Inconcievable!

I never realized it, but there aren't too many bands that start with I. On top of that, I'm sure everybody's already heard plenty of Incubus and Interpol. I considered reviewing Inspiral Carpets, but beyond "This is How it Feels" is pretty good, I don't have a lot to say. We're switching it up this time, and I'm going to talk about a record.

I is for I, by The Magnetic Fields. It's always hard to describe The Magnetic Fields... bizarre as it may sound, the best I've been able to come up with is "Beat Happening meets Morrissey!" What the fuck, right? Right. You may think that 69 songs about love would be a pretty exemplary repertoire, but not Stephin Merritt! I swear to god, a good 80% of everything this guy's put out has love as it's theme. Make no mistake, I am not complaining. It's pretty great, in my opinion.
I is a fantastic album, and is no exception to this love theme. The concept's pretty simple: every song starts with the letter I. It may come as a surprise, but this record has no synths to speak of. It says right in the liner notes! I have the feeling that might be slightly erroneous, but for the most part, it is legit instrumentation. That's actually pretty cool, considering all the strings and such. Stephin Merritt has a devilish wit to him, and it shows in "I Wish I Had an Evil Twin" and "I Don't Really Love You Anymore." This record is worth listening to for it's lyrics alone. Unfortunately, a lot of my favorite songs from this album are pretty difficult to find streamable copies of. If of the songs I've linked so far have piqued your interest, I implore you to pick up a copy of this album! If you're on the fence, come over and listen to it.