THE MAGNETIC FIELDS Schallplatten & CDs

Review: 69 Love Songs by The Magnetic Fields is an audacious feat that toes the line between brilliance and sheer audacity. Clocking in at three hours, this magnum opus is a sprawling exploration of love in all its forms. Stephin Merritt and his collaborators craft a diverse sonic landscape, ranging from giddy lust to resignation and despair, and from genre exercises to archetypal Magnetic Fields songs. The album's sheer scale may initially seem daunting, but Merritt's exceptional songwriting and the band's eclectic instrumentation ensure that each track holds its own. The individual songs offermany moments of small epiphanies and emotional resonance. 25 years since it was first released, 69 Love Songs continues to gain new fans and make original ones keep coming back.

Review: It really isn't a clever name - The Magnetic Fields celebrate the beauty of brevity with 'Quickies', a collection of tracks that run to no more than two-and-a-half minutes, with the shortest clocking in at around 12 seconds. The question is, how much can you really do in such a small amount of time? Stephin Merritt et al more than prove the answer is 'quite a lot', if not 'loads'. With track titles like 'My Stupid Boyfriend' and '(I Want To Join A) Biker Gang' these efforts are nothing if not direct and to the point, but sat just behind all the immediacy and innocence is a depth and power stemming from allusion, suggestion and implication. Short, sweet, tender and evocative experimental pop rock of the highest caliber and most charming character you could ask for.

Review: It really isn't a clever name - The Magnetic Fields celebrate the beauty of brevity with 'Quickies', a collection of tracks that run to no more than two-and-a-half minutes, with the shortest clocking in at around 12 seconds. The question is, how much can you really do in such a small amount of time? Stephin Merritt et al more than prove the answer is 'quite a lot', if not 'loads'. With track titles like 'My Stupid Boyfriend' and '(I Want To Join A) Biker Gang' these efforts are nothing if not direct and to the point, but sat just behind all the immediacy and innocence is a depth and power stemming from allusion, suggestion and implication. Short, sweet, tender and evocative experimental pop rock of the highest caliber and most charming character you could ask for.

Review: "Distortion" is the second album by Magnetic Fields on Nonesuch. This features the brilliant melodies and wry lyrics that composer and band leader Stephin Merritt has long been praised for, but, as the album title suggests, he serves them up with a twist - startlingly enveloped in layers of live feedback that recall the noisy pop provocations of The Jesus and Mary Chain.