The 6ths are essentially New York, USA-based keyboard player, guitarist and singer-songwriter Stephin Merritt. However, his debut album enlisted a unique supporting cast of guest vocalists, after he admitted to finding the sound of his own voice unappealing. Lou Barlow (Sebadoh), Dean Wareham (Galaxie 500, Luna), Mitch Easter, Amelia Fletcher (Heavenly) and Georgia Hubley (Yo La Tengo) were among 14 contributors. As Merritt candidly noted, "It could be anyone else doing the singing, so why not people who sell records?". He had won over his distinguished peers by dint of four albums already recorded under the guise of Magnetic Fields, a better-known project that he began in 1990. These distinguished recordings combined travel narratives and hard-bitten, gruff imagery that recalled Warren Zevon's back-catalogue (and anticipated the work of Vic Chesnutt). Now an accomplished writer, Merritt was capable of combining both pathos and humour ("You should find someone as loyal as a dog/Who will love you when you look like a frog') by the advent of Wasps" Nests. Merritt subsequently returned to his work with the Magnetic Fields and two further spin-offs, Future Bible Heroes and the Gothic Archies, although a new 6ths recording was released in September 2000. Hyanciths And Thistles featured a more varied cast of vocalists than the debut, with guests drawn from folk (Odetta), electro-pop (Gary Numan), alternative rock (Bob Mould) and exotica (Marc Almond).

Listen to The 6ths at Finetune.

• (1995)  Wasps' Nests

• schnuerle
• strange_powers
• talentines
• clovisp
• energyanalysis