I got this album from a friend about two years ago because "I just had to have it." Since then I have become somewhat of a proselytizer myself, burning the album for anyone who will take it. I've gone through stages where 69 Love Songs is almost all I listen to. At first I listened only to a few songs on each album, but now I've really come to appreciate almost every track. Of course there are the showstoppers: "All My Little Words," "Long Forgotten Fairytale," "Grand Canyon," "Meaningless." But there are also those seemingly-hidden tracks like "Asleep and Dreaming" and "Abigail, Belle of Kilronan" that it took me months of listening to the CD to "discover." I don't know what Stephin Merritt is doing now, but with 69 Love Songs he created something that is so ambitious and well-executed that it can never really be topped.
So anyway, all 69 Love Songs discussion goes here.
I agree that it's a great album, or even more to the point, three great albums rolled into one. None of your showstoppers would have been ones I would have called that, but that's part of the album's strength; there's so much to enjoy. With all the guest vocalists and offbeat combos of instruments, most of the songs seem to leap across genres song-by-song, so it almost sounds like you're listening to many different groups, but Merritt's lyrics tie everything together with more sly wit than even Morrissey in his prime. Plus he plays a mean ukulele.
When my wife's CD player at work croaked, she kept playing the tape of this album over and over. She loves it, and so does my 14-year-old daughter. I guess I must love it too.
"Naked Woman, Naked Man Where did you get that nice sun tan?"
Posts: 12874 | Location: Behind the Orange Curtain | Registered: 14 May 2004
I was thinking about getting into Magnetic Field's works. I saw 69 Love Songs in my local record store, but the amount of songs to go through kind of intimidates me. But since you speak so highly of that record, I'll start there and post what I think later.
Have you heard any of his other works? Most of his albums have had strong reviews.
The last album, i, was listenable, but it seemed monochromatic compared to 69 Love Songs. It's got some good tracks which would have made 69 even better, but I'd always go for the first disc of 69 and keep playing that album as long as there's free time.
"Naked Woman, Naked Man Where did you get that nice sun tan?"
Posts: 12874 | Location: Behind the Orange Curtain | Registered: 14 May 2004
Yeah, I agree with Mark on i. Some good songs, but not as good as Merritt's previous work. I really like 69 Love Songs, but I never listen to the whole thing in its entirety. I've cherry-picked the songs I like off of it (about 40 songs), burnt them, and that's all I listen to. If I thought that the arrangement or progression of the songs added something to the listening experience, I would listen to the whole thing, but I really don't think there is. I actually heard that Merritt considered putting the songs in alphabetical order. (The album still begins with "Absolutely Cuckoo" and ends with "Zebra.") I think it's just a collection of some really good love songs with some major duds thrown in.
Posts: 3992 | Location: NE Indiana | Registered: 14 April 2005
The only song I even think of as somehow not "stacking up" is "Like Jazz", but I don't ever skip that one because I do like the segues between songs. Plus, that killer booklet that comes with the three-disc box has Merritt explaining a lot about every single song and also the album's concept.
"Naked Woman, Naked Man Where did you get that nice sun tan?"
Posts: 12874 | Location: Behind the Orange Curtain | Registered: 14 May 2004
O wow, I didn't know there was a booklet. I'll have to get the actual album (instead of just burned version) someday when I am rich and have money to spend on CD's that I already have.
I would advise against just getting the songs you like and only listening to those. Of course some songs are better than others, but it is hard to make that judgment right away. There are some songs that I love now that I didn't like the first two or three times I heard them. The one transition that I really like is between "Experimental Music Love" and "Meaningless." That has to have been on purpose.
Well, on purpose as in it would not have sounded as good if they were resequenced.
When i am rich Mark, I will take my hundred dollar bills and prance through the aisles of my local indie record store, buying stuff like 69 Love Songs and alternate takes of Bob Dylan coughing in 1965.
Seriously, nobody can write pop lyrics like Stephen Merritt. The way he doubts himself and confuses you while he's at it using those goofy, tinny little tunes is just astonishing to me. A couple in particular I really like: "The Night You Can't Remember" and "I Don't Want to Get Over You" are past standouts on the album for me; they've become two of my very favorite songs.
quote:
Um, I just heard "I Think I Need a New Heart" on a dog food commercial on one of those annoying AIM pop-ups. Sell out anyone?
I've despised every musical I've ever seen, so despite my love for the Magnetic Fields, I've shied away from Showtunes. When it comes right down to it, I have pretty narrow musical tastes. I can't stand jazz, rap, hardcore country, soul, metal, musicals, gothic, most world, noise, most mainstream stuff, and the more abrasive indie stuff (Deerhoof, Danielson, etc). Lately it's been all electronic and folk music for me. Can't get enough of that stuff.
Posts: 3992 | Location: NE Indiana | Registered: 14 April 2005
This album needs more love and so does this band... I was just listening to Distant Plastic Trees and The Wayward Bus, I forgot how much I love those two albums. "100,000 Fireflies" gives me goosebumps every single time, it's definitely a fantastic song.
"Violence, she solved everything"
Posts: 1242 | Location: Nowhere | Registered: 31 July 2006
Originally posted by Everyoneanindividual: This album needs more love and so does this band... I was just listening to Distant Plastic Trees and The Wayward Bus, I forgot how much I love those two albums. "100,000 Fireflies" gives me goosebumps every single time, it's definitely a fantastic song.
Just last week I finally got around to uploading all my old Magnetic Fields albums onto my iTunes library. I hadn't listened to those early records in forever. While I agree that "100,000 Fireflies" is sublime, those two early records do not hold up for me. It's like some other band-- and not just because of Susan Anway's vocals. Merritt really hit his stride (and started singing!) with Holiday and peaked with 69 Love Songs.
I also dusted off my copy of the 6ths' Wasps' Nest which is fantastic, unlike whatever that second 6ths album was called.
_____________________________ Weep to Water the Trees.
"This is my main concern with Obama; what if he has been groomed since childhood to blend in with the zionists and infidels? What if he has been led along by a radical islamic terrorist organization and positioned to become an influential politician?
What if Obama gets into White House and turns out to be some crazy muslim terrorist? What do we do then? We'll be pretty screwed. It could happen." -- by some fucking nutjob
Posts: 1996 | Location: The Noog, TN | Registered: 08 April 2007
I guess I must love it too. 
but I believe that they're all on purpose. 
