Reno Dakota, I'm no Nino Rota, I don't know the score

November 24, 2024 7:27 AM

The Magnetic Fields: NPR Tiny Desk Concert "The band, featuring the complete original lineup, performed without drums and an almost entirely acoustic set, with the exception of Sam Davol's electric cello."
posted by Crane Shot (19 comments total)

This is really beautiful.
posted by Flashman at 7:53 AM on November 24 [1 favorite]

Strictly speaking, not quite 'the complete original lineup', as the late LD Beghtol sang vocals on the album version of 'All My Little Words' and 'King of the Boudoir'. But still, a treat.
posted by verstegan at 7:56 AM on November 24 [3 favorites]

I loved this. I knew a couple songs before I bought the second disc of 69 Love Songs. Then I had to go back and buy the other two (it would have been cheaper to buy them all together but whatever). My friend who introduced me to Magnetic Fields died a couple months ago and I'm still reeling from that. But I put this on and remember. Thank you Stephin. Thank you Eric. These songs live on in me.
posted by downtohisturtles at 8:09 AM on November 24 [6 favorites]

This was gorgeous. It's funny to me how few if any of the songs I was hoping they'd play were in this set, and yet I was psyched for each one they did anyway. And apparently "Book of Love" can still bring tears to my eyes.
posted by Navelgazer at 8:21 AM on November 24 [1 favorite]

Fantastic!

I went to their two-night all-69-songs reunion tour some months ago in SF, and it was really special and lovely. Great to have a recorded slice of the tour.
posted by kaibutsu at 9:01 AM on November 24 [1 favorite]

Favorite bit of trivia - the original Reno Dakota recording used a sampled banjo line slowed down/sped up to change the key, which, of course, also changes the tempo every time the chord changes, and making it a real challenge to sing along with. This is to some extent still replicated in the live version.
posted by kaibutsu at 9:03 AM on November 24 [4 favorites]

Awesome! I saw the first of the two-night playthrough of 69 Love Songs last month, and it was less a concert and more a beautiful sing-along.
posted by klausman at 10:32 AM on November 24

This reminded me how much I love the Magnetic Fields. My favourite ever live version was this track on Jools Holland - https://youtu.be/nG75u2ymoRI?si=ccKQwlCBsnLJCsEe
posted by brilliantmistake at 10:45 AM on November 24

Mr. eirias and I saw these guys at the Old Town School of Folk Music, I guess it’s going on twenty years ago now, and it was both my favorite venue and one of my favorite concerts of all time. Seeing this video, I felt a little bit the way I do when I see my friend’s kids all grown up — a reminder that middle age has had its way with me — but this music, and Stephin Merritt’s voice, has aged so beautifully. We are hoping we can catch this tour in the Twin Cities in the spring. Thank you for posting.
posted by eirias at 10:48 AM on November 24

Thank you for sharing. I'd never heard of them. The "Book of love" is haunting.
posted by greenhornet at 12:16 PM on November 24 [2 favorites]

Awesome! I saw the first of the two-night playthrough of 69 Love Songs last month, and it was less a concert and more a beautiful sing-along.

This happened to me when Neutral Milk Hotel toured in Denver! (Denver being somewhat a special town for the band) Mangum was a little taken aback from hearing people sing all his songs back to him, and I was worried he was going to flee the stage! But he stuck it out, and we all did our campfire sing-along about the marriage of a dead dog sing and a synthetic flying machine oh oh oh oh ohhh oh oh oh oh ohhh!!!
posted by alex_skazat at 12:18 PM on November 24 [1 favorite]

I made it a few plunks on the banjo into the first song before I started crying.
posted by alex_skazat at 12:22 PM on November 24 [2 favorites]

69 Love Songs is one of the great musical accomplishments of the 20th century, no qualifiers.
posted by gwint at 12:44 PM on November 24 [11 favorites]

So lovely. Thanks for posting, Crane Shot. It was perfect for a quiet autumn afternoon.
posted by EvaDestruction at 1:40 PM on November 24

More 69 Love Songs trivia: Much earlier in the song-writing process, the original theme was 26 songs all in alphabetical order, and you can still see remnants of that in the track list (Queen of the Savages, Xylophone), but most particularly with the last song "Zebra".
posted by jeremias at 1:48 PM on November 24 [1 favorite]

Also in starting it off with "Absolutely Cuckoo"
posted by LionIndex at 2:12 PM on November 24 [2 favorites]

I saw the 69 Love Songs two-night performance last month, and have had a rotation of the songs in my head almost daily ever since. There was loud singing and cheering for the phrase "Pantone 292". Stephin Merritt clearly was fighting a cold/respiratory illness the nights of the shows, but his voice and Shirley Simm's voice - magical, so arch, so irony-laden, and yet so beautiful.
posted by lizard music at 3:30 PM on November 24 [2 favorites]

Merritt is one of the greatest lyricists alive today. The density and amount of iconic lines he has written is really remarkable. 69 Love Songs is way more successful as an album than should be possible, it really is an accomplishment.

I guess I know the soundtrack to the rest of my week now.

I'm so in love with you, girl,
It's like I'm on the moon
I can't really breathe, but I feel lighter
posted by slimepuppy at 2:40 AM on November 25 [1 favorite]

I learned about "69 Love Songs" from you, Metafilter. It was the nicest things anyone has ever done for me.
posted by acrasis at 5:23 PM on November 25 [1 favorite]