Prolific songwriter Stephen Merritt leaves behind his usually pristine sound while still maintaining his supernatural sense of melody on the Magnetic Fields’ latest LP. Christian Hoard says Distortion is Merritt’s brightest and most accomplished collection of tracks since his watershed 1999 release 69 Love Songs, and that Merritt has set the bar for greatness in a still young 2008. Plus: Check out Robert Christgau’s review of Distortion here.

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[Video: Jennifer Hsu]