#320 (of 365) "All My Little Words" The Magnetic Fields

I first learned about The Magnetic Fields from Arcade Fire, who used to do a brilliant cover of the song "Born on a Train" live, that I had downloaded somehow. Legend has it that Arcade Fire signed with Merge Records, the tiny indie label founded by my favorite band of all time--Superchunk--because Win Butler of Arcade Fire heard "Born on a Train" in a record store and said we have to sign with whatever label this band is on. The Magnetic Fields were on Merge, and in 1999 released a 3-CD album of 69 songs, titled appropriately "69 Love Songs" that was at the time a legendary super-long road-trip listen. 69 mostly short sweet songs of wildly varying genres (pop, country, indie, folk), a bunch of them super catchy and brilliant. It was for a time, Merge Records most successful non-Superchunk release, at least until, first Neutral Milk Hotel's In the Aeroplane over the Sea, and then of course, when Arcade Fire's Funeral broke every sales record imaginable for a label largely started by Mac and Laura to release friends' records. Arcade Fire would sustain Merge as a major force in indie rock to this day. Side note: I flew to Raleigh NC this summer for the 35th anniversary Merge Records festival, watching Superchunk, The Mountain Goats, Titus Andronicus, Destroyer, Torres and others play some sick shows at Cat's Cradle in Carrboro, NC and it was wonderful, despite the rain. Long story short, Magnetic Fields have released some incredible music for the past 25 years, and the fact that Win heard one of their songs in a record store is a large reason why I got to fly to Raleigh for a 35th anniversary show.

"All My Little Words" - The Magnetic Fields // 69 Love Songs, Part 1 (1999)