The Magnetic Fields

After living out the '90s as indie pop's most coveted baritone, Stephin Merritt vaulted to mainstream attention with 1999's appropriately titled 69 Love Songs. Over a whopping three albums, Merritt and his many collaborators waxed romantic on l'amour, eschewing largely the eletro-pop stylings of earlier records for a genre-fest that would befuddle record store employees for years to come.

While throngs flocked to the deserved hubbub around recent Magnetic Fields albums 69 Love Songs and I, composer Stephin Merritt's earlier efforts were rife with tracks that proved both witty and evocative. Magnetic Fields devotees debate endlessly over which of his countless albums and side-projects are most deserving of praise. You decide.

Not one to rest on his laurels (or rest at all), the prolific Stephin Merritt has a career that has only expanded over the last 15 years, growing from sythn-pop maestro to composer of music for both film (Eban & Charley, Pieces of April) and stage. Collected here are some of his rarest moments, including a dark ditty from little-known side project the Gothic Archies and a weeper from the House of Tomorrow EP.

After years of devotion from journalists and indie fans alike, prolific composer Stephin Merritt vaulted to mainstream attention with 1999's 69 Love Songs under his best-known alias, the Magnetic Fields. This acclaim brought new fans to his prodigious back catalog, as well as his collaborations under different monikers. Often compared with classic songwriters, like Gershwin, Berlin, and Porter, Merritt has built a catalog spanning innumerable genres and countless vocalists, the common thread being only his gift for binding wry lyrics with melody and instrumentation.