Customer Reviews

Wasps Nest

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If you have listened to all the Magnetic Fields albums and are interested in some of Stephin's side projects, this is the album to get. I would describe it as a cross between the lush melodies of "Get Lost" and the techno edge of "Holiday." The different vocalists add to the album's high level of listening pleasure. Plus, there are some songs here which rank among the best Magnetic Fields songs. "Heaven in a Black Leather Jacket" and "Falling Out of Love (With You)" are standouts with everything else ranking close behind.

This is a great album to get if you have worn out your CD player with "69 Love Songs" and are thirsty for more Merritt.

PS - The Future Bible Heroes is 80s technopop overdrive (also recommended) while the Gothic Archies EP is weird, slightly inconsistent but still has some high points.

Pop Kulcher Review: Stephin Merritt writes sensitive pop-poetry, and his band, the Magnetic Fields, has put out some albums of melodic ditties with lovelorn lyrics and lo-fi (primarily synthesizer-driven) instrumentation. But far better is this one-shot effort as The 6ths (the band name & album title were chosen as a tongue-twister: try saying it out loud), in which Merritt turns over vocal duties to a Who's Who of alternative rock heroes (including Dean Wareham of Luna, Lou Barlow of Sebadoh, Mac McCaughan of Superchunk, Georgia Hubley of Yo La Tengo, Robert Scott of the Bats, Mitch Easter, Barbara Manning, etc.). So the album manages to sound a bit like a cover-song compilation, with Merritt's sweet melodies, quiet keyboards and guitars, and simple but moving lyrics being the constants holding the whole thing together. It's a lush treat that should not be missed.

These sixteen songs are so wonderfully catchy, so beautifully composed, so attractive in a good poppy way, that they'll stick in your head for years. I'm living proof -- I first heard these songs in early 2000, and I'm still humming "Movies In My Head." Four years. Believe me, these songs just simply never, ever get old! It's pretty weird, but it's completely true.

Stephin Merritt is a genius. He's probably the most prolific songwriter out there right now (or was, considering Ryan Adams... ugh) that also consistently writes compelling, interesting, and wonderful music. "69 Love Songs" is a great example.

For this release, he somehow found fifteen of the greatest indie vocalists around. Barbara Manning, Lou Barlow (of Sebadoh), Georgia Hubley (of Yo La Tengo), Mac MacCaughan (of Superchunk -- he also runs Merge Records, home of many Magnetic Fields releases), Mark Robinson (of Unrest -- he also runs the wonderful TeenBeat label), Amelia Fletcher (of Heavenly), Dean Wareham (of indie heroes Galaxie 500), Mary Timony (of Helium), and more -- including himself. It's just simply astounding.

If you have any sense, do yourself a favor and purchase this album. It's worth every single penny.

The cult-ish alternative art-music world is very protective of its undisputed icons. It makes an almost sickly-sweet sense, therefore, that the genius of Stephen Merritt is relegated solely to the depths of the bristling underground.

Merritt has several bands. The most visible, perhaps, is the Magnetic Fields, whose breathtaking "69 Love Songs", the triple-disc salute to just that, re-defined the concept of lo-fi art pop, as it seemingly re-designed the basic love song, and created a Morrissey-style following.

Merritt has other bands: the Gothic Archies, the Future Bible Heroes, and the 6ths. While the 6ths have a more recent release, the titles always swooning with alliteration, "Hyacinths and Thistles" a strange cabaret-style collection of lonely lullabies and longings, it is "Wasps Nests" that seems the prequel to the brilliance of "69 Love Songs" and in many ways remains its brooding antithesis.

The songs on this album are invariably about breaking up, having the flame die and eventually go out, leaving only a thin wisp of smoke in its place. They subvert basic rhythm and song structure by having poppy, up-tempo melodies, which makes the cutting lyrics that much more comical: "...Every kiss means less and less...I'm falling out of love with you!"

Merritt has always displayed his strengths as a producer, arranger, musician, and Oscar Wildean songwriter for the modern world. Increasingly over time, Merritt has taken on the vocal duties as well. His low droning baritone is not for all tastes. But Merritt himself sings only one song here, the quirky "Aging Spinsters" while he delegates the other 14 tracks to various superstars of the indie-rock scene, such as Robert Scott, Barbara Manning, and Lou Barlow, most of whom sound exactly like Merritt. I personally like Merritt's voice. To me, it has character and personality, and matches the sardonic licks of his songwriting all too well.

You will need to listen to this CD several times. The first two or three times, all the songs sound overly similar. There is a neat parallel to their melodies, a thread throughout that binds all these musical tales together. The vocals echo, call to you from what sounds like a spraying waterfall, diminished by the seething bee-bopping synth-pop that the production has placed at the forefront of the record. This is certainly a unique and specific production choice, and again, will not be to all tastes. Merritt has always admired the retro-style of the 80s, more apparent on the first Future Bible Heroes CD (which really does sound like a lost 80s masterwork) but does implement that style here, to good, almost ironic, effect.

My favorite song on this CD, sung by Mitch Easter, is called "Pillow Fight." It sounds like a Top 40 radio hit from 1985, but astonishlingly manages severe melancholia, and I find it to be one of the most weirdly-haunting songs I have every heard: "How sad the castle with no foundation underground / Sadder still is the lover with no mystery left unfound. / You threaten to pack your trunks and go back to Chinatown.../Are we breaking up tonight or can we have a pillow fight?" Other beautific tracks include the first, "San Diego Zoo" which boasts stunningly simplistic songwriting from Merritt punctuated by the dagger-like hook: "How could I have ever left you??" "Puerto Rico Way", "In The City in the Rain", "All Dressed Up in Dreams" are some other stand-outs, but really, all the songs are eerily strong. This is a unique album worth having.

The liner notes include all the lyrics and short biographical statements placing the vocalists, many of whom I had never heard of. And now there's 14 other artists I can check out!

Virtually every song on this album could stand on its own as a simple pop single, but below the surface lies a complexity of emotion. An underlying atmosphere of sadness colors most the tracks, but they are far from depressing. With a different vocalist on each song, it's like reading the private thoughts of a room full of alienated lovers. Each one glows in its own tragic light.

Stephen Merrit is by far the most genius American songwriter since Brian Wilson. Why his music isn't more known is a shame.

The 6ths is one of his many projects, and probably my favorite. Take his genius music and lyrics and have them be sung by indie rock's best vocalists and you got yourself one of the 90's best albums, period.

The first time I heard "Puerto Rico Way" was on a friend's mix tape while we were driving somewhere. By the end of the song I realized my mouth had been hanging open. I spent nearly every waking minute of the next week mooning over what little bits of the melody I could remember, and finally found the time to go out and buy the CD. Eventually I got around to listening to the rest of the album, but not until I listened to Puerto Rico Way for at least 20 or 25 times over. The rest of the album, of course, is a joy (particularly "Here in my Heart" and "Winter in July" in my own humble opinion), and I have always been a huge Merritt fan, but that one song really makes the album.

Falling Out Of Love (With You) is the perfect pop song on an exceptional album.

'Nuff said.

A friend lent me this CD and I couldn't give it back until I'd bought myself my very own copy. It's tunes and lyrics are addictive and even though most of the songs are about sad topics, they make me feel as though that sadness is something to celebrate. It is *very* 80's and that's a big plus in my book.

Stephen Merrit is an absolute master of interesting, catchy, pure pop music. The list of singers reads like a who's who of independent music makers, and Merrit blends their talents together into a comprehensive whole. One of my favourite CDs ever.