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Sufjan Stevens

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A Song for Every New York Times Hipster Trend Piece

By Tom Hawking on

The ongoing New York Times obsession with “hipsters” continued this week with yet another lifestyle article about Williamsburg, a place that the NYT apparently thinks is still home to the Brooklyn cool set. The piece served as more confirmation that the Times is officially the only publication that still thinks the word “hipster” actually means something and/or is a cultural phenomenon worth analyzing in 2013. At this point, the paper’s ongoing obsession with Williamsburg is the journalistic equivalent of the repressed bro at school who’s secretly fascinated by the weird kids and deals with this by ridiculing them at every possible opportunity. Anyway, The Awl did a pretty spectacular job of highlighting the ongoing absurdity of the whole thing with this roundup of every characteristic that the paper has ever ascribed to hipsters (spoiler: everything, ever) — but what about the music? To help the paper out, here are some songs to soundtrack their most, um, memorable trend pieces. … Read More

Music

In Search of Christian Music That Doesn’t Suck

By Tom Hawking on

We surely can’t be the only ones who suppressed a shudder when we saw the title of My Morning Jacket songwriter Jim James’ new solo album: Regions of Light and Sound of God. As it turns out, the title doesn’t necessarily mean that James has gone born-again on our hellbound asses, but either way, we have to admit that our reaction did rather have us reassessing our own prejudices: would James going all Christian necessarily mean that the resultant album would suck massively? We have to say that the answer is probably no — some of our favorite songwriters have addressed matters of faith over the years, after all. And so in payment for our, ahem, sins, we’ve put together a collection of Christian music that doesn’t suck. (Spoiler: sorry Creed and Christian hardcore fans, our charity only goes so far.) … Read More

Music

10 New Tracks You Need to Hear This Week: Sufjan Stevens, Factory Floor

By Tom Hawking on

It’s Friday, which means the first working week of 2013 is over — rejoice! It also means that it’s time for us to round up the 10 most noteworthy tracks of the week that’s gone by, and happily there’s some decent tunes to be had again after a pretty fallow holiday week. Specifically, there’s a hitherto unreleased Sufjan Stevens track, new Factory Floor, a bunch of interesting remixes involving everything from shoegaze to neo-R&B, Skrillex aping Burial to hilarious effect… and, yes, the depressing Azealia Banks/Angel Haze shitfight. Click through and get listening. … Read More

News

The Morning’s Top 5 Pop Culture Stories

By Caroline Stanley on

1. “When you see a merger between two giants in a declining industry, it can look like the financial version of a couple having a baby to save a marriage.” — In the wake of the announced Penguin-Random House merger, The New York Times writes about the death of the publishing industry. Again.… Read More

Music

Listen to Sufjan Stevens’ Beautiful Version of ‘The Star-Spangled Banner’

By Emily Temple on

We admit to experiencing a certain amount of the warm-and-tinglies after watching the newly re-minted President Obama’s victory speech last night, so we’re probably in an unusually prime position to listen to our national anthem. But no matter who you voted for, or which side of the line you fall down on, we think… Read More

Music

Watch the Incredibly Gory Claymation Video for Sufjan Stevens’ “Mr. Frosty Man”

By Emily Temple on

Who knew Christmas could be so bloody? Well, Lee Hardcastle for one, who created this deeply scary claymation video, in which Frosty the Snowman fights zombies to protect a human family, for Sufjan Stevens’ massive upcoming box set, Silver & Gold: Songs for Christmas Volumes 6-10. Claymation is generally such a tried-and-true, family-friendly holiday format (Wallace and Gromit! Claymation Christmas!), so it’s doubly upsetting to see all those doughy zombies attacking Santa. We’ll never think of Frosty, or listen to this song, quite the same way again. Watch the video — if you dare — after the jump. … Read More

Music

10 MP3s You Need to Download for Free This Week: Sufjan Stevens, Grails

By Tom Hawking on

It’s Friday, which means another installment of our regular roundup of downloadable MP3 goodness from around the web. This week there’s the first of the new season of indie Christmas songs, courtesy of Sufjan Stevens, along with pleasantly heavy action from Grails and Horrid Red, a killer new track from our own Silent Drape Runners, an excellent new Lindstrøm remix, the entire remastered After Dark compilation, a lovely new piece from Ulrich Schnauss, and a whole lot more (including an exclusive mixtape from your correspondent himself). Since all this action costs precisely nothing, what are you waiting for? All the download links await after the jump. … Read More

News

The Morning's Top 5 Pop Culture Stories

By Caroline Stanley on

1. If you ask us, no one is cool enough to play Patti Smith in the film adaptation of Just Kids — especially not Kristen Stewart! — but we could live with Mia Wasikowka or Saoirse Ronan. [via EW]

2. Listen and “sing-a-ling-a-ling-a-ling” along to “Ding-a-ling-a-ring-a-ling,” the third song to be released from… Read More

Music

Sufjan Stevens Releasing Ridiculously Fun Christmas Box Set

By Judy Berman on

Since the holiday season is basically upon us the minute temperatures drop below 70, the time has come for the seasonal onslaught of Christmas album announcements. Of course, that means indie rock’s very own Christmas elf is back with a brand-new box set, Silver & Gold, that collects five Yuletide EPs recorded between 2006 and 2010. Featuring collaborations with members of The National, Arcade Fire, Danielson, and more, the CD box set will be available November 13th via Asthmatic Kitty.

There’s also a digital version, but considering that the physical release will be stuffed like a Christmas stocking with stickers, temporary tattoos, a paper ornament, song lyrics and chord charts for sing-alongs, “hallucinogenic photographs and psychedelic graphic design (by Sufjan Stevens, drug-free since 1975),” and something described as a “an apocalyptic pull-out poster,” the CD box set looks like the far superior option. The vinyl version, meanwhile, will also include a Christmas coloring book, but it may not be out in time for the holidays. And if that’s not enough options, consider the Mail Order Vinyl Box Set, filled with all of the above plus “a special set of gifts due to arrive before Christmas 2012.” Intriguing! Click through to listen to a track from the box set, see all five excellent EP covers and a funny page from the coloring book that finds Santa Claus getting a tattoo. … Read More

Music

Preview Sufjan Stevens’ Ballet ‘Year of the Rabbit’

By Emily Temple on

Sufjan Stevens’ music has certainly been called balletic before, but now he’s actually in the business. On October 5th, Year of the Rabbit, a new ballet choreographed by Justin Peck and set to music by Stevens, will premiere at Lincoln Center in New York City. As Pitchfork reports, Stevens has created re-orchestrated arrangements from his 2009 album Run Rabbit Run, itself a re-imagination of his 2001 album Enjoy Your Rabbit. We’re talking a lot of layers, people. After the jump, watch a lovely little promo video for the ballet, set to ”The Palm Sunday Tornado Hits Crystal Lake” from Stevens’ 2006 album The Avalanche, and let us know if you’ll be buying tickets in the comments! … Read More