Realism - Nonesuch

Worst Magnetic Fields Album EVER!

Let me start by saying that I've been a fan of this band for 15 years. I had loved every single release, (including the various side-projects), up until "Distortion." I found that album to be somewhat uninspired, and "Realism" takes that newfound lack of inspiration to a whole new level. Maybe the band is just getting old. Hard to say, but one listen to this album was all I needed. The Magnetic Fields should stop trying to sound like every other horrible hype band, and just stick to doing what they used to do well, (i.e. making unique music that sounded like nothing else out there). If you're a fan, skip this one. If you're not a fan, then try your luck. If you like synthesizers and unique arrangements, this one certainly isn't for you. If you enjoy banality, then pick this up.

Another solid entry

The Magnetic Fields have to be one of the most eclectically producing musical groups in existence. Whenever I recommend them to someone and they ask me what kind of music they play, I never know what to tell them. When I'm trying to pick a song to introduce someone to the band, I never know which one to pick. It's all so different, but it's all so good, and the fact that a single band covers such expansive ground with such consistent quality truly speaks to their talent.

"Realism" has one thing in common with the rest of TMF's albums: it sounds almost nothing like any of their other albums. The best way I could describe the album is as quirky folk music, and I won't deny that it takes some getting used to. I wasn't sure about it after the first play-through, but after a couple more spins I realized the song is another solid entry in the Fields' zany oeuvre.

As is always the case, some of the tracks are better than others. The album is bookended by two excellent songs, from its opening cut, the hilariously bitter "You Must Be Out Of Your Mind" to its pretty closing tune "From A Sinking Boat," and in between are 11 other tracks that run a gamut of style and themes and emotions, and yet somehow flow together quite well. My particular favorites (in addition to the opening and closing tracks) are "I Don't Know What To Say," "Everything Is One Big Christmas Tree," "Always Already Gone," and the inexplicably nutty "The Dada Polka." But the true standout from the album is "Walk A Lonely Road," a track whose beautiful and haunting qualities make it the best song on the album, and among the Fields' greatest hits. I truly cannot stop listening to that song.

This album is classic Fields. Quirky, zany, funny, poignant, pretty, sad... the usual gamut of emotions that they somehow manage to cram into their short albums. But most of all this album is fun. If you're a fan of the Fields, it's definitely worth the pick-up, and if you're new to them, it's a great place to start. Don't miss this one.

a rewarding listen

I have put on this album several times since I bought it, and it has grown on me with each listen. I enjoy hearing artists I love change and grow musically and I agree with those who say it is a positive one. It is unfair to compare everything Stephen Merritt puts out to 69 love songs when he has done some truly beautiful work since. Realism brings you into the forgotten world of music before the era of rock n roll and jazz. Yes, folk music is at this album's heart. This means it is not an album for everyone, but what is?

What makes the album amazing is how Stephen Merritt manages to take classic folk themes and make them relevant to today. The songs may speak in terms of "hoedowns" and "pretty dresses", but they effectively and ironically present our modern issues of online dating ("We Are Having A Hootenanny") and the impossible expectations of women's appearances and actions ("Doll's Tea Party"). The love songs on the album are just as simultaneously beautiful and heartbreaking as they ever were in the Magnetic Fields incredible history ("I Don't Know What to Say", "From A Sinking Boat"). Give Realism a chance. Take it for what it is. A rewarding listen awaits you...and wondering what sort of journey Stephen Merritt will lead his bandmates into next.

3.5 stars-An album as puzzling as its creator

The Magnetic Fields' latest album has been described as a companion piece to 2008's "Distortion" and labeled as a "folk" album. But the best way to describe it is to say that it is as beguilling and difficult to pin down as Stephin Merritt himself. That is not necessarily a bad thing since those qualities compel the listener to keep coming back to the album in order to decipher its many possible meanings.

Realism does away with the distorted guitars of the band's last effort and finds them returning to the chamber pop sound of 2004's "i". The songs are full of acoustic guitars, strings, piano and other natural instruments that lend the music a more realistic (a hint at the album's title perhaps?) feel. But while the music sounds beautiful and pristine, the songs are a bit befuddling. Like Merritt himself, they are a mixture of sincerity, irony, caustic wit and whimsy. Merritt loves to keep his listeners off balance and guessing at the meanings behind his compositions. The album's opener, "You Must be out of Your Mind" is a straightforward, beautifully honest tune about the futility of trying to outrun one's demons, whatever they may be. But after that, we get songs like the catchy but goofy "We are Having a Hootenanny" and "The Doll's Tea Party" which I swear seems like a song Syd Barrett might have dreamed up. There is also a Christmas song featuring a German chorus. Is Merritt being cynical or playful on these songs? Part of the allure of "Realism" is trying to figure out his true intentions.

The album is also just enjoyable to listen to. After the murky mess of "Distortion", it's refreshing to hear Merritt rehoning his pop songwriting skills. The songs on "Realism" aren't as collectively excellent as on the gruop's best efforts, but they're still a delight to listen to and they keep drawing you back for repeat listens. That is the signature mark of a good Magnetic Fields record, and "Realism" is no different.

Let's Talk Real, Here

My first exposure to Stephin Merritt and the Magnetic Fields was the three-volume masterpiece "69 Love Songs." I loved this album so much that when its follow-up, "i" was released in 2003, I thought it would be inevitable for me to be disappointed with it in some way. And, not surprisingly, I was.

Unfortunately, years have passed, and "i" still disappoints. I'm a huge fan of all of the Merritt releases from "Distant Plastic Trees" (1993) to the 6ths "Hyacinths and Thistles" (1999). Most aren't perfect, but they all had many moments of true brilliance. Merritt, at his best, playfully and subversively accentuates the vacuous and formulaic nature of pop music, and yet you can't help yourself being affected by his formula, obvious though it may be. On most of "i," however--as well as most of 2008's "Distortion", Merritt's solo work, and his latest album with the Gothic Archies--the formula is not only obvious, it's also tired. Almost perfunctory.

The newest Magnetic Fields release, "Realism," is perhaps the best of their most recent albums, the so-called "No Synth" Trilogy. Where "i" and "Distortion" both feature a tossed-off minimalist approach that is often maddeningly dull, "Realism" boasts a variety of instruments, with comparatively lush and intricate arrangements, not to mention some varied vocal approaches. As a result, the songs don't feel as tired and joyless as most of those on the previous two albums.

But this one is still pretty disappointing. First, while the arrangements can be nice, at least half of the songs on the album still feel tossed-off. Stephin Merritt's never been the most technically ambitious composer, but his new work is so lazily homogeneous that everything is starting to sound at least vaguely identical. Worse yet, some tracks have melodies that are quite explicitly similar to older MF songs: for instance, "Walk a Lonely Road" recalls "Xylophone" and "Xavier Says," and "You Must Be Out of Your Mind" borrows from "The Book of Love," "I Don't Believe You," and "California Girls." Even if "Lonely Road" is better than "Xavier Says," such post hoc improvements are hardly thrilling.

And a bunch of the tracks are just plain throwaways. "The Dolls' Tea Party" is a great example of how "fun" has since evolved into something "formulaic," "cloying," and "damn annoying." And it's not the only one: "Everything is One Big Christmas Tree," "Painted Flower" and the "Dada Polka" are all hollow shells of much livelier songs. 69 Love Songs had its share of throwaways, some of them a little grating on the ears, but that was about 1/7 of the total songs. Here, I have to skip half of the album just to keep my hair attached to my scalp.

A halfway decent pop musician would have taken the best tracks from these three albums and released one solid LP. Let's not even get into what a "genius" would have done...

Recommended only to those who think that Merritt et al. can never go wrong. For everyone else, get the classic albums!