The Wayward Bus/Distant Plastic Trees (CD) ~ The Magnetic Fields... Cover Art

The Wayward Bus/Distant Plastic Trees (CD)

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

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DISC 1 for The Wayward Bus/Distant Plastic Trees (CD) Album By The Magnetic Fields (Artist)
1   When You Were My Baby
2   Saddest Story Ever Told, The
3   Lovers From The Moon
4   Candy
5   Tokyo A Go-Go
6   Summer Lies
7   Old Orchard Beach
8   Jeremy
9   Dancing In Your Eyes
10   Suddenly There Is A Tidal Wave
11   (untitled)
12   Railroad Boy
13   Smoke Signals
14   You Love To Fail
15   Kings
16   Babies Falling
17   Living In An Abandoned Firehouse With You
18   Tar-Heel Boy
19   Falling In Love With The Wolfboy
20   Josephine
21   100,000 Fireflies
 

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Review

Alternative Press (11/92, p.66) - "...something worth savoring..."
Option (11-12/92, p.129) - "...one of the more arresting visions I've encountered recently..."

Title Note

The Magnetic Fields: Susan Anway (vocals); Stephin Merritt (various instruments).

Additional personnel: Sam Davol (cello); Johny Blood (tuba, horns); Claudia Gonson (percussion).

Engineer: Ken Michaels.

THE WAYWARD BUS was originally released on Popup in 1992. DISTANT PLASTIC TREES was originally released in England on Red Flame in 1991.

Track 11 is a silent track.

The Magnetic Fields' first two albums, available on one CD, differ from the band's later work in that it is not songwriter Stephin Merritt who is singing his tales of wounded hope, starry-eyed romance, and quiet desperation. Susan Anway, whose classic '60s pop voice bears remarkable resemblance to that of Petula Clark, is the vocalist here, and her performance is transcendent. 1990's less-is-more DISTANT PLASTIC TREES is directly indebted to early-'80s minimalist-pop geniuses the Young Marble Giants, especially on the hypnotic "You Love To Fail" and the tremendously affecting "100,000 Fireflies," perhaps Merritt's most heartbreakingly beautiful song.

By comparison, 1991's THE WAYWARD BUS is downright lush, combining Merritt's avowed love for Phil Spector, ABBA, and '60s French pop into keyboard-based two-minute pop classics like the Ronettes homage "When You Were My Baby" and the swinging "Suddenly There Is A Tidal Wave." Taken together, both albums are the perfect introduction to Stephin Merritt's magical pop world.

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