Papa Was a Rodeo

 It's a fine thing making lists of things that are truly great, sensational or even better than that.

After putting up The Soul Show, I thought maybe I'd make a start on The Rock Show but already that might only be an hour's worth because I simply can't make myself care about so much of it. I tried Jimi Hendrix but it didn't do it for me, not with space at such a premium.

So, I wandered off into that realm beyond most masterpieces, where the darkest irony and deepest romance come together to make something altogether else and far beyond the imaginations of, just for examples, Springsteen, The Eagles or Queen.

Stephin is even more lugubrious than usual here and there must be a limit to how far you can take it. The Magnetic Fields can hardly have been expected to continue in quite such a rich seam as 69 Love Songs and might have become, like all things must, a bit more formulaic but that takes nothing from what they were once capable of.

It's not the Ronettes or Diana Ross & the Supremes but it has some unlikely common ground with them, not just that it's tremendous. Also that it is entirely convincing every time.