Greetings from Michigan

side project

Fri, 19 Sep 2008 23:08:24 GMT

You've maybe heard of this, but I saw this on Asthmatic Kitty's website:

The result—due, in part, to producer/arranger Sufjan Stevens—is an awe-inspiring collection of hymns, pop covers, and originals that render soulful stunts from quiet skirmishes of home recordings. Gathering together a camaraderie of musical helpers (among them members of Vito’s church: a gospel choir, lap steel guitar, upright bass, and a brass ensemble), Sufjan enlivens The Welcome Wagon’s quaint haberdashery of songs with epic flourishes, drawing out allusions to honky-tonk, Broadway theater, and funk with the curatorial eye of an over-excited musicologist.

Release date: December 9, 2008

The debut album by The Welcome Wagon unveils a ramshackle sing-a-long enterprise of a Presbyterian pastor (the Rev. Vito Aiuto) and his wife (Monique) wrestling out the influences of folk music, religion, popular culture, and church tradition in a collection of songs that is as soulful as it is good-humored. This gorgeous brew is reflected in the group’s repertoire, which unflinchingly consolidates a vast history of “sacred” song traditions: from Old Testament psalms, to Presbyterian Psalters of the 17th century, to iconoclastic pop innovators of the 1960s (The Velvet Underground), to charismatic Catholics of the 1970s (Lenny Smith), and into the melancholy lovelorn pop of the 1980s (The Smiths). There are even a few originals. Armed with a particleboard parlor guitar and a plastic glockenspiel, pastor and wife stumble their way through an arresting catalog of hymns—hallowed and unholy—with the simple desire to know their Maker—and to know each other—more intimately. The result—due, in part, to producer/arranger Sufjan Stevens—is an awe-inspiring collection of hymns, pop covers, and originals that render soulful stunts from quiet skirmishes of home recordings. Gathering together a camaraderie of musical helpers (among them members of Vito’s church: a gospel choir, lap steel guitar, upright bass, and a brass ensemble), Sufjan enlivens The Welcome Wagon’s quaint haberdashery of songs with epic flourishes, drawing out allusions to honky-tonk, Broadway theater, and funk with the curatorial eye of an over-excited musicologist. The final product results in a stunning cross section of rehearsals and home recordings serendipitously captured in living rooms, churches, and home studios across Brooklyn and Queens over the course of some eight-odd years.

The Welcome Wagon observe a musical tradition conjoined with marriage that pays tribute to a long line of iconic couples—Johnny Cash and June Carter, Sonny and Cher, Ike and Tina, Captain and Tennille, and more recently, The White Stripes. The Welcome Wagon also reside in the fussy category called “church music,” where family and theology have long accompanied the musical deeds of married partners: the Original Carter Family, Bill and Gloria Gaither, and Mom and Pop Winans are a few examples. You’d be hard pressed to call the Welcome Wagon a groundbreaking supplement to the genre of gospel duos. They are not flashy performers. Their hymns— when stripped of a producer’s vigorous arrangements—are modest, understated, and idiosyncratic shrugs compared to the furious pathos of Blind Willie Johnson and his wife Willie B., or the bluesy emotion of The Consolers. But the apparent lack of hyperbole and didacticism, the absence of rhetorical drama and religious fervor are what make the music of the Welcome Wagon so fascinating. It doesn’t impose its religious pitch on the listener with hyped up garnishes of sound; it merely conveys the deepest of convictions with the deadpan verdict of a surgeon. Sure, their debut album unveils showy guitar riffs, piano codas, harmonica solos, a rowdy chorus, and an imposing flourish of brass instruments like wartime canons. But at the heart of it—if you really listen carefully—there’s really just a pastor and his wife tentatively singing in the quiet privacy of their own home.
1. Up On A Mountain
2. Sold! To The Nice Rich Man
3. Unless the Lord the House Shall Build
4. He Never Said A Mumblin' Word
5. Hail To The Lord's Anointed
6. But For You Who Fear My Name
7. American Legion
8. You Made My Day
9. Half A Person
10. Jesus
11. I Am A Stranger
12. Deep Were His Wounds, And Red

You can download "Sold! To the Nice Rich Man" here.

Some Kind of Sad Sorcery

Wed, 03 Sep 2008 20:45:39 GMT

Sufjan just did the "quiet, sad, romantic flourishes" of piano in Natalie Portman's debut short film Eve.

I had to second a few of the 'Gum comments: how about a new album?

I'm not so young, I'm not so fast

Tue, 26 Aug 2008 01:18:06 GMT

Here're some pics from the show "Steve Stevens and the Happy Hippos" just performed in Norway!

http://www.vl.no/kultur/article3740648.ece?token=&start=41&serie=0

http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/article/news/144938-photos-sufjan-stevens-serena-maneesh-moi-norway-08-23-08

Lookin' SHARP!!

Sun, 10 Aug 2008 19:27:03 GMT

Last night I dreamt I was in a Sufjan tribute band, and we were called "The Illinoisefakers". In my dream Sufjan had decided not to tour Europe, so we toured instead.

I told my boyfriend and he just rolled his eyes, I figured I should at least tell people who would appreciate it.

45 Sufjan icons!

Mon, 04 Aug 2008 19:45:35 GMT

Follow the link for more:
Come on feel the Illinois!

Shara Worden - My Brightest Diamond

Sat, 02 Aug 2008 03:25:48 GMT

Hello! A lot of you may or may not know this, but not too long ago, Shara Worden was the cheerleading captain for the Illinoisemakers. She's also opened for Sufjan as My Brightest Diamond.

As My Brightest Diamond, Shara really shines. Her music is moody and atmospheric, but still raging. She's been compared to Tricky, Portishead, and Kate Bush with the vibrato and vocal tenderness of Jeff Buckley.

If you ever get the chance to see her live, I encourage you to take it. She's one of those acts that's simply phenomenal onstage and she loves to dress up in fun costumes, like corsets, superhero capes, or ball gowns, usually wearing her hair in a pompadour. She also usually performs some really amazing covers in every one of her sets. I first saw her Milwaukee, opening for Sufjan. Her cover of Nina Simone's "Feeling Good" earned a standing ovation, if I recall correctly.

Here's her covering Hymne à L'Amour, originally performed by Édith Piaf, which is ripped from a video.

My Brightest Diamond
MySpace
Facebook

If you really dig her music or are a fan already, please consider joining sharaworden. She's a wonderful artist that deserves a lot of support, so I'd like more of her admirers to come together to share more information, love, and media related to her and her musical endeavors.

Enjoy the song!

Thu, 31 Jul 2008 13:33:57 GMT

icons
{05} jared leto
{01} control
{05} coldplay
{05} gael garcía bernal
{30} elliott smith
{48} bright eyes
{61} bloc party
{09} sufjan stevens

banners
{14} control
{01} coldplay
{01} bright eyes

wallpapers
{02} bright eyes

here @ bequietnow

Icons! :D

Tue, 29 Jul 2008 02:20:39 GMT

Preview:

001

002

003

Here. :D

"everything sufjan does is amazing."

Wed, 23 Jul 2008 15:51:42 GMT

"However, that questionable arm movement at 4:03 is not. If I had been sitting in the front row that would've been the most awkward minute of my life hahaha."

Good God, I'm clearly not the only one thinking THAT IS NOT A TAMBOURINE.
also, I really want an animated GIF of it as an icon. because I am a terrible, horrible person.

Quiet here...

Tue, 22 Jul 2008 12:49:01 GMT

Well Sufjan isn't touring right now right? I missed when he was, I hadn't heard of him at that point. I was first introduced to his music I think round Jan of this year! I look at all his live performances on youtube and such with envy.

What a great performer. And his re-orchestrations of his songs during live performances are completely gorgeous. I sorely wish he would release a live album.

Just for fun I like visiting songmeanings.com
and read about peoples interpretations of his lyrics (Of course I try to go in there with my own interps first)

Here is a link to the Sufjan page: HERE

Just one of the things I do to bide my time...waiting for the next state...or bird album ;)

Hope everyone's having a good summer!

-bonnie

Some icons.

Sat, 19 Jul 2008 22:22:12 GMT

[11] The Killers
[9] Bat For Lashes
[12] M.I.A.
[11] Sufjan Stevens
~~[11] Santogold~~

Here at ringingxshotgun.

Sufjan stuffie!

Thu, 19 Jun 2008 03:07:16 GMT

My friend made this for me...

Now all he needs is wings!

dream analysis, anyone?

Wed, 21 May 2008 14:43:49 GMT

He was so tired of my friends calling him gay that he got a big ego and started demanding to his agent that he have a flock of hot girls around him for every public appearance.

Honestly, I didn't even know about it; I just wandered into it. I dreamt I was wandering around the Evergreen campus at night by myself and got lost. I ended up walking into this room that I was hoping was a bathroom but it was like a giant clothing store at the mall with all the lights out and that "Numa Numa" song blaring away.

Oddly, my name was already on the list of people auditioning, so they sat me on this bench with another girl who was total supermodel material. She started criticizing everything I was wearing: "Do those shoes have a hole in them??" "Those don't match!" "Your bag is WAY too big."

For some reason the two people there running the show kept it almost completely dark, and stood way far away from us and shouted directions which I couldn't really hear, but apparently I was late to my audition, and there were already three girls in the room with him "auditioning." But they said they would try to help me level the playing field by later letting me in there with him by myself.

The other girl on the couch started questioning just what was in this large bag of mine. She reached in and pulled out my Bible (which, I realized in the dream, a friend had put in there in a previous dream. And then another book, which another friend gave to me in yet a different dream! She started wrinkling her nose and was all "Ewwww, who brings a 90-year-old Bible to an audition?" For a moment I felt really lame, but then thought "I bet if I show this to Sufjan he'll really like it." But I kept that thought to myself.

Taking her advice, though, I decided to change. Since it was dark, I decided to help myself to the clothes. It took a little while to find the skirts, and I chose this red pencil skirt which, as I fumbled to put it on, I realized just might be too small. Right then, my name was called to go in. I found my way to the front.

There was a list of Sufjan's songs handwritten on a sheet in different colors, with some songs scratched out with names of the other auditionees on them. Apparently the way it worked is you chose one of the songs on the list, and Sufjan would play it for you, and if he did a good job, then you got the audition. But as I looked at the list, the songs all changed to a list of songs by bands I had never heard of. I randomly picked one by "Vajl Karla" and everyone "Ooooohed." Then I woke up.

Fri, 16 May 2008 19:43:49 GMT

So, a friend of mine posted a personal ad on Craigslist. This was one of the replies she got:

Here's a picture. Let's please talk. I think you're hot. Wanna talk. At least say hi.

Bo

...
uh, yeah, I'm so sure. I'm an optimist and still, this "Bo" guy must think she's dumb. (but we're replying anyway, just to dick with him.)

Tue, 13 May 2008 23:34:30 GMT

Did anyone else see the movie "Baby Mama?" When you got to the part about the mom who named her kids Banjo and Wingspan, did you immediately think of Sufjan as well? Or was that just me? :P

(Personally, I'm placing bets that any potential offspring would be named Nebuchanezzer-Mae.)

Fri, 25 Apr 2008 11:56:12 GMT

_{my brightest diamond this monday (slaughtered lamb, london)

hola every one

i've 2 spare tickets for the my brighest diamond gig this monday night at the very tiny and very intimate slaughtered lamb gig (holds about 50/60 people). tis sold out now. looksie! https://www.wegottickets.com/event/28449

let me know if you're interested (drop me a pm or email). face value.

she's well good.}

Subject line.

Tue, 22 Apr 2008 05:51:27 GMT

Post about hilarious Sufjan-related thread in another community.

Link to said thread.

Explanation that community is entirely conducted in existential, "meta" format, and commenters often play devil's advocate to poke fun at things they most enjoy.

Sat, 29 Mar 2008 00:31:06 GMT

So. I promised a friend of mine that I'd introduce her to Sufjan's music and upload a few tracks. Somehow I got kinda carried away and ended up doing a "compilation album" of 17 tracks, to give her an image of his range. I hope she'll find something interesting and maybe start wandering deeper into the wondrous world of Sufjan.

Then I thought that maybe the tracklist might be interesting to share with other Sufjan fans. Do you think this is a sufficient sample of his works? What would you have left out, and what would you have chosen instead? As I wrote in my own lj, this is not a "best of" or even "personal favorites" kind of a thing, more like a showcase of what he is capable of. Lots of great songs were left out, simply because he's done so much.

Holland is a city in western Michigan, known for its tulips. They even have a festival dedicated to the flower.

INTRO
Marzuki: 10,000 Roses (for Me)
from album Marzuki (1996); Marzuki were a college band led by Shannon Stephens, Sufjan being usually their percussionist, and very occasionally a vocalist (this is the only Marzuki track with him singing); maybe a little amusing listen, but interesting nevertheless

SIDE A
A Winner Needs a Wand from A Sun Came! (2000; reissued in 2004)
Super Sexy Woman A Sun Came!
Year of the Dog Enjoy Your Rabbit (2001)
Say Yes! to M!ch!gan! Michigan, or, Greetings from Michigan: the Great Lake State (2003)
They Also Mourn Who Do Not Wear Black (For the Homeless in Muskegon) Michigan
The Dress Looks Nice on You Seven Swans (2004)
A Good Man Is Hard to Find Seven Swans

INTERLUDE
What Goes on
Sufjan has participated in quite a few tribute album projects, covering songs by such artists as Bob Dylan, Joni Mitchell and Tim Buckley; this one is a cover of The Beatles' What Goes on, recorded for This Bird Has Flown: A 40th Anniversary Tribute to The Beatles' Rubber Soul (2005)

SIDE B
Jacksonville Illinois, or, Come on! Feel the Illinoise! (2005)
They Are Night Zombies!! They Are Neighbors!! They Have Come Back from the Dead!! Ahhhh! Illinois
Opie's Funeral Song Mews Too: An Asthmatic Kitty Compilation (2006)
The Mistress Witch from McClure (or, the Mind That Knows Itself) The Avalanche: Outtakes and Extras from the Illinois Album (2006)
Chicago (Multiple personality disorder version) The Avalanche
That Was the Worst Christmas Ever! Songs for Christmas vol. III: Ding! Dong! (2003; commercially released in 2006)
Get Behind Me, Santa! Songs for Christmas vol. V: Peace (2006)

OUTRO
Rosie Thomas: Say Hello
from These Friends of Mine (2006); Rosie Thomas is a folk singer-songwriter, and TFoM is a NYC-themed collaboration album she did with Denison Witmer and Sufjan, who delivers additional vocals for this track; on April Fools' day in 2006, Rosie and Denison performed a rather successful prank, sending an email to Pitchfork and "revealing" that Rosie was pregnant with Sufjan's child, which ended up as a news item and surprised a lot of people, including oblivious Sufjan

The little info texts sound probably a bit obvious to you but I left them there anyway. :P I also suppose most everyone has these tracks already, so I didn't provide links. But if you happen to be missing any of them, just ask and you shall receive.

You know you are too much into Sufjan when...

Thu, 06 Mar 2008 07:03:09 GMT

1. ... you know how to pronounce his name.
2. ... all your friends know how to pronounce his name.
3. ... you think Snow Patrol are a really great band only because they mentioned Sufjan in their song "Hands Open".
4. ... you fantasize about traveling to Illinois and Michigan.
5. ... you think men with butterfly wings are kind of sexy.
6. ... people make comments like: "If there would be toilet paper with Sufjan on it you would buy it!"
7. ... you bought your flat mate from Illinois "Come on feel the Illinois!" for his birthday (despite him liking rap music).
8. ... you proudly told your flat mate from Illinois about Casimir Pulaski Day (and just can't understand people who have never heard of this Polish war hero. I mean what high school did they go to? The high school of Madonna?!)
9. ... you bought your Christian friends "Seven Swans" and "Michigan" to show them what REAL Christian music sounds like.
10. ... you write your history dissertation about JFK and Adlai Stevenson and after finding out that Sufjan has written a song entitled "Adlai Stevenson" you mention this "new-folk musician" in your thesis and even include some of the song lyrics. (I mean, even unsociable history tutors need to know about Sufjan!)
11. ... you catch yourself wondering about the size of Sufjan's feet.
12. ... you actually know the size of Sufjan's feet. (Size 11)
13. ... you post on a music forum of a different artist (Tori Amos) and after bombarding people with Sufjan sigs, lyrics and more Sufjan sigs you leave at least half a dozen Sufjan converts behind.
14. ... your journey around the world turns into a Sufjan crusade. You argue with a guy in Hollywood that "Michigan" is better than "Illinoise", ship "Seven Swans" all the way from the States to a family living on top of a mountain in New Zealand just because the mother mentioned that she loves the banjo and share your Sufjan love with a rasta guy who gave you a ride from Brisbane to Rockhampton. After all he mentioned that he likes folk music...
15. ... you would really love to meet Sufjan. Damn, you wouldn't mind marrying him and giving all your little ones names that start with S!
16. ... you travel 1000 miles in one day to see Sufjan in concert.
17. ... you travel to a different country to see Sufjan in concert and afterwards think: "That was really worth it!"
18. ... you respond to strangers who say: "Oh, I like Sufjan's music!" with "I love you!"
19. ... you are really proud that Sufjan is going global but miss the old days when you could sit so close to the stage you could almost nick his water bottle.
20. … you almost get physically ill with excitement before seeing him in concert.
21. … you can't wait to get home to make toilet paper dolls with "soft, brown raisin eyes" to win hearts everywhere.
22. ... You start playing the banjo because of him
23. ... You hear parts of his songs in everyday noises (ex: my doorbell reminds me of the beginning to "Chicago")
24. ... You get homesick listening to "Greetings From Michigan: The Great Lake State", even though you're not from Michigan
25. ... Every time you see a guy wearing a winter hat with ear flaps you think "Sufjan?..."
26. ... You have a desire to move to Brooklyn for reasons not necessarily related to your career/education
27. ... "Baroque Pop" is a totally familiar musical genre
28. ... You think the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway is an interesting and artistic topic of conversation
29. ... Guys wearing tight white pants are a normal thing to you. In fact, you find it sexy.
30. ... You think of Sufjan every time you see birds (especially swans, barn owls, snowbirds, and once extinct woodpeckers from the swamps of Arkansas.
31. ... You think his version of "The Star Spangled Banner" should replace the traditional one
32. ... You drove to New York in a van (ok, bus) with your friends just to see him. And you WOULD have slept in parking lots (I don't mind, I don't mind).
33. ... You think hula-hooping should be a part of every musical performance
34. ... You know what he smells like.
35. ... You know all the words in "Enjoy Your Rabbit"... yes, the Cantonese.

Numbers 1-19 are from random Sufjan fans; 21 is Nicole's addition (that quote is from the actual letter received from AK), 20 and 22 - 33 added by Katie. 35 added by me.

If you have any additions of your own, feel free to add them!!

for me, the following apply: 1, 2, 4, 5, 7, 9, 10, 11, 14, 15, 16 (six times over!), 18, 19, 20, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, and 34! I think I qualify :/

SUFJAN'S GONNA BE A DADDY

Mon, 03 Mar 2008 19:59:32 GMT

as much as i mildly dislike pitchfork:

"And that's not all Rosie and Sufjan have been collaborating on, as the two lovesongbirds are having a baby together. Serious! For once, Pitchfork is not joking.

~~"Sufjan and I are also expecting and that is something we both are beaming about," wrote Rosie. "Life is good.""~~

~~link to article~~

~~i'm in shock. (HE LIED TO ME!! T__T . . . just kidding.)~~

Edit: mmk, it was an april fools joke and me and my sufjan-obsessed father are out of the loop. whoops.

Arr!

Fri, 22 Feb 2008 04:46:16 GMT

Ah yeah.

Thu, 14 Feb 2008 20:44:08 GMT

Wed, 13 Feb 2008 03:22:51 GMT

Does anyone have an mp3 of "The Lord God Bird"?

some things

Tue, 12 Feb 2008 02:52:24 GMT

a few things I thought I would ask:

who else saw Danielson: A Family Movie (or, Make A Joyful Noise HERE)?also . . . i may get flamed for this, but who else really dislikes the danielson family?
how many people here are jewish, buddhist, atheist etc. or otherwise not christian? do you feel that sufjan's representation as a "christian musician" is accurate? do you think that it affects his music in any way?
does anyone have an mp3 of barn owl, night killer? i've tried hype machine and the single link to it is broken .

thanks guys :]

Sun, 10 Feb 2008 17:40:41 GMT

does anyone have an mp3 of sufjan covering "lakes of canada?" i've been looking for it for sooo long.