Track Listing
1. San Diego Zoo - (with Barbara Manning)
2. Aging Spinsters
3. All Dressed up in Dreams - (with Mary Timony)
4. Falling Out of Love (With You) - (with Dean Wareham)
5. Winter in July - (with Ayako Akashiba)
6. Pillow Fight - (with Mitch Easter)
7. Dream Hat - (with Mac McCaughan)
8. Movies in My Head - (with Georgia Hubley)
9. In the City in the Rain - (with Lou Barlow)
10. Looking For Love (In the Hall of Mirrors) - (with Amelia Fletcher)
11. Heaven in a Black Leather Jacket - (with Robert Scott)
12. Here in My Heart - (with Anna Domino)
13. Puerto Rico Way - (with Mark Robinson)
14. You Can't Break a Broken Heart - (with Jeffrey Underhill)
15. When I'm Out of Town - (with Chris Knox)
| Details | | Playing Time: | 45 min. | | Contributing Artists: | Barbara Manning, Chris Knox, Dean Wareham, Georgia Hubley, Lou Barlow, Mac McCaughan, Mark Robinson, Mitch Easter | | Producer: | Stephin Merritt | | Distributor: | Universal Distribution | | Recording Type: | Studio | | Recording Mode: | Stereo | | SPAR Code: | n/a |
Album Notes
WASPS' NESTS features songs written by Stephin Merritt of The Magnetic Fields, performed by various indie-rock singers, including members of Yo La Tengo, Sebadoh, Superchunk, the Tall Dwarfs and Luna.
The 6ths: Stephin Merritt (vocals, various instruments).
For his major-label debut, Stephin Merritt came up with a brilliant idea. Rather than showcase his music through his usual band, The Magnetic Fields, the Boston-born, New York-based singer-songwriter asked fourteen of his influences and peers to sing fourteen of his songs, taking the fifteenth, the excellent "Aging Spinsters," for himself. The intoxicating results are among Merritt's very best work, melodic vignettes of sarcastic disdain (Dean Wareham's "Falling Out of Love"), wistful longing (Barbara Manning's "San Diego Zoo"), heartbreak (Mary Timony's "All Dressed Up In Dreams") and romantic idealism (Robert Scott's "Heaven In A Black Leather Jacket").
Merritt plays nearly all the instruments himself, and the singers all follow the Magnetic Fields example of deadpan detachment in their vocal style, so the album sounds less like a compilation than like an album by one band which happens to have 15 singers. On every level, WASPS' NESTS is a triumph.
Editorial Reviews
Ranked #25 in Village Voice's 1995 Pazz & Jop Critics' Poll.
Village Voice (02/20/1996)
3.5 Stars - Very Good - ...a chilly, stunning and sad symphony of breakup songs written with the contradictory beauty and cheer of some of the greatest pop singles of the '60s. [The] marriage of the cheap tinkle of keyboards graced with hushed vocals and spacier synth odysseys is both masterful and dangerous...
Rolling Stone (06/15/1995)
8 - Highly Recommended - ...[Stephin Merritt] is a one-man Brill Building, a synth-pop Noel Coward....What's most attractive about [WASPS' NESTS]--its showcasing of so many talented singers--is also its weakness. Merritt's idiosyncratic songs are meant for...his own voice...
Spin (05/01/1995)
3 Stars - Good - ...Merrit's songs have flexibility and perhaps a greater appeal than was previously thought...
Q (09/01/1995)
Recommended - ...There are too many gems here....it's not a record to smash the barriers of sound, but it'll charm the pants off you. Guaranteed...
Melody Maker (07/15/1995)
6 (out of 10) - ...touched by the tiny hand of genius....[Merritt's] love of allegedly `perfect' pop--Abba, chiefly--is...in evidence here, as [he] turns himself into a one-man Brill Building, pumping out possible hits for a generation of underground rockers...
NME (09/16/1995)
...Using Casio keyboards, customized gizmos, and a few singers, Stephin Merritt fashions a homemade hit parade, catchier and smarter than anything in the Top 40. His toy symphony plays classics similar to Phil Spector, ABBA, and others... - Rating: A
Entertainment Weekly (04/07/1995)
...amazing songwriter, gossamer techno-pop melodies, brilliant lyrics, etc...WASPS' NEST is a brilliant, accesible, listener-friendly album...
Option (09/01/1995)
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