The feature documentary Strange Powers: Stephin Merritt and The Magnetic Fields starts its US theatrical run on Wednesday 27 October at New York City's Film Forum reports the House of Tomorrow newsletter. Stephin Merritt and the Magnetic Fields will appear in person alongside the filmmakers at the 8:10pm shows on Wednesday 27 October and Friday 29 October. Tickets go on sale 20 October via Film Forum.

Tickets are also on sale now for the Los Angeles screenings, which start 5 November 5 at Laemmle's Sunset 5. Stephin and the filmmakers will be making guest appearances at the Friday and Saturday evening shows:

The film's current run includes stops in Austin, San Francisco, Dallas, and Seattle. Screenings and special events related to the film are being added regularly by the filmmakers.

More info including film showtimes, news of a Magnetic Fields exhibition and a film series curated by Stephin Merritt on Facebook and the Official Website.

Meanwhile, Cerysmatic, gets a UK preview of Strange Powers tomorrow as it debuts at the London Film Festival 2010.

It's good to be back!

Labels: Magnetic_Fields, Stephin_Merritt

From The House of Tomorrow newsletter:

M + E, the design duo behind the merchandise booth of the last Magnetic Fields' tours, have launched a mini-store from their own website to sell a selection of t-shirts from the "Realism" tour.

The t-shirts, available in several designs and a range of sizes, can be ordered directly from m-plus-e.com.

In other news, Strange Powers: Stephin Merritt and The Magnetic Fields continues its festival run at Outfest, the 28th Los Angeles Gay and Lesbian Film Festival. Tickets for the Saturday, July 17 showing at the DGA Theater are still available from outfest.org.

Labels: Magnetic_Fields, T-Shirt

From houseoftomorrow.com:

Strange Powers: Stephin Merritt and the Magnetic Fields, a documentary film by Kerthy Fix and Gail O'Hara, is making the rounds of the film festival circuit in the US and overseas.

After its world premiere at the SXSW Film Festival, the film has screened at the Full Frame Documentary Film Festival, the Florida Film Festival, and the Buenos Aires Festival of Independent Cinema.

The film will soon be screening at the Hot Docs festival in Toronto, the Independent Film Festival Boston, and at a special event at New York's Bell House. The Bell House screening, the official New York premiere, will be preceded by a live performance from the band's own Claudia Gonson.

For more information on these upcoming events please visit the following websites:

April 25 - Boston
8th Annual Independent Film Festival Boston @ The Brattle Theater
** Including Q&A with Claudia Gonson

6/7 May
Toronto
Hot Docs

10 May
New York
Brooklyn Arts Council @ The Bell House ** With special live performance by Claudia Gonson

For more info on the film available at the Official Website and on Facebook

Labels: Magnetic_Fields, Stephin_Merritt

From The House of Tomorrow newsletter:

"Realism [Nonesuch] is out! Thank you to everyone who dropped by New York's Beauty Bar last night to celebrate its release.

The Magnetic Fields will soon be starting their tour in support of the new CD. The band is happy to announce that they have added shows at New York's Town Hall and Chicago's Harris Theater / Millennium Park to round off their 2010 US tour schedule.

Tickets for the new Monday 8 March show at the Harris Theater are now on sale at the theater's box office:

The third Town Hall show is scheduled for Friday 12 March. Ticketmaster pre-sales for American Express cardholders begin Wednesday, January 27, with general sales starting this Friday 29 January.

The March 12 show caps a three-night run in New York, after which the band will head to Europe.

Please visit the House of Tomorrow Calendar for the band's full 2010 tour schedule and further details regarding ticket pricing and availability:

In other news, a new recording of The Book of Love by Peter Gabriel will appear on his upcoming project, Scratch My Back. The combined CD / vinyl / iTunes LP release - a companion to a series of live orchestral performances and videos - will be out on 13 March, Peter's 60th birthday. In addition, a series of special download-only "Double A Side" singles will be released over the course of 2010 on iTunes. The first singles, out on January 30, will feature The Book of Love backed by the Magnetic Fields' version of Not One Of Us from Peter Gabriel's third album. Peter will continue to release a pair of singles on the full moon of each month throughout the year."

Meanwhile, reviews of Realism have been quite good, amongst the highlights this one by Alexis Petridis in The Guardian.

Labels: Magnetic_Fields

As promised The Magnetic Fields have announced a string of European dates in March 2010 - following on from their US and Canada dates - in support of their forthcoming album, Realism which will be released via Nonesuch Records on 26 January 2010.

THE MAGNETIC FIELDS' 2010 EUROPEAN TOUR:

March

19 MANCHESTER, UK, Cathedral
21 LEAMINGTON, UK, The Assembly
22 LONDON, UK, Barbican Centre
24 STOCKHOLM, SWEDEN, Filadelfiakyrkan
25 OSLO, NORWAY, Rockefeller
27 BERLIN, GERMANY, Babylon
29 HAMBURG, GERMANY, Fabrik
30 FRANKFURT, GERMANY, Mousonturm
31 AMSTERDAM, NETHERLANDS, De Duif

Tickets for the London and Leamington shows are now on sale.

Tickets for the March 19 Manchester show will be on sale on Friday, December 4 2009.

Tickets for many of the US and Canada shows are still on general sale.

For all ticketing details visit the House of Tomorrow Calendar

Labels: Magnetic_Fields

The Magnetic Fields have announced a string of US and Canadian dates in Feb/March 2010 in support of their forthcoming album, Realism which will be released via Nonesuch Records on 26 January 2010.

Tickets go on general sale on Friday 20 November but a limited number are available via MusicToday from, erm, today.

Check the official House of Tomorrow Calendar for full details of all dates, venues, and ticket pricing.

After their North American jaunt the band will be heading this side of the pond for European dates. Thus far only one has been announced (but stand by for more) and this is at the Barbican on Monday 22 November. Tickets are available on pre-sale now via ArtistTicket and other outlets.

THE MAGNETIC FIELDS - 2010 NORTH AMERICAN TOUR

February

4 (Thu) WASHINGTON, DC, Lisner Auditorium @ George Washington University
6 (Sat) MONTREAL, QC, Corona Theatre
8 (Mon) TORONTO, ON, Queen Elizabeth Theatre
10-11 (Wed-Thu) BOSTON, MA, Wilbur Theatre
13 (Sat) BROOKLYN, NY, Howard Gilman Opera House @ BAM
21-22 (Sun-Mon) PORTLAND, OR, The Aladdin Theater
23-24 (Tue-Wed) SEATTLE, WA, Town Hall Seattle
27 (Sat) OAKLAND, CA, The Fox Theater

March

1 (Mon) SAN FRANCISCO, CA, Herbst Theatre
2 (Tue) LOS ANGELES, CA, Wilshire Ebell Theatre
4 (Thu) MILWAUKEE, WI, Pabst Theatre
5 (Fri) BLOOMINGTON, IN, Buskirk Chumley Theater
6 (Sat) ST. LOUIS, MO, The Pageant
7 (Sun) CHICAGO, IL Harris Theater @ Millenium Park
10-11 (Wed-Thu) NEW YORK, NY, Town Hall
22 (Mon) LONDON, UK, Barbican Centre

Labels: Magnetic_Fields

The Magnetic Fields have a new album entitled Realism out on 26 January 2010.

Tracklisting

1. You Must Be Out of Your Mind
2. Interlude
3. We Are Having a Hootenanny
4. I Don't Know What to Say
5. The Dolls' Tea Party
6. Everything Is One Big Christmas Tree
7. Walk a Lonely Road
8. Always Already Gone
9. Seduced and Abandoned
10. Better Things
11. Painted Flower
12. The Dada Polka
13. From a Sinking Boat

More info including cover imagery from Nonesuch

Labels: Magnetic_Fields

From the House of Tomorrow Newsletter:

Tickets for the stage adaption of Neil Gaiman's Coraline, with music and lyrics by Stephin Merritt (The Sixths, The Magnetic Fields, et al), will go on sale Monday, 23 March 2009 via the MCC Theater website.

The production, a collaboration between Merritt, director Leigh Silverman, and writer/actor David Greenspan, begins a special limited engagement run on 7 May at New York City's Lucille Lortel Theatre.

From 23 March to 12 April single price tickets to any performance will be available at the special price of USD 39 (Regular ticket prices start at USD 65). To purchase tickets at the discounted price, apply the promotional code CLHT upon checkout at the MCC Theater website. There is a limit of eight tickets per order. Availability is subject to change.

Be wise. Be brave. Be tricky. See Coraline this spring!

Labels: Magnetic_Fields, New_Order, Stephin_Merritt, The_Sixths

The Magnetic Fields, back from their European tour (check out The Independent's review of their Cadogan Hall date), are happy to announce that they will be traveling stateside once again to play a short string of dates this October. The shows kickoff Friday 10 October 2008 in Minneapolis and end with a run up the East Coast that will include a return stop to the New York City area. A limited number of pre-sale tickets for most shows will be available starting Tuesday, July 15 through Music Today:

General advance sales will start on or around 18 July 2008, with tickets available in most cases at the venue's box office as well as at Ticketmaster and some third-party outlets. Please visit the House of Tomorrow calendar for specific details on pricing, onsale dates, and ticket sellers:

The Magnetic Fields October 2008 Tour Schedule

10 (Fri) Minneapolis, MN, The State Theater
11 (Sat) Madison, WI, Capitol Theater at Overture Center for the Arts
13 (Mon) Dallas, TX, The Majestic*
14 (Tue) Austin, TX, The Paramount Theater*
15 (Wed) Boulder, CO The Boulder Theater
17 (Fri) Atlanta, GA, Symphony Hall at the Woodruff Arts Center
18 (Sat) Raleigh, NC, Meymandi Concert Hall at Progress Energy Center
23 (Thu) Jersey City, NJ, Leows Jersey Theatre
24 (Fri) Columbus, OH, The Southern Theatre
25 (Sat) Philadelphia, PA, The Merriam Theater**
26 (Sun) Washington, DC, Lisner Auditorium at George Washington University

* Music Today pre-sale not available
** Music Today pre-sales start 4 August

Labels: Magnetic_Fields

From the House of Tomorrow Newsletter:

The Magnetic Fields, back from nearly a four-year hiatus from touring, are traveling once again to Europe. They are pleased to announce that they are preparing a short string of European dates kicking off this June. Confirmed markets so far include Spain, England, Sweden, and Portugal, with more to come shortly. Regular updates - including information on additional tour stops - will be posted to houseoftomorrow.com.

The Magnetic Fields' London stop features shows on the evenings of July 9 and 10 at Cadogan Hall, home of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. A special, limited presale allocation of Front Stall reserved seats will be available for purchase exclusively from ArtistTicket.com starting Friday April 11 at 9:00AM. Tickets will be on sale to the general public starting 9am on Saturday 12 April 2008. Tickets are GBP 22.50, handling fees not included.

Visit The Magnetic Fields on ArtistTicket.com.

The Magnetic Fields are readying the re-release of their catalog on full-length 12" vinyl albums. Merge Records will start the run with 'The Charm of the Highway Strip', out on 6 May 2008 in the US. Nonesuch Records will follow this summer with a pressing of 'Distortion', the band's January 2008 release. This fall, Merge Records will release the vinyl edition of 'Get Lost'.

Small quantities of the latest 'Distortion' tour t-shirts are still available for sale to House of Tomorrow newsletter subscribers.

Labels: Magnetic_Fields, T-Shirt

With the new Magnetic Fields album 'Distortion' getting (generally) good reviews, Roy Wilkinson interviews Stephin Merritt in London for the February 2008 edition of The Word.

We learn that Merritt calls his dog Irving Berlin ("big ears, big nose, cute, not very big" with the proviso "he doesn't write musicals") and that he thinks Psychocandy by The Jesus and Mary Chain is "the last significant production in modern music".

Meanwhile, in the reviews section the 'Distortion' album is likened, favourably, to "a Phil Spector Christmas record remade by Galaxie 500". The London Metro free paper also made it their album of the week.

Labels: Magnetic_Fields, Stephin_Merritt

John Harris in The Guardian gives 'Distortion' by The Magnetic Fields only a 2* review. The aptly-titled album pays "slavish homage" to The Jesus and Mary Chain and indeed Harris says that Stephin Merritt said that he set out to "sound more like the Jesus and Mary Chain than the Jesus and Mary Chain".

Labels: Magnetic_Fields, Stephin_Merritt

The Guardian's 1000 albums to hear before you die continues with parts 2 and 3 covering the letters 'D' to 'M'.

The FACts are:

The Durutti Column 'The Return of the Durutti Column' (1978)

"Former punk turned avant-garde jazz-classical guitarist Vini Reilly and veteran jazz drummer Bruce Mitchell were one of music's oddest but most inspired couplings. Their Factory debut combines fragility, melancholy, birdsong and electronic effects to produce soundscapes of breathtaking, fragile beauty."

ESG 'A South Bronx Story' (2000)

"A compilation that shows how three sisters from the Bronx in the early 80s tried to play slick funk but ended up sounding like a wonky African-American version of Joy Division. With congas. It nevertheless sounded hypnotically brilliant, and set the template for every subsequent strand of mutant disco and punk funk."

Happy Mondays 'Bummed' (1988)

"The work of two drug-addled geniuses - frontman Shaun Ryder and Factory Records' resident producer, Martin Hannett - this second Mondays album bettered most of the Madchester explosion it preceded. Bummed is a record of thrillingly raw white-man funk, built on menacing grooves, surefire pop hooks and Ryder's surreal drawls."

James 'Stutter(1986)

"Before Madchester, and before the Horlicks rock of Sit Down became ubiquitous, James were an invigorating prospect: a folk-pop band apparently engaged in a bout of pro-wrestling with their instruments. Their debut album clangs like a grand piano tumbling downstairs - leaving singalong melodies in its wake."

Joy Division 'Closer' (1980)

"The arrival of Joy Division's second album in the aftermath of Ian Curtis's suicide brought with it a shadow of death that disguised Closer's expressions of life: the clattering energy of Atrocity Exhibition, the metallic pop of Isolation and the virtuosity of Curtis's baritone. Still, its final songs, The Eternal and Decades, are untouchable in their manifestations of abject despair."

Magnetic Fields '69 Love Songs' (1999)

"Stephin Merritt's meticulous modernisation of the Great American Songbook is an absurd folly - a giddy explosion of wit, whimsy, inspiration and ambition that is matchless in its achievement. Every imaginable romantic experience is refracted through every imaginable genre of music, with moods and sounds glittering like mirror-ball lights across a disco floor."

--

Special mentions for 808 State's excellent Ex:El (on which Bernard Sumner guests on vocals) and the ground-breaking 'My Life in the Bush of Ghosts' by Brian Eno and David Byrne. Peter Saville designed the cover and he talked about working with Eno on that project in the recent Creative Review blog interview.

Labels: A_Certain_Ratio, books, Electronic, ESG, Factory_Classical, Factory_Records, Happy_Mondays, Joy_Division, labels, Magnetic_Fields, Peter_Hook, Stephin_Merritt, The_Durutti_Column

From the House of Tomorrow Newsletter:

"The Magnetic Fields are touring! We're looking forward to playing a few US shows in early 2008 following the January release of our new album, "Distortion." Tickets are available starting this week, with a limited number of advance pre-sale tickets for select shows available now through MusicToday. Tickets are also available at venue box offices and other online agents. (Note: Venue box offices and offline resellers always have lower ticketing surcharges.) Ticket availability dates, costs, and surcharges vary by location, so please visit our website's calendar page for further details. All shows are all-ages."

Schedule

February 2007

Mon 11 & Tues 12 - Iron Horse Music Hall, Northampton, MA
Thu 14 & Fri 15 - Somerville Theater, Somerville, MA ***
Fri 22 & Sat 23, Town Hall Theatre, New York, NY ***
Thu 28 & Fri 29, The Herbst Theatre, San Francisco, CA ***

March 2007

Sun 2 & Mon 3 - The Henry Fonda Theatre, Los Angeles, CA ***
Thu 6 & Fri 7 - Town Hall Seattle, Seattle, WA ***
Fri 14 - Sun 16 - Old Town School of Folk Music, Chicago, IL (Two performances per night - six shows total)

*** - these shows now on pre-sale through MusicToday

Labels: Magnetic_Fields

From the House of Tomorrow newsletter:

The Magnetic Fields are happy to announce that their new album, titled 'Distortion', will be released on Nonesuch Records on January 15, 2008. The band will perform a small number of U.S. tour dates in February and March. Specific details regarding venues and ticket pre-sales will be announced shortly. Sign up for the House of Tomorrow newsletter for the latest updates.

Labels: Magnetic_Fields

Stephin Merritt (The Sixths, also known to have recorded as The Magnetic Fields, furthermore known to be a member of The Gothic Archies) has supplied the music for a new advertisement for Volvo cars. Stephin sings "The wheels on the car go round and round" in a new version of the nursery rhyme.

Labels: Magnetic_Fields, Stephin_Merritt, The_Sixths

From the House of Tomorrow Newsletter:

"The new Magnetic Fields album is now planned for release in early 2008. The exact release date and album title will be announced shortly, as well as information on other Stephin Merritt projects.

The Magnetic Fields look forward to playing some US shows following the release of the record.

Meanwhile, Stephin Merritt continues to work on developing several new projects in theater, including a stage adaptation of Neil Gaiman's children's book, 'Coraline'."

http://houseoftomorrow.com

Labels: Magnetic_Fields, Stephin_Merritt

from houseoftomorrow.com:

A Special Event at New York's 92nd Street Y
Stephin Merritt with Rick Moody

Quoted from 92y.org:

Touted as a "contrarian pop genius" by The New York Times, Stephin Merritt has recorded seven albums with his band, The Magnetic Fields, including '69 Love Songs'. Recently, Mr. Merritt turned to theater, collaborating with director Chen Zhi-Zheng at the 2003 and 2005 Lincoln Center Festivals. He is joined in conversation with novelist (and part-time musician) Rick Moody. Mr. Moody's novels include 'The Ice Storm' and 'The Diviners'.

Note: As part of its Young Literary Salon series, the 92nd Street Y is offering a limited number of tickets for sale at 10.00 USD to visitors 35 years old or younger. Visit the event page above for more details.

Labels: Magnetic_Fields, Stephin_Merritt

When elusive author Lemony Snicket teamed up with allusive musician Stephin Merritt, The Guardian listened in...*

In further Merritt / Snicket related nonsense, 'The Tragic Treasury: Songs from A Series of Unfortunate Events as Executed By The Gothic Archies' is released by NoneSuch on 9 October 2006.

* - Lemony Snicket is the nom de plume for Daniel Handler, who played accordion on and conducted the interview in the liner notes of The Magnetic Fields' '69 Love Songs' 3xCD boxset. He started writing the Lemony Snicket books around the same time. When they eventually became audio books, they included soundtracks by Merritt under his Gothic Archies pseudonym and it is these soundtracks that are being compiled on the upcoming Nonesuch album.

Thanks to Mike.

Labels: Magnetic_Fields, Stephin_Merritt

From houseoftomorrow.com:

In addition to the upcoming Gothic Archies CD, end-of-summer means several appearances on some worthy compilation projects.

A new Stephin Merritt song, 'The Meaning of Lice', will be included on the upcoming 4AD / Beggar's Banquet recording of the Margate Exodus Project, a British government-funded contemporary retelling of the Book of Exodus.

The Future Bible Heroes have emerged from their temporary retirement to submit a faux-British vaudevillian dance hall tune, 'Mr. Punch', to the Neil Gaiman tribute CD, 'Where's Neil When You Need Him?', now available from Dancing Ferret Discs.

The 6ths's 'You You You You You', originally from 'Hyacinths and Thistles', is included on the companion CD for the annual Music issue of the Oxford American magazine.

Meanwhile, the Magnetic Fields are back in the studio, recording a new release for Nonesuch Records with a target release of next Spring. Wish them luck!

Labels: Magnetic_Fields, Stephin_Merritt

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