Strange Powers at the Bell House 5/10/10

On Monday night, I was lucky enough to attend a screening of the new documentary Strange Powers, that chronicles the work of Stephin Merritt and The Magnetic Fields. Among the attendants of the viewing were the film's directors, Kerthy Fix and Gail O'Hara, Sleater-Kinney's Carrie Brownstein, a guy who either was, or looked exactly like Justin Peroff from Broken Social Scene (it probably wasn't him; I think the band is touring Canada presently), and most importantly, long time Magnetic Fields member, and Merritt's manager, Claudia Gonson. Gonson, who just recently gave a solo performance at that Chris Knox benefit last week everyone was hollering about, performed again by herself, playing a medley of David Bowie songs while she recalled anecdotes involving herself, Stephin, and David Bowie. A rather hilarious twenty minutes or so later (Gonson played piano next to a portrait of a Ziggy Stadust era Bowie), the film began and I finally had numerous questions concerning Merritt and his past that I have pondered about for quite some time, answered (for instance, his songwriting and recording process). Like all documentaries about artists I love, I would have liked it to have been longer (although at 90 minutes, it was more attention I had ever seen a screen give to Merritt and company).

After the film, the directors and Miss Gonson took the stage for Q&A. While the crowd was timid at first, people eventually began asking pretty poignant questions concerning the film and the history of the band. One question that I felt was particularly notable was that if original MF vocalist, Susan Anway was contacted for interview (she was, but scheduling and personal conflicts prevented it from taking place). I asked Claudia if a Magnetic Fields live album had ever been considered, and that if the home release of this film could potentially yield a concert DVD as a bonus feature. While she pretty much ruled out the idea of a live record (Stephin apparently detests them), she did call to attention a fully edited video that exists documenting one of their 1999 shows where they performed 69 Love Songs in its entirety. While a release is not exactly under discussion right now, she did mention it as a remote possibility for the future. Until then, be on the lookout for Strange Powers as it will be receiving a theatrical release this Fall. Here is the trailer.