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Sufjan Stevens’ Silver & Gold (Xmas EP #’s 6-10)
Update: the stop-motion Lego video is at the bottom.
Pre-order his upcoming Silver and Gold (Christmas EP boxset #2) on 5 CDs or 58 mp3. The 5-vinyl set appears to be sold out (via bandcamp).
“Happy Holidays! On November 13, 2012, Asthmatic Kitty Records will release (another!) Christmas box-set extravaganza by the implacable singer/songwriter Sufjan Stevens—Silver & Gold: Songs for Christmas, Vols. 6-10, a compilation of 5 EPs recorded between 2006 and 2010.
Expanding on the tradition of the first box-set (Songs for Christmas, Vols. 1-5 from 2006), Silver & Gold is a generous document of five more years of holly-jolly jubilee — Christmas caroling, sleigh-bell-ringing, collaborative songwriting — undertaken by Sufjan and his various musical cohorts. Originally intended as gifts for family and friends, these musical snapshots have been re-mixed and re-assembled for the public in an exquisitely-designed gift box containing all the Yuletide pleasures money can buy: Christmas stickers, temporary tattoos, lyric sheets and chord charts, a paper ornament, an apocalyptic pull-out poster, photos, illustrations, and extensive liner notes—a veritable Christmas feast for the eyes and ears.
The album features collaborations with a running line-up of friends and musical peers, including Aaron and Bryce Dessner (The National), Richard Reed Parry (Arcade Fire), Cat Martino (Sufjan’s right-hand woman on all things Age of Adz), Sebastian Krueger (Inlets), Gabriel Kahane, Vesper Stamper, and members of Danielson (Daniel, Elin, Lilly, and Ida). Sufjan’s own indelible aesthetic and his tireless oblique strategies (in vain pursuit of the perfect Christmas song) maintain the album’s center of gravity, resulting in an abundant compilation (nearly 60 tracks) that investigates the canon of devotional hymns and holiday pop songs with reckless abandon (totaling nearly three hours of music).
Silver & Gold surpasses its predecessor both in style and scope by taking a wider stance and embracing a more liberal ethos. The box-set sails through musical fashions as various as ornaments on a Christmas tree (covering songs from John Dowland to Johnny Marks). The folksy old-world renaissance of Gloria (Vol. 6) gives way to bi-polar impertinence on I Am Santa’s Helper (Vol. 7). Christmas Infinity Voyage (Vol. 8) looks to the cosmos (and the drum machine) for inspiration, while Let It Snow (Vol. 9) and Christmas Unicorn (Vol.10) show a giddy return to form, unselfconsciously reveling in all the bubble-gum show tunes from the 1950s and 60s (“A Holly Jolly Christmas,” “Sleigh Ride,” and “I’ll Be Home For Christmas,” to name a few).
There are also 18 original songs intermixed throughout (some of them co-written or wholly composed by guest collaborators). Sufjan’s contribution to the Christmas canon exhibits an ever-expanding canopy of approaches: there’s the moody and affectionate Christmas ballad (“Happy Karma Christmas”), an ecclesiastical take on the Burl Ives classic “Silver & Gold” (re-titled here as “Justice Delivers Its Gift”), the rowdy, garage-rock, rumble-in-the-snow-bank (“Mr. Frosty Man”) and the psychedelic pop-anthem (“Christmas Unicorn”) that attempts to reconcile new age magic, fantasy fiction, and the commodification of Christmas with expository deftness.
Silver & Gold is more than just another Christmas album, but an ongoing exercise in theme and variation, an annual tradition that offers this songwriter a chance to experiment with fashion and technique without taking himself too seriously. Sufjan’s playful (yet purposeful) expedition through the superficial landscape of sugar plum fairies and marshmallow fluff has produced an exuberant musical account of “all things Christmas” in the pursuit of the sublime. What distinguishes this project from the glut of Christmas albums saturating the market today are Sufjan’s unguarded enthusiasm for the genre itself (the sense of freedom he shows in celebrating with reverence and rebellion) and the belief that Christmas music contains a multiplicity of sacred and secular significance (from Baby Jesus to Babes in Toyland) that is ultimately ours for the taking. It’s safe to say that no one has taken it further than Sufjan, for better and for worse.
Thanks for listening and may all your Christmas dreams come true.
Silver & Gold will be available in digital download, a CD box-set available November 13th, with a limited edition of 2000 vinyl box-sets available later this year or early 2013.
A special edition of the vinyl boxset, which will include some extra surprises, is available to US/Canada/EU for pre-order:
http://sufjanstevens.bandcamp.com/album/silver-gold
The CD Boxset includes: (price not listed yet)
1. Five CD EPs
2. Christmas stickers
3. Temporary tattoos (non-toxic & safe for children)
4. A paper ornament (self-assembly with directions)
5. An apocalyptic pull-out poster
6. Song lyrics and chord charts (sing along with your friends and enemies)
7. Hallucinogenic photographs and psychedelic graphic design (by Sufjan Stevens, drug-free since 1975)
8. Extensive liner notes (introductory salutations and an essay on the Christmas tree by Sufjan Stevens, and a few theological words on the End Times by Pastor Vito Aiuto)
The vinyl boxset includes: ($120 + S/H)
1. Five EPs on 6 vinyl discs
2. Christmas stickers
3. Temporary tattoos
4. A paper ornament
5. A 40-page Christmas songbook with vocal and piano reductions
6. A Christmas coloring book
7. Hallucinogenic photographs and psychedelic graphic design
8. Extensive liner notes
Whoa!
Sufjan Stevens Lego Movie
~Dan – np: Carla Kihlstedt & Matthias Bossi – Niagara Falling: Tales for the Stage, III
EARTH’s Dylan Carlson – Wonders from the House of Albion
The frontman from sludge/drone/doom metal pioneer’s EARTH is coming out with a solo album via Kickstarter…
(Dylan on the far left)
Dylan Carlson is creating his first major solo project outside of earth. There will be a limited edition lp/dvd/book and cd/dvd/book (500 of each format) and a special pressing of 150 copies (lp only) with personalized ex libris by Simon Fowler (who will also do the cover and end papers). The illustrations will be by Kiyo Lappalainen. The limited edition books will be pop-up style. There will also be an open edition with regular flat printing in a cd booklet and flat lp printing.
The recording will combine field recordings from various megalithic and other sites of human/fairy encounters across the UK, also the use of ritual and folkloric magical practices. The expedition will be filmed by Clyde Petersen. These recordings will be layered with Dylan’s interpretations of classic Scotch-English ballads about human/fairy encounters from early modern England and Scotland (15th-18th century). It will also feature guest vocalists to sing the songs.
This is not being done through a label, as earth’s output has, but is a labor of love/obsession of Dylan’s. Being primarily of Scotch-English descent, this is an historical journey to his personal and cultural past, embracing music/folklore/the occult dimension and history. This is also result of personal experience’s of ‘the other side’. His blog has details, if interested. The field recordings will be accomplished in April-May of 2012. The rest of the recording/mastering will be finished in summer and early fall, the artwork is an ongoing process, already begun. Dylan is planning to have it all done for a May 2013 release. Join in the restoration of magic, a return to a world of spirits. Where all objects have a will of their own and a language they speak in, and we have learned how to speak with them again. It will be titled “Coleman Grey presents Falling with a Thousand Stars and Other Wonders from the House of Albion.”
You can join in on the Kickstarter HERE. Despite the May 2013 release date, this project needs funding by February 12th, 2012.
~Dan – np: Frank Zappa – Burnt Weeny Sandwich
David Bazan’s Christmas 2010 7″ vinyl
It’s October… leaves are starting to change, school is in full swing, days are getting even shorter, and David Bazan‘s annual Christmas 7″ vinyl is up for pre-order… starting with the Pedro the Lion days (2002’s The First Noel 7″), it’s become an indie rock tradition to get your mits on the meloncholy holiday tunes pressed to wax from Bazan.
For 2010, the songs are “WISH MY KIDS WERE HERE” and “I HEARD THE BELLS ON CHRISTMAS DAY.” Suicide Squeeze Records has it – limited to 1000 copies (200 Orange, 400 Opaque Red, 400 Opaque Yellow). This 7-inch EP opens with a Bazan original, a heartbreaker of a track titled, “Wish My Kids Were Here.” The flip revisits an old favorite, Longfellow’s “I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day,” an update on a song he first recorded/released, in 2002, at the start of the series.
ORDER HERE:
http://www.suicidesqueeze.net/index.php?section=store&ID=91
Act fast… 1,000 doesn’t last long.
~Dan – np: Holy Fuck – Latin 
Nellie McKay’s HSMH limited edition
Nellie McKay‘s new album, Home Sweet Mobile Home, comes out next week (Sept 28th)… and a limited edition fan package is available on her site. Autographed 12″ x 12″ litho, physical CD, high-quality mp3 album, four exclusive bonus songs (no indication which ones), and an immediate download of “Bruise the on the Sky.” The entire album is currently streaming over on NellieMcKay.com as well.
Limited edition: NellieMcKay.com ($35)
Regular CD: Amazon.com ($9.99)
Regular digital: Amazon.com ($9.49)
~Dan – np: Medeski Martin & Wood – Combustication
Miles Davis & Dogfish Head – Bitches Brew
Well, Lagunitas is officially done doing their Frank Zappa beers (Rueben & the Jets was their final one)… but I just got my hands on a couple of bottles of Delaware-based Dogfish Head‘s tribute to Miles Davis‘ album Bitches Brew.
It’s a 9% (ABV) dark beer that is a fusion of three threads imperial stout and one thread honey beer with gesho root (traditionally used in Ethiopian honey wine, tej). Read more about the brew commemorating the 40th anniversary of Mile Davis’ album over at the Dogfish Head website. I haven’t had time to taste the brew yet, but hopefully soon while spinning the record. :)
~Dan – np: Sufjan Stevens – All the Delighted People EP
Jonesin’ for some Buffy soda
Buffy the Vampire Slayer limited edition soda collection from Seattle-based Jones Soda Company… available now, while supplies last:
http://www.myjones.com/limited/buffy
We don’t even drink much soda, but I just had to get some of these for my wife…
~Dan – np: Masada – Gimel
My Brightest Diamond with Dayna Kurtz – split 7″
The split 7″ vinyl from My Brightest Diamond and Dayna Kurtz can now be ordered online (or gotten at a handful of shows currently).
This split seven-inch finds Asthmatic Kitty star My Brightest Diamond and fellow songwriter Dayna Kurtz covering each other’s songs. Kurtz brings her smoky, deep alto to Shara Worden’s ‘Gone Away’ (from the MBD album, Bring Me The Workhorse), twanging spookily through accompanying banjo passages. Worden returns the favor with her take on Kurtz’s ‘Postcards From Downtown’ (from the album of the same name) which is similarly eerie in demeanor but ranks as a slightly more produced-sounding affair, complete with both acoustic and electric guitars, asthmatic old drums and echoing lo-fi keyboard leads. There are only 150 copies of this limited edition single in circulation, so get in there quick.
You can also listen to the tracks at the order page as well.
~Dan – np: George Carlin – Last Words
bike ride tours, any speed vinyl, the bqe, a van & streaming ‘deth
5 music news stories… Peter Mulvey, Holy Fuck, Sufjan Stevens, David Bazan/Pedro the Lion and Megadeth…
So, Peter Mulvey has toured all over the world. A few years back, he started also doing some bike tours within his own state. Well, he just embarked on his “Long Haul” Tour in support of his new, fantastic record Letters from a Flying Machine.
He’s riding 1,100 miles from Grand Rapids, MI to Northampton, MA on The Long Haul Tour, September 9 – 26. His friend, and presumably co-rider, Kathy Wittman will be blogging about it as it goes on. The daily blog will be HERE. Here’s his tour path, created via the Google based on his gigs along the route:
(click for larger)
He’ll be in Oregon (Portland and Eugene) in early November. Not part of the bike tour, but I’ll be glad to see him nonetheless. In fact, he might be less worn out from riding so much. Getting to see him twice in one weekend is gonna be fantastic… PS- go to PeterMulvey.com for info on the new record. Seriously, it’s good, folks!
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Next up… a vinyl you can play at either 33 1/3 or 45 rpm…
This one from Off the International Radar including a remix by fellow Toronto’ans Holy Fuck. I don’t know about the rest of the songs on “Hot Lips,” but the Holy Fuck collaboration features “Holy Radar” – which is a reworking of OTIR’s “E bowl of Iris.” Holy Fuck sped up the original recording on a record player in studio and then played along and added their own layers. So, at 33 1/3, you’ll hear OTIR with a slowed down HF; and on 45 rpm, you’ll hear HF with a sped-up OTIR. You can listen to the “as normally played” version of the song on OITR‘s MySpace page. There is also ordering links there as well.
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Sufjan Stevens‘ The BQE (as reported here) is coming out in limited edition vinyl (in addition to the CD/DVD combo). It’s now up for pre-order at the Asthmatic Kitty store and over at Amazon. Also, in the news, Sufjan will be playing his 2004 album Seven Swans in its entirety at ATP NYC this weekend. ATP = All Tomorrow’s Parties (festival).
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Help (Pedro the Lion) David Bazan buy a tour van… click the picture for more info…
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And to round it out with some metal… Megadeth‘s latest record, Endgame, is out next week (9/15/09). It’s streaming in its entirety on the MySpaces…
~Dan – np: The Beatles – Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Heart’s Club Band {mono}
no torrents or free downloads here
limited editions up the ying yang
(photo by xPyralisx)
Holy cow… I got (Porcupine Tree, No-man, Blackfield frontman) Steven Wilson‘s double-disc+dvd uber-deluxe edition of his first solo album Insurgentes in the mail today. Holy cow. Like, seriously… wow. Gorgeous artwork. Utterly gorgeous. If most albums are just normal, this one is a Hyperbole Department’s Executive Management. Check out http://www.swhq.co.uk/ for a trailer or two for the album. The limited edition only had 3,000 pressings (for the 2CD/1DVD version) and 1,000 pressings for the (2CD/1DVD/vinyl version). Alas, the normal album will be well worth the cover price as well (and out in Feb 2009 on KScope)… Steven Wilson is one artist in the rock scene that truly excites me lately.
I also got a notification for “not enough postage” on the Sigur Rós uber-deluxe edition of Með suð í eyrum við spilum endalaust. Gotta pick that up at the post office tomorrow and bring my $3.28 to resolve the postal inequity.
I’ll post reviews with pics over the weekend, while I’m chillin’ the empty cavities where my wisdom teeth used to be.
~Dan – np: MSNBC Countdown Keith Olberman – 11/24/08 podcast
-and then after it ripped to my iTunes-
Steven Wilson – Insurgentes
art
Drumcorps / Animosity – Altered Beast
I first heard of Drumcorps last year via a noise / experimental artist An Endless Contortionist (not for everyone). Anyway, I got Drumcorps’ Grist via Lala, and I totally dig it.
Drumcorps is a Berlin-based one man wrecking crew, Aaron Spectre. The music is grindcore, breakcore, noisecore, noise metal, or whatever you might call a brutal onslaught of your ears and mind. In other words… awesome, but not for everyone.
The Altered Beast LP is music by Animosity and remixed by Drumcorps. The music is all free online… you can get it 100% free as (great quality) 320kbps mp3 or (better/CD quality) FLAC:
*freemusic* http://drumcorps.cc/alteredbeast/mp3 *freemusic*
*freemusic* http://drumcorps.cc/alteredbeast/flac *freemusic*
01 Thin Retro God
02 A Profit on Greediness
03 Mobs Over, Rob Me
The main thing about this blog was to mention how gorgeous the vinyl editions are… wholly cow… It’s an etched & foil stamped 10″ vinyl, in four different color variations, some of which are ultra-mega-deluxe and come with 22-color hand-screenprinted and letterpressed jackets.
The vinyl is all limited edition, and based on the pictures above, I can see why. When I ordered, the Birthday Cake style was out already (only 100 made); but the Cupcake (200 made), Wealthy Eggplant (300 made), and Moldy Cheese (400 made) styles were all available HERE at Man Alive! Records.
~Dan – np: Drumcorps / Animosity – Altered Beast
-Eyvind Kang
-Frank Zappa
Amazon.com mp3 downloads
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