Magnetic Fields - Holiday
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Free Music Notes for Holiday
Free Music Review: Their Second Wonderful album....
Hit: 5 Stars
and arguably the best of the early ones (if not the best of all of his). Holiday is a wonderful synth pop album which ranks up there with 69 Love Songs as their best. This opened my ears to alot of synth pop music.
The album starts of with the 22 second long intro, which has a sixties-meets-synth sound to it (i think) and is followed by 13 brilliant tracks. All You Ever Do Is Walk Away is one of the best vocal performance from Stephin Merritt and also ranks as one of his best songs. Other highlights are Trouble I've Been looking For and Take Ecstacy With Me.
Buy this and 69 Love Songs for the perfect grasp of the best of this band.
Free Music Review: painfully beautiful
Hit: 5 Stars
So here it is 1994 and Stephin Merritt has expounded on his ideas of pre-programmed love songs, so they sound better than ever, though hardly glossed over. They're just as messy, with loose ends showing everywhere. He also takes over as the sole singer of the Magnetic Fields. What happened to Susan? I have no idea. She's only on one track here. But mostly we have Stephin in all his depressed glory. He might have the most depressed lackadaisical voice in music. Whether its the fun "Swinging London" or the terribly depressing "The Flowers She Sent," he treats them all the same, but his voice always seems to get in your head. He actually shows a lot of range on "All You Ever Do Is Walk Away" where it sounds like he's yelling so much, poor Stephin's head is going to pop off!The album also has probably my favorite lyrics of all the Magnetic Fields releases. Everything Stephin Merritt comes together in the imagery of the opening lines to "The Flowers She Sent": "I saw you standing at the airport / with your chiahuahua in your hand / Crying on the moving sidewalk / on your way to Disneyland." That's not to shake a stick at the dense growling "Desert Island" where Merritt is put with his love in that very place that dreams are made of. "We'll develop muscles / from cracking coconuts / Let our clothing drop off / feel each other's butts." He has a way with turning old love song ideas on their head. For example, it's not out of the ordinary to be singing about a lover's eyes, but Merritt writes "My heart just turns to ice when I see myself reflected in your torn green velvet eyes." Although, I have to say that since in most Magnetic Fields albums not many people seem to be getting any, there seems to be a lot of happiness on this album.
As usual, the music is programmed most of the time, but we hear some branching out on "Sad Little Moon" where a violin, tuba and glockenspiel provide almost all of the music. It's refreshing since its slapped between two synthpop songs. And the whole album is wrapped up with "Take Ecstacy With Me," maybe my favorite Magnetic Fields song - all time. It starts off with the the percussion of a guiro and a bass drum and there's tons of synthed flutes and guitars and such and it's all very dense and extremely addictive. This is the only song not sung by Merritt, and it's done beautifully by Susan Anway.
Don't have enough money for 69 Love Songs? Then get Holiday.
Free Music Review: The best album to run to
Hit: 4 Stars
This is such a wonderfully happy-sounding and tuneful effort by Stephin Merritt that it's almost possible to forget that he probably doesn't mean any of it. All the songs sound like happy synths with happy lyrics ("You wave goodbye/ airplanes draw swords in the sky" goes "The Trouble I'm Looking For"). Only the soaring epiphany of "Take Ecstasy With Me" really gives any sonic variation, but you know what? With a sound as happy as this, it hardly matters.Free Music Review: this is an amazing cd.... in the all time top 5....
Hit: 5 Stars
if youre going to get a magnetic fields album... this is the one to get. its an amazing record you could never get tired of. the cd has an electropop indie rock feel that blends very well with steven merritt's voice. if you like them, try: belle and sebastian, the pet shop boys, the smiths, the velvet underground, sebadoh, helium, and even polvo. this album is AMAZING. so there.Free Music Review: if you like this... you will like
Hit: 5 Stars
Definitely "eclectic rock". If you like the Magnetic Fields, then I think there is a good chance you will also like the Flaming Lips and/or Built to Spill.