Idolator: Magnetic Fields

Jingle Writing Goes The "American Idol" Route

Maura Johnston — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 09:30:00 EDT

CBS has decided to pick up the Mark Burnett game show Jingles, during which contestants will be required to write songs showcasing the various sponsors of the program in a positive light, then have those tunes judged by an "expert panel" and Americans. Winning songs will get used in the featured products' commercials, a fact that should make any indie musician hoping to pay his rent by selling his track to a soap company quiver in his boots. The designed-for-evading-TiVoers show will likely appear on the network's schedule come summertime, and casting is apparently going on right now! Here's a suggestion for CBS: How about cueing up a "marginal indie celebrity" version of the show to bring down your network's average viewing age—perhaps Feist vs. Wilco vs. Stephin Merritt? A preview of that potential throwdown is after the jump.

It's "Jingles" all the way for CBS, Burnett [Reuters]

Is Stephin Merritt Absolutely Cuckoo For Spearmint And Wintergreen?

Jess Harvell — Thu, 28 Feb 2008 15:00:57 EST

A tipster just sent us a YouTube clip for a Wrigley's gum ad that aired during last night's episode of American Idol, wondering if the droll singing voice coming out of the actor's mouth was none other than the Magnetic Fields' Stephin Merritt. It sure sounds like a Magnetic Fields song that just happens to be about the American Dental Association—right down to the plinky (but charming!) piano on the backing track—but the performance is a little too polished to quite convince us it's the man himself. Merritt's obviously cool with selling his distinctively froggy pipes to ad agencies, but clearly we need a second through sixty-ninth opinion here, so decide for yourself after the jump.

Wrigley's "Gum Is Good" [YouTube/HT: James Barber]

Stephin Merritt reads fifth-grade fave Ethan ...

Maura Johnston — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 12:30:45 EST

Stephin Merritt reads fifth-grade fave Ethan Frome on his birthday every year, because "it expresses everything about how horrible New England is." And hey, at only 99 pages, you can read its entire "if you want more out of your horrible existence, you're pretty much screwed" tale and still have time for cake and ice cream! [SF Weekly]

Idolator's Top Five Breakup Songs: Guaranteed To Be "I Will Survive"-Free

Kate Richardson — Fri, 07 Dec 2007 17:00:34 EST

AskMen.com recently compiled a list of their top ten breakup songs, including the not-really-about-a-break-up "No Woman, No Cry," "Achy Breaky Heart," the freaking Cake cover of "I Will Survive," and the heinous "I (Just) Died in Your Arms" by Cutting Crew. They had the decency to put "Go Your Own Way" by Fleetwood Mac at No. 2, but most of the list is pretty dreary—even for breakup songs! So I thought I'd make my own.

5. "Full Color Love Affair" by The Shimmer Kids Underpop Association

Why: A mellow song about the not-so-mellow experience of being dumped for another person. It perfectly captures the beaten-down tone of self-loathing and hatred that accompanies this experience.
Key lyrics: "When I saw you in the library, well then I knew that it was all over, 'cause he was showing you that book by e.e. cummings. And I had on my favorite shirt, but it didn't seem to make a difference 'cause all the poetry in Paris will never hide my shortcomings. And if our paths cross in a little while, if I should see you at a party, maybe you'll apologize...but you'll still be a bitch."

4. "Recommendation" by Mirah

Why: This is a good one for the defiant, I-am-so-getting-over-you-but-I-still-want-you stage of a breakup. It's a brilliantly compact song about things that you can only write down in letters and the agony of an uncertain ending drawn out by tense long-distance correspondence. In the end Mirah decides that she's doing "Fine. Just fine."
Key lyrics: "You drove so far, but now you know how rough it is to let me go. Let me recommend that you think twice, and I always give the best advice."

3. "True Affection" by The Blow

Why: A perfect expression of that painful sense that you're drifting out of each other's leagues. As always, The Blow combines heartfelt vocals with electronic blips to great effect. There's such a sadness to this song in its recognition of how sometimes genuine affection isn't enough.
Key lyrics: "True affection floats. True affection sinks like a stone. I never felt so close. I never felt so all alone."

2. "I Don't Want to Get Over You" by The Magnetic Fields

Why: Perhaps the most miserable and pathetic breakup emotion is the terrible knowledge that you're not ready for the person to leave your life, despite the fact that they're clearly moving on. This one just comes out and says it: I'm not ready for this, I don't want anyone else, I feel like sulking around and smoking clove cigarettes, etc. Stephin Merritt's sad, dead vocals are basically the sound of being dumped.
Key lyrics:" I could make a career of being blue, I could dress in black and read Camus, smoke clove cigarettes and drink vermouth like I was 17. That would be a scream, but I don't want to get over you."

1. "Landslide" by Fleetwood Mac

Why: So this is pretty obvious. It's kind of the go-to song for major life changes, but there's a reason why it's so popular among the depressed and broken-hearted. Stevie Nicks is at once vulnerable, honest, and willing to acknowledge that things have to change, though not without some hesitation. Everything about it is perfect for post-breakup sadness.
Key lyrics: "I've been afraid of changing 'cause I've built my life around you."

The Magnetic Fields' Next Record: "69 Car Songs"

mjohnston — Fri, 14 Sep 2007 09:30:47 EDT

I caught the above ad for the Volvo XC70 during a Law & Order rerun last night, in which a deep-voiced man reworks the kids' song "The Wheels On The Bus" so that it extols the virtues of the SUV, and I thought to myself, "That sounds like Stephin Merritt, or at least an ad agency-approved soundalike." A little Google research made me realize that, yes, the singer was actually Merritt—although I probably should have been convinced of my hunch when I caught him audibly smirking as he sang "the hill-descent control goes nice and slow." (Nice internal rhyme there, though.)

Stephin Merritt - The Wheels On The Car [YouTube]

On The Flippity-Flop: The Magnetic Fields Put Up "Smoke And Mirrors"

mjohnston — Wed, 07 Feb 2007 17:28:41 EST

Welcome to "On The Flippity-Flop," where your Idolators spotlight unjustly ignored B-sides, bonus tracks, compilation contributions, and EP cuts. Send your suggestions to tips@idolator.com.

ARTIST: The Magnetic Fields
SONG: "Smoke And Mirrors (James Noble / Mark Robinson Remix)"
FIRST APPEARANCE: MRG 100, 1997
WHY IT SHOULD HAVE BEEN AN A-SIDE: "Smoke," which appeared on the Magnetic Fields' 1995 album Get Lost, was originally an airy, minimal lament; the Noble/Robinson remix came out two years later, on a remix EP celebrating Merge Records' 100th release. Noble and Robinson amp up the lushness quotient of the backing track, and adds a chattering synth underneath; they also turn the song into a duet, dubbing in the super-girlish vocals of Blast Off Country Style's Evelyn Hurley as a counterpoint to Stephin Merritt's deep voice. The end result is stunningly bittersweet, and one of the saddest lost-love songs we've ever stumbled across.

~~Magnetic Fields - Smoke And Mirrors (James Noble / Mark Robinson Remix)~~ [MP3, link removed]