After the wholly original but unfairly tread-upon Distortion, Realism can frankly be called a Magnetic Fields album. All the markers of Merritt's music are here, from the multi-vocal duties to the ornate and quite lovely strings and keys. He musters the quiet, and sometimes not so quiet, beauty of life and the despair that inevitable accompanies that same beauty, as only he can. Whereas Distortion layered those compelling Merritt melodies beneath an abyss of noise and hiss, Realism is a return to The Charm of The Highway Strip and Get Lost-era sharp, beautiful melodies and they are front and center. Songs such as the wistful opener "You Must Be Out Of Your Mind" or the mournfully accepting "Always Already Gone", show Merritt not merely treading familiar ground, but working within his own confines, he creates beauty and a surprising take on the stereotype of a Magnetic Fields song. Yes, Realism is a quintessential Magnetic Fields album, but he has now taken that conceit to its next logical step, which is to go back to the basics of what made them wonderful to begin with.
Tracklisting:
01. You Must Be Out of Your Mind (listen to the mp3 below)
02. Interlude
03. We Are Having a Hootenanny
04. I Don’t Know What to Say
05. The Dolls’ Tea Party
06. Everything is One Big Christmas Tree
07. Walk a Lonely Road
08. Always Already Gone
09. Seduced and Abandoned
10. Better Things
11. Painted Flower
12. The Dada Polka
13. From a Sinking Boat
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