Noise Pop 2010

The Magnetic Fields

with guests:
Mark Eitzel

artist web site

Singer-songwriter Stephin Merritt originally conceived Realism, The Magnetic Fields' third Nonesuch release, as a companion to the group's brash 2008 Distortion, though the more tremulous listeners among us can rest assured they won't have to frantically reach for the volume-control knob this time. Realism, at least on its decorous surface, comes across as a flipside to Distortion, the aural opposite of that clangorous homage to industrial pop of the Jesus and Mary Chain.

He brings the concision of a three-minute pop-song to each of the 13 tracks on Realism. As he puts it, "I like songs short; I don't go for big statements in general. I find it difficult to listen, say, to Beethoven. I prefer small cozy, charming, subtle things, not masterpieces and epics."