Showtunes (Stephin Merritt and Chen Shi-zheng album)

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Showtunes
Stephinmerritt showtunes.jpg
Soundtrack album by
Stephin Merritt
ReleasedMarch 16, 2006
Genre Indie pop
Length48:33
Label Nonesuch
Stephin Merritt chronology
Pieces of April
(2003)		Showtunes
(2006)		 Obscurities
(2011)

Showtunes is the result of collaboration between Stephin Merritt with Chen Shi-zheng on three pieces of musical theatre; Orphan of Zhao (2003), Peach Blossom Fan (2004), and My Life as a Fairy Tale (2005). Select tracks from these are featured on this album. It was released on Nonesuch Records on March 16, 2006 but was available from peer-to-peer networks from February 20, 2006. The remainder of songs from the shows were released exclusively through online music stores.

Contents

Reception

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic 69/100 [1]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg [2]
Daily Herald Star full.svgStar full.svgStar half.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [3]
Entertainment Weekly B [4]
The Gazette 2/5 [5]
The Guardian Star full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [6]
The Harvard Crimson Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [7]
MusicOMH Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg [8]
NOW 4/5 [9]
Pitchfork 7.5/10 [10]
Slant Magazine Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [11]

The album received generally favorable reviews from critics; on Metacritic, it has a score of 69 out of 100.

Track listing

  1. "Theme from The Orphan of Zhao" – 00:59
  2. "At Madam Plum's" [From Peach Blossom Fan] – 02:35
  3. "The Top and the Ball" [From My Life as a Fairy Tale] – 01:49
  4. "What a Fucking Lovely Day!" [From Orphan of Zhao] – 01:22
  5. "Auntie Toothache" [From My Life as a Fairy Tale] – 02:48
  6. "It's Hard to Be the Emperor" [From Peach Blossom Fan] – 01:08
  7. "Sounds Expensive" [From Peach Blossom Fan] – 01:36
  8. "The Red Shoes" [From My Life as a Fairy Tale] – 01:43
  9. "Fan Dance Cha-Cha" [From Peach Blossom Fan] – 01:17
  10. "The Little Maiden of the Sea" [From My Life as a Fairy Tale] – 03:53
  11. "Ukulele Me!" [From Peach Blossom Fan] – 01:08
  12. "Train Song" [From Orphan of Zhao] – 01:17
  13. "The Little Hebrew Girl" [From My Life as a Fairy Tale] – 02:10
  14. "Shall We Sing a Duet?" [From Peach Blossom Fan] – 00:55
  15. "The Song of the Humble Serf" [From Orphan of Zhao] – 00:56
  16. "The Collar and the Garter" [From My Life as a Fairy Tale] – 01:40
  17. "Shall We Sing a Duet?" (Reprise) [From Peach Blossom Fan] – 01:38
  18. "Sorry, Wrong Show" [From Peach Blossom Fan] – 01:41
  19. "The Storks" [From My Life as a Fairy Tale] – 01:24
  20. "In the Spring, When I Was Young" [From Orphan of Zhao] – 02:02
  21. "The Ugly Little Duck" [From My Life as a Fairy Tale] – 03:41
  22. "And He Would Say..." [From Peach Blossom Fan] – 03:02
  23. "The World is Not Made of Flowers" [From Orphan of Zhao] – 01:14
  24. "Behold the Lowly Centipede" [From Peach Blossom Fan] – 01:41
  25. "In China, Said the Moon..." [From My Life as a Fairy Tale] – 03:37
  26. "Hail! Son of Heaven" [From Peach Blossom Fan] – 01:06

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References

  1. ↑ "Showtunes by Stephin Merritt". Metacritic . Retrieved 2018-09-09.
  2. ↑ Jurek, Thom. "Stephin Merritt: Showtunes". AllMusic . Retrieved 2018-09-09.
  3. ↑ Pizek, Jeff (2006-05-05). "Goldstars deserve to come out of the garage". Daily Herald .
  4. ↑ Hermes, Will (2006-03-10). "Showtunes". Entertainment Weekly . Retrieved 2018-09-09.
  5. ↑ Lamey, Mary (2006-03-23). "New music: Newly released compact discs". The Gazette .
  6. ↑ Peschek, David (2006-03-10). "CD: Stephin Merritt, Showtunes". The Guardian . Retrieved 2018-09-10.
  7. ↑ Tung, Catherine (2006-03-15). "Stephin Merritt". The Harvard Crimson . Retrieved 2018-09-11.
  8. ↑ Ingram, Luke (2006-03-13). "Stephin Merritt - Showtunes". musicOMH . Retrieved 2018-09-10.
  9. ↑ Liss, Sarah (2006-03-16). "Stephen Merritt: Showtunes (Nonesuch/Warner)". NOW . Archived from the original on 2007-01-02. Retrieved 2018-09-09.
  10. ↑ LeMay, Matt (2006-03-15). "Stephin Merritt: Showtunes Album Review". Pitchfork . Retrieved 2018-09-10.
  11. ↑ Newlin, Jimmy (2006-03-31). "Stephin Merritt Showtunes". Slant Magazine . Retrieved 2018-09-10.


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