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Week In Rock: Valentines, Vampires and Vatican Edition

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Magnetic Fields at BAM"Valentine's Day is a day for martyr's," Stephin Merritt said wryly at the start of The Magnetic Fields two-set, one-off show <a href="http://www.bam.org/view.aspx?pid=1794">at BAM</a> last Saturday night. It was a night filled with songs about wolfboys, vampires and moons, the theater thick with three-part harmonies and the back-and-forth repartee of Merritt and manager/best friend/antagonist Claudia Gonson. The show was sweetly intimate, and begged the questions: Is there any better contemporary cataloger of the mutating states of love than Merritt, and is there any better group to spend Valentine's eve alone with?The current line-up's sound mimics the band's latest album, Realism, Merritt's somewhat stiff take on a "folk" record, which is closer to Judy Collins early 70's recordings than Dave Van Ronk or Joan Baez. It's a staunchly natural sounding record, utilizing only acoustic instrumentation, and it translated spaciously for this show; the instruments were delicately balanced and crystal clear (and the arrangements were never cluttered), allowing the vocals and harmonies to stand center stage. The sold-out crowd was rapturous in their attention to the lyrics; whereas past Magnetic Fields shows have at times tended toward rock-band levels, the crowd here was appreciative and receptive for the chance to absorb each phrase, allowing Merritt to charm via his understated jokes, laconic grumpiness, and stripped poofball knit hat. The 5-piece included Merritt on ukulele, Gonson on keyboards/vocals, John Woo on acoustic guitar, Sam Devol on cello, and Shirley Simms on autoharp/vocals. Assembled on shag carpets, they ran through over 20 stripped-down versions of past and present Fields (and 6th's and other side-project) songs. Most of Realism was aired, including a standout take of "Always Already Gone," but the highest highlights were several songs from their masterpiece, 69 Love Songsâthe gentle "Acoustic Guitar," the Bo-Diddly aping "I'm Sorry I Love You," the nearly-anthemic "I Don't Want To Get Over You," and the lyrical courtship dance of "Wi Nae Wee Bairn Ye'll Me Beget." A stripped-down reading of Distortion's "The Nun's Litany," sans that albums fuzz, revealed itself as one of Merritt's funniest compositions, and the night ended with a gentle encore rendition of the bands first single, "100,000 Fireflies."You can get an idea of what the band's newest tour looks/sounds like <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=amJhRpwYl54&feature=related">here</a>. The Magnetic Fields are coming back to NYC in mid-March with three dates scheduled at Town Hall.

Gothamist

ATP NY 2010 Line-UpAll Tomorrow's Parties, founded by <a href="http://gothamist.com/2009/09/08/barry_hogan_atp_festival.php">Barry Hogan</a>, <a href="http://www.atpfestival.com/">announced</a> the full line-up for it's <a href="http://gothamist.com/2009/09/14/all_tomorrows_parties_1.php">annual</a> festival taking place at Kutsher's Country Club in Monticello, NY. On Friday September 3rd, as part of the <a href="http://www.dontlookbackconcerts.com/">Don't Look Back</a> series, a reformed Iggy and The Stooges (with former guitarist James Williamson) will perform Raw Power, Sleep will perform Holy Mountain, Mudhoney will perform Superfuzz Bigmuff and early singles, and The Scientists will perform Blood Red River (at their first ever U.S. show). Saturday Sept. 4th will see performances by past curators including Sonic Youth, Explosions in the Sky, The Breeders, Fuck Buttons and The Books. Finally, Sunday Sept. 5th will be guest curated by filmmaker Jim Jarmusch, will see performances by The Brian Jonestown Massacre, Raekwon and Girls, among others. You should also check out the really sweet <a href="http://www.brooklynvegan.com/archives/2010/02/jim_jarmusch_to.html">old school-comic book-designed</a> posters for this years show.

Gothamist

The Vatican's Top Ten ListThe Vatican went all <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High_Fidelity_(novel)">High Fidelity</a> on us this week, and <a href="http://blogs.wsj.com/speakeasy/2010/02/15/the-beatles-michael-jackson-and-u2-make-vatican-newspapers-list-of-best-albums-bob-dylan-snubbed/">released</a> their "semi-serious guide" to the top ten rock and pop albums of all time. U2's Achtung Baby (of course U2 would be on thereâBono is basically the Ewen McGregor-character from Angels and Demonsâbut it's a strange album choice compared to Joshua Tree), Michael Jackson's Thriller, Fleetwood Mac's Rumours and Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon were all included, as well as less likely albums such as Carlos Santana's Grammy-baiting Supernatural and David Crosby's underrated If I Could Only Remember My Name. Dylan was left off entirely, supposedly <a href="http://www.politicsdaily.com/2010/02/19/upon-this-rock-and-roll-the-vaticans-top-10-albums/">because</a> "he opened the door to generations of unprofessional singer-songwriters who have 'harshly tested the ears and patience of listeners' with their tormented stories." The Beatles Revolver took the top spot, and their most fervent <strike>copycats</strike> disciples, Oasis, were represented by (What's the Story) Morning Glory? Hilariously, the Vatican seems highly aware of the Gallagher brothers penchant for <a href="http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/showbiz/bizarre/2753764/Liam-Gallagher-says-hell-never-speak-to-brother-Noel-again.html">hating one another</a>: they note ruefully that âthe album was never equaledâ by the British band because of disruptive in-fighting. It's quite unlikely that the Pope had anything to do with this list, but it's pretty fantastic to think of anyone involved with the Vatican playing air guitar to <a href="http://perpetua.tumblr.com/post/320149519/champagne-supernova-a-stat">"Champagne Supernova."</a>

Watch out pope, he wants your job!