Distortion (The Magnetic Fields album)

Distortion is the eighth studio album by American indie pop band The Magnetic Fields. It was released on January 15, 2008 on Nonesuch Records.

Distortion
Studio album by The Magnetic Fields
Released	January 15, 2008
Recorded	Mother West, New York
Genre	Indie pop, noise pop, shoegaze
Length	38:46
Label	Nonesuch
Producer	Stephin Merritt
The Magnetic Fields chronology
i (2004) Distortion (2008) Realism (2010)

Recording

As the album's title implies, several of the musical performances featured are distorted by various means. In particular, the album's sound was influenced by the 1985 album Psychocandy by The Jesus and Mary Chain.^[1][2]

Distortion was recorded at Mother West in New York City. It was produced by Stephin Merritt and co-produced by Charles Newman.

No synthesizers were used to record the album; it is the second in a "no-synth trilogy", succeeding the 2004 album i and preceding 2010's Realism.^[3]

Release

Distortion debuted at number 77 on the U.S. Billboard 200 chart, selling about 8,000 copies in its first week.^[4]

Reception

Professional ratings

Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
Metacritic	79/100[5]
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[6]
The A.V. Club	A[7]
Entertainment Weekly	A−[8]
The Guardian	[9]
The Independent	[10]
MSN Music (Consumer Guide)	A[11]
NME	8/10[12]
Pitchfork	8.0/10[13]
Rolling Stone	[14]
Spin	[15]

Distortion has been well received by critics. It currently holds a 79/100 rating at review aggregator website Metacritic.^[5]

Track listing

All tracks are written by Stephin Merritt.

No.	Title	Lead vocals	Length
1.	"Three-Way"	Sam Davol, Shirley Simms & Claudia Gonson	3:01
2.	"California Girls"	Simms & Gonson	3:00
3.	"Old Fools"	Merritt	3:02
4.	"Xavier Says"	Simms	2:42
5.	"Mr. Mistletoe"	Merritt	2:59
6.	"Please Stop Dancing"	Gonson & Merritt	3:01
7.	"Drive On, Driver"	Simms	2:51
8.	"Too Drunk to Dream"	Merritt	3:00
9.	"Till the Bitter End"	Simms	3:03
10.	"I'll Dream Alone"	Merritt	3:08
11.	"The Nun's Litany"	Simms	2:58
12.	"Zombie Boy"	Merritt	3:05
13.	"Courtesans"	Simms	2:59

Personnel

The Magnetic Fields

• Stephin Merritt – vocals, instrumentation, production, mixing
• Claudia Gonson – drums, piano, Farfisa organ, backing vocals, management
• Sam Davol – cello
• John Woo – lead guitar
• Shirley Simms – vocals

Additional personnel

• Daniel Handler – accordion
• A. Klasinski, I. Pearle, R. Stevens – "orgiasts"

Technical

• Charles Newman – production, mixing
• Tom Rogers – mixing, additional mastering
• Robert Stevens – engineering assistance
• Jeff Lipton – mastering
• Evan Gaffney Design – sleeve design
• Marcelo Krasilcic – sleeve photography
• Michael English – logo design