Singer/songwriter Stephen Merritt leads the college-fave band the Magnetic Fields and now the 6ths. In either guise, Merritt writes pure pop for emotionally devastated people; his comely melodies enshroud twisted, distrustful lyrics – as if the Cowsills were possessed by the lunatic cast of Twin Peaks. In the wisely titled Wasps' Nests, 15 shimmering examples of Merritt's craft are...

The Magnetic Fields' century-ending triple-CD, 69 Love Songs, left little doubt that Stephin Merritt is the most versatile and prolific songwriter of his generation. He returns barely a year later with a pair of new discs, offering nineteen more nuggets from two of his other groups. While neither release comes close to his previous epic's...