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Showtunes (Stephin Merritt and Chen Shi-zheng album)

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This article is about the 2006 album. For other uses, see Show Tunes (disambiguation). 2006 soundtrack album by Stephin Merritt
Showtunes
Soundtrack album by Stephin Merritt
ReleasedMarch 16, 2006
GenreIndie pop
Length48:33
LabelNonesuch
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.

Reception

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic69/100
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic
Daily Herald
Entertainment WeeklyB
The Gazette2/5
The Guardian
The Harvard Crimson
MusicOMH
NOW4/5
Pitchfork7.5/10
Slant Magazine

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

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.
Stephin Merritt
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