Stephin Merritt - Obscurities

Stephin Merritt und Merge Records haben für diese Zusammenstellung tief in den Archiven gewühlt: 14 Titel, darunter fünf bisher unveröffentlichte Songs, aus den frühen Schaffensphasen Merritts.
Bei "The Sun And The Sea And The Sky" handelt es sich um ein "69 Love Songs"-Outtake (Merritt: “This song didn’t go on 69 Love Songs because it wasn’t actually about romantic love.”), "Rot In The Sun" sowie "Yet Another Girl" gehören eigentlich zu Merritts Gastsänger-Projekt The 6ths und "You Are Not My Mother And I Want To Go Home" war ursprünglich Bestandteil des Audio Books zu Neil Gaimans "Coraline".
Auch auf alten 7'' Singles wurde man fündig: "I Don't Believe You" war bereits 1998 in Keyboard-Sounds gewandet als Single erschienen, bevor es 6 Jahre später in akustischem Kleid auf "i" neu veröffentlicht wurde, und "Rats In The Garbage Of The Western World" (1995) und "Beach-A-Boop-Boop" (1992) befanden sich bereits auf frühen B-Seiten von The Magnetic Fields.

Insgesamt gibt es viele tolle Songs zu entdecken, bei denen es schade gewesen wäre, hätten sie weiter im Archiv schlummern müssen, darunter zum Beispiel die Solo-Akustik-Nummer "Forever And A Day" oder den Alien-Love-Song "The Song From Venus", der wie das Gros der Songs auf "Obscurities" als Synthie-Pop daher kommt. Man muss also nicht im Internet den Nickname "TheMagneticField" tragen müssen, um Gefallen an diesen Obskuritäten (auch auf Vinyl erhältlich) zu finden.

It’s a testament to Merritt’s conceptual discipline that a gorgeous 70th love song, “The Sun And The Sea And The Sky,” was omitted from that release for not being “actually about romantic love.” The original, 1995 7-inch version of “I Don’t Believe You” is a candy-colored dance party compared to the stifled hand-played rendition on 2004’s I, while an alternate version of Holiday’s synth-pop standout “Take Ecstasy With Me” with original Magnetic Fields singer Susan Anway is dated by corny synth flutes and faux-tribal drums.

Some of the over-the-top pop gestures here lack the subtle pathos of Merritt’s best work, and would-be wedding song “Forever And A Day” seems weirdly bereft of his self-aware charisma. Still, even the relative missteps here are interesting, and speak to the consistencies of Merritt’s work across many projects and approaches. Rarities compilations are often perfunctory at best, but this is a refreshingly diverse release from a laser-focused songwriter.
(avclub.com)

Stephin Merritt - "Forever and a Day" by TwentyFourBit.com

While nothing on Obscurities is outright bad, certain songs definitely stand out above the rest. “Rats in the Garbage of the Western World,” a Magnetic Fields 7" vinyl b-side from 1995, is glorious in it electronic cacophony and dark lyrics. “Plant White Roses,” credited to Buffalo Rome, an early name for the Magnetic Fields, is a spare, ridiculously heartbreaking country/folk tune sung by Shirley Simms. Elsewhere, songs from The 6ths (“Rot in the Sun,” “Yet Another Girl”) and Magnetic Fields proper (“I Don’t Believe You,” “Take Ecstasy With Me”) are clear highlights. Sure, it’s a bit of a grab bag overall, but Obscurities will please hardcore fans and serves as a nice holdover until Magnetic Fields makes its official Merge return with a new full-length in 2012.
(pastemagazine.com)