i (The Magnetic Fields album)

i
Studio album by The Magnetic Fields
Released May 4, 2004
Genre Indie pop
Length 41:19
Label Nonesuch
Producer Stephin Merritt
The Magnetic Fields chronology

69 Love Songs
(1999)		 i
(2004)		 Distortion
(2008)

i is the seventh studio album by American indie pop band The Magnetic Fields. It was released on May 4, 2004 by record label Nonesuch. The songs of the album are connected by their starting with the letter "i", and are also arranged in alphabetical order.

Musical style

The album ditches many of Stephin Merritt's past synthpop and electropop influences, largely being led by guitars and strings. It was followed in 2008, by Distortion, and in 2010, by Realism, which were both also free of synthesizer instrumentation, forming the so-called "no-synth trilogy".

Album cover

The cover art, designed by Evan Gaffney, is based on Gravity in Four Directions by Fred Tomaselli.

Reception

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
Source Rating
Metacritic 79/100[1]
Review scores
Source Rating
AllMusic [2]
Blender [3]
Robert Christgau B+[4]
Drowned in Sound 8/10[5]
Pitchfork 7.7/10[6]
PopMatters favorable[7]
Rolling Stone [8]
Spin favorable[9]
Stylus D+[10]
Tiny Mix Tapes [11]

i has been well received by critics. It currently holds a score of 79/100 on review aggregator website Metacritic.[1]

Track listing

All songs written and composed by Stephin Merritt. 

No. Title Length
1. "I Die"   2:14
2. "I Don't Believe You"   3:40
3. "I Don't Really Love You Anymore"   2:33
4. "I Looked All Over Town"   2:39
5. "I Thought You Were My Boyfriend"   4:24
6. "I Was Born"   2:01
7. "I Wish I Had an Evil Twin"   3:16
8. "If There's Such a Thing as Love"   2:57
9. "I'm Tongue-Tied"   2:49
10. "In an Operetta"   2:02
11. "Infinitely Late at Night"   2:45
12. "Irma"   2:23
13. "Is This What They Used to Call Love"   3:04
14. "It's Only Time"   4:25

Personnel

The Magnetic Fields
Technical

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 "Reviews for i by Magnetic Fields – Metacritic". Metacritic. Retrieved December 22, 2014.
  2. ↑ Monger, James Christopher. "i – Magnetic Fields | Songs, Reviews, Credits, Awards | AllMusic". AllMusic. Retrieved December 22, 2014.
  3. ↑ Blender review
  4. ↑ Christgau, Robert. "Robert Christgau: Album: Magnetic Fields: i". robertchristgau.com. Retrieved December 22, 2014.
  5. ↑ Smith, Anthony (May 27, 2004). "Album Review: The Magnetic Fields – i / Releases / Releases // Drowned in Sound". Drowned in Sound. Retrieved December 22, 2014.
  6. ↑ Sweeting, Meghan (May 11, 2004). "Magnetic Fields: i: Pitchfork Review". Pitchfork. Archived from the original on June 4, 2004. Retrieved December 22, 2014.
  7. ↑ Hogan, Marc (May 2, 2004). "The Magnetic Fields: i | PopMatters". PopMatters. Retrieved December 22, 2014.
  8. ↑ Hoard, Christian (May 27, 2004). "[i review]". Rolling Stone. Retrieved December 22, 2014.
  9. ↑ "[i review]". Spin: 105. June 2004.
  10. ↑ Gottlieb, Akiva (May 11, 2011). "The Magnetic Fields – i – Review – Stylus Magazine". Stylus. Retrieved December 22, 2014.
  11. ↑ "The Magnetic Fields – i | Music Review | Tiny Mix Tapes". Tiny Mix Tapes. 2004. Retrieved December 22, 2014.

External links