Tuesday, November 17, 2009
The Magnetic Fields' "Realism" to Be Released January 26 on Nonesuch; North American Tour Starts February 4
The Magnetic Fields’ Realism will be released by Nonesuch Records on January 26, 2010. The band’s ninth album is the follow-up to 2008’s Distortion, which was hailed by Rolling Stone as “one of the best records of [their] career.” Whereas Distortion was an album of power-pop songs with heavily distorted guitars, in homage to the Jesus and Mary Chain’s Psychocandy, Realism finds front man and songwriter Stephin Merritt drawing inspiration from late 1960s / early 70s orchestral and psychedelic folk. Realism’s all-acoustic recording line up featured no electronic instruments, and used nontraditional percussion instruments, ranging from tabla to tree leaves. The Magnetic Fields will tour the US in support of the album beginning February 4. The complete list of dates can be found below and at nonesuch.com/on-tour.
As the album title implies, Realism finds Merritt examining what “real” really means in recorded music, exploring the sincerity (or lack thereof) of folk lyrics and their delivery, along with non-electronic instrumentation, “realistic” production values, and even a plain brown paper sack background used for the album’s artwork.
In addition to the usual ensemble of Merritt on ukulele, Claudia Gonson (keyboard, vocals), John Woo (guitar), and Sam Davol (cello), and Shirley Simms (vocals, autoharp), The Magnetic Fields are joined by friends and longtime collaborators Daniel Handler, a.k.a Lemony Snicket (accordion), as well as Johnny Blood (tuba) and Ida Pearle (violin).
There will be a limited edition, hand-silkscreened poster signed by Stephin Merritt available with the Realism CD or LP exclusively at the Nonesuch Store, to the first 250 customers. The LP also includes the album on CD, and as always, CDs and LPs ordered from the Nonesuch Store include audiophile-quality (320 kbps) MP3s at no additional cost, available for download on release day. It's all available for pre-order now.
In 1999, The Magnetic Fields’ three-CD collection, 69 Love Songs, established Stephin Merritt as one of this generation’s most talented songwriters. That breakthrough was followed by two Nonesuch releases, i in 2004, and Distortion in 2008. Between Magnetic Fields releases, Merritt has released side projects and albums with his various other bands, Future Bible Heroes, the Gothic Archies, and the 6ths, as well as soundtracks to the films Eban and Charley and Pieces of April (Nonesuch). In 2006, Nonesuch also released a collection of songs Merritt wrote under the name The Gothic Archies, to accompany the Lemony Snicket books, The Tragic Treasury: Songs from a Series of Unfortunate Events. In 2009, Merritt scored the Off-Broadway adaptation of Neil Gaiman’s novel Coraline.
THE MAGNETIC FIELDS 2010 TOUR DATES
|
2/4
|
Lisner Auditorium, George Washington Univ. |
Washington, DC |
| 2/6 |
Corona Theatre |
Montreal, QC, CANADA |
| 2/8 |
Queen Elizabeth Theatre |
Toronto, ON, CANADA |
| 2/10, 11 |
Wilbur Theatre |
Boston, MA |
| 2/13 |
Howard Gilman Opera House, BAM |
Brooklyn, NY |
| 2/21, 22 |
The Aladdin Theater |
Portland, OR |
| 2/23, 24 |
Town Hall Seattle |
Seattle, WA |
| 2/27 |
The Fox Theater |
Oakland, CA |
| 3/1 |
Herbst Theatre |
San Francisco, CA |
|
3/2 |
Wilshire Ebell Theatre |
Los Angeles, CA |
| 3/4 |
Pabst Theatre |
Milwaukee, WI |
| 3/5 |
Buskirk Chumley Theater |
Bloomington, IN |
| 3/6 |
The Pageant |
St. Louis, MO |
| 3/7 |
Harris Theater, Millennium Park |
Chicago, IL |
| 3/10, 11 |
The Town Hall |
New York, NY |
I just pre-ordered the upcoming Magnetic Fields release "Realism", and was wondering if I qualify as one of the first 250 customers to order via the Nonesuch Store. I was hoping to receive one of the Stephin Merritt signed posters as part of my order.
The 250 signed posters went within the first 24 hours of the start of the pre-sale on November 17, so, unfortunately, if it's just the album on CD or vinyl listed in your cart, not a poster, you will be receiving the album only.
You should really make that poster available for mass sale. I almost died not being able to get the similarly amazing Distortion poster set, and this one is as good. I would pay DOLLARS.
I only wish I knew about this. England is useless.
My cart said I was getting a poster- I ordered the first day- I just got the vinyl :( I mean....I'm ecstatic to have the record, just disappointed because I've thought for months that I was getting it all. But the record is fabulous!
Eula, so glad to hear you're enjoying the new album! The good news is, if your cart included the poster in it---and we've confirmed that yours does---you'll be receiving the poster separately, in a protective shipping tube. Yours has shipped and should arrived shortly, so be on the look-out!
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