Sufjan

This week's New Tracks Tuesday features The Annuals, Beach House, Sufjan Stevens, Kevin Drew of BSS, Matmos and Ladytron.The Annuals - MP3: Sore from the new album Wet ZooKevin Drew (Broken Social Scene) - MP3: One Night Man new singleSufjan Stevens - MP3: The Year of the Boar from the new Asthmatic Kitty Records compilation Music for Video Games, Vol. 1 Beach House - MP3: Gila from new album Devotion Matmos - MP3: Rainbow Flag from upcoming Supreme Balloon LP/CD Ladytron - MP3: Black Cat from Dedicate------------------------------------------------------------------------Subscribe for the Feed Me Indie feed via RSS, Atom, iTunes or your favorite reader/podcaster.Note: Musicians, bands, promoters and labels, please submit CDs and music along with a press kit for review to POB 722, RE, CA 9

Download part1, part2 (rapidshare)192kbps / 105mbYear: 2006Label: Asthmatic Kittymyspace.com/illinoiseisprettyMore about the bandSimilar artists: Stereolab, Jim O'Rourke, Cass McCombs, The Choir Practice, Elliot SmithAMG: 3.5"Sufjan Stevens' Come on Feel the Illinoise was a long, gorgeous, and occasionally convoluted kaleidoscope of folk, pop, and orchestral rock fused with personal regional history that somehow managed to lure listeners of all ages and genre allegiances into its pompon-wielding arms. Like Illinois, The Avalanche -- leave it to Stevens to release a 21-track collection of outtakes and extras from a record that boasted 22... [..] The Avalanche slows down considerably near the record's end, but so did Illinois, making an even better case for the "Super Director's Cut" that w

Download part1, part2 (rapidshare)192kbps / 110mbYear: 2005Label: Asthmatic Kittymyspace.com/illinoiseisprettyMore about the bandSimilar artists: Stereolab, Jim O'Rourke, Cass McCombs, The Choir Practice, Elliot SmithAMG: 4"With two states down and only 48 to go, Sufjan Stevens' ambitious musical map of the Unites States of America should be completed -- if he puts out one a year -- sometime around 2053. It's a daunting task (and not an entirely original one at that), but if each subsequent record is as good as Illinois, fans who live long enough to witness the project's completion will no doubt find themselves to be scholars of both state history and its narrator's shape-shifting soul."Pitchfork: 9.2"The best travel writers skew their journeys into pointed narratives, writing the story o

Download (rapidshare)VBR / 61.7mbYear: 2004Label: Sounds Familyremyspace.com/illinoiseisprettyMore about the bandSimilar artists: Stereolab, Jim O'Rourke, Cass McCombs, The Choir Practice, Elliot SmithAMG: 4"After completing the first installment of his planned series of 50 records -- one album dedicated to each state in the U.S. -- indie folk overachiever Sufjan Stevens returns with Seven Swans, a collection of stripped-down, introspective musings on life, love, and faith that chart the geographic location of the heart and soul. Many of these themes were dealt with eloquently on Greetings from Michigan: The Great Lakes State, presenting the singer/multi-instrumentalist as a first-rate interpreter of the human condition, as well as a gifted musician. [..] By the time he reaches the spirit

Download (rapidshare)192kbps / 91.1mbYear: 2003Label: Asthmatic Kittymyspace.com/illinoiseisprettyMore about the bandSimilar artists: Stereolab, Jim O'Rourke, Cass McCombs, The Choir Practice, Elliot SmithAMG: 4+"Stevens often plays his Jim O'Rourke and Stereolab cards, riffing along with complex polyphony in building loops and dynamics, but he also frequently imports lightly strummed guitars and stark banjo picking to break up the album and give it a rustic northern folk aesthetic. Stevens comfortably handles nearly every instrument on the album -- an impressive task that includes various keyboards, woodwinds, guitars, and percussions -- but also enlisted the help of Megan, Elin, and Daniel Smith from the Danielson Famile to help out with vocal duties, and the outcome is a haunting and h

Sufjan Stevens Come On Feel The Illinoise Ashmatic Kitty 2005 Tenía ciertas dudas sobre si escribir o no este artículo, no se trata de un disco nuevo (se editó en 2005) ni se trata de ningún clásico atemporal (aún) pero que demonios, llevo mas de dos semanas enganchado a estas canciones y que mejor lugar para soltar mis [...]

It's Christmas time again! That means tightly bundled scarves, lively debates on the merits of real/plastic trees, a litany of Christmas television specials, and finding the perfect retro Christmas wrapping paper.And gifts of course! Who could forget the gifts!That's why Sufjan Stevens is busy working on a very special gift right now, for a very special person. And in the spirit of Christmas, that person will give Sufjan a similarly special gift.Here's how it works: write an original Christmas song, record it, and email the song to us. Asthmatic Kitty will pick a winner, and that person will trade rights to their song for rights to Sufjan's song.Just like a gift exchange, Sufjan's song becomes your song. You can hoard it for yourself, sell it to a major soft drink corporation, use it in your daughter's first Christmas video, or share it for free on your website. No one except Sufjan and you will hear his song, unless you decide otherwise. You get the song and all lega

Double bassist Eric Steffens, along with other Eastman School of Music students, recently transcribed and performed the entire "Illinois" album by Sufjan Stevens. This is a great album with dense orchestral textures, and the detail with which Eric and company recreate this album is stunning. I can't imagine the hours involved in such a task--Eric mentioned to me that they were working on it for six months!Here is a clip of them performing "Chicago". Eric is playing the upright bass on the left:Check out Eric's blog for more information on him and his upcoming semester studying abroad in Vienna.

Artist(s) ..........:: Sufjan Stevens Vs Signalrunners Title .............:: Chicago Genre .............:: Trance Record Label ......:: Signalrunners White Label Catalogue Number ..:: SRWL-001 Source ............:: CD Single Quality ...........:: 200kbps avg / 44.1KHz / Joint Stereo Duration ..........:: 00:08:03 (11.5MB) Release Date ......:: 27-07-2007 I haven't heard such a vibrant

PART 2Illinois sounds like The Sea and Cake collaborating with the high-school band from a Wes Anderson film on banjo-driven, pulsing meditations on Vince Guaraldi's music for Peanuts. Sufjan Stevens, the singer-songwriter behind the endeavor, is an earnest and whimsical young man who aims to record an album based on every state in the union, though this is just his second attempt since 2003's Michigan. Lavish praise has been heaped upon this precocious twenty-something, who weaves personal recollections, historical narratives, and strange facts together to create lush portraits of Midwestern life. It's not maudlin stuff, and the atypical instrumentation (strings, choirs, trumpets, vibes) is beyond gimmick. Halfway through "John Wayne Gacy, Jr.," when Stevens has you feeling true empathy for a serial killer, it's clear that he really is an artist of the highest order. These are weird and lovely middlebrow ditties; we eagerly await the Broadway adaptation.Site: Sufjan StevensSimilar

We have been enjoying the “Take Away Shows” from La Blogotheque for some time now, but have not had a better one to post than todays. For their 50th installment, the La Blogotheque folks have some amazing video from the MusicNOW festival, which took place here in Cincinnati back in April. If you stop by here much, you already know we are big MusicNOW supporters. Covering both the first and second festivals, and also interviewing festival curator Bryce Dessner before this years event as well. So, it’s only natural to extend the coverage a bit this year with this wonderful video documenting. The video ranges from Sufjan playing on a roof covering an Innocence Mission song, with Cincinnati in the backdrop, to Irena and Voltech Havel preparing for their show in the attic at Memorial Hall. To view all the video and more, head on over to La Blogotheque now. This video is my favorite, some great shots of our city, Cincinnati throughout, as well as some great musi

'Assembling a cover of Joni Mitchell’s “Free Man in Paris” required more than a few musical somersaults. Who can possibly surmount Joni’s rollercoaster vocal lines with all those odd syntaxes and off beat pronunciations? My final attempt was less homage and more deconstruction, unfortunately. But I was most unprepared for one unlikely obstacle: David Geffen.' says Sufjan. ‘A Tribute to Joni [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]

The video tapers were out in full force the other night at Memorial Hall during MusicNOW it appears. I’ve just run across a series of videos that I will share here, some of new material from Soof. The first of which is a not very great video of Sufjan playing a new track called “Jupiter Bad June”, or at least we think that is the title. Also new, “Barn Owl, Night Killer.” Maybe the next theme album will be planetary? Jupiter Bad June Barn Owl, Night Killer The Predatory Wasp of Palisades is out to get us, with Bryce Dessner backing on guitar. All The Trees Of The Field Will Clap Their Hands, with My Brightest Diamond backing vocals. And the full setlist…. Jupiter Bad June The Mistress Witch of McClure Intro/UFO Sighting/Sleeping Bear, Sault Ste. Marie The Avalance Trees of the Field Predatory Wasp Redford Casimir Pulaski Day John Wayne Gacy, Jr. Jacksonville Barn Owl, Night Killer Transfiguration Year of the Boar(performed by the S

Happy Belated Casimir Pulaski Day! For those unaware, yesterday was a city wide holiday in Chicago. Kids even get off of school on the first Monday in March to celebrate the great Polish American War General Casimir Pulaski. Here is a quote from the Asthmatic Kitty website. “Born into a wealthy family in Poland in 1747, Casimir Pulaski, as a young man, fought for freedom from Russia in his homeland until 1771, when he was exiled to France. In Paris he met American envoy Benjamin Franklin, who influenced him to help Americans fight for their independence. Washington was so impressed with Pulaski’s abilities during the Battle of Brandywine Creek that he recommended the Continental Congress appoint Pulaski as general of the American cavalry. In 1778, Pulaski organized an independent corps of cavalry and light infantry known as the Pulaski Legion. It is reported that he spent $50,000 of his own money to help train and equip his troops.” AK is also celebrating by offeri

As usual I'm too late with my gig review and half the blogosphere has already ranted on about the full band that he brought with him, the inflatable Supermen, the wings made out of kites and all that, so no point in boring you with those details. Apart from the theatricals, I was there to hear some quality music from one of the my favourite musicians of the past few years. Compared to previous

Indie Pop/Alternative Folk 1 The Avalanche 2 Dear Mr. Supercomputer 3 Adlai Stevenson 4 The Vivian Girls Are Visited In the Night by Saint Dargarius and his Squadron of Benevolent Butterflies 5 Chicago (acoustic version) 6 The Henney Buggy Band 7 Saul Bellow 8 Carlyle Lake 9 Springfield, or Bobby Got a Shadfly Caught in his Hair 10 The Mistress Witch ...