Somebody once made a comment on my doodles, how it was great that a few pen lines could come together and make a picture. This is exactly how I feel about these (69) songs: a few words and simple melodies come together and make a story, brilliant in its simplicity, very often hitting the nail on the head & pulling some heartstrings. I’m very glad I discovered this band.

Stephen Merritt is the man behind Magnetic Fields and here he tries to craft a multi-CD set looking at the various angles to love…the happy, the sad, the lonely, the goofy, and the sensual all make their appearance. When Merritt is at his best, he crafts simple but indelible melodies and lyrics that emphatically lodge themselves in your cerebrum. (“I Don’t Believe in the Sun”,""The Luckiest Guy on the Lower East Side",“Papa Was a Rodeo”) but there are many tunes here that are pleasant if not that memorable filler and several that are so experimental as to be unlistenable. (“Experimental Music Love”) Merritt’s voice is a foghorn of an instrument, perhaps like Leonard Cohen if he tried to write songs that were a bit more “mainstream”. Tagging along for the ride with Merritt are 3 other vocalists who takes turns at times on the mic.

BOTTOMLINE:

I’d borrow this from the library FIRST…but if you find yourself loving disc 1, then it’s probably worth getting the box. Though Disc 1 is strongest, there are charming tunes to recommend themselves on Disc 2 and 3 as well.

Be careful about this sinister thing. The day I stumbled onto it, I was condemned to never leave this enchanting world of bunny rabbits, singing guitars, busby berkerley dreams and pretty girls who make hopeless romantics laugh and cry alone.

All meaningless! I tell ya! Effervescently meaningless!

3 cds worth of songs, some of them so beautiful you’ll cry, some of them so enchanting you’ll have to just stop, some of them so funny you’ll laugh out load. Genius.

I’ve had all three of these disks on heavy rotation since I first heard them, almost five years ago. So many of the songs get better the more I listen to them. There are a couple I can’t listen to on the subway, though, because I’m prone to bursting into tears when I hear them.

There’s a love song on there for everyone.