Never Had To Fight » Realism http://www.neverhadtofight.com verbing the adjective noun since 1902 Mon, 06 Feb 2012 16:11:47 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 February 2010, in review http://www.neverhadtofight.com/2010/03/february-2010-in-review/ http://www.neverhadtofight.com/2010/03/february-2010-in-review/#comments Mon, 01 Mar 2010 22:38:38 +0000 Adam M. Anklewicz http://www.neverhadtofight.com/?p=654 In December, I set goals for myself, how many films to see this year, how many shows to attend, how many records to purchase, and how many books to read. This is the standings, as of the end of February…

Books I read (2/10 – 20%):
Heaven Is Small by Emily Schultz | Originally published 2009

Films I saw (19/52 – 36.5%):
Whip It | Originally released 2009
24 Hours On Craigslist | Originally released 2005
The Princess And The Frog | Originally released 2009
The Secret of Kells | Originally released 2009
An Education |  Originally released 2009
Invictus | Originally released 2009
The Blind Side | Originally released 2009
The Hurt Locker | Originally released 2009

Albums I bought (22/52 – 42.3%):
Next Year In Zion by Herman Düne (vinyl) | Originally released 2008
Realism by The Magnetic Fields (CD + vinyl)
The Beatles Stereo Box Set | Originally released 2009

Shows I attended (7/52 – 13.5%):
The Magnetic Fields (w/ Laura Barrett) @ Queen Elizabeth II Theatre; February 8, 2010
The Hidden Cameras, Owen Pallett, Thomas, Kids On TV, The Barcelona Pavilion, Mean Red Spiders, Neck a.k.a. Christiana, Boars @ The Garrison; February 14, 2010

]]> http://www.neverhadtofight.com/2010/03/february-2010-in-review/feed/ 2 Realism Early Thoughts http://www.neverhadtofight.com/2010/02/realism-early-thoughts/ http://www.neverhadtofight.com/2010/02/realism-early-thoughts/#comments Sun, 07 Feb 2010 18:59:26 +0000 Adam M. Anklewicz http://www.neverhadtofight.com/?p=360 I’m going to start by saying that I never like a Magnetic Fields record through and through when it’s first released. Actually I never like a Magnetic Fields record through and through. Their music seems to be cyclical in nature to me. I’ll listen to a record of theirs and love certain tracks, be indifferent to others, and hate others. Then a few months later, I love different ones, be indifferent to others, and hate others.

This can be traced back to their first song I heard, “The Desperate Things You Made Me Do.” I hated it. Really really hated it. Now I love it, unashamedly love it.

So I’ve listened to Realism, and I find there’s nothing that hugely stands out to me. There’s fun stuff, but none of it really feels like a Magnetic Fields record. There’s songs which feel like they could be from one of the musicals Stephin Merritt has scored, there are others which sound like they could be Gothic Archies songs.

There’s definitely some fun tracks on the record, “We Are Having A Hootenanny,” “Everything Is One Big Christmas Tree” & “The Dada Polka” are among my favourites. We’ll see how it holds up to a few hundred listens. I wasn’t a huge fan of i (I still can’t stand “I Was Born”) and now it’s among my favourite of Merritt’s work. I also at first really loved much of Distortion, and now I’m indifferent to much of it (though “The Nun’s Litany” is still brilliant).

Are you tired of reading about my thoughts of the Magnetic Fields? Well, screw you, I’m going to see them tomorrow!

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