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Magnetic Fields' 69 Love Songs: A Field Guide (33 1/3)

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Magnetic Fields' 69 Love Songs: A Field Guide (33 1/3) (Paperback)

by L. D. Beghtol (Author)

3.6 out of 5 stars See all reviews (5 customer reviews)

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Editorial Reviews

Product Description
This is a fully illustrated oral history of the Magnetic Fields' 1999 triple album, "69 Love Songs" - an album that was afforded "classic" status by many almost as soon as it was released. LD Beghtol's book is chatty, incestuous, funny, dark, digressive, sexy, maddening, and delightful in equal measures. It documents a vital and influential scene from the inside, involving ukuleles and tears, citations and footnotes, analogue drum machines, floods of cognac, and a family tree, and, oh, a crossword puzzle too. The centre of the book is the secret history of these tuneful, acerbic, and sometimes heartbreaking songs of old love, new love, lost love, punk rock love, gay love, straight love, experimental music love, true love, blue love, and the utter lack of love that fill the album - as told by participants, fans, imitators, naysayers, and others. It also includes studio anecdotes, a glossary, performance notes from the full album shows in New York and London, rare and unpublished images, personal memorabilia, and much much more.

About the Author
LD Beghtol has written extensively about pop music, books, and the visual arts in Time Out New York, The Advocate, and the Village Voice. He has released half a dozen albums under several guises, and was a performer on 69 Love Songs.

Product Details

Paperback: 157 pages
Publisher: Continuum (December 11, 2006)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0826419259
ISBN-13: 978-0826419255
Product Dimensions: 6.3 x 4.7 x 0.4 inches
Shipping Weight: 4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)

Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars See all reviews (5 customer reviews)

Amazon.com Sales Rank: #114,882 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

5 Reviews

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Average Customer Review

3.6 out of 5 stars (5 customer reviews)

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16 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars For the love of god, make him stop!, March 16, 2007

By	Oldorchardbeachbum "Oldorchardbeachbum" (San Francisco, CA) - See all my reviews

Far from insightful, this installment of 33 1/3 is an embarrassingly sparse concoction of definitions and song by song "analysis," little of which gives the reader any new insight into 69 Love Songs.
The first and lengthiest half of this edition is a lexicon. This would be fine if it were original. The content, however, is not unlike that which can be found on various websites devoted to the band and without having to deal with Beghtol's pseudo-intellectual blathering. Remember Mr. Beghtol, merely posing and spouting off like an intellectual does not an intellectual make.
The second half of the book is a song by song reflection from those involved and not so involved with 69 Love Songs. There are some insightful comments found here, however, it lacks any depth as to the process involved in the creation of the album. I would have been much more interested in reading about Stephen Merritt's thought and recording process rather than how the album got someone through a really rough patch in their life. Am I the only one who doesn't care how an album affects others?
The last section, considerably shorter than the other two, is an interview with Mr. Merritt. Unlike Daniel Handler's expansive interview for the box set, don't look for any insight here. Silly questions with silly answers. "Spit or swallow?" Brilliant and hilarious. Well, maybe ten years ago.
Unlike most of the 33 1/3 series Beghtol's 69 Love Songs installment could have been condensed down into a short pamphlet. That is if you were to take out all the pointless filler and vainglory.
For the benefit of all involved, I pray that this will be L.D. Beghtol's final attempt to squeeze whatever juice the 69 Love Songs franchise may still possess. His boorish sensibility and pretentious meanderings are stale. Unlike Stein, Thomson, Cocteau, or his hero O'Conner, Beghtol's attempt at acerbic wit is dull and far from the mark.
All in all Beghtol has perfected the art of average with a book that should, no doubt, be considered an embarrassment for the good folks at Continuum.

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11 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars great book, great subject, December 8, 2006

By	Lipperskip (Athens, GA United States) - See all my reviews

If you're a fan of the Magnetic Fields (and you probably are, since you're reading this), then you should waste no time in picking this book up. Every page sings with the same brilliance as the box set of the same name, making it a worthy addition to Continuum's excellent 33 1/3 series.

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12 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Best 33 1/3 ever!, January 4, 2007

By	alexandra k "a" (Brooklyn, New York) - See all my reviews

Thanks to LD Beghtol, we now have a book to accompany the already expansive boxed set of 69 Love Songs. Split into thirds, the first part being a hilarious lexicon featuring words found throughout 69 Love Songs (with extensive footnotes to boot!). The second part goes song by song with notes (tempo, key, style, things to listen for!), quotes and memories from preformances and recording from the members and noteable friends. The third part includes preformance notes and a sassy interview between the author, Stephin Merritt and a friend. I highly recommend this book to anyone who has a sense of humor, a pulse and good taste in music. A must have for fans of the Magnetic Fields, Stephin Merritt, LD Beghtol and fun.

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Most Recent Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Appendix A
After I first bought the 69 Love Songs box set, I set aside the first couple weekend mornings to brew a pot of coffee and listen to the set while reading the booklet that came... Read more

Published 16 months ago by Cliff Milledge

2.0 out of 5 stars Not the best in the series
A little too fragmented and idiosyncratic for the casual listener/reader. The glossary of terms used in 69 Love Songs is fun and informative, but beyond that, its hard to... Read more

Published on February 23, 2007 by Charles Sikkenga

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