A more traditional band later materialized; it is now composed of Merritt, Claudia Gonson, Sam Davol, and John Woo, with occasional guest vocals by Shirley Simms.

the Bear's Place in Cambridge, Massachusetts, where they were mistakenly billed as Magnetophone, an alias used briefly in that year by Damon Krukowski and Naomi Yang of Galaxie 500.

[4][5] The 1999 triple album 69 Love Songs showcased Merritt's songwriting and lyrical abilities and the group's musicianship, demonstrated by the use of such varied instruments as the ukulele, banjo, accordion, cello, mandolin, flute, xylophone, and the Marxophone, in addition to their usual setting of synthesizers, guitars, and effects.

Beghtol, and Gonson, each of whom sings lead on six songs as well as various backing vocals, plus Daniel Handler (who has written under the pseudonym Lemony Snicket) on accordion, and longtime collaborator Christopher Ewen (of Future Bible Heroes) as guest arranger/synthesist.

Violinist Ida Pearle makes a brief cameo on "Luckiest Guy on the Lower East Side".

According to an article, "To celebrate the release of Distortion, Merritt and the Magnetic Fields played mini-residencies in cities around the country, culminating with six shows at Chicago's Old Town School of Folk Music.

"[6] Realism was released in January 2010, concluding what Merritt termed the "no-synth" trilogy (following i and Distortion).

[16] Current and former contributors include singers Susan Anway, Dudley Klute, Nell Beram, and LD Beghtol, as well as instrumentalists Anthony Kaczynski,[17] Johny Blood, Quince Marcum, Daniel Handler, Chris Ewen and engineer/producer Charles Newman and instrumentalist and singer Pinky Weitzman.