Magnetic Fields

This Week’s Top 12: Something Old, Something New, Something Borrowed, And Justin Has The Blues

noah | February 6, 2009 4:00 am
noah | February 6, 2009 4:00 am

In this week’s top 12: A song that was thought to be lost to the demise of the VHS era, Justin Timberlake pouring out his heart, televised baseball signaling the possible thawing of the northeast, and Nick: The Twitter.

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What Was Your Most Disappointing Purchase of 2008?

Dan Gibson | January 2, 2009 3:00 am
Dan Gibson | January 2, 2009 3:00 am

I hate going back to the 2008 well (especially after Skillz has wrapped everything up), but until 2009 coughs up some more news, this is what we’re stuck with… looking back on 2008 and thinking about what music didn’t live up to our possibly inflated expectations.

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“Pete & Pete” & Stephin & Sarah & David & Debbie & Gordon &…

noah | November 24, 2008 1:30 am
noah | November 24, 2008 1:30 am

From the “someone hasn’t done this already?” More »



Thanks, Magnetic Fields

noah | September 3, 2008 5:00 am
noah | September 3, 2008 5:00 am

Your selection of opening acts for your upcoming shows in Minneapolis and Madison is a fine excuse to link to Liz Clayton’s Not Fooling Anybody, a site devoted to awkward conversions of old fast-food places. More »


Jingle Writing Goes The “American Idol” Route

noah | April 14, 2008 9:30 am
noah | April 14, 2008 9:30 am

howtogetahead-775927.jpgCBS 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.

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Is Stephin Merritt Absolutely Cuckoo For Spearmint And Wintergreen?

Jess Harvell | February 28, 2008 3:00 am
Jess Harvell | February 28, 2008 3:00 am

sm.jpgA 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.

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noah | February 27, 2008 12:30 pm
noah | February 27, 2008 12:30 pm

Stephin Merritt reads fifth-grade fave Ethan Frome on his birthday every year, because “it expresses everything about how horrible New England is.” More »


Idolator’s Top Five Breakup Songs: Guaranteed To Be “I Will Survive”-Free

kater | December 7, 2007 5:00 am
kater | December 7, 2007 5:00 am


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.

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The Magnetic Fields’ Next Record: “69 Car Songs”

noah | September 14, 2007 9:30 am
noah | September 14, 2007 9:30 am

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… More »



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

noah | February 7, 2007 5:28 am
noah | February 7, 2007 5:28 am

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. More »


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