So many interviews!

Wow.  Lots to report today.  Encore Magazine interviews Kerthy Fix about her film and her relationship to Stephin's music here.

Stephin Merritt has also become quite an available pundit with the release of Ms. Fix's film, and is interviewed by Zachary Block here.  IFC interviews him here, and deconstructs several aspects of the film with Mr. Merritt, which offers probably more insight into his real opinion on the film than has been offered previously.  So bully for that.

By far the best interview, though, and maybe amongst my favorite interviews with Mr. Merritt ever, is done by The Vulture.  Mr. Merritt appears to be in rare chatty form and pontificates about his disdain for giggling and children (and presumably giggling children), graphic novels, and his dream to design an amusement park.  My personal favorite part, however, is when he discusses at length his appreciation for Fleetwood Mac's Tusk, an album that has long been a favorite of mine.  Many moons ago, Stephin Merritt was slated to write a book about Tusk for Continuum's 33 1/3 series of books, and his few sentences about it in this interview make me pine for the days when that was a logistic possibility.  Anyhow, much kudos to Lizzy Goodman for a wonderful interview.

Strange Powers: Stephin Merritt and The Magnetic Fields opens today at Film Forum in New York City.  The band will be in attendance for a Q&A after the screening.  Tickets are long sold out, but worry not, gentle readers!  The band will reappear on Friday October 29th for another Q&A.  Tickets for that event can be found here. 

And don't forget All Our Friends Are in New York, the Stephin Merritt exhibit (featuring a DJ set by the one and only) which happens tomorrow at Other Music in New York City.  Extensive information can be found here.

Interviews Galore!

Listen to Stephin Merritt and Claudia Gonson on The Takeaway right here.  In it, Stephin compares himself to Lady Gaga, Claudia compares the pair of them to John Frankenheimer, and the name "Gay & Loud" is explained once again.  Well worth listening to.

Stephin is interviewed solo by the Wall Street Journal here, an again Lady Gaga comes slipping into the conversation, oddly enough.  But, bagels are also discussed, redeeming the WSJ's credibility in my mind.

Finally, Kerthy Fix and Gail O'Hara discuss their relationships with Stephin, the film, and Stephin's music here.

Three Random Bits of Information

Stephin Merritt and Claudia Gonson will be interviewed tomorrow on NPR's program The Takeaway.  Check your local NPR stations for times!!

Oh, and I guess I'll say congratulations to new mother Claudia Gonson!  I've wanted to report this for a while now, but haven't due to Ms. Gonson's lack of a public statement about the fact.  But, The Magnetic Fields recently posted this picture on their Twitter account and it shows two very happy-looking women.  I'm sure I speak on behalf of all of my readers, even the prudes, when I express happiness for the two of them.  Cheers!

Lastly, I got my copy of Esopus today featuring Stephin Merritt's new song "Meerkat Manor!"  I had to listen a few times as I was laughing too hard the first couple go-'rounds.  The song is ludicrous, guys, but oh-so-much fun.  The song is credited as being written, performed, and produced by Mr. Merritt, which means he's done one helluva effect on his vocal track, because it sounds nothing like his voice.  I'm sure I won't be the only one to laugh at its ridiculousness, but I'm also sure you'll all love it. 

For the time being, you can listen to a bit of the song here!  Thanks to Nick for pointing this out.

Reno Dakota on "Reno Dakota"

Pitchfork posted this clip from Strange Powers: Stephin Merritt and The Magnetic Fields of Reno Dakota discussing The Magnetic Fields' song named after him:



It's marvelous!  He talks about his relationship with Stephin (and the unfortunate parameters he placed upon it), how the song has effected his life, and a strange visit to a cool-sounding doctor.  But, in the coolest part of all, he sings his response song entitled (cleverly) "Stephin Merritt," the lyrics to which have forever been published in LD Beghtol's legendary tome in tribute to 69 Love Songs.  What a wonderful little clip!

Interview with Kerthy Fix

Ms. Kerthy Fix is interviewed on the See it Loud podcast, episode 14.  Listen to it here.  She discusses working with Stephin Merritt, playing his straight man, and an innumerable amount of other interesting topics.

Big blog-related news coming soon, readers.  I'm very excited about a lot of things right now is all I'll say for now, but expect something in the coming weeks!

Interview with Stephin and Gail

Time Out New York has posted this short but wonderful interview with Mr. Stephin Merritt and Ms. Gail O'Hara.  Stephin discusses his time as an employee of Time Out New York, his relationship with Ms. O'Hara, and more.  Highly recommended.

But, recommended more highly than that is clicking this link, which will take you to an archive of all of Mr. Merritt's articles written whilst working out TONY.  Surely reading all of this will eat up the rest of my night, and I'm certain I shan't be alone in that. 

Gospel Music

Owen Holmes, known primarily as the bassist for the band Black Kids, is undertaking a solo project called Gospel Music.  Their first EP (whose cover is featured above), is entitled Duettes and features the lovely Ms. Shirley Simms on the track "Gamophobia."  The record will be released November 29.

Eternal gratitude to Mr. Carlos Pena for pointing this out to me and for being a swell fella all around.

Press Release for Coraline

So, in my utmost idiocy, I missed the initial posting of the press release for the San Francisco Playhouse's production of Coraline!  So much amazing information is divulged! 

Firstly, as would be expected, none of the original cast will be reappearing in the west coast production.  But, it's interesting to note that Coraline be played by an actual 12-year-old this time around!  Her name is Maya Donato and she will go from playing Annie to playing Coraline.  I think we'll all agree to be awed by such range, no? 

Robert Moreno is listed as the play's musical director, about which I'm curious.  In the New York production, Phyllis Chen was the pianist for all songs (not to mention all three types of pianos), and I'm wondering if Mr. Moreno's role will be similar.  Either way, I'm very excited about all this information, and even moreso to go see the play.  Which is still happening, by the way, even though it's certainly going to cost me both arms and both legs. 

New Strange Powers Trailer

Three updates in one day?  What is this, February 2010 minus a whole shit load of readers? 

Well, I'm not just being obnoxious, I promise.  All three of these updates have contained relevant information, but this one perhaps most of all.  Watch the trailer for the theatrical release of Strange Powers: Stephin Merritt and The Magnetic Fields below!



Not a ton of new information for losers like myself who've yet to see the film, but enough to titilate me and warrant another update on my little blog.

Drink Tea with Stephin Merritt!

Independent radio station WFMU is currently hosting an online charity auction with a bevy of interesting items up for sale.  There are several old comic books, some paintings, and what-have-you, but most importantly is the chance to have tea with Stephin Merritt!!  Were I a New Yorker, I would be the winning bidder, no doubt, but alas, I instead have to pass this information on to you lot and wish you the best of luck. 

Check out their other auctions as well if you're interested in playing with Yo La Tengo or owning some original John Fahey paintings.  Or, really, if you're interested in helping out a cool independent radio station.

Remate

Stephin Merritt is featured on a recording by Spanish singer Remate.  The song is entitled "Gigante" and also features collaborations from past Merritt collaborators Pinky Weitzman, Charles Newman, and LD Beghtol (who does a whopping amount of work on the song).  You can download the song and listen to the entire digital EP here.  It is apparently going to be released on Remate's upcoming album, Superluv, though I'm unable to find a specific release date.  If anyone has any information on that, I'd love to hear it!

Esopus

Mr. Merritt will be contributing a track to a CD being released with the art magazine Esopus's fifteenth issue.  The song will apparently be a tribute to one of the few television programs for which Stephin Merritt has expressed adoration, Meerkat Manor.  Mr. Merritt expounds on his love for this show in this interview from a couple years back.

Obviously, I'm excited at the prospect of new Stephin Merritt songs, but it's odd exactly HOW excited I am!!  After all, this year has been so goddamn good to me in terms of new Merritt songs.  I am, though, a selfish cock.

Thanks to the humble but wonderful folks over at Stephinsongs for this bit of information.  Much respect and love to them.