Just in time for the holidays, Merge has released a vinyl reissue of The Magnetic Fields’ all-time classic 69 Love Songs, which is just as powerful today as it was in 1999. To celebrate, Stephin Merritt has taken note of the fun being had from some of his peers, and spent a little time this morning annotating a few of the songs on Genius. Unfortunately for us, Merritt has only added notes to five of the sixty-nine tunes (slacker), but those five are excellent (turns out mama really was in a rock ‘n’ roll band).
Besides being one of the most dense albums ever made, 69 Love Songs is also one of the most cover-able albums to boot, having already spawned numerous interpretations of the many, many great tracks. FIDLAR and Bully, who are both about to set out on tour together in the UK—in support of Too and Feels Like, respectively—have marked the occasion with a Magnetic Fields cover of their own, taking on the opener “Absolutely Cuckoo” (which they have spelled “Absolutely Cukoo”—perhaps intentionally).
Their cover is more gentle than most of what either band tends to release on their own, and features some dualized vocals between Zac Carper and Alicia Bognanno. You can check that rendition below.
Read our Breaking feature on Bully.
(via DIY)
