Stephin Merritt

Latest Articles

By | January 01, 0001

Tribute: Friends remember Billy Ruane

The heart of Boston rock
Billy Ruane died on a Tuesday night.
By PHOENIX STAFF | November 24, 2010

Rick Berlin | Paper Airplane

Hi-N-Dry
Hi-N-Dry
By JON GARELICK | October 12, 2010

Review: Strange Powers: Stephin Merritt and the Magnetic Fields

Slim portrait of a mysterious, monosyllabic man
Stephin Merritt, the inscrutable and reluctant frontman of Magnetic Fields, is short, gay, and owns a chihuahua. Otherwise, details are scarce.
By CARLY CARIOLI | April 21, 2010

Harlem | Hippies

Matador (2010)
There’s a Flying V–shaped hole in my heart left by the death of Jay Reatard.
By EUGENIA WILLIAMSON | April 07, 2010

Review: Magnetic Fields at the Wilbur Theatre

Magnetic Fields, live Wilbur Theatre, February 11, 2010
“Similarly, here’s another song about miserable death,” Stephen Merritt drolly informed us between songs.
By DANIEL BROCKMAN | February 19, 2010

Photos: The Magnetic Fields at the Wilbur Theatre

The Magnetic Fields, live at the Wilbur Theatre, on February 11, 2010
Photos of the Magnetic Fields, live at the Wilbur Theatre, on February 11, 2010
By ERIN BALDASSARI | February 18, 2010

Various Artists | Songs For Chris Knox

Merge (2010)
On June 11 of last year, Chris Knox suffered a life-altering stroke.
By JONATHAN DONALDSON | February 16, 2010

Real talk

Stephin Merritt and Magnetic Fields consider Realism
"If you're not writing about yourself, you can say anything you want, and it will probably be more revealing of your personality than if you're writing openly about your own life."
By MICHAEL BRODEUR | February 03, 2010

The Magnetic Fields | Realism

Nonesuch (2010)
This will be labeled as the Magnetic Fields' folk album, and fairly so.
By JONATHAN DONALDSON | January 27, 2010

The future is now

No teleportation, but lots of rad new albums
Even with all the promise of the new year ahead, it's hard not to feel a little stiffed in the Future of Mankind department. Here it is, 2010, and there's nary a flying car to be seen.
By MICHAEL BRODEUR | January 04, 2010

Beirut | March of the Zapotecs | Realpeople | Holland

Pompeii/Revolver (2009)
Willed into existence when the commercial needs of the mid-20th-century record industry required something in the intermediate price point between a single and a then-pricy album, the lowly EP has developed into the musical equivalent of the novella.
By GUSTAVO TURNER | February 18, 2009

Momus | Joemus

American Patchwork/Darla (2008)
Since the 1980s, Momus has been the recording guise of Scotsman bon vivant Nick Currie, a man of many masks and endless curiosity.
By GUSTAVO TURNER | November 11, 2008

Indie gets the blues

The Gossip, the Black Keys, and the Kills
White rockers generally come by the blues one of two ways.
By MATT ASHARE | April 23, 2008

Rough power

Bill Gage has Down syndrome. And his band rocks
Watching Bill Gage perform with his band, BILL, is an eye-opening experience.
By IAN SANDS | March 27, 2008

Lonely hearts night

The Magnetic Fields at Somerville Theatre, February 14, 2008
Merritt had a tummy ache from dinner at Porter Exchange. (“So don’t fuck with me,” he warned.)
By LIZA WEISSTUCH | February 19, 2008

Cold remedies

Stephin Merritt warms up on Distortion
One suspects all colds are terrible in the world of Stephin Merritt.
By MATT ASHARE | January 07, 2008

Show and tell

A whole new year of live music
After a brief late-December break from the usual boatload of good shows, the flood picks up right where it left off in early January.
By WILL SPITZ | January 04, 2008

Start with some Spice

A recipe for a tuneful 2008
The game is on for the reunited Spice Girls.
By MATT ASHARE | December 26, 2007

Pop’s fairer image

Fantasy Mirrors take a good long look at themselves
After the Fantasy Mirrors show at Great Scott last Thursday, singer Nathanael Bluhm wasn’t feeling so hot, and since he was already wearing pajamas, I offered him and his bike a lift home.
By MICHAEL BRODEUR | December 04, 2007

Night falls

Industrial makes a comeback
Boston clubland is starting to get a bit dark. DJ Mothra, "Demo Mix" (mp3)
By DAVID DAY | May 15, 2007

Hidden Cameras

Awoo | Arts & Crafts
Much like Stephin Merritt’s Magnetic Fields, the Hidden Cameras have evolved from something of a bedroom-demo recording project into a fully orchestrated studio band complete with cello, viola, glockenspiel, upright bass, and the like. Hidden Cameras, "Death of a Tune" (mp3) Hidden Cameras, "Awoo" (mp3)
By MATT ASHARE | November 07, 2006

A dreadful night

Lemony Snicket in Natick
It was a dreadful night for a number of reasons.
By BILL JENSEN | October 23, 2006

On the racks: October 10, 2006

From Gothic Archies to Mod Rods to little Lohans
Plus Robert Pollard, Sting, and the Cure.
By MATT ASHARE | October 10, 2006

'Urge' overkill

Microsoft and MTV deliver too much of a bad thing
Windows Media files may be the 8-track-tapes of the digital-music universe, but Urge figures 13-year-olds will suck it up to get their mitts on exclusive TRL outtakes and AFI playlists.
By CARLY CARIOLI | May 31, 2006

ID Check: The Best Thing Ever

Men’s-room rockers
It’s 11:15 pm on Monday night when Alex Billig enters the fancy men’s bathroom at the Top of the Hub lounge.
By CAMILLE DODERO | May 10, 2006

The road to Boston

Don Lennon, Rahim, and Pela
Sometimes you just have to hear a band before shelling out that cover charge. Here are four tracks by four artists heading our way this week . . .
By MATT ASHARE | April 24, 2006