the magnetic fields

Playlist #192 and #193: M’Shelby Mix Edition

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Happy…Monday? Wait, that can’t be right. Monday? Well, stranger things have happened other than me posting a playlist on time. For instance, today also happens to be my 18th Wedding Anniversary. Yay, our relationship is old enough to vote! Here’s a double playlist of some songs that I think my wife would love. I’ve been curating a playlist for her on my phone for years called M’Shelby Mix, and here’s the latest iteration.

  1. The Pixies, “Wave of Mutilation (UK Surf Mix)”: Probably the definitive version of this particular tune. Slowed down from the original, given a slight air of menace, and just a killer drum beat.
  2. Arcade Fire, “Intervention”: Gotta love the church organ.
  3. AC Newman, “Take On Me”: Newman doesn’t aim for quite the same glass-shattering falsetto in the chorus, but the slowed down, acoustic-driven version he turns in sounds just as good as anything a-ha ever did.
  4. Elliott Smith, “Baby Britain”: Favorite line is a toss-up between “We knocked another couple back/Dead soldiers lined up on the table/Still prepared for an attack/They didn’t know they’d been disabled” and “The light was on but it was dim/Revolver’s been turned over/And now it’s ready once again/The radio was playing “Crimson and Clover.”
  5. The Flaming Lips, “Free Radicals (A Hallucination of the Christmas Skeleton Pleading with a Suicide Bomber)”: A sneering indictment of Bush-era foreign policy.
  6. Rilo Kiley, “Does He Love You?”: A sordid tale of love triangles and whether or not he’d ever really leave his wife for you. Why would he, though?
  7. Phil Collins, “In the Air Tonight”: If there’s a better drum fill in existence, I don’t know about it. Oh, to be able to go back and hear this song for the first time.
  8. The National, “Slow Show”: Probably Michelle’s favorite song by the National. And it’s a banger. I love that guitar chord progression. Wish I could get my voice low enough to actually sing it.
  9. Josh Ritter, “Golden Age of Radio”: We both sing along at the top of our lungs when this song comes on. It might as well be part of our marriage vows.
  10. Iron & Wine, “Such Great Heights”: Postal Service cover done with such delicate heartache and beauty that you forget there’s another version of this song out there.
  11. The Four Tops, “Bernadette”: Shouted backing vocals are always fun.
  12. The Cure, “Just Like Heaven”: Given her adoration of stuff from the ’80s, it should come as no surprise that Michelle loves the Cure. I’ve grown to tolerate most of their stuff, though this song I really do actually enjoy.
  13. Tom Waits, “Hoist That Rag”: What can I say? Michelle likes pirates and pirate songs.
  14. They Might Be Giants, “She’s An Angel”: This song always makes me think of Michelle. I know she digs TMBG, and likes this song, but she said it couldn’t be our song because it’s too one-sided and doesn’t reflect her feelings for me. And, y’know, I get it. But it’s still a song that makes me think of her.
  15. Better Than Ezra, “Rosealia”: Michelle also really digs the ’90s, and especially Better Than Ezra. This one is another sing-along song.
  16. Pearl Jam, “Elderly Woman Behind the Counter in a Small Town”: Acoustic Pearl Jam? More entertaining and worthwhile than you might think!
  17. David Bowie, “Life On Mars”: Did you know he wrote this after Frank Sinatra didn’t accept some lyrics he wrote for “I Did It My Way”? It’s true! It’s why the two songs have such similar chord progressions.
  18. Weezer, “Say It Ain’t So”: Far better than that song about him hitting on a lesbian.
  19. Bruce Springsteen, “Candy’s Room”: Probably Michelle’s favorite Springsteen song. It’s got amazing drums and a beautiful piano line, so I get it.
  20. The Magnetic Fields, “Nothing Matters When We’re Dancing”: This is our song. We eloped and didn’t have a wedding reception, much to our chagrin, but if we did have one, this would’ve been the first song we danced to. We have a poster with the lyrics of it hanging up in our living room.

Playlist #94: Love Is In The Air

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Happy Monday and happy early Valentine’s Day! Let’s celebrate by being martyred to Christ, just for fun, and maybe listening to this list of songs while we do that.

  1. Aaron Neville, “Everybody Plays The Fool”: If this song doesn’t get your significant other in the mood for a little somethin’ somethin’, check their pulse. They might be dead.
  2. ABBA, “Take A Chance On Me”: So upbeat. How could you not take a chance on one of these Swedish sirens?
  3. ZZ Top, “Gimme All Your Lovin'”: The power of the beards compels you. And the blooze.
  4. Young Dubliners, “Last House On The Street”: I heard my uncle’s band, The Regular Joes, play this one throughout college and grad school. It’s still an endearing, sweet little song.
  5. Frank Turner, “The Way I Tend To Be”: True love takes you as you are and helps you want to be better.
  6. David Gray, “You’re The World To Me”: There’s something about the heavy-handed strumming at the end of the chorus on this one that just digs into my brain and won’t go away.
  7. The Magnetic Fields, “Epitaph For My Love”: I think this is probably my wife’s favorite song by the Magnetic Fields, who are one of her favorite bands. It’s a little dour.
  8. Ricky Nelson, “Hello Mary Lou (Goodbye Heart)”: CCR did a cover of this song
  9. Van Morrison, “I Wanna Roo You (Scottish Derivative)”:
  10. Old 97s, “Valentine”:

Playlist #65 – Stranger Things

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Monday was the Wife’s birthday! In her honor, you could contribute to her GoFundMe. Covid hit her hard and our finances harder, so every little bit helps. And I’m doing my usual thing over at Patreon, where a new song will drop this Friday! This week’s playlist is inspired by my Wife, who – when hearing the Tom Waits song on last week’s playlist – said, “Why not do a whole playlist of weird songs?” To which I replied, “You mean a Tom Waits playlist?”

  1. Tom Waits, “The Piano Has Been Drinking (Not Me)”: I dunno, Tom. Your words are more than a little slurred here. I have my doubts about the veracity of your claim.
  2. The Magnetic Fields, “Epitaph For My Heart”: The Wife’s favorite Magnetic Fields song. It starts with a recitation of a warning on a door that threatens electrocution if you open it and gets weirder from there.
  3. Marcy Playground, “Sex & Candy”: Every time I hear this song, I think of that time I was working at the YMCA the summer after my first year of college, and when this song came on the bus, all the little children (like, 10 year olds) sang the first three words of the chorus – “I like sex” – and nothing else.
  4. Melanie, “Brand New Key”: Do roller skates even need keys anymore? It’s been so long since I wore a pair, but I’m pretty sure they don’t. Kids these days will never understand this song (not that I necessarily understand it myself, mind you).
  5. The Mountain Goats, “Cadaver Sniffing Dog”: Now, this playlist could have also just been a Mountain Goats playlist, and this song is a good example of why.
  6. REM, “Swan Swan H”: Does anyone ever know what Michael Stipe is singing about, including Michael Stipe? I’d wager the answer is “no.”
  7. Tom Lehrer, “Poisoning Pigeons In The Park”: This man takes a certain glee from killing pigeons in the park. He might be a serial killer.
  8. America, “A Horse With No Name”: Hint: you can give the horse a name, dude. You can call it whatever you want. It’s a horse, it don’t care.
  9. The Presidents of the United States of America, “Peaches”: Again, another band where I could have made a playlist just out of their songs and it would have fit right in.
  10. Carl Douglas, “Kung Fu Fighting”: As the t-shirt says, surely not everyone was kung fu fighting.