Stephin Merritt
Stephin Raymond Merritt (born February 9, 1965) is an American singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist, best known as the songwriter and principal singer of the bands the Magnetic Fields, the Gothic Archies, and Future Bible Heroes. He is ...
, also the primary songwriter and instrumentalist behind
The Magnetic Fields
The Magnetic Fields (named after the André Breton/Philippe Soupault novel '' Les Champs Magnétiques'') are an American band founded and led by Stephin Merritt. Merritt is the group's primary songwriter, producer, and vocalist, as well as fr ...
,
The Gothic Archies
The Gothic Archies are an American indie rock/gothic rock band established by Stephin Merritt of The Magnetic Fields. In 1997, Merritt released '' The New Despair''. The EP featured the song "Your Long White Fingers", which appeared frequently ...
, and
Future Bible Heroes
Future Bible Heroes is an American indie pop group led by Stephin Merritt, best known for his work with The Magnetic Fields. Merritt shares vocal duties with fellow Magnetic Fields member Claudia Gonson, who sings on the entirety of 2002's ''Ete ...
. One story has it that the band was conceived when Merritt, observing that there was no tribute album dedicated to him, decided to make one himself. In the group, Merritt writes and plays songs which are then sung by other artists—a different artist on each track. It has so far produced two well-received albums and many different collaborations.
Releases
The two albums the band released to date are ''Wasps' Nests'' in 1995 (
Factory Too
Factory Records was a Manchester-based British independent record label founded in 1978 by Tony Wilson and Alan Erasmus.
The label featured several important acts on its roster, including Joy Division, New Order, A Certain Ratio, the Durutti ...
via
London Records
London Recordings (or London Records and London Music Stream) is a British record label that marketed records in the United States, Canada, and Latin America for Decca Records from 1947 to 1980 before becoming semi-independent. The London nam ...
) and ''Hyacinths and Thistles'' in 1999. ''Wasps' Nests'' was preceded by a 7" vinyl single of album track "Heaven in a Black Leather Jacket" in 1993 on
Merge Records
Merge Records is an independent record label based in Durham, North Carolina. It was founded in 1989 by Laura Ballance and Mac McCaughan. It began as an outlet for music from their band Superchunk and music created by friends, and has expanded ...
that contains a B-side, "Rot in the Sun", sung by Merritt himself. The song was also later included on Merritt's '' Obscurities'' compilation in 2011.
The names of both albums, as well as the name of the band, are deliberate
tongue-twister
A tongue twister is a phrase that is designed to be difficult to articulate properly, and can be used as a type of spoken (or sung) word game. Additionally, they can be used as exercises to improve pronunciation and fluency. Some tongue twisters p ...
s. The words are chosen for their abundance of ''s'' and ''th'' sounds; ''sixths'' alone packs one ''th'' and three ''s'' sounds into one syllable. The band's website refers to the 6ths as "every lisper's nightmare".
The list of singers on ''Wasps' Nests'' includes many notable mid-90s indie-rockers, including Barbara Manning,
Mary Timony
Mary Bozana Timony (born October 17, 1970) is an American independent singer-songwriter, guitarist, keyboardist, and violist. She has been a member of the bands Helium, Autoclave and Wild Flag, and currently fronts Ex Hex.
Timony's music is of ...
,
Dean Wareham
Dean Wareham (born 1 August 1963) is an American musician and actor who formed the band Galaxie 500 in 1987. He left Galaxie 500 in April 1991 and founded the band Luna. Since Luna's breakup in 2005, Wareham has released albums with fellow Lun ...
(
Galaxie 500
Galaxie 500 was an American alternative rock band that formed in 1987 and split up in 1991 after releasing three albums: '' Today'', '' On Fire'' and '' This Is Our Music''. The band was made up of guitarist/vocalist Dean Wareham, drummer Damon ...
,
Luna
Luna commonly refers to:
* Earth's Moon, named "Luna" in Latin
* Luna (goddess), the ancient Roman personification of the Moon
Luna may also refer to:
Places Philippines
* Luna, Apayao
* Luna, Isabela
* Luna, La Union
* Luna, San Jose
Roma ...
Lou Barlow
Louis Knox Barlow (born July 17, 1966) is an American alternative rock musician and songwriter. A founding member of the groups Dinosaur Jr., Sebadoh and The Folk Implosion, Barlow is credited with helping to pioneer the lo-fi style of rock mu ...
,
Chris Knox
Chris Knox (born 2 September 1952) is a New Zealand rock and roll musician, cartoonist and movie reviewer who emerged during the punk rock era with his bands The Enemy and Toy Love. After Toy Love disbanded in the early 1980s, he formed the g ...
The Clean
The Clean was a New Zealand indie rock band that formed in Dunedin in 1978. They have been described as the most influential band to come from the Flying Nun label, which recorded many artists associated with the "Dunedin sound".Schmidt, And ...
),
Georgia Hubley
Georgia Hubley is an American percussionist, vocalist, and visual artist. She is one of the two founding members of the indie rock band Yo La Tengo, and is married to the group's other founding member, guitarist/vocalist Ira Kaplan, with whom ...
(
Yo La Tengo
Yo La Tengo (YLT; Spanish for "I have her") is an American indie rock band formed in Hoboken, New Jersey, in 1984. Since 1992, the lineup has consisted of Ira Kaplan (guitars, piano, vocals), Georgia Hubley (drums, piano, vocals), and James M ...
), and Mark Robinson.
Some of the more notable artists appearing on ''Hyacinths and Thistles'' are
Bob Mould
Robert Arthur Mould (born October 16, 1960) is an American musician, principally known for his work as guitarist, vocalist, and songwriter for alternative rock bands Hüsker Dü in the 1980s and Sugar in the 1990s.
Early years
Born in Malone, ...
,
Sally Timms
Sally Timms (born 29 November 1959) is an English singer and lyricist. Timms is best known for her long involvement with The Mekons whom she joined in 1985.Sally Timmsat Allmusic
Career
Born in Leeds, in 1959,Wallenfeldt, Jeffthe Mekons in ...
Sarah Cracknell
Sarah Cracknell (born 12 April 1967) is an English singer-songwriter and lead singer of the electronic music band Saint Etienne (band), Saint Etienne.
Career
Cracknell's career started with the Windsor-based indie band The Worried Parachutes in ...
Neil Hannon
Edward Neil Anthony Hannon (born 7 November 1970) is a Northern Irish singer and songwriter. He is the creator and front man of the chamber pop group The Divine Comedy, and is the band's sole constant member. Hannon wrote the theme tunes for ...
(
The Divine Comedy
The ''Divine Comedy'' ( it, Divina Commedia ) is an Italian narrative poem by Dante Alighieri, begun 1308 and completed in around 1321, shortly before the author's death. It is widely considered the pre-eminent work in Italian literature an ...
),
Gary Numan
Gary Anthony James Webb (born 8 March 1958), known professionally as Gary Numan, is an English musician. He entered the music industry as frontman of the new wave band Tubeway Army. After releasing two albums with the band, he released his d ...
,
Marc Almond
Peter Mark Sinclair "Marc" Almond, (born 9 July 1957) is an English singer. Almond first began performing and recording in the synthpop/ new wave duo Soft Cell where he became known for his distinctive soulful voice and androgynous image. ...
,
Momus
Momus (; Ancient Greek: Μῶμος ''Momos'') in Greek mythology was the personification of satire and mockery, two stories about whom figure among Aesop's Fables. During the Renaissance, several literary works used him as a mouthpiece for their ...
Altered Images
Altered Images are a Scottish new wave/ post-punk band who found success in the early 1980s. Fronted by singer Clare Grogan, the group branched into mainstream pop music, having six UK top-40 hit singles and three top-30 albums from 1981 to 1 ...
toy piano
The toy piano, also known as the ''kinderklavier'' (child's keyboard), is a small piano-like musical instrument. Most modern toy pianos use round metal rods, as opposed to strings in a regular piano, to produce sound. The U.S. Library of Congress ...
player Margaret Leng Tan. The album also features an improbable duet of singer
Odetta
Odetta Holmes (December 31, 1930 – December 2, 2008), known as Odetta, was an American singer, actress, guitarist, lyricist, and a civil rights activist, often referred to as "The Voice of the Civil Rights Movement". Her musical repertoire co ...
accompanied by ''
Lemony Snicket
Lemony Snicket is the pen name of American author Daniel Handler (born February 28, 1970). Handler has published several children's books under the name, most notably ''A Series of Unfortunate Events'', which has sold over 60 million copies and s ...
'' author
Daniel Handler
Daniel Handler (born February 28, 1970) is an American author, musician, screenwriter, television writer, and television producer. He is best known for his children's book series ''A Series of Unfortunate Events'' and ''All the Wrong Questions ...
The Adventures of Pete and Pete
''The Adventures of Pete & Pete'' is an American comedy television series created by Will McRobb and Chris Viscardi for Nickelodeon. It centers around two brothers, both named Pete Wrigley, and their humorous and surreal adventures in suburbia ...
''.
Two songs from ''Hyacinths and Thistles'', "You, You, You, You, You" and "As You Turn To Go", are featured in the movie ''
Pieces of April
''Pieces of April'' is a 2003 American comedy-drama film written and directed by Peter Hedges. Marking Hedges' directorial debut, the film stars Katie Holmes, Derek Luke, Sean Hayes, Alison Pill, Oliver Platt and Patricia Clarkson. The film ...
'' and its accompanying
soundtrack
A soundtrack is recorded music accompanying and synchronised to the images of a motion picture, drama, book, television program, radio program, or video game; a commercially released soundtrack album of music as featured in the soundtrac ...
by Stephin Merritt. "You, You, You, You, You" was featured in
Google
Google LLC () is an American Multinational corporation, multinational technology company focusing on Search Engine, search engine technology, online advertising, cloud computing, software, computer software, quantum computing, e-commerce, ar ...
's 2016 pixel ad.
Their song "Night Falls Like a Grand Piano" was covered by South African group Wonderboom on their 2003 album ''Tell Someone Who Cares''.
Discography
Albums
*''
Wasps' Nests
''Wasps' Nests'' is the 1995 debut album by The 6ths, a side-project created by Stephin Merritt of The Magnetic Fields. Merritt wrote and recorded the album, inviting different vocalists to sing lead.
Like the band's name, the album title is a t ...
'' (1995)
*''
Hyacinths and Thistles
''Hyacinths and Thistles'' is the second studio album by the indie rock band The 6ths. It was released in 2000 on Merge Records.
Track listing
All tracks written by Stephin Merritt
Stephin Raymond Merritt (born February 9, 1965) is an Ameri ...
'' (2000)
Singles
*"Heaven in a Black Leather Jacket" b/w "Rot in the Sun" (7" single) (1993)