The Magnetic Fields - Distortion/Early show at Old Town School of Folk Music (14 Mar 08)

Though I'm a little late on the Distortion review (released in January) (I wasn't up and running yet!), we're gonna do a little double duty, so I can reference one against the other without breaking sidebar cardinal rules (and so I have some nice cover art to put up instead of the non-existing pictures I may or may not have shot last night). There is some Xiu Xiu going on tonight, so that'll be up next (probably another album/show review), and (my I am getting quite ahead of myself!) R.E.M.'s new one Accelerate hit the WWW sometime today while I was sleeping, so that'll (should) be enough to keep dear readership bristling on the edge of readership's seats in anticipation.

Now, we are talking some pop songs awash in distortion. Usually I have nothing to say about lyrics -- lyrics only make headlines if they are +++ or --- -- but Mr Merritt (+++) is at his usual brilliant (read: lewd) wordplay rhyming dictionary (Where might I purchase one? inquiring minds want to know) that is the charming counterpoint to the standard pop songs with pretty arrangements/instrumentation. 2Wit: brand-new battle ax wrath attack to some "California Girls", Haitian-voodoo-turned-bloodless-penetration of "Zombie Boy" (wait, boy penetration what?), I am not going to do this with every song (because every song does have its cleverness), but I'll just finish this list with Three-Way! in the aptly-titled "Three-Way". Unfortunately, we're still talking pop songs awash in distortion -- distortion follows that you've got to slow down to ride the fuzz-waves and also induces that everything-sounds-the-same quality -- so we're talking musically one-track pop songs in drag that, for the most part, drag. (Let me bring your attention to my extreme fortitude in that I did not follow-up with "What a drag."). Non-lyrical redeeming qualities: the surf rock-styled non-dragging fuzz of "Three-Way", a cappella opening of and album's best "Too Drunk to Drink".

Now, we are talking some pop songs not awash in distortion -- concert last night = instrumentation unadorned. Being the album-promoting tour, being the consistent tone-minded Mr Merritt that he is, first of six shows is treated to at least half of the new album and similarly slow-tempo-ed songs from across the catalog, including The 6ths~ The Gothic Archies~ and Merritt-soundtracked Eban and Charley (one each, no Future Bible Heroes in the mix). Shirley Simms, non-Magnetic Fielder and guest lead singer of like half the songs on Distortion, perches astool doing her time for vocal duties and sitting pretty for the rest while Claudia Gonson, Magnetic Fielder pianist and essentially all-time backing vocals, handles audience interplay with Stephin Merritt, yesweallknowwhoheis, remarking wryly (yielding sometimes genuine, sometimes awkward laughter) and shunning applause and John Woo & Sam Davol, guitarist cellist respectivist (okay, -ly), both look bored and occasionally bemused. Maybe they agree in my estimation of the show's dullness/slow-pacing. Everything sounds nice, and Old Town School of Folk Music is a nice venue filled with nice old people, and the entire show is just filled with nice pop songs implying poignancy, but if everything is poignant then nothing is poignant by contrast, so everything will just have to settle for nicely mediocre.

Apologies to The Magnetic Fields; review(s) is (are) self-contained; I still like you.