Site search
sponsored by
News
Entertainment
Whatever else you may think about the French, you have to hand it to them — they have a knack for language.
Take the expression “bon mot.” Literally translated as “good word,” “bon mot” has come to mean a clever riposte or a witty quip -- and when a young Craven learned the phrase in the 7th grade, he found it easy to remember because it looked a lot like “bon bon.” Even at the tender age of 13, it seemed to him that what a bon bon is to the tongue, a bon mot is to the mind.
“Bon mot” is an excellent term to keep in said mind when considering the remarkable work of New York songwriter Stephen Merritt and his most famous ensemble, the Magnetic Fields. Not only do the expression's literal and accepted meanings -- and even its confectionery connotation -- apply to Merritt's relentlessly clever way with words, but (when pronounced properly) “bon mot” sounds a lot like “pomo,” as in “post modern"... and this, too, is appropriate in discussing Merritt's lyrics. For instance, while earlier morose songwriters like Leonard Cohen or Morrissey might have confessed “I don't know the score,” no one but Merritt would first acknowledge, “I'm no Nino Rota,” as he does in his 1999 song, “Reno Dakota.” And while representing perhaps not as prodigious a feat as writing an entire novel without using the letter “e,” as French postmodernist Georges Perec did in 1969, Merritt seemed to be mining similar pomo territory in 2004 when the Magnetic Fields released their eighth album, “i,” which featured only song titles beginning with the titular vowel.
Whereas it's his lyrics which earned him the sobriquet of “the Cole Porter of his generation” by Rolling Stone, Merritt's musical ideas are often equally adroit, and certainly diverse. The first several Magnetic Fields albums were dominated by the synthesizer, but in recent years, Merritt has dramatically expanded his palette. The Fields' sprawling masterpiece, “69 Love Songs,” which introduced the group to many new listeners when it was released ten years ago, incorporated cello, ukelele and even accordion -- the latter provided by frequent collaborator Daniel Handler, who is better-known to literary youngsters (and their parents) as Lemony Snicket, author of the hilariously glum children's books which together comprise “A Series of Unfortunate Events.” Merritt also wrote and produced songs for the audiobook versions of the “Unfortunate Events” novels under the rubric of the Gothic Archies, and has branched out lately to composing for the stage in his collaborations with director Chen Shi-zheng, and his work on the recent off-Broadway adaptation of Neil Gaiman's “Coraline.” The latest Magnetic Fields album, last year's “Distortion,” found Merritt exploring noise rock a la My Bloody Valentine or the Jesus and Mary Chain.
So those with an appreciation for a restless musical imagination and “le meilleur des mots” will be excited to hear that the Magnetic Fields have a new album due in January, to be entitled “Realism.” The new record is said to include no electric instrumentation, and to explore the milieu of “late 1960s/early ‘70s orchestral and psychedelic folk. Which means, despite his protestations to the contrary, perhaps this Cole Porter is a little bit Nino Rota after all.
------------------------------
Notes is supported by the Gay and Lesbian Fund, helping the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation improve health in Colorado.
Craven Lovelace produces Notes, a daily cultural history of popular music, for KAFM 88.1 Community Radio, kafmradio.org. You can visit cravenlovelace.com for more of his musings on the world of popular culture.
Take the expression “bon mot.” Literally translated as “good word,” “bon mot” has come to mean a clever riposte or a witty quip -- and when a young Craven learned the phrase in the 7th grade, he found it easy to remember because it looked a lot like “bon bon.” Even at the tender age of 13, it seemed to him that what a bon bon is to the tongue, a bon mot is to the mind.
“Bon mot” is an excellent term to keep in said mind when considering the remarkable work of New York songwriter Stephen Merritt and his most famous ensemble, the Magnetic Fields. Not only do the expression's literal and accepted meanings -- and even its confectionery connotation -- apply to Merritt's relentlessly clever way with words, but (when pronounced properly) “bon mot” sounds a lot like “pomo,” as in “post modern"... and this, too, is appropriate in discussing Merritt's lyrics. For instance, while earlier morose songwriters like Leonard Cohen or Morrissey might have confessed “I don't know the score,” no one but Merritt would first acknowledge, “I'm no Nino Rota,” as he does in his 1999 song, “Reno Dakota.” And while representing perhaps not as prodigious a feat as writing an entire novel without using the letter “e,” as French postmodernist Georges Perec did in 1969, Merritt seemed to be mining similar pomo territory in 2004 when the Magnetic Fields released their eighth album, “i,” which featured only song titles beginning with the titular vowel.
Whereas it's his lyrics which earned him the sobriquet of “the Cole Porter of his generation” by Rolling Stone, Merritt's musical ideas are often equally adroit, and certainly diverse. The first several Magnetic Fields albums were dominated by the synthesizer, but in recent years, Merritt has dramatically expanded his palette. The Fields' sprawling masterpiece, “69 Love Songs,” which introduced the group to many new listeners when it was released ten years ago, incorporated cello, ukelele and even accordion -- the latter provided by frequent collaborator Daniel Handler, who is better-known to literary youngsters (and their parents) as Lemony Snicket, author of the hilariously glum children's books which together comprise “A Series of Unfortunate Events.” Merritt also wrote and produced songs for the audiobook versions of the “Unfortunate Events” novels under the rubric of the Gothic Archies, and has branched out lately to composing for the stage in his collaborations with director Chen Shi-zheng, and his work on the recent off-Broadway adaptation of Neil Gaiman's “Coraline.” The latest Magnetic Fields album, last year's “Distortion,” found Merritt exploring noise rock a la My Bloody Valentine or the Jesus and Mary Chain.
So those with an appreciation for a restless musical imagination and “le meilleur des mots” will be excited to hear that the Magnetic Fields have a new album due in January, to be entitled “Realism.” The new record is said to include no electric instrumentation, and to explore the milieu of “late 1960s/early ‘70s orchestral and psychedelic folk. Which means, despite his protestations to the contrary, perhaps this Cole Porter is a little bit Nino Rota after all.
------------------------------
Notes is supported by the Gay and Lesbian Fund, helping the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation improve health in Colorado.
Craven Lovelace produces Notes, a daily cultural history of popular music, for KAFM 88.1 Community Radio, kafmradio.org. You can visit cravenlovelace.com for more of his musings on the world of popular culture.
