I must sing and jazz tap out the praises of Stephin Merritt! He is probably one of the best songwriters this past decade and today. He is an esoteric amalgmatic magician that pulls from myriads of musical sources to bring a fresh face to music. Many have said that he is the "new" COle Porter or Sondheim, albeit that he may have been inspired by both of them, his talent is in its own stratosphere. HIs singing voice may not be everyone's cup of tea especially on this list, but his low register sells his songs in an original, quirky, if idiosyncratic way that doesn't remind me of any singer. A sampling of his lyrics:
"Love is like a Bottle of Gin"
It makes you blind, it does you in
It makes you think you're pretty tough
It makes you prone to crime and sin
It makes you say things off the cuff
It's very small and made of glass
and grossly overadvertised
It turns a genius to an ass
and makes a fool think he is wise
it could make you regret your birth
or turn cartwheels in your best suit
it costs a lot more than it's worth
and yet there is no substitute
They keep it on a higher shelf
the older and more pure it grows
It has no color in itself
but it can make you see rainbows
You can find it on the Bowery
or you can find it at Elaine's
It makes your words more flowery
it makes the sun shine, makes it rain
you just get out what they put in
and they never put in enough
Love is like a bottle of gin
but a bottle of gin is not like love
What I find about Mr. Merritt rewarding that a sampling of lyrics such as this is just the icing on the cake, there is so much more to his art and if anyone is interested they should check out "69 Love Songs" or if you don't wish to purchase the whole 3 cd set, start with Disc 1 which I feel is a great introduction to the Magnetic Fields.
He also has other groups/projects, "The 6ths" and "The Future Bible Heroes".
--- Blair Fraipont <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > I have to share this experience with others.I've never heard of any of these people, but that sounds like a RIOT! It sounds like the kind of dreams I have, in fact. The really weird thing is, I was in an Old Navy store yesterday and one of the songs playing in the store was... "Sugar Town". I hadn't heard that song in years. ===== Catherine Toronto
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