I was lucky, lucky, lucky enough to see The Magnetic Fields on Friday night in Bloomington, at the Buskirk Chumley theater. The Magnetic Fields are one of my favorite bands, but saying “favorite bands” doesn’t even begin to describe it. I don’t think I would understand myself emotionally in relation to other people without 69 Love Songs. That’s right, an album single-handedly saved me from the autism spectrum.
I have spent so many hours of my life listening to their albums, and the voices especially of Stephin Merritt, Claudia Gonson, and Shirley Simms are permanently ingrained into the folds of my brain. Just seeing Shirley open her mouth and having that voice come out of it was a sort of magical-visceral experience that made me feel giddy and disoriented. And it was weird to look up and see John Woo and Sam Davol sitting in front of me, playing their stringed instruments, wearing the same facial expressions that I use to watch NBC on Thursday nights. Continue reading →
