It's that time of year, the bi-annual disappointment of not being as good at football to Germany. But whilst the German's may be singing along to the utterly terrible Lukas Podolski song, we've at least got the edge on football anthems.

So start panic buying St. George's Cross car flags, roll down the windows and turn 'World In Motion' up nice and loud.

It's taken god-knows-how-long and uncountable delays, project shelvings and cancellations, but finally the MBV back catalogue has got the remastered treatment that everyone has been waiting for.

All the EPs, 1988's 'Isn't Anything' and the seminal 'Loveless' all get the reworks from Kevin Shields, also we are treated to a new track called 'Good For You', recorded around 89.

All available on iTunes

The Magnetic Fields is the songwriting and recording project of New York native and LA resident Stephin Merrit. Having existed since the early nineties, it was 1999's triple-concept album '69 Love Songs' that broke them into the mainstream; after thirteen years of listening I'm still digesting most of it. It's more unwieldy than The Clash's 'Sandinista', some songs pack more humour and wit into their two minutes than most songwriters manage to work into their entire discography. The album's defined by Merrit's dry humour and love songs that bend genre roles, with Merrit's voice moving between the feminine and masculine, and exist in a timeless state that shifts incongruously between the modern day and a romanticised past somewhere between New York and Paris. New track 'Andrew In Drag' from his upcoming record 'Love At The Bottom Of The Sea' returns to these obsessions and styles after released three albums in the past decade comprising mainly guitar based work.

Below are two of his finest moments, one from 1994's 'Holiday' album, the other from '69 Love Songs' although choosing just one track is incredibly difficult. Both showcase his wit, oddness, and subtley infectious songwriting ability.