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February 21, 2008 - Image 10

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The Michigan Daily, 2008-02-21

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2B - Thursday, February 21, 2008

4

The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com

REDUCTIVE REASONING
Picking one And one Anart

D

THE MAGNETIC FIELDS:'69 LOVE SONGS'(1999)

The Duily Arts guide to
upcoming events
Today 2.21.08
Playing Piano in Early 20th Someone
Century IstanbulS
7:30 p.m. elses K
At the School of Social Work Building, words
room1636
Free
Mary Jo Firth Gillett
7 p.m.
At Shaman Drum
Free Change
Tomorrow 2.22.08
Jef Brannan
8 and 10:30 p.m.
At the Ann Arbor Comedy Showcase
$10
RFD Boys
8 p.m. 'Rea Sex h
At the Ark
$10 w/student ID
Saturday 2.23.08
Tierney Sutton
8 p.m.
At the Firefly Club
$20
Sunday 2.24.08
The RagbirdsM
7:30 p.m.
At the Arke
$10 w/student ID
Please send all press releases
and event information to
artspage@michigandaily.com.
A A
JS

Love songs for the ages
By SASHA RESENDE Merritt allows his poetically simple delicately declares "He's going to be
DailyArts Writer verses to drive the song. Despite its my wife." These subtle switches add
cutting sarcasm, the ode to Prozac depth to the album, allowing the lis-
Hope Too many indie-rock bands these and meaningless one-night stands is tener to interpret the lyrics in what-
days try to create the perfect concept one of the most painfully honest cuts ever way suits his own life.
album, often with underwhelming from the collection. In an oft-cited I could continue for another 5,000
results. Based on this assumption, the verse, Merritt laments, "I can make words, pointing every bit of lyrical
indie-pop troupe Magnetic Fields's a career of being blue / I can dress in genius within 69 Love Songs. But that
1999 release 69 Love Songs should black and read Camus / Smoke clove would take away from the sheer joy
have been a gigantic flop - complete cigarettes and drink vermouth/Like I to be found through repeated listens.
with a tackily ironic title. The three- was seventeen, that would be a scream These packed bits of artful lyrical rep-
volume attempt at conceptual perfec- / But I don't want to get over you." resentation guarantee that the record
tion is as literal as its title suggests. People who've ever had their hearts will never become a bore. Nonethe-
Over the course of three discs, the ripped from their chests can relate to less, sarcasm and wit can only take an
album addresses any and every aspect Merritt's direct hopelessness. album so far. 69 Love Songs would not
of lamour. Despite the ambitious The album's remaining 67 songs are be the masterpiece that it is without
nature of their endeavor, Magnetic an English major's dream, complete its widespread variation and experi-
Fields triumphantly deliver what is with symbolic metaphors and unpre- mentation.
arguably the best conceptual studio tentious word play. Merritt, who's Hiding under the wide label of indie
box set of the 1990s. Over the course openly gay, often plays with gender pop, Magnetic Fields explore an eclec-
of 69 varied and diverse love songs, roles in the lyrics of his songs. This tic grouping of genres, directed by
the band develops a mass of tracks Merritt's heavily distinguished bass
Late-night El that explore the heart's innermost vocals. The album alternates between
struggles. quirky yet poppy tunes ("Long-For-
commercias , Magnetic Fields frontman Stephin This album had gotten Fairytale"), accordion-driven
Merritt has been called one ofthe most cuts ("Zebra"), folksy lullabies ("The
depressed men in rock, and a cyni- every opportunty One You Really Love"), synthesizer-
cal listen to 69 Love Songs confirms heavytouchstones ("I Can'tTouchYou
this proclamation. This shouldn't be to suck, but Anymore"), uncontrolled brassy beats
a deterrent - Merritt's music is far ("Love Is Like Jazz") and impassioned
removed from the commercialized Somehow, it worked ballads about long-distance romance
emo-rockers who wear their hearts ("Washington D.C."). The opener,
on their sleeves. Rather than shy away "Absolutely Cuckoo," is mixtape para-
from overly embellished references to dise. Concise and to the point, the lo-fi
the album's subject matter, the lyrics is especially pronounced on "Under- song delivers rapid guitar strums over
on 69 Love Songs are often abrasively wear," in which Merritt switches warped distortion as Merritt quickly
sarcastic, establishing the record's between calling his subject a "pretty counts all the reasons why his new
emotional backbone. His music is girl" and a "pretty boy." The word lover should leave him before it's too
shockingly self-deprecating at times, play is very nuanced and it takes a few late. Even the 30-second cuts of album
but these moments add humanity to repeated listens to catch the subtle filler are packed with intelligent sar-
his folksy strings and synth-driven switch-off. A similar mix-up can be casm. On the track "Roses" - which
beats. heard on "When My Boy Walks Down is barely half a minute long - Merritt
On "I Don't Want To Get Over You," The Street," in which a male vocalist orders his listeners to "buy more stock
in roses," an obvious reference to
the rampant commercialization
Freshmen and Sophomores, are youlooking for a summer internship? of romance.
Would you like to takea step towards bolstering your resume? Stephin Merritt certainly
Do you wan to work with the coolest people on campus? isn't the first lyricist to highlight
romance's underbelly. But that
shouldn't diminish his own foray
into the overused theme. Rarely
has a group undertaken such an
ambitious project and met - and
NS exceeded - expectations like he
~NTER rER did. On 69 Love Songs, Merritt
SUM F L 004D and company manage to reduce
SpawG, Eall of love's complexities andinad-
equacies into a triple-disc volume
while greatly expanding their
The Michii A n Dail Business StRafe f Deartment is n own musical horizons.

ben loin The Michigan DciilY
Busine ss Staij as an Account
Executivel e W-Itb otber
work s,6e-bY-518
stu6ents to se l the newspaper
j know ana ove
wea

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.0

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