Distant Plastic Trees
Template:DMCA Script error: No such module "Unsubst-infobox".Script error: No such module "Check for conflicting parameters". Distant Plastic Trees is the debut studio album by American indie pop band the Magnetic Fields, released in 1991.[1] The lead vocals on the album are performed by Susan Anway.[2]
Style
The album has a stripped down sound and largely synthesized instrumentation. Stephin Merritt described the album as "intentionally small" and "influenced by Young Marble Giants".[3] The main instruments on the record are a Roland S-50 sampler, Korg Poly-800 and ARP Odyssey synthesizers, and a Yamaha RX-21 drum machine; "Plant White Roses" features an acoustic guitar. Merritt used Digital Performer for production due to its advanced quantization.[4]
The song "Babies Falling" is a cover of a song by the Wild Stares.
Release
Distant Plastic Trees was originally released in Japan and the United Kingdom on the RCA Victor and Red Flame labels, respectively. The album was released in the United States on the band's own imprint, PoPuP.
Merge Records reissued the album in 1994 as a double album compilation with the band's second album, The Wayward Bus.[5] The song "Plant White Roses" was omitted from the Merge reissue.
Reception
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   [6] |
| Christgau's Consumer Guide |  [7] |
| The Encyclopedia of Popular Music | [8] |
| Spin Alternative Record Guide | 7/10[9] |
(The New) Rolling Stone Album Guide wrote that the first two albums "showcase sexually ambiguous lyrics, loopy arrangements, and the disaffected voice of Susan Anway... But they also suffer from an air of inconsequentiality."[10] Trouser Press wrote that "the baroque pop structures of songs like 'Smoke Signals' are redolent of the classics Merritt clearly holds dear, but his impressionistic wordplay — which often alights on bracing, upsetting images — seldom settles into simple cliché."[11]
Track listing
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Personnel
- Stephin Merritt – songwriting, instrumentation and production
- Additional personnel
- Susan Anway – lead vocals
- Ken Michaels – engineering
- Wendy Smith – album cover
- Art Daly – insert photo
References
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- ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Magnetic Fields | Biography & History". AllMusic.
- ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Buckley, Peter (November 13, 2003). The Rough Guide to Rock. Rough Guides. ISBN 9781843531050 – via Google Books.
- ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Krewson, John (June 4, 1997). "Stephin Merritt". The A.V. Club. Archived from the original on June 18, 2018. Retrieved April 15, 2025.
- ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Walsh, Ryan H. (September 22, 2021). "The Magnetic Fields' '100,000 Fireflies' Sounds The Way Being Lonely Feels". NPR. Retrieved April 15, 2025.
- ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."The Magnetic Fields: The Wayward Bus / Distant Plastic Trees (Reissue)". PopMatters. December 21, 2016.
- ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Orens, Geoff. "Distant Plastic Trees – Magnetic Fields". AllMusic. Retrieved February 22, 2016.
- ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Christgau, Robert (2000). "Magnetic Fields: Distant Plastic Trees". Christgau's Consumer Guide: Albums of the '90s. Macmillan Publishers. ISBN 0-312-24560-2. Retrieved February 22, 2016.
- ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Larkin, Colin (2006). The Encyclopedia of Popular Music. Vol. 5. MUZE. p. 436.
- ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Weisbard, Eric; Marks, Craig, eds. (1995). Spin Alternative Record Guide. Vintage Books. ISBN 0-679-75574-8.
- ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.(The New) Rolling Stone Album Guide. Simon & Schuster. 2004. p. 510.
- ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Magnetic Fields". Trouser Press. Retrieved November 13, 2020.
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