The Magnetic Fields : Realism :: Review
Every single review (this one included) of “Realism” has made mention of The Magnetic Field’s epic achievement “69 Love Songs” rather than focus on the new album. When the review does acknowledge “Realism,” the critics brush it off and state that it’s not as important as that immense collection of songs that arrived when they were in their elementary years. For the record, there needs to be a clearing of the slate when an artist releases a big statement and then follows it up with other efforts.
How embarrassing would be if you created one great thing years ago and followed it up with other satisfying efforts but the critics only mentioned that one epic creation. Thank God music bloggers weren’t around in the early 19th century. Imagine the type of inane questions they could pester Beethoven or Brahms with after creating their respective masterpieces. I would think that alone would make you hesitant to create anymore but that’s a knee-jerk response to a bunch of jerks.
“Realism” is Stephen Merritt’s (The Magnetic Fields) follow up to “Distortion” his homage to The Jesus and Mary Chain. On “Realism” Merritt and the cast of characters who help populate his songs have created an album that was closer to a Judy Collins folk album from the Sixties. What Merritt had in mind when creating this album was to focus only on acoustic or unplugged instruments and present the album in a variety show format. Those unfamiliar with that little nugget will have a hard time with the album as it’s all over the place musically and in tone. Merritt and Co. can be quite campy and this alone has prompted some uninformed to call this “The Ringo Album.” If Ringo could write an album similar to this presently, I would be floored.
“Realism” opens with the lush and playful, “You Must Be Out of Your Mind” which offers the sharp couplet, “I want you crawling back to me down on your knees yeah, like an appendectomy sans anesthesia.” It’s good to see that Merritt hasn’t brightened his palette as his sardonic worldview is welcome in this white washed world of human-interest stories. To drive the point home further that this is Merritt’s folk album, “We Are Having a Hootenanny” is included on the album and sounds like a recruitment for a Scientology meeting.
Merritt’s tongue in cheek “Everything is one Big Christmas Tree” features a German chorus and seems to signal a respite of anything remotely frivolous on the album with maybe the exception of the tuba on “Seduced and Abandoned” or the Disneyesque twittering of birds on “Better Things.” “Walk a Lonely Road” opts for the pitch-black singer/songwriter route while “Always Already Gone” feels like something out of the Marianne Faithfull songbook. “The Dada Polka” effectively closes the curtains on the variety show as the harmonium drenches “From A Sinking Boat” would play as the screen fades to black.
While this album isn’t “69 Love Songs,” it’s not a slouch either. It’s always refreshing to hear a musician who is willing to push the boundaries and for them to regain their footing.
Rating: 
