Stream The New Magnetic Fields Single

Photo by Chris Buck

Stephen Merritt and his Magnetic Fields are famous for their audacious 69 Love Songs set and received even further notoriety when they were the collective subject of the recent documentary, Strange Powers chronicling Merritt's day to day life and his musical approach. Now, Merritt and Magnetic Fields are set to release their tenth album on March 6th.

Entitled Love At The Bottom Of The Sea, it marks the first Magnetic Fields release on Merge Records since the much lauded 69 Love Songs and the follow-up to 2010's Realism. The first single from the record, "Andrew In Drag", is a truly Merrtian pop song that both provokes chuckles and humming from the listener after just one spin.

You can stream the new song below and see upcoming Magnetic Fields tour dates throughout North America and Europe. There is also a track listing for Love At The Bottom Of The Sea.

The Magnetic Fields - Andrew in Drag by MergeRecords

Love at the Bottom of the Sea Track Listing:
1. God Wants Us to Wait
2. Andrew in Drag
3. Your Girlfriend's Face
4. Born For Love
5. I'd Go Anywhere with Hugh
6. Infatuation (With Your Gyration)
7. The Only Boy in Town
8. The Machine in Your Hand
9. Goin' Back to the Country
10. I've Run Away to Join the Fairies
11. The Horrible Party
12. My Husband's Pied-a-Terre
13. I Don't Like Your Tone
14. Quick!
15. All She Cares About Is Mariachi
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THE MAGNETIC FIELDS - 2012 TOUR DATES
Mar 6 Hudson, NY Helsinki Hudson
Mar 7 Philadelphia, PA Union Transfer
Mar 8 New York, NY Barnes and Noble
Mar 11 Minehead, UK All Tomorrow's Parties
Mar 14, 15, 16 Austin, TX SXSW
Mar 18 Vancouver, BC The Vogue
Mar 19 Seattle, WA Neptune Theater
Mar 20 Seattle, WA Neptune Theater
Mar 21 Portland, OR Roseland Theater
Mar 23 Los Angeles, CA Orpheum Theater
Mar 24 Oakland, CA Fox Theater
Mar 26 Chicago, IL Vic Theater
Mar 27 Chicago, IL Vic Theater
Mar 28 Iowa City, IA Englert Theater
Mar 30 Toronto, ON Sound Academy
Mar 31 Montreal, QC Le National
Apr 3 New York, NY Beacon Theater
Apr 4 New York, NY Beacon Theater
Apr 6 Boston, MA Berklee Performance Center
Apr 7 Boston, MA Berklee Performance Center
Apr 9 Washington, DC 9:30 Club
Apr 11 Carrboro, NC Cat's Cradle
Apr 12 Carrboro, NC Cat's Cradle
Apr 13 Atlanta, GA Variety Playhouse
Apr 24 Brighton, UK Komedia
Apr 25 London, UK Royal Festival Hall
Apr 27 Manchester, UK RNCM
Apr 28 Dublin, IR Olympia
Apr 29 Cork, IR Opera House
May 1 Porto, PT Casa da Musica
May 2 Lisbon, PT Teatro Maria Matos
May 4 Murcia, ES Estrella Levante SOS 4.8
May 6 Barcelona, ES Sala Apolo
May 7 Madrid, ES Teatro Rialto
May 9 Oslo, NO Rockefeller
May 11 Gothenburg, SE Annedalskyrkan
May 12 Stockholm, SE Filadelfiakyrkan
May 14 Berlin, DE Passionskirche
May 15 Hamburg, DE Kampnagel k6
May 16 Amsterdam, NL De Duif

Hospitality Set To Release Debut LP

Tomorrow marks the official release date for the self-titled debut LP from Hospitality. Being a sucker for well-crafted and intelligent pop songs, it seemed a shame to let this occasion pass unnoticed. To celebrate, watch the video below for "Friends Of Friends". Not only is it a catchy song likely to make you run out to your local record purveyor, but it also features Alia Shakwat of Arrested Development fame. And if there is one thing we love around here more than intelligent pop songs, it's intelligent TV shows that make us laugh our asses off.

Oh, and after the new video, you can spy are a few Hospitality tour dates (imagine the puns they'll have to endure) along the eastern half of North America.


Hospitality - "Friends Of Friends" from stereogum on Vimeo.

Hospitality Tour Dates:
Feb 3 Brooklyn, NY Glasslands Gallery (Record Release Show)
Feb 25 San Francisco, CA Great American Music Hall (Noise Pop w/ Archers of Loaf)
Feb 26 Los Angeles, CA Troubadour w/ Archers of Loaf
Feb 29 Toronto, ON Horseshoe Tavern w/ Tennis
Mar 2 Boston, MA Brighton Music Hall w/ Tennis
Mar 3 New York, NY Bowery Ballroom w/ Tennis
Mar 7 New Haven, CT BAR
Mar 9 Chapel Hill, NC Local 506 w/ Tennis
Mar 10 Atlanta, GA The Earl w/ Tennis
Mar 11 Orlando, FL Orange You Glad Festival

New M. Ward Record Coming In April, Tour Dates Announced

M. Ward will soon release his first album in three years. Wasteland Companion, the follow up to Hold Time, will arrive via Merge Records on April 10. Ward says he was heavily influenced by his rigorous travel schedule over the last several years, giving the album the feel of a travelogue.
He explains, “Between now and when I made Hold Time there has been a lot of traveling which requires a lot of reckoning with what to leave behind and what to carry – material and otherwise – and thinking about what I want versus what I need, creatively and otherwise. I wanted to get a reflection of that on the album. It was a process of stripping away my security blanket, which is the same four walls I always record in.”

The record was recorded in eight different studios and features contributions from the likes of She & Him bandmate Zooey Deschanel, Mike Coykendall, Howe Gelb, Steve Shelley, Adam Selzer and many more.

In addition to the forthcoming LP, Ward will also be busy out on the road with a host of tour dates across the US in April and May. Scheduled dates for the tour and a track list for Wasteland Companion are below.

Track Listing:
1. Clean Slate (for Alex & El Goodo)
2. Primitive Girl
3. Me And My Shadow
4. Sweetheart
5. I Get Ideas
6. The First Time I Ran Away
7. A Wasteland Companion
8. Watch The Show
9. There’s A Key
10. Crawl After You
11. Wild Goose
12. Pure Joy

M. Ward Tour Dates:
Feb 2 Los Angeles, CA Masonic Lodge at Hollywood Forever Cemetery
Apr 11 San Francisco, CA The Fillmore
Apr 12 Santa Cruz, CA The Cocoanut Grove Ballroom
Apr 13 Indio, CA Coachella **SOLD OUT**
Apr 14 Santa Barbara, CA SoHO
Apr 16 San Diego, CA Belly Up
Apr 17 Phoenix, AZ Crescent Ballroom
Apr 18 Flagstaff, AZ The Orpheum
Apr 20 Indio, CA Coachella **SOLD OUT**
May 5  Portland, ME State Theatre
May 6  Burlington, VT Higher Ground
May 7  New Haven, CT Toads Place
May 8  Boston, MA House of Blues
May 11 New York, NY Webster Hall
May 12 Philadelphia, PA Union Transfer
May 13 Washington, DC 9:30 Club
May 15 Durham, NC Duke Performances at Page Auditorium
May 16 Athens, GA Georgia Theatre
May 17 Atlanta, GA Buckhead Theatre
May 22 Chicago, IL Vic Theatre
May 24 Minneapolis, MN First Avenue