[.ca] Hyacinths And Thistles

From Amazon.com:
Perhaps we've been spoiled by the prolific talents of Stephen Merritt. He's the brainchild behind the 6ths, Magnetic Fields, and Future Bible Heroes, which all prove that sentimentality didn't die out with the Tin Pan Alley songsmith. And we've come to expect nothing short of brilliance from him (which he so perfectly illustrated in the Magnetic Fields' 69 Love Songs). The 6ths is less a band than a studio project, an outlet in which Merritt's higher-marquee friends get to cover the songwriter's ditties. The lineup of guest vocalists on Hyacinths and Thistles is impressive enough (Gary Numan, Melanie, Bob Mould, Odetta, and Sally Timms, to name a few), but the moments of synth-pop brilliance--Saint Etienne's Sarah Cracknell on "Kissing Things" and the Divine Comedy's Neil Hannon on "The Dead Only Quickly"--are few and far between. Odetta's "Waltzing Me All the Way Home" sounds like a heartfelt Tom Waits tune, but it follows Marc Almond's overblown exotica track, "Volcana!" Yes, Mr. Merritt, we know you have a lot of musical friends whose ability to traverse styles (from disco to sea shanty) is impressive. But whereas Wasps' Nests, the 6ths' debut CD, felt like a cohesive song cycle, Hyacinths and Thistles sounds like a thrown-together tribute disc. --Jason Verlinde

it will creep into your heart:
I suspect that those people who wrote less-than-positive reviews of this album did so without giving it a chance. These are not "one night stand" songs that you jump and thrash around to for a brief moment before moving onto something else. These are songs that you will end up burning on mix CDs you make for your girlfriend, or playing when you miss someone, or having on in the background while you do dishes because they make even that pleasant. They are beautiful songs, sometimes haunting, and perfectly express some of those difficult-to-pin-down relationship moments as only Stephin Merritt can.

It's a world:
This being the first record involving Stephin Merritt I've listened to, can't respond to the comparisons with his other records and projects. I've had it in my car CD player for 2 months... it has been the soundtrack to my life, and its power continues to grow. So for me it's very much a whole now; the songs complement and resonate against each other in different ways each time I hear it, and the different timbres of voice populate a complex inner world of dreams. "As you turn to go" would/will probably be on my list of "songs that made me cry" if I would only hear it under certain circumstances... In time even the overblown and out of tune "Volcana" developed a fevered charm and replayed itself in my head. Lovely, timeless, keeper record. If Amazon hadn't deleted my listmania lists, this would've made one...

Heartbreaking...:
I am puzzled by the criticism this album has been garnering. It is earnest, electro-cabaret music sung by some of the most distinctive voices in indie/alt.pop music. Composition-wise, Merrit keeps it simple. The arrangements are bare-bones, vocals front-and-center, making it easy to focus on some of his most honest and "adult" lyrics to date.True, this record isn't much fun. But it is true and beautiful and immensely sad. Momus's singing on the first track is a highlight, as is the enchanting "sailor who's in love with the sea". These are grown-up songs about grown-up emotions. It is not the bullet-proof jugernaut "69 Love songs" was, but it isn't meant to be. It's not the party record "Wasps nest" was... but it certainly isn't meant to be that... listen alone in the dark when your heartstrings break. You will hear the sound of a life and a love laid bare. Absolutely heartbreaking stuff.

Heartbreaking...:
I am puzzled by the criticism this album has been garnering. It is earnest, electro-cabaret music sung by some of the most distinctive voices in indie/alt.pop music. Composition-wise, Merrit keeps it simple. The arrangements are bare-bones, vocals front-and-center, making it easy to focus on some of his most honest and "adult" lyrics to date.True, this record isn't much fun. But it is true and beautiful and immensely sad. Momus's singing on the first track is a highlight, as is the enchanting "sailor who's in love with the sea". These are grown-up songs about grown-up emotions. It is not the bullet-proof jugernaut "69 Love songs" was, but it isn't meant to be. It's not the party record "Wasps nest" was... but it certainly isn't meant to be that... listen alone in the dark when your heartstrings break. You will hear the sound of a life and a love laid bare. Absolutely heartbreaking stuff.

Good Stuff:
yessum this is a mighty fine album here this is.... Damned good mussic

• As You Turn to Go - Momus, The 6ths
• Give Me Back My Dreams - The 6ths, Sally Timms
• He Didn't - Bob Mould, The 6ths
• I've Got New York - Melanie, The 6ths
• Just Like a Movie Star - Dominique A., The 6ths
• Kissing Things - Sarah Cracknell, The 6ths
• Lindy Lou - Miho Hatori, The 6ths
• Night Falls Like a Grand Piano - Clare Grogan, The 6ths
• Dead Only Quickly - Neil Hannon, The 6ths
• Sailor in Love With the Sea - Gary Numan, The 6ths
• Volcana! - Marc Almond, The 6ths
• Waltzing Me All the Way Home - Odetta, The 6ths
• You You You You You - The 6ths, Katharine Whalen
• Oahu - Miss Lily Banquette, The 6ths