LESS LOVE/MORE MASSACRE

THE MAGNETIC FIELDS

Well, everybody's going to have their clever Valentine's Day themed things happening today. I thought I'd keep mine on the simple side and spotlight some of my favorite tracks from the Magnetic Fields' 1999 magnum opus 69 Love Songs.

Stephin Merritt, my papa was a rodeo... too.

[MP3] "The Luckiest Guy on the Lower East Side"

[MP3] "No One Will Ever Love You"

[MP3] "Let's Pretend We're Bunny Rabbits"

[MP3] "Meaningless"

[MP3] "Papa Was a Rodeo"

CHENEY MAY HAVE MISSED HIS TARGET, BUT I'M ALL FOR QUAYLE HUNTING

THE 7-UP OF RABBIT-ORIENTED INDIE GROUPS?

UNBUNNY

I just discovered Unbunny's 2004 album Snow Tires rather recently. It's not exactly an obvious knock-out, but repeated listens reveal it to be quite the sly little charmer.

Common camparisons with these guys tend to go to Elliott Smith, Neil Young, and Neutral Milk Hotel. Probably a smidgen of truth with each of them, I suppose, but Unbunny have their own little thing going on, and they deserve their own little spotlight.

[MP3] "I Leave Stones Unturned"

[MP3] "I Knock Things I Haven't Tried"

[MP3] "Nightwalking"

[You can purchase this album (and discover any number of MP3s by other worthwhile artists) at...]

SCOTT WALKER

I was listening to Jens Lekman the other day, and, as usual, finding myself liking but not loving him. Great voice, great atmospheric productions, but the SONGS, for the most part, don't tend to add up to much for me.

But thinking about that VOICE got me thinking about Scott Walker. I always want to preface this man's name with "the late, great" - the way people do with Nick Drake. But Mr. Walker, thank our lucky stars, lives and breathes and every now and again crawls out of his seclusion to remind us of that fact.

Scott Walker, for those who don't know, was rather big in the UK in the '60s - first as a member of the Walker Brothers, and then as a solo artist. Since the '70s, though, he's been downright hermit-like. Still, he has had a huge influence on everybody from David Bowie to Bryan Ferry; from the Divine Comedy to Pulp. (In point of fact, he produced Pulp's last album, 2002's We Love Life.)

I just can't get enough of this guy's sound, from the lush-yet-playful productions to, yes, that VOICE - a rich, almost '50s-era baritone, like some hip-daddy, bizarro version of Andy Williams. Enjoy.

[MP3] "Jackie" [from LP Scott 2, 1968]

[MP3] "Next" [from the LP Scott 2, 1968]

[MP3] "No Regrets"/The Walker Brothers [from the LP No Regrets, 1975]

[MP3] "Birds in Your Garden"/Pulp [from the LP We Love Life, 2002] [have to think that Mr. Walker had something to do with those cool, '60s-styled backing vocals on the chorus]

JENS, I KNEW SCOTT WALKER... SCOTT WALKER WAS A FRIEND OF MINE... JENS, YOU'RE NO SCOTT WALKER