Product Description:
Recording information: 2006.
An amazing tunesmith with an unerring knack for melody and influences that range from Kurt Weill to New Order, Stephin Merritt has used various projects--the Magnetic Fields chief among them--to showcase his unique talents. Merritt is also heavily influenced by musical theater, as SHOW TUNES, the artist's third solo release, reveals. In fact, SHOW TUNES comprises songs that Merritt composed for actual stage productions.
In a long-standing collaboration with the Chinese theater director Chen Shi-Zheng, Merritt has written songs for the Shi-Zheng plays PEACH BLOSSOM FAN, THE ORPHAN OF ZHAO, and MY LIFE AS A FAIRY TALE. The songs are performed by the original cast members, so those looking for Merritt's voice will be sadly disappointed. That said, the songwriting bears the artist's usual hallmarks--wit, superb melodic hooks, a little bit of cheek, and a little bit of melancholy--making the collection indispensable to Merritt fans.
Entertainment Reviews:
Uncut - p.98
3 stars out of 5 -- "Merritt sings alongside original cast members, clearly relishing each perverted fairy-tale of ruined love, untimely death, wars and whores and human vanity."
Mojo (Publisher) - p.104
3 stars out of 5 -- "To the cottonfield paddy fields sounds of banjo and jinghu Merritt and friends horse around with funny voices and sardonic lines..."
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