A fully illustrated oral history of the Magnetic Fields' 1999 triple album, 69 Love Songs

This is a fully illustrated oral history of the Magnetic Fields' 1999 triple album, "69 Love Songs" - an album that was afforded "classic" status by many almost as soon as it was released. LD Beghtol's book is chatty, incestuous, funny, dark, digressive, sexy, maddening, and delightful in equal measures. It documents a vital and influential scene from the inside, involving ukuleles and tears, citations and footnotes, analogue drum machines, floods of cognac, and a family tree, and, oh, a crossword puzzle too. The centre of the book is the secret history of these tuneful, acerbic, and sometimes heartbreaking songs of old love, new love, lost love, punk rock love, gay love, straight love, experimental music love, true love, blue love, and the utter lack of love that fill the album - as told by participants, fans, imitators, naysayers, and others. It also includes studio anecdotes, a glossary, performance notes from the full album shows in New York and London, rare and unpublished images, personal memorabilia, and much much more.

"LD Beghtol's 69 Love Songs provides a lovingly written account of the wonderful Magnetic Fields and their magnum opus. Beghol utilises an obsession to succint detail over 158 pages, which fits perfectly with the ethic of the group's two-and-a-half-minute pop masterpieces." - Record Collector

"Regardless of your appreciation for the music, LD Beghtol's book is a fun, passionate, and wonderfully peculiar dissection of the excellent album it lovingly explores." - Pop Matters