The Charm of the Highway Strip (Vinyl) ~ The Magnetic Fields (Ar... Cover Art

The Charm of the Highway Strip (Vinyl)

By: The Magnetic Fields (Artist)

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The Magnetic Fields Artist Snapshot:

The mastermind of the Magnetic Fields is Stephin Merritt, an urbane songwriter with a scathing wit, equally influenced by the Pet Shop Boys and Stephen Sondheim. Since 1991, Merritt has married sophisticated wordplay with elegant melodies and (particularly on his earlier releases) electro-pop arrangements. Ever the dissolute romantic, Merritt pens world-weary songs of romance gone awry. Sometimes he sings them himself, in his dry-martini voice, sometimes he employs the brighter tones of Claudia Gonson. Merritt has also invented other guises to present his songs, such as the 6ths and Future Bible Heroes, further utilizing guest vocalists.

Product Description

Track Listing

DISC 1 for The Charm of the Highway Strip (Vinyl) Album By The Magnetic Fields (Artist)
1   Lonely Highway  
2   Long Vermont Roads  
3   Born on a Train  
4   I Have the Moon  
5   Two Characters in Search of a Country Song  
6   Crowd of Drifters  
7   Fear of Trains  
8   When the Open Road Is Closing In  
9   Sunset City  
10   Dust Bowl  
 

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Review

Spin (12/94, p.78) - Ranked #18 in Spin's list of the `20 Best Albums Of '94' - "...Metapop of an austere lushness...with a slightly robotic singer, road-themed titles...and pop-encyclopedic electronic backings that swell when they hit your memory..."
Q (10/95, p.123) - 4 Stars - Excellent - "...both lovely and tackily artificial, dream-like and faintly repellent and as fascinating as anything coming out of America right now..."
Option (8/94, p.110) - "...this fairly focused concept album is like an aural Wim Wenders movie..."
Village Voice (2/28/95) - Ranked #29 in the Village Voice's 1994 Pazz & Jop Critics Poll.
NME (Magazine) (9/16/95, p.50) - 7 (out of 10) - "...Merritt sings lonesome country songs in his lugubrious baritone over charming, tinkly keyboards....a collection of road songs for people whose lives are too fastidiously ordered for them ever to leave their apartments..."

Title Note

The Magnetic Fields: Stephin Merritt (vocals, various instruments).

Additional personnel: Sam Davol (cello).

Stephin Merritt claims that the first four full albums by his band, the Magnetic Fields, each have a specific and unique musical style. As such, THE CHARM OF THE HIGHWAYS STRIP may be the first synth-country album. Marrying the Fields' usual electronic arsenal to original songs written in the traditional Hank, Faron, Lefty, and Patsy C&W fashion works better than one might initially imagine.

Merritt's wounded-romantic lyrical persona is not really that dissimilar from that of, say, George Jones or Porter Waggoner. In particular, fans of such country radicals as Lee Hazelwood, Kinky Friedman, and Terry Allen should be immediately attracted to narratives like "Born On A Train" or "Two Characters In Search Of A Country Song." Merritt fans averse to twang have nothing to fear. Despite the overt country tone of the album, CHARM is still prime Magnetic Fields.

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