Strange Powers: Stephin Merritt & The Magnetic Fields

Wry. That's Stephin Merritt. And he's always come across as something of a curmudgeon (see video below; "I'm a pretty dark person") - a Van Morrison with synths - but over the last decade and a half he's been directly responsible for some wonderful records, not least 69 Love Songs which was a collection of, well, 69 love songs. He's also been responsible for - deep breath - projects with Future Bible Heores, The Gothic Archies, The 6ths, soundtracks for Eban & Charley and Pieces of April, Nickelodeon show theme tunes, and Showtunes - a collection of songs written for three plays. Although his recent work with The Magnetic Fields has veered a little too close to self-parody on the one hand and concept pop on the other, over the past 15 years or more (it's taken ten to put this film together) Merritt's back catalogue and his unquenching desire to branch out into other genres deserves a deeper look.