Distant Plastic Trees

Distant Plastic Trees is the debut studio album by American indie pop band The Magnetic Fields, released in 1991. Lead vocals on the album are performed by Susan Anway.

Distant Plastic Trees
Studio album by
The Magnetic Fields
Released1991
GenreSynthpop, twee pop, indie pop
Length36:18
LabelPoPuP, Victor, Red Flame
ProducerStephin Merritt
The Magnetic Fields chronology
Distant Plastic Trees
(1991)		 The Wayward Bus
(1992)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[1]
Christgau's Consumer Guide[2]
Spin Alternative Record Guide7/10[3]

The album is noteworthy for its stripped down sound and largely synthesized instrumentation. Stephin Merritt himself described the album as a 'small record, intentionally small' and heavily inspired by Young Marble Giants.[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. The song "Plant White Roses" was omitted from the Merge reissue.

Track listing

All tracks are written by Stephin Merritt, except where noted.

No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Railroad Boy" 2:59
2."Smoke Signals" 3:28
3."You Love to Fail" 2:30
4."Kings" 2:15
5."Babies Falling"
  • Steve Gregoropoulos
  • Fran Miller
  • Justin Burrill
3:18
6."Living in an Abandoned Firehouse with You"
  • Merritt
  • John Gage
  • Genève Gil
3:58
7."Tar-Heel Boy" 2:26
8."Falling in Love with the Wolfboy" 4:05
9."Josephine" 3:08
10."100,000 Fireflies" 3:20
11."Plant White Roses" 4:52

Personnel
Additional personnel
  • Susan Anway – lead vocals
  • Ken Michaels – engineering
  • Wendy Smith – album cover
  • Art Daly – insert photo

References
  1. Orens, Geoff. "Distant Plastic Trees – Magnetic Fields". AllMusic. Retrieved February 22, 2016.
  2. 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.
  3. Weisbard, Eric; Marks, Craig, eds. (1995). Spin Alternative Record Guide. Vintage Books. ISBN 0-679-75574-8.
  4. https://www.avclub.com/stephin-merritt-1798207855
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