The Magnetic Fields Returning With New Album In March + Spring 2012 Tour

Oh HELL yes. There had been some stirring this year from The Magnetic Fields this year with the release of frontmind Stephen Merritt's Obscurities collection and the announcement that the band would be hopping on the bill for a rare festival appearance at the Jeff Mangum-curated All Tomorrow's Parties Minehead event this coming March. Well we've got even MORE great news - The Magnetic Fields will also be releasing their 10th studio album this coming March as well, which will be their first on Merge Records since 1999's excellent 69 Love Songs (Spotify).

Entitled Love At The Bottom Of The Sea and featuring the chicken-based cover art seen above, Merge is releasing the new album on March 6 and taking pre-orders... now. The first 300 LPs ordered will be pressed on limited edition eggshell vinyl, while all CD and Vinyl preorders will come with a Magnetic Fields poster and button. Giddyup.

BUT WAIT THERE'S MORE.

Festival appearances aside, The Magnetic Fields will be back on tour this coming spring throughout North America and Europe, stopping by a Barnes and Noble here in NYC on March 8 right before they head to England to rock Minehead for ATP and then come back for the always-fun SXSW Festival in Austin, TX. They'll be back here again for a proper two-night Beacon Theatre residency on April 3 and 4. Ticket info for all shows can be found here; the pre-sale for the Beacon shows is happening right now and the general sale starts at 11am ET on Friday (12/16). Check out tour dates after the jump along with the new album's tracklisting.

Polvo releasing new 7” single

According to Merge Records:

On July 26, Polvo returns with brand-new music on their “Heavy Detour b/w “Anchoress” limited-edition 7-inch. Preorder your vinyl copy in the Merge store now and receive a demo version of “Anchoress” as a bonus!

Here the band offers artwork by In Prism’s Delicious Design League and music on “licorice-colored vinyl” that “might smell like baseball cards,” to borrow their own description. Recorded in North Carolina and mixed by Mitch Easter, “Heavy Detour” is taken from Polvo’s upcoming album.

Though I can’t find any info on what Polvo’s “upcoming album” is, I’m excited to hear that they’re up to something new again. Hopefully a NYC performance is forthcoming, but for now, the band’s only scheduled dates are in Europe, which you can see below…

Merge Records reissuing all four Archers of Loaf studio albums

The Chapel Hill, NC band that reunited earlier this year to great acclaim are getting the Merge Records reissue treatment starting with their 1993 debut album Icky Mettle to be released August 2nd. Merge announced today that producer/engineer wunderkind Bob Weston (who was absent at the most recent Mission of Burma show) will be remastering Icky Mettle and will include loads of bonus material, including the Archers of Loaf vs. The Greatest of All Time EP.

The album is the first of four Archers of Loaf records to be reissued, and will be available on CD, limited edition blue vinyl and digital download. The remainder of their catalog will trickle out in the coming years. You can pre-order Icky Mettle now over at the Merge store, and you will also receive a video of their “secret” reunion show this past January plus the option to download the remastered album immediately.

Archers of Loaf hit New York City on June 25th and 26th at Music Hall of Williamsburg and Webster Hall respectively. Tickets for the MHOW show are sold out, but you can still grab one for the Webster Hall show here.

Tour dates for Archers of Loaf are below…