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Wednesday, June 7, 2006

Raiding the Stephin Merritt Songbook

Posted by on June 7 at 13:45 PM

From perennial Hot Tipper Jake comes the link to the website Meaningless, “a dedication to the songs of the Magnetic Fields,” featuring a whole bunch of musical artists I’ve never heard of covering compositions by Mag-Fields mastermind Stephin Merritt.

I’ve long wondered how covers of Merritt songs would work—clearly his songs are eminently coverable, but how would they come off divorced from the Magnetic Fields’ signature flat-affect/depressed robot delivery?

From what I’ve heard on Meaningless, it’s a delightfully mixed bag. A number of the covers are pretty straightforward, recreating something close to the song’s original style, with lovely results. (See “You and Me and the Moon” by the awesomely named Guantanamo Bay City Rollers). Others art it up admirably (the gorgeous “Book of Love” by the Harvey Girls) and pretentiously (Orbit Service’s “My Only Friend”). And some just bang out sweet, simple renditions of songs they clearly love (Our Lady of the Highway’s “100,000 Fireflies”—a song I first learned to love through another cover version, performed by Nick Garrison’s alter-ego Randi Sparks in his/her late-90s show Semi-Precious, which would make a great addition to Meaningless.)

The most ambitious entry I found was Boy Omega’s “Papa Was a Rodeo,” presented in a lush, piano-based arrangement with a tortured vocal performance that aims for something close to emotional honesty—an odd choice for a musical melodrama that’s eight kinds of ironic, but interesting nonetheless.

Thanks to the Meaningless artists for providing Stephin Merritt lovers with a fresh way to enjoy the songs we love, and confidential to Shania Twain: Just because a bunch of indie kids made a website doesn’t mean you’re not required to cover “Sweet-Lovin’ Man,” making Stephin Merritt rich and you even richer…

(To discuss Meaningless and Stephin Merritt, head over to Line Out.)