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Aug 23, 2011Nine seven-inches etc. plus five previously unreleaseds including three remnants of an abandoned musical obviously add up to an intentional hodgepodge. Still, I wonder whether the intention was to backload.
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Sep 14, 2011Yeah, he's a romantic; a cynic, too. But above all, a songwriter: brilliant, perverse, funny as human nature. Which is pretty damn funny.
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Sep 6, 2011Most telling is how glad he is to be free of concept-Obscurities contains songs from five(!) different projects, all of them rescued from any context but musical, which is all the overwhelmed guy who made five projects in the first place wants to focus on in his old age.
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Sep 1, 2011The best thing about the collection is the way it reminds us that Merritt is a Janus-like songwriter, looking backwards and forwards, and while we can see influences from the past, there is also the sense that Merritt has often looked into the future.
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Aug 22, 2011These Merritt wonder-tonics may not curl your hair or cure any ailment, but they act as a salve to a multitude of human conditions. Best to stock up and be prepared.
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Aug 18, 2011While it wouldn't be fair to hold Obscurities up to Merritt's 1990s albums with The Magnetic Fields and others, the material here certainly makes a strong claim for achieving next-best-thing status, providing a welcome nostalgic reminder of the many pleasures offered by what has already more or less become a nostalgia act.
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Aug 24, 2011Best of all, there's "The Sun and the Sea and the Sky," an unreleased take from one of pop's greatest achievements, 69 Love Songs, that makes Obscurities worth the admission all by itself.
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Sep 21, 2011Fourteen tracks may seem slight for someone with that kind of longevity and creative drive, but if it means we get a listenable, often times surprising collection as opposed to a bloated vault dump, then I'll take this over something more "complete" any day.
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Sep 1, 2011Obscurities itself is over in less than 40 minutes: It's understated, personal, insular, oddball, and often gorgeous, an unexpectedly coherent collection from an important band.
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Aug 23, 2011Rarities compilations are often perfunctory at best, but this is a refreshingly diverse release from a laser-focused songwriter.
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Aug 23, 2011Obscurities will please hardcore fans and serves as a nice holdover until Magnetic Fields makes its official Merge return with a new full-length in 2012.
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Sep 9, 2011For completists Obscurities is a must. For Magnetic Fields fans it's a worthwhile starting point for Stephin Merritt's other projects. For newcomers, start with 69 Love Songs and come back when you've fallen in love with everything else.
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Sep 1, 2011It's not entirely necessary, sure, and it's not going to be essential listening for new fans, but it's a classy retrospective on Merritt's songwriting prowess.
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Aug 29, 2011All that being said, every track has at least something of interest about it, and with Obscurities managing to squeeze in fourteen of them in less than forty minutes, even the worst never outstay their welcome.
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Aug 22, 2011In the end, Obscurities scratches that itch that compilations of its kind are supposed to, helping you relive your fond memories of an artist that inspired devotion, while reassuring you that you didn't miss out on too much when you really, really cared.
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Under The RadarAug 19, 2011While Obscurities may skip around different genres that rarely mesh together in a cohesive fashion, the gems here shine bright enough to justify Stephin Merritt's status as not only a master craftsman but one of the top tier musicians around today. [Jul 2011, p.90]
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Aug 18, 2011Perfect for Magnetic Fields fans let down by 2010's concept-heavy Realism.
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Aug 19, 2011It's got some purely great pop songs on it, enough that in spots it rises out of that fan-only ghetto, even if other moments find it falling back in.
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Q MagazineDec 15, 2011There's enough to help fans rekindle the love affair. [Dec. 2011 p. 129]
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Oct 10, 2011Whilst Obscurities has its moments, it mostly only offers tiny hints of Merritt's real genius.
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Oct 6, 2011Merritt's main problem may be that his baritone croon makes him sound cynical even when he's baring his heart, an impression only partly undercut by his occasional ukulele strum.
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Aug 23, 2011B-sides and rarities collections can often help give fans insight into their favorite artists' creative processes, or at the very least, provide either a light snack between releases or a post-retirement victory lap, but when an artist as prolific as Stephin Merritt decides to clean house, it can be a little underwhelming.
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UncutAug 19, 2011It only really comes alive with an alternate version of "Take Ecstasy With Me," which reminds us that original Magnetic Fields singer Susan Anway is still his definitive interpreter, the Ella to his Cole. [Sep 2011, p.91]