?  I've been excited about this album for some time now.  Especially since it has that Magnetic Fields name.  Such anticipation can only lead to disappointment, right?  HA! Mr. Merritt has met my expectations.  I need to give it a few more spins to see if he's exceeded them, but he's definitely met them.  It's Stephin Merritt and his lovely lyrics, lovely melodies, the return of Shirley Simms, all over a huge wall of distortion.  People call it a "new" sound, but I think it generally sounds like a return to the pre-69 Love Songs sound.  Lots of layers of sounds that threaten to overtake the vocals, but the words still manage to come out and we get all our awesome Merritt trademark turns of phrase.

People also have been saying the only theme is the sound, that nothing really ties the songs together otherwise.  I'd like to propose that a "loose" theme to this album is dreams.  There are several references to dreams in the lyrics, and the whole sound of it is sort of like a dream.  Distortion and all, it's messy like most dreams.

So that's that.  If you are too lazy to go buy this one, you can also order it at the Nonesuch Records Store.  You get an instant download while you wait for your physical CD to arrive in the mail (plus you get a bonus track).  Which is almost as cool as what Yep Roc does, which provides instant downloads for mailorder but you can also get vinyl from them.  off topic.