In honor of the 50th anniversary of Nonesuch Records, the Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM) presents a wide-ranging series of concerts, September 9–28. Part of the 2014 Next Wave Festival, these diverse engagements—featuring 23 evenings of music—underscore the longstanding relationship between Nonesuch artists and BAM. Performs include Philip Glass, Steve Reich, Timo Andres, Brad Mehldau, Chris Thile, Dawn Upshaw, Alarm Will Sound performing works by John Adams, Youssou N'Dour, Rhiannon Giddens, Devendra Banhart, Stephin Merritt, Iron and Wine, Kronos Quartet, Natalie Merchant, Sam Amidon, Olivia Chaney, Laurie Anderson, Rokia Traoré, Toumani & Sidiki Diabaté, Caetano Veloso, and Robert Plant.

Strange Powers, the documentary that offers an intimate portrait of Stephin Merritt and The Magnetic Fields, is now available on DVD. Special features include previously unreleased deleted scenes of the band in the studio, on tour, and backstage; official music videos; the official film trailer; and a commentary track with Merritt and band member Claudia Gonson. The New York Daily News gives the film four stars, calling Merritt "one of the greatest American songwriters to emerge in the last two decades."

The new documentary feature Strange Powers: Stephin Merritt and The Magnetic Fields, receives its North American theatrical release at the Film Forum in New York City tonight; the band and the filmmakers will attend. A new Magnetic Fields exhibition opens at Other Music in Manhattan as well. In the coming months, the film will open theaters in Toronto and in cities across the US, including Los Angeles, Austin, San Francisco, Minneapolis, Dallas, and Seattle.

Stephin Merritt is in Seattle this week for screenings of two projects at the Seattle International Film Festival: Strange Powers, the new documentary about him and The Magnetic Fields, which Seattle radio station KEXP calls "exquisite," and 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, the classic film for which he has written and will perform a new score.

Stephin Merritt won an Obie Award for his music and lyrics to the Off-Broadway musical Coraline, at the 55th Annual Village Voice Obie Awards Ceremony, held last night in New York City and hosted by Michael Cerveris and Anika Noni Rose. David Greenspan, who wrote the book and starred in the production, received the Sustained Achievement Award.

Strange Powers, the new documentary film on Stephin Merritt and The Magnetic Fields, makes its New York debut tonight with a sold-out screening at The Bell House in Brooklyn. The screening will be preceded by a monologue from band member Claudia Gonson and followed by a Q&A with the film's directors, Kerthy Fix and Gail O'Hara. The film will be shown at the Seattle International Film Festival in June and begins its theatrical run in NYC this fall.

The Magnetic Fields' Realism tour made its way through England and continues on the Continent for the next week. BBC Manchester spoke with Stephin Merritt, "a brilliant songwriter," for "one of the most honest interviews from a songwriter about how hard it is to work on the art of it." The band's set at London's Barbican Centre elicited "well earned applause," says the Evening Standard's four-star review. The Arts Desk called it "a delightful show ... what a great band; and what a lovely, sad, funny evening."

The Magnetic Fields have been in the Pacific Northwest all week performing for sold-out crowds in Portland and Seattle. Seattle Weekly called the first Seattle show "a night filled with uncommonly brilliant artistry." The band heads next to the Bay Area for two Noise Pop festival shows in Oakland and San Francisco, a DJ set from Stephin Merritt at Amoeba, and a sneak preview of the documentary on the band, Strange Powers.

The Magnetic Fields' tour settles in for two nights in Boston. In the Toronto Star, Stephin Merritt ("one of indie-rock's most beloved songwriters") gives fans an idea of what to expect on tour: "If we played it last time we toured, we're not playing it this time." With The A.V. Club, he shares some secrets to writing a good love song, advising: "Keep it vague." And Strange Powers, a new documentary about Merritt and the band, will be given a sneak preview at San Francisco's Noise Pop Festival and premiere at South by Southwest.

Realism, the new album from The Magnetic Fields, is just days from its January 26 Nonesuch CD release. Each weekday till launch, Nonesuch.com will post a new video, in which Stephin Merritt and Claudia Gonson discuss aspects of the album, beginning with today's Introductions. Watch it now at nonesuch.com/media and check back in the days to follow for new videos to come.

The Magnetic Fields' latest release, Realism, is out now. The BBC says the album confirms Stephin Merritt's "stature as the most inventive rhymer in the American lineage since Tom Lehrer," its sound "absolutely prime Merritt ... consistently confirming what unusually inventive arrangers Merritt and his cohorts are." MusicOMH‬‪ gives it four stars, saying Merritt's "talent for bathing his songs in wonderful arrangements and limpet-like melodies seals his genius status."

Coraline, the new musical featuring music by Stephin Merritt and based on the Neil Gaiman horror/children's book, opens in previews tonight at New York's MCC Theater at the Lucille Lortel. Merritt spoke with the Village Voice for an extensive article about the play. "Since the earliest Magnetic Fields albums," says the Voice, "critics have drawn comparisons between Merritt's songwriting and that of Cole Porter and Irving Berlin ... So it seemed only a matter of time before he would imitate those idols and write for the stage."