journal.nonesuch.com

Nonesuch Events for the Long Weekend of July 3–6

Here is our weekly list of just some of the many events going on across the globe this long, holiday weekend featuring Nonesuch artists:

Randy Newman continues his three-day musical celebration of the Fourth of July with the Los Angeles Philharmonic led by conductor Rob Fisher at the Hollywood Bowl tonight and tomorrow night (tickets: hollywoodbowl.com). Also making special guest appearances are two legendary Brooklyn/LA Dodgers icons: former manager Tommy Lasorda and broadcaster Vin Scully. The July 4th Fireworks Spectacular, which also celebrates the 50th anniversary of the Dodgers in L.A., began last night and made the Los Angeles Times's list of not-to-be-missed events.

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The Izumi Sinfonietta Osaka, led by Norichika Iimori, performs John Adams's Chamber Symphony tonight in its hometown Izumi Hall in Osaka, Japan, and performs the program the following night in Tokyo at Kioi Hall. Info: izumihall.co.jp.

The Carroll Symphony Orchestra out of Carrollton, Georgia, led by Terry Lowry, celebrates Independence Day with a performance of the composer's Short Ride in a Fast Machine at the Carrollton Elementary School. On Sunday, the Brevard Music Ensemble, led by J. Falletta, will perform Short Ride at Whittington-Pfohl Auditorium in  Brevard, North Carolina. On Saturday, the Neue Elbland Philharmonie will perform the piece at Freyler-Halle in Riesa, Germany.

Also in Germany, on Sunday, the piece continues to contribute to performances of choreographer John Neumeier's Parzifal: Episodes and Echo, by the Hamburg Ballet at the Staatsoper in Hamburg, in a score that also includes Adams's Tromba Lontana, Christian Zeal and Activity, The Wound-Dresser, El Dorado, and The Dharma at Big Sur. Tickets: hamburgballet.de.

For another Sunday performance in Germany, Adams's Lollapalooza will be performed by the San Francisco Symphony Youth Orchestra, led by Benjamin Shwartz in the Theater at the Festsaal in Ingolstadt. Info, auf Deutsch, at ingolstadt.up2city.de.

Back in the States, on Saturday, the Grant Park Music Festival Orchestra, led by Carlos Kalmar, will perform Adams's Slonimsky's Earbox as part of its free series of summer concerts at the Pritzker Pavilion in Chicago's Millenium Park. Bill McGlaughlin, host of Exploring Music on Chicago radio's WFMT, narrates a program of American works spanning 125 years, beginning in the post Civil War era and ending with the music of today. Tickets are not required. Info: grantparkmusicfestival.com.

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On Saturday, The Black Keys take the stage at the weekend-long Rothbury Festival in Rothbury, Michigan. For a complete list of artists and events, visit rothburyfestival.com.

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The Magnetic Fields' European tour, which got under way last week with stops in Spain, Portugal, and Scandinavia, continues this weekend with three performances in Germany: tonight at the Karlstorbahnof in Heidelberg (karlstorbanhof.de), tomorrow night for an Independence Day concert at the aptly named Freiheizhalle in Munich (freiheiz.com), and Sunday night at the Passionskirche in Berlin (akanthus.de).

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Brad Mehldau will be in Europe for Fourth of July and throughout the month as he and his Trio, with Larry Grenadier on bass and Jeff Ballard on drums, tour the continent. On Friday, the Trio will perform in Duisberg, Germany, at the Kraftzentrale in Landschaftspark Duisberg-Nord. They'll then head to Italy for the first of several dates in that country with Saturday's show at the Piazza Grande Polo Della Qualita in Marcianise. For further tour dates, click here.

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Orchestra Baobab performs a free concert tonight at 9 PM in Toronto. The band on the Harbourfront Centre's main stage as part of the city's World Routes free concert series. Info: harbourfrontcentre.com.

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Nicholas Payton performs in his hometown of New Orleans this Sunday  at the weekend-long Essence Festival. Tickets: essencemusicfestival.com.

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Punch Brothers play one more show Stateside, at the Britt Pavillion in Jacksonville, Oregon, Saturday night (brittfest.org), before heading to the UK and Ireland for a two-week tour later this month. For complete tour info, click here.

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Steve Reich's Sextet (1984) will be part of the Cheltenham Music Festival, which kicks off on July 4 and runs through July 19, when Three Strange Angels performs the piece at Town Hall in Cheltenham on Sunday. Tickets: cheltenhamfestivals.com.

New York Magazine Celebrates 40 Years of New York Culture

New York magazine is celebrating its 40th year with a special anniversary issue. In it, the magazine's culture critics give their take on the most essential New York works of art since the publication's inception, creating "The New York Canon: 1968-2008."

The classical music list, written by Justin Davidson, offers a wide range of artists and events, from Steve Reich's Drumming, which premiered at the Museum of Modern Art in 1971, to the John Adams-curated opening-week festival of Carnegie Hall's Zankel Hall in 2003. Among the other quintessential New York moments in between are Laurie Anderson's United States I-V, the epic, two-night event in 1983 from that "great American raconteuse"; the US premiere of Adams's The Death of Klinghoffer at the Brooklyn Academy of Music in 1991, which, despite the surrounding controversy, "contained ravishing music"; and Audra McDonald's 1998 debut solo album, Way Back to Paradise, with music by emerging songwriters like Adam Guettel, and the "killer concert at Joe's Pub" that launched it.

Listen to Audra perform "The Allure of Silence" (Adam Guettel / Lindy Robbins) from Way Back to Paradise:

Included in the theater canon, according to New York magazine's Jeremy McCarter, is the arrival of Stephen Sondheim's Company in 1970, which "brought new complexity and darker shadows to Broadway" ("Even now," McCarter writes, "other songwriters are struggling to catch up."), and the 2005 revival of the composer's 1979 work Sweeney Todd.

On the pop music list, by Hugo Lindgren and Ben Williams, is Talking Heads' 1980 album Remain in Light, on which David Byrne and Brian Eno create a sound that would inspire for decades to come, and The Magnetic Fields 69 Love Songs, "a distinctly New York masterpiece."

To read the complete list from New York magazine, visit nymag.com.

Stephin Merritt Plays Guest DJ on KCRW

The Magnetic Fields' tour in support of their latest Nonesuch release, Distortion, may have come to a close, but that just means more time for Stephin Merritt to share another of his many talents: DJing. He stopped by the KCRW studios in his newly adopted hometown of Los Angeles this past Sunday to play guest DJ on Gary Calamar's late-night show.

Stephin discussed his move from the East Coast and spun some of his favorite '60s pop tunes. The show's host cites The Banana Splits' "I Enjoy Being a Girl" as his favorite tune of the night. You can listen to the hourlong set at kcrw.com.

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Click here to add the Distortion CD plus the free album MP3s, with the exclusive bonus download "The Man of a Million Faces," directly to your Shopping Cart now for only $14. 

Stephin Merritt to Be Featured on KEXP This Afternoon

Tune in to Seattle public radio station KEXP, 90.3 FM, today at 3 PM PT / 6 PM ET, to hear an in-studio performance from and conversation with Stephin Merritt. The Magnetic Fields were in Seattle last week to play two nights at Town Hall; they'll close out their Distortion tour with three nights---six shows---at Chicago's Old Town School of Folk Music this weekend.

You can listen to KEXP streaming live at kexp.org.

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Click here to add the Distortion CD plus the free album MP3s, with the exclusive bonus download "The Man of a Million Faces," directly to your Shopping Cart now for only $14. 

LA Times: Magnetic Fields Live Set Shows Off Merritt's "Watertight Song Craft"

The Magnetic Fields are gearing up for the last two stops of their Distortion tour, with shows at Seattle's Town Hall set for Thursday and Friday and a six-show residency over three nights at Chicago's Old Town School of Folk Music the following weekend.

The group was in Stephin Merritt's recently adopted home town of Los Angeles this past Sunday and Monday for two shows at the Henry Fonda Theatre. In the review of the Sunday night set for the Los Angeles Times review Mikael Wood sees Distortion as a "delightful anomaly in the Magnetic Fields' catalog" for all its distorted fuzziness. At the same time, he says, the "tidy chamber-folk" arrangements the band performs in concert (out of respect to suit Stephin's hyperacusis) allow the audience "to admire Merritt's watertight song craft."

To read the review, visit latimes.com. For more tour information, click here.

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Click here to add the Distortion CD plus the free album MP3s, with the exclusive bonus download "The Man of a Million Faces," directly to your Shopping Cart now for only $13.98. 

The Magnetic Fields Setttle in for Four Nights in New York

The Magnetic Fields continue their four-night stint at New York's Town Hall tonight and through the weekend. At last night's opening show, writes the New York Press, "the Stephin Merritt-led quintet displayed their songwriting magic ... The band was loose, but the playing was precise."

The songs in the set from the group's latest Nonesuch release, Distortion---arranged to be distortion-free for the live shows---"stood solidly on the foundation of the playful songwriting and lyrics," reads the review. The tunes were also given "a special freshness" with Merritt, Claudia Gonson, and Shirley Simms swapping vocals throughout the set.

To read the review, visit ftl.nypress.com.

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Click here to add the Distortion CD plus the free album MP3s, with the exclusive bonus download "The Man of a Million Faces," directly to your Shopping Cart now for only $13.98. 

Inspiring Stephin Merritt

The Magnetic Fields set up shop at New York's Town Hall tonight for the first of four nights of performances there. Before the show, band frontman Stephin Merritt will be stopping by the WNYC, New York Public Radio, studios to talk with Soundcheck host John Schaefer about the band's latest album, Distortion. Stephin will also give a taste of what's to come on stage with a live, in-studio acoustic performance. (Also on the show: a discussion of Oscar-nominated, boundary-pushing film scores, including Jonny Greenwood's score for There Will Be Blood, despite its being out of the Oscar running due to a technicality.) Soundcheck airs at 2 PM on 93.9 FM in New York and streams live on wnyc.org.

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In an interview with the San Francisco Bay Guardian's Alex Felsinger, Stephin is encouraged to reveal some real-life inspirations for the songs on Distortion. Felsinger wonders in particular about the source behind the unhappy folks in the song "Xavier Says" (sample lyric: "Zsa-Zsa orders, and drinks come/'Here it is, teddy bear'/'To your health, you ratfink scum'"), leading Stephin to admit to having witnessed a dysfunctional conversation or two in the "sleazy gay bars" in which he writes. To read the interview, visit sfbg.com.

Stephin reveals a different inspiration for the same song in an article in New York Press by David Chiu. The singer-songwriter explains that working his way through the alphabet, pegging a song title to each letter, eventually brought him to X and "Xavier Says." To read that article, visit ftl.nypress.com.

LA City Beat's Chris Morris finds still further inspiration for the tune: Lou Reed. He sees the iconic Reed as an "obvious source," with the song invoking "ol' Lou's heyday at Max's Kansas City." As for Distortion as a whole, despite its often unromantic take on life, Morris says that Stephin "steps up" with the new record and keeps things "surprisingly chipper." He suggests:

This is probably because Merritt is a finer melodist than any of his models; his principal composing cues appear to be taken from Brian Wilson ... It isn't accidental that one of the set's most entertaining songs,"California Girls," takes the Beach Boys' paean to our Golden State bunnies and stands it on its empty blonde head.

Ultimately, this allows Stephin and his band mates to create "an underpinning of merriment and well-placed dollops of irony amidst the sheets of sound that propel the album ... [with] the sound of the old, but the feel of something new." To read the review, visit lacitybeat.com.

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And for all the essentials on the sartorial side of Stephin, check out New York magazine's interview with the Man in Brown to learn why you'll always find him sporting his signature earth-tone (hint: not least because of a very special brown-and-tan dog). To read the fashion-section interview, visit nymag.com.

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Click here to add the Distortion CD plus the free album MP3s, with the exclusive bonus download "The Man of a Million Faces," directly to your Shopping Cart now for only $13.98. For more information and more Nonesuch albums, visit the Nonesuch Store. 

Boston Globe: The Magnetic Fields Turn "Distortion" Tracks to "Elegent Gems" for Live Show

The Magnetic Fields performed at the Somerville Theatre last Thursday for what was undoubtedly a very special Valentine's Day experience for many in the sold-out crowd. The Boston Globe's Joan Anderman says "it was a night of beautifully made art and barbarous good humor."

The set featured songs from the band's latest release, the feedback-heavy Distortion, with the album's purposely "noisy nuggets" revamped "as cosmically hushed chamber-pop" for the live show, making "the leap from fuzzed-up rocker to elegant gem intact," as well as a number of songs from throughout Stephin Merritt's various projects.

Anderman found the entire set list "dementedly apropos of the holiday" and found the chord changes to be "perfect, the words unmatched." She concludes: "In Merritt's world, the end is always near. But for world-weary romantics with an appetite for the truth, the Magnetic Fields delivered a sweet valentine."

To read the complete concert review, visit boston.com. This week, The Magnetic Fields set up residency for four nights of shows at New York's Town Hall.

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Click here to add the Distortion CD plus the free album MP3s, with the exclusive bonus download "The Man of a Million Faces," directly to your Shopping Cart now for only $13.98. For more information and more Nonesuch albums, visit the Nonesuch Store. 

The Magnetic Fields Bring Down the House in Tour Opener

The Magnetic Fields opened their US tour earlier this week with a sold-out two-night stint at the popular Northampton, Massachusetts, venue the Iron Horse. The group unveiled "unplugged" versions of the feedback-heavy songs on their latest album, Distortion.

Music writer Donnie Moorhouse of the Western Massachusetts paper The Republican was at the Monday night show and concludes that "the live version of Magnetic Fields may be the perfect Northampton band, playing a combination of lo-fi, alt-pop, and folk, all genres that have long been staples of the valley's original music scene." He reviews the whole set and reports that Stephin Merritt and band mate Claudia Gonson "brought down the house" with a closing duet.

Up next on the tour: two nights at the Somerville Theater, just outside Boston, starting with a Valentine's Day show tonight.

To read The Republican review of the Northampton show, visit masslive.com. To purchase Distortion, visit the Nonesuch Store.

The Magnetic Fields Play Northampton, Top College Chart

The Magnetic Fields began their US tour last night with the first of two sold-out shows in Northampton, visiting Western Massachusetts's five-college region after their new album, Distortion, hit No. 1 on the college radio (CMJ) chart.

The Massachusetts Daily Collegian, New England's largest college daily out of nearby Amherst, gives four stars to the band's new album, Distortion. Collegian staffer Brian Wood calls it "an ambitious, and highly successful, departure for the band," with Merritt's wit "displayed full force." Adds Wood: "Never before has Merritt's voice, long renowned for its unique delivery and deep tone, sounded better than it does here ... [It's] next to impossible to resist." To read the Collegian review, visit dailycollegian.com.

The Wall Street Journal maps out how Stephin Merritt pieced together the album's titular feedback, and how it could be adapted for the road. In an article by John Jurgensen, the Journal quotes Merritt's poetic description of the record's distortion as "a sea-urchin coating for the soft candy of the songs." To read the article, visit online.wsj.com.

The Magnetic Fields Launch US Tour for "Distortion"

The Magnetic Fields kick off their US tour tonight and tomorrow night at the Iron Horse in Northampton, Massachusetts, with two sold-out shows, where they'll unveil "unplugged" versions of songs off their feedback-heavy new album, Distortion.

The Hartford Courant's rock critic Eric R. Danton spoke with Stephin Merritt about creating the signature sound for the album, which he calls "a collection of 13 pop songs with catchy, quirky melodies swathed in velvety noise," and adapting it for the road. In a feature story and an accompanying podcast, Danton explores the making of these "witty, droll and often hilarious" songs. To read the article, visit courant.com. For the podcast, visit blogs.courant.com.

For tour information, click here. To purchase Distortion with an exclusive bonus download, visit the Nonesuch Store.

New Lang, Kronos Albums Now Available in the Nonesuch Store

Watershed, k.d. lang's first-ever self-produced album and her first collection of new, self-penned tunes since 2000's Invincible Summer, is now available in the Nonesuch Store. You'll find two versions of Watershed: the full-length album (pictured at left), on which k.d. puts her famous voice "to sunning new effect" (Daily News); and a special, deluxe package (pictured at right) with an additional bonus disc of live recordings and video footage. As always in the Nonesuch Store, with every CD purchase, you'll be able to download the album tracks instantly, either at the standard-sized 128 kbps or larger, audiophile-quality 320 kbps, at no additional charge.

For more on the record, visit nonesuch.com/watershed, where you can listen to three album tracks---"I Dream of Spring," "Je fais la planche," and "Sunday"---watch all six segments of the video interview series with k.d. recently posted to the Nonesuch Journal, and find information on k.d.'s upcoming tour schedule. You can find all the latest and archived Journal postings on k.d. by clicking here.

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Another new addition to the Store this week: Kronos Quartet's recording of composer Terry Riley's The Cusp of Magic, with pipa virtuoso Wu Man. Riley wrote the piece, which the Los Angeles Times says "brims with joy," for the Quartet, his longtime musical collaborators, in 2004. Included with the purchase of the CD on the Nonesuch Store, as an exclusive bonus download, is "Tusen Tankar," a traditional Scandinavian folk song arranged and performed by Kronos.

For all Kronos-related Journal entries, including information on the group's performance later this month in Carnegie Hall's Zankel Hall, click here. One of the pieces on the Carnegie Hall program is the world premiere of a piece by Fernando Otero, who also has a new album available in the Nonesuch Store: his "impressive" and "thoroughly original" (Newsday) Nonesuch debut, Página de Buenos Aires.

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Visit nonesuch.com/store for all the albums now available as CDs with instant MP3 downloads: Pat Metheny's Day Trip, The Magnetic Fields' Distortion, the Sweeney Todd motion picture soundtrack, and Jonny Greenwood's score to the film There Will Be Blood.

NPR: "Distortion" Provides "Intensely Pleasurable" Context for Merritt

In his review of The Magnetic Fields' Distortion on NPR's Fresh Air, pop critic Ken Tucker, also an editor-at-large at Entertainment Weekly, describes singer-songwriter Stephin Merritt as "a cult rock star who proceeds like a poet" in his many and varied musical undertakings.

In his lyrics, says Tucker, Stephin's "plenty clever," and for all the well-placed distortion, "there are moments of grand beauty on this album," particularly on "the gorgeous, broken-hearted love song, 'I'll Dream Alone.'" Tucker continues:

Stephin Merritt's sonorous, flat voice complements the distortion on Distortion very nicely. His extravagant unhappiness ... becomes our enjoyment—at his best, our euphoria ... Hearing Merritt's morose, witty obsessions in this sonic context is intensely pleasurable.

You can hear Tucker's review, complete with song clips from Distortion, on npr.org. You can purchase the CD at the Nonesuch Store to receive a free instant download of the album MP3s along with an exclusive bonus download, "The Man of a Million Faces," Stephin's solo creation for NPR's Project Song.

Harp: Magnetic Fields' "Exquisite" New Album Is Year's Best

"Exquisite." That's what Harp magazine calls The Magnetic Fields' Distortion. Reviewing the group's latest album, critic A.D. Amorosi wonders aloud, "2008's best CD already?" The answer: "You bet."

Amorosi describes the album like so: "Sonically, with its twinkling pianos, clipped guitars and stoically thumped tom-toms, the effect is one of Walls of Sound crumbling as one: Phil Spector meets [My Bloody Valentine's] Kevin Shields."

To read the full review, pick up the January/February issue of Harp magazine, or visit harpmagazine.com.

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And on today's episode of NPR's Bryant Park Project, host Alison Stewart deconstructs the distortion behind Distortion, the latest album from The Magnetic Fields, with musician LD Beghtol.

Beghtol's something of an expert on the subject, having performed on the band's 69 Love Songs and written an in-depth book about the seminal album for the 33 1/3 series of musical field guides. On the Bryant Park Project's "Assisted Listen" segment, he explains where all that feedback comes from, how it's made, and how Stephin Merritt's use of distortion compares with the Jesus and Mary Chain sound that inspired it.

To listen to the segment, visit npr.org.

LA Times Welcomes Stephin Merritt to Town

Long a fixture in New York City, Stephin Merritt has recently set up home in Los Angeles as well, and, writes Los Angeles Times staff writer Richard Cromelin, in a feature profile of the songwriter in this Sunday's paper, "his presence has enhanced L.A.'s creative landscape."

Already known as a prolific songwriter through his work with The Magnetic Fields (Distortion), The Gothic Archies (The Tragic Treasury), and many other projects, Stephin is now adding to his repertoire a musical adaptation of author Neil Gaiman's award-winning novel Coraline. Stephin's collaborator on the project, playwright David Greenspan, tells the Times:

There's a range of feelings and emotions that he's very successful at musicalizing. He's very witty ... and he has a wonderful sense of language. He can write witty songs and charming songs, but he can also write songs that are much more emotionally naked. There's a great variety to both the technical and emotional palette he works with.

Cromelin sums up Stephin's appeal this way:

Whether balancing the gravitas of his verse and voice against cheesy synth-pop or framing his theatrical exposition in folk-rooted formalism, Merritt's music is unfailingly catchy and propulsive, reflecting his fondness for such acts as Kraftwerk, Phil Spector and ABBA.

To read the article, visit latimes.com.

WNYC, Salon Examine the Many Musical Projects of Stephin Merritt

There's been much talk and praise of late of Stephin Merritt's latest Magnetic Fields album, Distortion, but on tonight's New Sounds show on WNYC, New York Public Radio, host John Schaefer takes a look at another of Merritt's many projects, The Gothic Archies, and the 2006 album The Tragic Treasury, a musical companion to the popular series of books, Lemony Snicket's Series of Unfortunate Events. Folks in the New York City area can tune in at 11 PM ET to 93.9 FM on their radios. You can also listen to the show live at that time on wnyc.org.

Meanwhile, Salon finds some similarities between Merritt's use of alter egos (writing also for The 6ths and Future Bible Heroes) and Chan Marshall's work as Cat Power. Yet, writes the site's Zach Baron, focusing on the new Magnetic Fields album,

Distortion works because Stephin Merritt allows himself—however ironically—to be Stephin Merritt again; if the production's loud enough to drown out the sound of his own voice, well then that leaves him free to use it.

To read the article, visit salon.com.

NY Daily News: Merritt's Trademark Wit Finds "Perfect Mate" in "Distorion" Sound

Reviewing The Magnetic Fields' latest Nonesuch release, Distortion, New York Daily News music critic Jim Farber has kind words for Stephin Merritt's trademark wit and also draws attention to his "flair for melodies," which shines through on the new record.

"I could go on praising Merritt's hard wit," writes Farber. "But he's long been known for that. What's new is his fetish for sound—this one so woozy and blurred it gives his disturbed lyrics their perfect mate."

To read the review, visit nydailynews.com.

The Denver Post, in its review, says the album comes from a man whose "otherworldly songwriting prowess often produces some of the best music around" and says the latest record "rewards each listen with new levels of organic, emotional depth."

To read the review, visit denverpost.com.

And on the radio ...

WNYC's Soundcheck staff has named Distortion a CD of the Week this week, calling it "a fine homage" both to The Jesus and Mary Chain and "the melancholy pop of the Beach Boys."

You can hear The Magnetic Fields's "Drive On, Driver" off Distortion on the latest episode of BBC Radio 2's Music Club Weekly with host Simon Mayo. The show is chock full of great songs and insight, but if you're looking to get straight to the song, you'll find it about 28 minutes into the show. Visit bbc.co.uk/radio2 to listen to this week's episode.

NPR Names Magnetic Fields' "California Girls" Song of the Day

NPR has named "California Girls," off Distortion, The Magnetic Fields' latest Nonesuch release, today's Song of the Day. A perfect "cold-weather anthem" for the arctic chill about to hit much of northeastern US, the song "hums and reverberates with defiled surf-rock," says NPR's Afton Woodward. "California Girls" is "sung with supreme confidence by Shirley Simms," Woodward continues, "with the faint outlines of a catchy melody glimmering under a cloud of fuzz."

You can read the article and hear "California Girls" at npr.org. You can also hear that song plus "Three-Way" and "Too Drunk to Dream" off the new record at nonesuch.com/distortion.

NPR: Magnetic Fields' "Distortion" Was "Well Worth the Wait"

In his review of The Magnetic Fields' new album, Distortion, for NPR's All Things Considered, music critic Robert Christgau says the band's latest effort was "well worth the wait." Inspired by the Jesus and Mary Chain's distortion-filled 1985 classic , Psychocandy, Stephin Merritt set out to create his own fuzz-filled record, but, says Christgau, ended up going one better, producing an album with "a lot more definition, and wit."

The Magnetic Fields set the bar high with their 1999 masterwork, 69 Love Songs, but, says Christgau, Distortion

has a consistency and weight that's more impressive than any of the other numerous products of [Merritt's] fecundity and facility. Distortion has it both ways: It rocks out, and its momentum counterbalances Merritt's typically dour mood.

To listen to the All Things Considered review or to hear "Three-Way" and "California Girls" off the new album, visit npr.org. To purchase the album, visit the Nonesuch Store.

NY Observer: "Addictive" "Distortion" Offers Magnetic Fields Through a "Blissful, Noisy Haze"

In a profile of Stephin Merritt in today's New York Observer, J. Gabriel Boylan examines the feedback blanketing the new Magnetic Fields' album, Distortion, and finds that despite its rock 'n' roll roots, the album maintains the band's signature sound of "intricate chamber pop," only here "delivered through a blissful, noisy haze."

Despite what may seem to be a fairly simple concept (music + distortion = rock), Boylan says "the simplicity hides the workmanship" behind Merritt's latest creation; the band has "upped the ante of their thematic self-challenge by using their usual instruments" rather than computers or synths to create the titular fuzzed-out sound.

Whatever the inspiration behind the new record, there's no mistaking that this is a Magnetic Fields album through and through. Writes Boylan:

Mr. Merritt clearly adores the Jesus and Mary Chain, along with the Beach Boys, the Beatles and the Velvet Underground, yet he is clever, and talented enough to put the Magnetic Fields stamp on everything he does. The consistent fuzz harkens back to earlier albums like Holiday, yet nowhere has the band been so rocking so much of the time, and the sonic assault is addictive, especially in such small chunks.

To read the article, visit observer.com.

USA Today Makes Magnetic Fields' "Distortion" Spotlight Album

The Magnetic Fields' Distortion, released today, is this week's Spotlight Album in USA Today. In the three-star USA Today review, writer Elysa Gardner calls the album "pop candy in rock coating" and its creator, Stephin Merritt, "one of alternative pop’s most gifted songwriters." On Distortion, writes Gardner, "Merritt channels the melodic savvy and wit that have earned him comparisons to pop bards dating back to Cole Porter into a chocolate box of power-pop confections, coated in layers of feedback."

To read the Spotlight Album review, visit blogs.usatoday.com. To purchase the album with a free bonus download, visit the Nonesuch Store.

GQ: Magnetic Fields' "Distortion" Makes for a Good Week

With today's release of The Magnetic Fields' Distortion, GQ says it's "a good week for fans of hyper-literate singer-songwriters" like Stephin Merritt. The Las Vegas Review-Journal concurs, calling Stephin "one of indie rock's most compelling and consistent songwriters" whose talents come through on the "raucous" new record. And the Denver Post says Stephin's "in fighting form" with Distortion, on which his "organic, wall-of-sound production and achingly beautiful melodies take center stage."

Click on the above links to read each review.

NY Times Talks with "Musical Polymath" Stephin Merritt

In a New York Times profile of The Magnetic Fields' "musical polymath" Stephin Merritt for the group's new record, Distortion, Melena Ryzik reports of the aspirations of this songwriter, known for his "bitterly smart lyricism," to be "'lumped in with Irving Berlin'" and included as a contemporary of Stephen Sondheim. In the article, Jon Nakagaw, a producer of contemporary programming at Lincoln Center, calls Stephin's work "pop in the best sense of that word.”

To read the article and listen to "California Girls" off Distortion, visit nytimes.com. To purchase the new CD and receive a free download of Stephin's "The Man of a Million Faces" with the album, visit the Nonesuch Store.

PopMatters: Magnetic Fields' "Distortion" Makes a "Brilliant" Comment on Rock

PopMatters rates the new Magnetic Fields album, Distortion, an 8 out of 10, and as the site's Associate Music Editor Dave Heaton sees it, the titular sound effects form part of Stephin Merritt's comment on the genre of rock 'n' roll, and his place in it:

The cloud of noise surrounding the songs may, in the abstract, bring to mind some leather-jacketed, sneering rockers, but the melodies are as pop as anything he’s done. Catchy melodies are supported by giddy harmony vocals everywhere, even though they’re not the first thing you notice. ... There are bouncy bubblegum tunes and stately ballads, with Merritt’s dry sense of humor, worship of words, and way with melody on display, as usual.

Another thing that distinguishes Distortion from the typical fuzz-filled rock album is the assortment of instruments whose sounds are being distorted. Here, cello, piano, and accordion all get the treatment usually reserved for guitar, and, writes Heaton, that "makes the listening experience richer than if it were just straight-up guitar feedback ... The moment when a distorted piano bangs out a few notes is breathtaking the first time around."

This taste of the unexpected is part of the play on rock conventions inherent in the album. "Distortion distorts perception," says Heaton.

The "rock" angle will no doubt make Distortion the most celebrated Stephin Merritt album since 69 Love Songs. But what’s brilliant about Distortion is how it plays into that mythology while also ripping it down ... It also indulges in the pleasures of the form of rock, that very volume and noise. Meanwhile, Merritt does what he always does. He writes clever songs that are sweet and bitter, comforting and subversive.

To read the review, visit popmatters.com. To purchase the album, starting Tuesday, January 15, visit the Nonesuch Store.

Magnetic Fields' "Distortion" Featured on NPR's "All Songs Considered"

"Three-Way" and "California Girls," off The Magnetic Fields' forthcoming Nonesuch release, Distortion, open the latest edition of NPR's All Songs Considered. "If you're a fan of All Songs Considered," says the show's host, Bob Boilen, "then you know we're followers and lovers of all things Stephin Merritt."

After playing the two Magnetic Fields tracks, Boilen provides the perfect context for the tunes with a seamless segue to Jesus and Mary Chain's "Just Like Honey," off the group's seminal 1985 work Psychocandy, the album that inspired the fuzzed-out sound of Distortion.

You can listen to the latest edition of All Songs Considered online at npr.org.

Distortion will be available on Tuesday, January 15. With every purchase of the CD at the Nonesuch Store comes a free instant download of the album plus the exclusive bonus track of "The Man of a Million Faces," the song Stephin wrote and performed for the inaugural episode of NPR's Project Song.

Stephin Merritt Performs "Nun's Litany" on 4Music, Video

The UK's Channel 4 Music site has posted an exclusive video of Stephin Merritt's decidedly un-distorted, solo acoustic performance of "The Nun's Litany" off Distortion, The Magnetic Fields' forthcoming Nonesuch release. Writes the 4Music staff: "We don't think it's an exaggeration to say they've been some of the wittiest, cleverest, most heartbreaking collections of pop music we've ever been privileged to hear."

To watch the video, visit channel4.com/music.

Metro (UK): Magnetic Fields' "Distortion" Is a "Pop Classic"

Metro (UK) names The Magnetic Fields' Distortion to its list of Albums of the Week. Metro's Alex Sarll rates the new record 5/5 and credits Stephin Merritt's "astonishing inability to write a dud song" for turning the potential hazard of making a fuzz-heavy concept record into "another offbeat pop classic" from the band.

For the Albums of the Week, visit metro.co.uk.

Radar: The Magnetic Fields Make One of Their Finest, Year's Best

Radar magazine says that with Distortion, The Magnetic Fields has delivered another set of "glorious" tunes from songwriter Stephin Merritt, with "cleverly dark, Morrissey-ish lyrics to adorn his pristine three-minute pop structures."

On Distortion, the group has added plenty of the titular fuzz—"a bold move," writes Radar's Joe Colly, and one that works. In "seamlessly folding" in the Jesus and Mary Chain-esque effects, Stephin and Co. have created "one of the finest things they've done as a band—including the precious, universally adored 1999 triple-album 69 Love Songs."

Colly calls the album's tunes "almost unfairly catchy garage-pop numbers," ones that offer "moments of goosebump-inducing melody along the way." He concludes:

[W]ith an album's worth of deadpan-isms to make even Moz proud and an ambitious new sonic approach, The Magnetic Fields craft another great record—maybe one of the best of this young year.

To read the review, visit radaronline.com. Look for Distortion in stores and on the Nonesuch Store on Tuesday.

Washington Post: Magnetic Fields Song Year's "First Great Love Song"

The Washington Post has added The Magnetic Fields' "Please Stop Dancing" to the top of their "Singles File" list. The song is off Distortion, the group's forthcoming Nonesuch release, and the paper says it's "the first great love song of 2008," albeit one in a "smog of distorted guitars." Writes the Post's Chris Richards: "Leave it to Magnetic Fielder Stephin Merritt to make such cacophony sound cute."

Check out the "Singles File" at washingtonpost.com.

Time Out London: Magnetic Fields' "Distortion" Finds Fun in Fuzz

Time Out London, in its review of Distortion, The Magnetic Fields' forthcoming Nonesuch release, posits that, in making the new album, Stephin Merritt spent a good deal of "time and ingenuity making every instrument, including the cello, accordion and piano, feed back." What may read at first like an ignoble undertaking has in fact created a treat: "[A]s the fuzz roars and its tunes chime distantly like a broken musical box," writes Bella Todd in the review, "Distortion exudes the carefree air of being pleasantly wankered."

For the complete review, visit timeout.com/london.

Observer: Magnetic Fields' "Distortion" a "Lovely Addition" to a Time-Honored Tradition

"Noise has had a long and distinguished pop career," writes Kitty Emipre in the Observer (UK), following the trajectory from Phil Spector to Jesus and Mary Chain to the paper's CD of the week: The Magnetic Fields' new record, Distortion, "a lovely addition to the noisy canon and a barbed new year tonic."

And through all the distortion promised by the album's title and delivered by the band, "rest assured," writes Empire, "the melodies speak louder than the din." And Stephin Merritt, "a pop auteur of great distinction," delivers the album's "finest moments" when he unexpectedly "chirrups away" on "Too Drunk to Dream."

To read the full review, visit observer.guardian.co.uk.

Chicago Tribune Recommends Upcoming Wilco, Magnetic Fields Shows

The Chicago Tribune music critic Greg Kot recommends two upcoming area performances from Nonesuch artists that just go to show that "the real action during the winter is in the clubs." Wilco will set up shop at the Riviera for a five-night residency, February 15, 16, 18, 19, and 20. The following month, on March 14, The Magnetic Fields take that stage at the Old Town School of Folk Music, with songs from their upcoming release, Distortion. For further details, visit chicagotribune.com.

Mother Jones: "Distortion" Finds "Merritt at His Most Playful"

Mother Jones magazine recently spoke with Stephin Merritt about The Magnetic Fields' upcoming Nonesuch release, Distortion, and many other things as well. Merritt's famous wit is on full display as he discusses everything from an early memory of a Jefferson Airplane concert that left him deathly afraid at the time of singer Grace Slick, to more recent, slightly less lethal trends in pop music.

Mother Jones Associate Editor Kiera Butler sees the "trademarks" of Merritt's varied output as "literary lyrics; catchy melody; and, when Merritt's singing, croonerish bass vocals and deadpan delivery." All can be found on Distortion, which Butler sees as "Merritt at his most playful."

To read the complete interview, visit motherjones.com.

NME: Magnetic Fields' "Distortion" Is "Purest, Starkest Genius"

"The first month of the new year sees the appearance of the first great album of '08—Distortion by The Magnetic Fields," writes NME's Acting Reviews Editor Priya Elan about the magazine's Album of the Week. "Stephin Merritt's 'genius' status has never been in doubt."

In the accompanying album review, writer Mark Beaumont repeats the "musical genius" moniker for Merritt and praises the album too as "purest, starkest genius" in a remarkable, larger body of work. "Relentlessly prolific," writes Beaumont, "Merritt's canon is a Technicolor marvel shot through with the unifying threads of impeccable tunesmithery and an adorable, dolorous baritone." And it's Stephin's ability to weave together so many different elements, on full display on Distortion, that "lifts him on to a higher stratosphere than anyone working in alternative pop today."

To read the full review, pick up the latest issue of NME on newsstands now or visit nme.com.

Drowned in Sound Interviews "Pop Deity" Stephin Merritt

In today's lead article on The Magnetic Fields on Drowned in Sound, Stephin Merritt speaks with writer Samuel Strang in an in-depth interview that covers everything from the inspiration behind the lyrics on the group's new record, Distortion, to the lasting impact of its seminal 69 Love Songs.

One of the contributors on that famous earlier album, Shirley Simms, returns to sing vocals on a number of tracks on the new one, swapping lead with Stephin. Strang praises the juxtaposition, saying Simms's  "grand melancholic delivery again sits brilliantly beside Merritt’s hollow-hearted baritone bawl."

At the heart of Distortion, even with the new sound of its titular effects in play, Strang finds the sort of music and lyrics for which Merritt and The Magnetic Fields are known:

[T]hrough the feedback the same unabashed pop sensibility and Merritt’s affections for the glorious pop melodrama of Phil Spector and ABBA, for not striving for realism but being content in their own cocooned idylls, remains, with the songwriter seemingly having found his own current comfort zone.

Given that, Strang says the new album proves why Merritt, "so removed from the usual brouhaha, remains a brilliantly unlikely pop deity."

To read the complete interview and article, visit drownedinsound.com.

MOJO: Four Stars for Magnetic Fields' "Distortion"

In his four-star review of The Magnetic Fields' Distortion in MOJO magazine, James McNair writes of "indelibly hooky" and "hummable" tunes on an album that "packs plenty of sardonic wit."

To read the full review, pick up a copy of the January issue of MOJO on newsstands now.

Magnetic Fields' "Distortion" Monday's BBC 6 Album of the Day