Tuesday, January 19, 2010

Music Happens Here

As a part of their eclectic (yet sporadic) concert offerings at Lisner Auditorium, GW will be hosting Stephin Merritt's longtime band The Magnetic Fields on Thursday, February 4th. This show will be the kickoff for their new album Realism, which will be released a week from today (January 26th). The show should be a lot of fun, as it is their first scheduled in the U.S. after Realism comes out.

Led by talented singer-songwriter Stephin Merritt, The Magnetic Fields have been around since 1989. Despite their unusual mix of instruments, they have established themselves as a band with a pop sound over the years, although they have crossed over several genres of pop from their early synthpop days to Realism's folk-pop sound. When asked in an October interview with the Village Voice to discuss the direction of the new album, this was all he had to say:
Well, it will be the third record of the 'no-synth' trilogy. So i'm willing to unveil that it isn't an electro-pop album.
As lead vocals, Merritt plays the keyboard and ukulele, though he has recently been trading his ukulele out for a metal stringed bouzouki (which I actually had to look up). If you go to the show you'll definitely get to see him on it. Two tracks from the new album have surfaced, one single and one somehow appearing on youtube. Both of them sound really good. The lp and single is the last track on the album and is called From a Sinking Boat. It's super mellow with great instrumentation and an excellent feature of Merritt's bass vocals. The first track from the album was leaked on youtube and I'd call it the best track i've heard released in 2010. Not much time to judge but I guess i'm just bummed that Contra wasn't better. It showcases Merritt's humor, which played a major role in The Fields' last few albums and has a great folk-pop easy listening feel. It's called You Must Be Out of Your Mind. Enjoy!



Tickets are $28 for GW students so check it out. Should be a mellow show, but how often do you get to hear keys, ukulele, banjo, cuatro, sitar, cello, guitar, tablas, cajon, leaves and percussion all on one stage?

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