Hyacinths & Thistles

6ths | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (September 5, 2000)
• Original Release Date: September 5, 2000
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Merge Records
• ASIN: B00004WHA3
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (19 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #43,788 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #79 in Music > Indie Music > Alternative Rock > Indie & Lo Fi
  • #98 in Music > Alternative Rock > Indie & Lo-Fi > Lo-Fi

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

25 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Heartbreaking..., December 31, 2001

By 

Rob Damm - See all my reviews

This review is from: Hyacinths & Thistles (Audio CD)

I am puzzled by the criticism this album has been garnering. It is earnest, electro-cabaret music sung by some of the most distinctive voices in indie/alt.pop music.

Composition-wise, Merrit keeps it simple. The arrangements are bare-bones, vocals front-and-center, making it easy to focus on some of his most honest and "adult" lyrics to date.True, this record isn't much fun. But it is true and beautiful and immensely sad. Momus's singing on the first track is a highlight, as is the enchanting "sailor who's in love with the sea". These are grown-up songs about grown-up emotions.

It is not the bullet-proof jugernaut "69 Love songs" was, but it isn't meant to be. It's not the party record "Wasps nest" was... but it certainly isn't meant to be that... listen alone in the dark when your heartstrings break. You will hear the sound of a life and a love laid bare. Absolutely heartbreaking stuff.

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars it will creep into your heart, May 17, 2004

By 

Elizabeth (New York, NY United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Hyacinths & Thistles (Audio CD)

I suspect that those people who wrote less-than-positive reviews of this album did so without giving it a chance. These are not "one night stand" songs that you jump and thrash around to for a brief moment before moving onto something else. These are songs that you will end up burning on mix CDs you make for your girlfriend, or playing when you miss someone, or having on in the background while you do dishes because they make even that pleasant. They are beautiful songs, sometimes haunting, and perfectly express some of those difficult-to-pin-down relationship moments as only Stephin Merritt can.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars It's a world, November 11, 2003

By 

Escarole "escarole" (Decatur, GA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Hyacinths & Thistles (Audio CD)

This being the first record involving Stephin Merritt I've listened to, can't respond to the comparisons with his other records and projects. I've had it in my car CD player for 2 months... it has been the soundtrack to my life, and its power continues to grow. So for me it's very much a whole now; the songs complement and resonate against each other in different ways each time I hear it, and the different timbres of voice populate a complex inner world of dreams. "As you turn to go" would/will probably be on my list of "songs that made me cry" if I would only hear it under certain circumstances... In time even the overblown and out of tune "Volcana" developed a fevered charm and replayed itself in my head. Lovely, timeless, keeper record. If Amazon hadn't deleted my listmania lists, this would've made one...