Sufjan Stevens is an American
singer-songwriterA singer–songwriter is a musician who writes, composes and sings their own material including lyrics and melodies. They often provide the sole accompaniment to an entire composition or song, typically using a guitar or piano...
and
musicianA musician is a person who performs or writes music. Musicians can be classified by their roles in creating or performing music:* An instrumentalist plays a musical instrument.* A singer uses his or her voice as an instrument....
born in
Detroit, MichiganDetroit is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan and the seat of Wayne County. Detroit is a major port city on the Detroit River, in the Midwest region of the United States. Located north of Windsor, Ontario, Detroit is the only major U.S. city that looks south to Canada. It was founded...
. Stevens first began releasing his music on the
Asthmatic KittyAsthmatic Kitty is an American independent record label founded in 1999 by a community of musicians from Holland, Michigan led by musician Sufjan Stevens and his stepfather Lowell Brams. Some were Holland natives, and others had come to attend local colleges and universities...
label, a label he formed with his stepfather, beginning with the 2000 release
A Sun CameA Sun Came is a folk rock music album by Sufjan Stevens, released in 2000. It was reissued on Asthmatic Kitty Records five years later.Among Stevens' back catalog, A Sun Came is notable for being recorded on 4 track...
. He is best known for his 2005 album
IllinoisIllinois is a 2005 concept album by American songwriter Sufjan Stevens, with songs referencing places and people related to the U.S. state of Illinois. It is his second album based on a U.S. state, part of a planned series of fifty, that began with the 2003 album Michigan...
, which hit number one in the
BillboardThe Billboard charts are music sales, airplay and digital ranking reports distributed to the general public by Billboard magazine. Billboard is considered the foremost authority worldwide in these song sales, airplay, digital reports, or music charts.On January 4, 1936, Billboard magazine published...
Top HeatseekersTop Heatseekers is a weekly albums chart introduced by Billboard in 1993 whose purpose is to highlight sales by new and developing musical recording artists. Albums appearing on Top Heatseekers may also concurrently appear on the Billboard 200....
chart, and for the song "Chicago".
Stevens has released albums of varying styles, from the
electronicaElectronica includes a wide range of contemporary electronic music designed for a wide range of uses, including foreground listening, some forms of dancing, and background music for other activities; however, unlike electronic dance music, it is not specifically made for dancing...
of
Enjoy Your RabbitEnjoy Your Rabbit is a 2001 electronic music album by Sufjan Stevens. It is a song cycle based around the animals of the Chinese Zodiac. The album was reworked and rearranged for string instruments and released in 2009 as Run Rabbit Run....
and the lo-fi
folkThe term folk music originated in the 19th century as a term for musical folklore. It has been defined in several ways; as music transmitted by word of mouth, music of the lower classes, music with no known composer...
of
Seven SwansSeven Swans is a folk rock music album by Sufjan Stevens. It includes songs about Abraham and Christ's Transfiguration, among many others. The album is softer and sparser than other albums by Stevens, relying more heavily on his trademark banjo and melodious voice.Seven Swans was received well by...
to the symphonic instrumentation of
Illinois and
ChristmasChristmas , also referred to as Christmas Day, is an annual holiday celebrated on December 25 that commemorates the birth of Jesus of Nazareth. The day marks the beginning of the larger season of Christmastide, which lasts twelve days. The nativity of Jesus, which is the basis for the anno Domini...
-themed
Songs for ChristmasSongs for Christmas is a box set of five separate EPs of Christmas-related songs and carols recorded by independent musician Sufjan Stevens between 2001 and 2006. The EPs had been given as gifts to friends and family of Stevens over the past six years, except for 2004 where he was too busy...
. Stevens makes use of a variety of instruments, often playing many of them himself on the same track, and writes music in various time signatures. He is considered part of the
folkThe term folk music originated in the 19th century as a term for musical folklore. It has been defined in several ways; as music transmitted by word of mouth, music of the lower classes, music with no known composer...
revival in
indie popIndie pop is a genre of alternative rock music that originated in the United Kingdom in the mid 1980s, with its roots in the Scottish post-punk bands on the Postcard Records label in the early '80s such as Orange Juice and Josef K and the dominant UK independent band of the mid eighties, The Smiths...
, but his influences are very broad. His music has been likened to
electronicaAmbient music is a musical genre that focuses largely on the timbral characteristics of sounds, often organized or performed to evoke an "atmospheric", "visual" or "unobtrusive" quality.- History :...
and aesthetically compared to the
minimalismMinimalist music is an originally American genre of experimental or Downtown music named in the 1960s based mostly in consonant harmony, steady pulse , stasis and slow transformation, and often reiteration of musical phrases or smaller units such as figures, motifs, and cells...
of
Steve ReichStephen Michael Reich is an American composer who pioneered the style of minimalist music. His innovations include using tape loops to create phasing patterns , and the use of simple, audible processes to explore musical concepts...
. Stevens' music often has spiritual themes, and many songs (most notably on
Seven SwansSeven Swans is a folk rock music album by Sufjan Stevens. It includes songs about Abraham and Christ's Transfiguration, among many others. The album is softer and sparser than other albums by Stevens, relying more heavily on his trademark banjo and melodious voice.Seven Swans was received well by...
) draw inspiration from Bible tales.
Stevens has garnered much interest from the press for his "Fifty States Project", his aim being to complete an album about each of the states of the
United StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. Stevens has thus far completed two state records,
IllinoisIllinois is a 2005 concept album by American songwriter Sufjan Stevens, with songs referencing places and people related to the U.S. state of Illinois. It is his second album based on a U.S. state, part of a planned series of fifty, that began with the 2003 album Michigan...
and his home state record
MichiganMichigan is a concept album by Sufjan Stevens, with songs referencing cities and people in the state of Michigan. It is the first in "The 50 States" project, a planned series of 50 albums to encompass all 50 states of the United States...
. He has stated that he remains serious about its completion. In interviews, Stevens has alluded to many different states as his next project, including
OregonOregon is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is located on the Pacific coast, with Washington to the north, California to the south, Nevada on the southeast and Idaho to the east. The Columbia and Snake rivers delineate much of Oregon's northern and eastern...
,
CaliforniaCalifornia is the most populous state in the United States, and the third largest by area. California is the second most populous sub-national entity in the Americas, behind only São Paulo, Brazil...
and
New JerseyNew Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It is bordered on the north by New York, and to the east by the Hudson River, Upper New York Bay, the Kill Van Kull, Newark Bay, the Arthur Kill, Raritan Bay, Sandy Hook Bay, Westchester County, New York City, Long Island, and...
.
Early life
Stevens was born in
DetroitDetroit is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan and the seat of Wayne County. Detroit is a major port city on the Detroit River, in the Midwest region of the United States. Located north of Windsor, Ontario, Detroit is the only major U.S. city that looks south to Canada. It was founded...
and lived there until the age of nine, when his family moved to
Petoskey, MichiganPetoskey is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2000 census, the city population was 6,080. It is the county seat of Emmet County....
. In Petoskey he attended Harbor Light Christian School as well as the prestigious Interlochen Arts Academy. He went on to attend
Hope CollegeHope College is a medium-sized , private, residential liberal arts college located in downtown Holland, Michigan, a few miles from Lake Michigan. It was opened in 1851 as the Pioneer School by Dutch immigrants four years after the community was first settled...
in
Holland, MichiganHolland is a city in the western region of the Lower Peninsula of the U.S. state of Michigan. It is situated near the eastern shore of Lake Michigan on Lake Macatawa, which is fed by the Macatawa River . The city spans the Ottawa/Allegan county line, with in Ottawa and the remaining in Allegan...
and received a Master of Fine Arts from
The New SchoolThe New School is a university in New York City, located mostly in Greenwich Village. From its founding in 1919 and for most of its history, the university was known as the New School for Social Research. Between 1997 and 2005 it was known as New School University...
in
New York CityNew York is the most populous city in the United States, and the center of the New York metropolitan area, which is among the most populous urban areas in the world. A leading global city, New York exerts a powerful influence over worldwide commerce, finance, culture, fashion and entertainment...
.
Sufjan is a
PersianPersian is an Iranian language within the Indo-Iranian branch of the Indo-European languages. It is widely spoken in Iran, Afghanistan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and to some extent in Iraq and Bahrain, and has a status of official language in the first three countries under different names...
name that predates
IslamIslam Islam Islam ( al-’islām,
[There are ten pronunciations of Islam in English, differing in whether the first or second syllable has the stress, whether the s is or , and whether the a is pronounced as in father, as in cat, or (when the stress is on the i) as in the a of sofa...]
and most famously belonged to Abu Sufyan, a figure from early
IslamIslam Islam Islam ( al-’islām,
[There are ten pronunciations of Islam in English, differing in whether the first or second syllable has the stress, whether the s is or , and whether the a is pronounced as in father, as in cat, or (when the stress is on the i) as in the a of sofa...]
ic history. The name was given to Stevens by the founder of
SubudSubud is an international spiritual movement that began in Indonesia in the 1920s as a movement founded by Muhammad Subuh Sumohadiwidjojo. The basis of Subud is a spiritual exercise commonly referred to as the latihan kejiwaan, which was said by Muhammad Subuh to represent guidance...
, an inter-faith, non-religious spiritual community to which his parents belonged when he was born. The name "Sufjan" means "comes with a sword."
Stevens' parents later gave him the option to change his name, but he was unable to think of a name that he liked; his parents later admitted that they did not really have the money for him to legally change his name.
A multi-instrumentalist, Stevens is known for his use of the
banjoThe banjo is a stringed instrument developed by enslaved Africans in the United States, adapted from several African instruments.The name banjo is commonly thought to be derived from the Kimbundu term mbanza...
, but also plays
guitarThe guitar is a musical instrument with ancient roots that adapts readily to a wide variety of musical styles. It typically has six strings, but four-, seven-, eight-, ten-, eleven-, twelve-, thirteen- and eighteen-string guitars also exist. The size and shape of the neck and the base of the guitar...
,
pianoThe piano is a musical instrument which is played by means of a keyboard. Widely used in Western music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music, and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...
,
drumsA drum set is a collection of drums, cymbals and sometimes other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person . The term "drum kit" first became used in the 1700s in Britain...
, and several other instruments, often playing all of these on his albums through the use of
multitrack recordingMultitrack recording is a method of sound recording that allows for the separate recording of multiple sound sources to create a cohesive whole. This is the most common method of recording popular music...
. While in school, he studied the
oboeThe oboe is a double reed musical instrument of the woodwind family. In English, prior to 1770, the instrument was called "hautbois", "hoboy", or "French hoboy". The spelling "oboe" was adopted into English ca...
and
English hornThe cor anglais, or English horn, is a double-reed woodwind instrument in the oboe family.The cor anglais is a transposing instrument pitched in F, a perfect fifth lower than the oboe , and is consequently approximately one-third longer. The fingering and playing technique used for the cor anglais...
, which he also plays on his albums. This multitude of instruments, including string and horn orchestrations, figure prominently in his compositions, giving his music a symphonic sound.
Stevens currently lives in
KensingtonKensington is a neighborhood in the center of the New York City borough of Brooklyn. It is the area south of Prospect Park and the Green-Wood Cemetery. It is bordered by Coney Island Avenue to the east, Caton Avenue/ Ft. Hamilton Parkway to the north, Dahill Road and 36th St to the west, and...
,
BrooklynBrooklyn is one of the five boroughs of New York City, located southwest of Queens on the western tip of Long Island. An independent city until its consolidation with New York in 1898, Brooklyn is New York City's most populous borough, with 2.5 million residents, and second largest in area...
, in
New York CityNew York is the most populous city in the United States, and the center of the New York metropolitan area, which is among the most populous urban areas in the world. A leading global city, New York exerts a powerful influence over worldwide commerce, finance, culture, fashion and entertainment...
, where he makes up the Asthmatic Kitty Records staff of the Brooklyn office. His brother
Marzuki StevensMarzuki Stevens is a professional long distance and marathon runner from Detroit, Michigan. Marzuki finished 5th among Americans at the Chicago Marathon on October 10, 2004, and 20th overall at the Boston Marathon, 2006. He qualified for the 2008 Olympic Trials.Marzuki Stevens is the brother of...
is a nationally recognized marathon runner.
Career
Stevens began his musical career as a member of
MarzukiMarzuki was an indie folk rock band from Holland, MI, with a significant fan base in western Michigan in the mid to late 1990s. They were especially popular among Hope College, Calvin College, and Grand Valley State University students...
, a folk-rock band from
Holland, MichiganHolland is a city in the western region of the Lower Peninsula of the U.S. state of Michigan. It is situated near the eastern shore of Lake Michigan on Lake Macatawa, which is fed by the Macatawa River . The city spans the Ottawa/Allegan county line, with in Ottawa and the remaining in Allegan...
. He also played (and continues to play) various instruments for
Danielson FamileDanielson is an American band from Clarksboro, New Jersey that plays indie pop gospel music. The group consists of frontman Daniel Smith and a number of various artists with whom he collaborates...
. While in school at
Hope CollegeHope College is a medium-sized , private, residential liberal arts college located in downtown Holland, Michigan, a few miles from Lake Michigan. It was opened in 1851 as the Pioneer School by Dutch immigrants four years after the community was first settled...
, Stevens wrote and recorded his debut solo album,
A Sun CameA Sun Came is a folk rock music album by Sufjan Stevens, released in 2000. It was reissued on Asthmatic Kitty Records five years later.Among Stevens' back catalog, A Sun Came is notable for being recorded on 4 track...
, which he released on Asthmatic Kitty Records, a record label he founded with his stepfather. He later moved to
New York CityNew York is the most populous city in the United States, and the center of the New York metropolitan area, which is among the most populous urban areas in the world. A leading global city, New York exerts a powerful influence over worldwide commerce, finance, culture, fashion and entertainment...
, where he was enrolled in a writing program at the New School for Social Research.
While in New York, Stevens composed and recorded the music for his second album,
Enjoy Your RabbitEnjoy Your Rabbit is a 2001 electronic music album by Sufjan Stevens. It is a song cycle based around the animals of the Chinese Zodiac. The album was reworked and rearranged for string instruments and released in 2009 as Run Rabbit Run....
, a
song cycleA song cycle is a group of songs designed to be performed in a sequence as a single entity. As a rule, all of the songs are by the same composer and often use words from the same poet or lyricist. Unification can be achieved by a narrative or a persona common to the songs, or even, as in Schumann's...
based around the animals of the
Chinese ZodiacThe Sheng xiao , better known as Chinese Zodiac, is a scheme that relates each year to an animal and its reputed attributes, according to a 12-year cycle...
that ventured into
electronicaElectronica includes a wide range of contemporary electronic music designed for a wide range of uses, including foreground listening, some forms of dancing, and background music for other activities; however, unlike electronic dance music, it is not specifically made for dancing...
.
Stevens followed this with the first album to be released as a part of his "Fifty States Project", a collection of folk songs and instrumentals inspired by his home state of Michigan. The result, the expansive
MichiganMichigan is a concept album by Sufjan Stevens, with songs referencing cities and people in the state of Michigan. It is the first in "The 50 States" project, a planned series of 50 albums to encompass all 50 states of the United States...
included odes to cities including
DetroitDetroit is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan and the seat of Wayne County. Detroit is a major port city on the Detroit River, in the Midwest region of the United States. Located north of Windsor, Ontario, Detroit is the only major U.S. city that looks south to Canada. It was founded...
and
FlintFlint is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan and is located along the Flint River, 66 miles northwest of Detroit. As of the 2000 census, the city had a population of 124,943, making it the fifth largest city in Michigan. It is the county seat of Genesee County which lies in the Flint/Tri-Cities...
, the Upper Peninsula, and vacation areas such as
Tahquamenon FallsThe Tahquamenon Falls are two different waterfalls on the Tahquamenon River. Both sets are located near Lake Superior in the eastern Upper Peninsula of Michigan. The water is notably brown in color from the tannins leached from the cedar swamps which the river drains...
. Melded into the scenic descriptions and characters are his own declarations of faith, sorrow, love, and the regeneration of Michigan.
Following the release of
Michigan, Stevens compiled a collection of songs recorded previously into a side project, the
ChristianChristian music is music that has been written to express either personal or a communal belief regarding Christian life and faith. Common themes of Christian music include praise, worship, penitence, and lament, and its forms vary widely across the world....
-folk album
Seven SwansSeven Swans is a folk rock music album by Sufjan Stevens. It includes songs about Abraham and Christ's Transfiguration, among many others. The album is softer and sparser than other albums by Stevens, relying more heavily on his trademark banjo and melodious voice.Seven Swans was received well by...
, which was released in March 2004.
Next he released the second in the 50 states project, titled
IllinoisIllinois is a 2005 concept album by American songwriter Sufjan Stevens, with songs referencing places and people related to the U.S. state of Illinois. It is his second album based on a U.S. state, part of a planned series of fifty, that began with the 2003 album Michigan...
. Among the subjects explored on
Illinois are the cities of Chicago,
DecaturDecatur is the largest city and the county seat of Macon County in the U.S. state of Illinois. The city, sometimes called "the Soybean Capital of the World," was founded in 1823 and is located along the Sangamon River and Lake Decatur in Central Illinois. In 2000 the city population was 81,500...
and
JacksonvilleJacksonville is a city in Morgan County, Illinois, United States. The population was 18,940 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Morgan County....
; the
World's Columbian ExpositionThe World's Columbian Exposition — also known as The Chicago World's Fair — was a World's Fair held in Chicago in 1893 to celebrate the 400th anniversary of Christopher Columbus's arrival in the New World. Chicago bested New York City, Washington, D.C. and St. Louis, Missouri, for the honor of...
of 1893; the state's observance of a holiday in honor of Casimir Pulaski; the poet
Carl SandburgCarl Sandburg was an American writer and editor, best known for his poetry. He won three Pulitzer Prizes, two for his poetry and another for a biography of Abraham Lincoln. H. L. Mencken called Carl Sandburg "indubitably an American in every pulse-beat."-Biography:Sandburg was born in Galesburg,...
; and the
serial killerA serial killer is a person who murders three or more people over a period of more than 30 days, with a "cooling off" period between each murder, and whose motivation for killing is largely based on psychological gratification. Often, a sexual element is involved with the killings...
John Wayne GacyJohn Wayne Gacy, Jr. was an American serial killer.Between the years 1972 and 1978, when he was arrested, convicted, and later executed, Gacy raped and murdered thirty-three young boys. Although some of his victims' bodies were found in the Des Plaines River, he buried 29 of them in the small...
.
Over the 2005 winter holidays, Stevens recorded an album with
Rosie ThomasRosie Thomas is an American singer-songwriter, originally from Michigan. It was through mutual friends that she met Trey Many and began playing shows with Velour 100. They recorded one EP together and played a few short tours, where she met Damien Jurado and Pedro the Lion...
and
Denison WitmerDenison Witmer is an indie singer-songwriter from Lancaster, Pennsylvania. His first release, in 1995, was a cassette entitled My Luck, My Love. He has since released five LPs; a cover album ; two EPs; and an LP with The River Bends—a side project consisting of members of the Philadelphia-based...
playing banjo and providing vocals. In April 2006, Pitchfork erroneously announced that Stevens and Thomas were having a baby together, but were forced to print a retraction. Witmer and Thomas later admitted it was an April Fools' prank. In December 2006, the collaborative recordings were digitally released by
NettwerkThe Nettwerk Music Group is the umbrella company for Nettwerk Management, Nettwerk Records, as well as Nettwerk One Publishing, Nutone Records, and Artwerk. With over 150 employees, the Vancouver based company has offices in New York, Los Angeles, London, Boston, Nashville and Hamburg...
as a Rosie Thomas album titled
These Friends of MineThese Friends of Mine is the fourth album by American singer-songwriter Rosie Thomas, released in 2006. Sufjan Stevens, David Bazan, Damien Jurado, and Denison Witmer also appear on this album. The album was initially only available for purchase at online music stores...
. The album was released in physical form on March 13, 2007.
On September 11, 2006, in
Nashville, TennesseeNashville is the capital of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the county seat of Davidson County. It is the second most populous city in the state after Memphis. It is located on the Cumberland River in Davidson County, in the north-central part of the state...
, Stevens debuted a new composition, a ten minute-plus piece titled "Majesty Snowbird". On November 21, 2006, a five CD box set
Songs for ChristmasSongs for Christmas is a box set of five separate EPs of Christmas-related songs and carols recorded by independent musician Sufjan Stevens between 2001 and 2006. The EPs had been given as gifts to friends and family of Stevens over the past six years, except for 2004 where he was too busy...
was released, which contains originals and Christmas standards recorded every year since 2001 (except 2004). Stevens undertook in the project initially as an exercise to make himself 'appreciate' Christmas more. The songs were the work of an annual collaboration between Stevens and different collaborators, including minister Vito Aiuto; the songs themselves were distributed to friends and family.
In April 2007, in
BrooklynBrooklyn is one of the five boroughs of New York City, located southwest of Queens on the western tip of Long Island. An independent city until its consolidation with New York in 1898, Brooklyn is New York City's most populous borough, with 2.5 million residents, and second largest in area...
and Philadelphia, Stevens made unannounced appearances on Thomas's tour in support of this album. In 2007 he did a Take-Away Show acoustic video session shot by
Vincent MoonVincent Moon is an independent filmmaker from Paris mainly known for his field work music videos of indie rock related musicians as well as some notable mainstream artists like Tom Jones, R.E.M. and Arcade Fire...
standing on a roof in Cincinnati. In 2007, he played shows sporadically, including playing at the Kennedy Center to celebrate the tenth anniversary of the Millennium Stage concerts. He was commissioned by the
Brooklyn Academy of MusicBrooklyn Academy of Music is a major performing arts venue in Brooklyn, a borough of New York City, known as a center for progressive and avant garde performance....
to create a "music and film work" titled
The BQE, described as "a symphonic and cinematic exploration of New York City's infamous
Brooklyn-Queens ExpresswayThe Brooklyn Queens Expressway is an expressway which runs from southern Brooklyn, New York to the Grand Central Parkway in Queens, New York. It is a portion of Interstate 278.-Route Description:...
". It premiered at BAM's Next Wave festival on November 1-3, 2007.
Stevens has also worked as an essayist, contributing to Asthmatic Kitty Records' "
Sidebar" feature and
Topic Magazine. He wrote the introduction to the 2007 edition of
The Best American Nonrequired Reading, a short story about his early childhood education and learning to read titled
How I Trumped Rudolf Steiner and Overcame the Tribulations of Illiteracy, One Snickers Bar at a Time. That winter, he hosted an "Xmas Song Exchange Contest" in which winner Alec Duffy won exclusive rights to the original Stevens song "The Lonely Man of Winter." The track has never been uploaded, and can now only be heard only by attending private listening parties at Duffy's home in Brooklyn.
Stevens has contributed to the music of
Denison WitmerDenison Witmer is an indie singer-songwriter from Lancaster, Pennsylvania. His first release, in 1995, was a cassette entitled My Luck, My Love. He has since released five LPs; a cover album ; two EPs; and an LP with The River Bends—a side project consisting of members of the Philadelphia-based...
, Soul Junk,
Half-handed CloudHalf-handed Cloud is a band from Berkeley, California. It was started as a one man band by John Ringhofer, who created the band name based on an occurrence in the Old Testament. Half-handed Cloud is under Asthmatic Kitty Records. His previous band was Wookieback with Matthew Vollmer and Brandon...
, Brother Danielson,
Danielson FamileDanielson is an American band from Clarksboro, New Jersey that plays indie pop gospel music. The group consists of frontman Daniel Smith and a number of various artists with whom he collaborates...
,
Serena ManeeshSerena Maneesh is an alternative rockband from Oslo, Norway.In an interview with Village Indian, Emil Nikolaisen, the songwriter of the band, explains the rather mysterious word-constellation the following way:’Serena’ is an adaptation of the Norwegian word for veil...The name came out from this...
, Castanets,
Will StrattonWill Stratton is an American singer-songwriter and composer who was born in Northern California and raised in New Jersey and California. He is 22 years old...
, Shannon Stephens, Clare and the Reasons, and Liz Janes. In 2007 alone, Stevens played piano on
The NationalThe National are a Brooklyn-based indie rock band formed in 1999 in Cincinnati, Ohio. The band's lyrics are written and sung by Matt Berninger in a distinctive, deep baritone. The rest of the band is composed of two pairs of brothers: Aaron and Bryce Dessner and Scott and Bryan Devendorf...
's album
BoxerBoxer is the fourth studio album by Brooklyn-based indie rock band The National. It was released on May 22, 2007 by Beggars Banquet Records. The album features a guest performance by Sufjan Stevens on "Ada" and "Racing Like a Pro" and backing vocals by Marla Hansen. Following its release, it...
, produced and contributed many instrumental tracks to
Rosie ThomasRosie Thomas is an American singer-songwriter, originally from Michigan. It was through mutual friends that she met Trey Many and began playing shows with Velour 100. They recorded one EP together and played a few short tours, where she met Damien Jurado and Pedro the Lion...
's album
These Friends of MineThese Friends of Mine may refer to:* These Friends of Mine , an album by Rosie Thomas* These Friends of Mine , the original name of the TV series Ellen, starring Ellen DeGeneres....
, multiple instruments on Ben + Vesper's album
All This Could Kill You and oboe and vocals to David Garland's new album
Noise in You.
He has contributed covers of
Tim BuckleyTimothy Charles Buckley III was an American vocalist and musician who went through many distinct phases spanning the late 1960s and early 1970s, in which he incorporated aspects of folk, jazz, psychedelia, funk, soul, and avant-garde rock...
("She Is"),
Joni MitchellJoni Mitchell, CC is a Canadian musician, songwriter, and painter.Mitchell began singing in small nightclubs in her native Western Canada and then busking on the streets of Toronto...
("
Free Man in Paris"Free Man In Paris" is a song written by Canadian singer-songwriter Joni Mitchell. It appeared on her 1974 album Court and Spark, as well as her live album Shadows and Light. It is one of her most popular songs. It is about music agent/promoter David Geffen, a close friend in the early 1970s, and a...
"),
Daniel JohnstonDaniel Dale Johnston is an American singer, songwriter, musician, and artist. Johnston was the subject of the 2006 documentary The Devil and Daniel Johnston. He currently lives in Waller, Texas....
("Worried Shoes"),
John FaheyJohn Fahey was an American fingerstyle guitarist and composer who pioneered the steel-string guitar as a solo instrument. His style has been greatly influential and has been described as American Primitivism, a term borrowed from painting and referring mainly to the self-taught nature of his art...
("Variation on 'Commemorative Transfiguration & Communion at Magruder Park"), The Innocence Mission ("The Lakes of Canada"),
Bob DylanBob Dylan is an American singer-songwriter, musician, poet and painter who has been a major figure in popular music for five decades. Much of his most celebrated work dates from the 1960s when he was, at first, an informal chronicler and then an apparently reluctant figurehead of social unrest...
("Ring Them Bells") and
The BeatlesThe Beatles were an English rock band formed in Liverpool in 1960 who became one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed bands in the history of popular music...
("What Goes On") to various tribute albums. His versions of "Free Man in Paris" and "What Goes On" are notable for only retaining the lyrics of the original, as Stevens has taken his own interpretation on the melody and arrangement. His rendition of "The Star Spangled Banner" has a similar rearranged melody and arrangement as well as a whole new verse.
His song "The Tallest Man, The Broadest Shoulders" was featured in the 2006 British
comedy-dramaComedy-drama, also called dramedy or seriocomedy, is a style of television, theatre and film in which there is an equal or nearly equal balance of humor and serious content.-Theatre:...
Driving LessonsDriving Lessons is a 2006 British dramedy film written and directed by Jeremy Brock. The plot focuses on the relationship between a shy teenaged boy and an aging eccentric actress.-Plot:...
, starring
Harry Potter'sThe Harry Potter fantasy film series is based on the seven Harry Potter novels by British writer J. K. Rowling, starring Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint and Emma Watson....
Julie WaltersJulie Walters, CBE is an English actress and novelist.-Early life:Walters was born as Julia Mary Walters in Smethwick, Staffordshire, the daughter of Mary Bridget , a postal clerk of Irish Catholic extraction, and Thomas Walters, a builder and decorator...
and
Rupert GrintRupert Alexander Lloyd Grint is an English actor best known for playing Ron Weasley in the Harry Potter films. In December 2007, Grint was ranked #16 in the list of Forbes Top twenty earners under 25 with an annual earning of $4 million .-Early life:Grint was born in Hertfordshire...
.
In April 2009, Stevens uploaded a song about director
Sofia CoppolaSofia Carmina Coppola is an American film director, actress, producer and screenwriter. She is the third female director, and only American woman, to be nominated for an Academy Award for Directing.-Early life:...
online. This song was written while Stevens was in college, from a series of songs about names.
Stevens recalled:
"[...] A few weeks later, our dog got hit by a snowplow and I forgot all about the problem of names. Until college, when I learned to play the guitar, and, as an exercise, started writing songs (very poorly executed) in the same way that Henry Ford produced the automobile: assembly-line-style. I wrote songs for the days of the week (poor Monday!). Songs for the planets (poor Pluto!). Songs for the Apostles (poor Judas!). And, finally, when all else failed, I started a series of songs for names. [...] Each piece was a rhetorical, philosophical, musical rumination on all the possible names I had entertained years before when my parents had given me the one chance to change my own. Oh fates! I sang these songs in the privacy of my dorm room, behind closed doors, pillows and cushions stuffed in the air vents so no one would hear. And then I almost failed Latin class, my grades plummeted, my social life dissolved into ping pong tournaments in the residence halls, and, gradually, my interest in music (or anything divine, creative, fruitful, enriching) completely waned. I turned to beer. And cigarettes. And TV sitcoms. And candy bars. Oh well! A perfectly good youth wasted on junk food! That is, until a few months ago, when I came across some of the old name songs, stuffed onto tape cassettes, 4-track recorders, forgotten boxes, forgotten shelves, forgotten hard drives. It was like finding an old diary, or a high school yearbook, senior picture with lens flare and pockmarks, slightly cute and embarrassing. What was I thinking? [...]"
In September 2009, Stevens began performing four new songs while on his Fall tour, "All Delighted People", "Impossible Souls", "There's Too Much Love" and "Age of Adz". It was also announced that Stevens would be releasing an album with his step father, Lowell Brams, entitled
Music For Insomnia. The album is due December 8, 2009.
The Fifty States Project
Beginning with
MichiganMichigan is a concept album by Sufjan Stevens, with songs referencing cities and people in the state of Michigan. It is the first in "The 50 States" project, a planned series of 50 albums to encompass all 50 states of the United States...
, Stevens announced an intent to write an album for each of the fifty
U.S. stateA U.S. state is any one of 50 federated states of the United States of America that share sovereignty with the federal government . Because of this shared sovereignty, an American is a citizen both of the federal entity and of his or her state of domicile...
s, although in interviews he wavers between utter sincerity and self-deprecating irony when describing the idea.
Stevens spent the second half of 2004 researching and writing material for the second of these projects, this time focusing his efforts on
Illinois. As with
Michigan, Stevens used the state of
IllinoisIllinois , the 21st state admitted to the United States of America, is the most populous and demographically diverse Midwestern state and the fifth most populous state in the nation...
as a leaping-off point for his more personal explorations of faith, family, love, and location. Though slated for general release on July 5, 2005, the album was briefly delayed by legal issues regarding the use of
SupermanSuperman is a fictional character, a comic book superhero widely considered to be an American cultural icon. Created by American writer Jerry Siegel and Canadian-born artist Joe Shuster in 1932 while both were living in Cleveland, Ohio, and sold to Detective Comics, Inc...
in the original album cover artwork. In the double vinyl release, a balloon sticker has been placed over Superman on the cover art of the first 5,000 copies. The next printings had an empty space where the Superman image was, as with the CD release.
The widely acclaimed
IllinoisIllinois is a 2005 concept album by American songwriter Sufjan Stevens, with songs referencing places and people related to the U.S. state of Illinois. It is his second album based on a U.S. state, part of a planned series of fifty, that began with the 2003 album Michigan...
was the highest-rated album of 2005 on the
MetacriticMetacritic is a website that collates reviews of music albums, games, movies, TV shows and DVDs. For each product, a numerical score from each review is obtained and the total is averaged. An excerpt of each review is provided along with a hyperlink to the source. Three colour codes of Green,...
review aggregator site, based on glowing reviews from
PitchforkPitchfork Media, usually known simply as Pitchfork, is a Chicago-based daily Internet publication devoted to music criticism and commentary, music news, and artist interviews. Its focus is on independent music, especially indie rock...
,
The Onion A/V ClubThe Onion is an American "news satire" organization. It features satirical articles reporting on international, national, and local news as well as an entertainment newspaper and website known as The A.V. Club...
,
Spin,
Billboard,
Entertainment WeeklyEntertainment Weekly is an American magazine, published by the Time division of Time Warner, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books and popular culture. Unlike celebrity-focused publications US Weekly, People, and In Touch Weekly, EWs primary concentration is on entertainment...
,
Rolling StoneRolling Stone is a United States-based magazine devoted to music, politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J. Gleason.The magazine was named after the 1948 Muddy Waters song of the same...
,
The New York TimesThe New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded in 1851 and published in New York City. The largest metropolitan newspaper in the United States, "The Gray Lady"—named for its staid appearance and style—is regarded as a national newspaper of record...
,
KEXPKEXP-FM is a public radio station based in Seattle, Washington, that specializes in independent and alternative rock programmed by its disc jockeys. Its broadcasting license is owned by the University of Washington, which operates the station in a partnership with Paul Allen's Experience Music...
, and
The GuardianThe Guardian is a British daily newspaper owned by the Guardian Media Group. Founded in 1821, it is unique among major British newspapers in being owned by a foundation .The Guardian Weekly, which circulates worldwide, provides a compact digest of four newspapers...
. The 2006
PLUG Independent Music AwardsThe PLUG Independent Music Awards, or just PLUG Awards, began in 2001 as a "cartel" of music lovers ranging from DJs and managers to indie retailers and fans....
awarded Stevens with the Album Of The Year, Best Album Art/Packaging, and Male Artist Of The Year. Pitchfork Media, No Ripcord, and Paste Magazine named
Illinois as the editors' choice for best album of 2005 and Stevens received the 2005 Pantheon prize, awarded to noteworthy albums selling fewer than 500,000 copies, for
Illinois. In April 2006, Stevens announced that 21 pieces of music he had culled from the
Illinois recording sessions would be incorporated into a new album, called
The AvalancheThe Avalanche: Outtakes and Extras from the Illinois Album is an album by indie rock singer/songwriter Sufjan Stevens, consisting of outtakes and other recordings from the sessions for his album Illinois. It has been released on the iTunes Store, and copies are available on the website for...
, which was released on July 11, 2006.
The next states to be taken on in the project have been reported as
OregonOregon is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is located on the Pacific coast, with Washington to the north, California to the south, Nevada on the southeast and Idaho to the east. The Columbia and Snake rivers delineate much of Oregon's northern and eastern...
and
Rhode IslandRhode Island and Providence Plantations, more commonly referred to as Rhode Island , is a state in the New England region of the United States. It is the smallest U.S. state by area...
. In late 2005 and early 2006 Stevens played a new instrumental track titled "The Maple River". There are various
Maple River- Rivers :*Maple River , a tributary of the Little Sioux River in the U.S. state of Iowa*Maple River , any of three rivers in the U.S. state of Michigan*Maple River , a tributary of the Le Sueur River in the U.S. state of Minnesota...
s in the U.S., so the particular river mentioned in the title of the song could suggest plans for
MinnesotaMinnesota is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. The twelfth largest state by area in the U.S., it is the twenty-first most populous, with 5.2 million residents. Minnesota was carved out of the eastern half of the Minnesota Territory and admitted to the Union as the...
,
IowaIowa is a state located in the Midwestern region of the United States of America, an area often referred to as the "American Heartland." It derives its name from the Ioway people, one of the many American Indian tribes that occupied the state at the time of European exploration. Iowa was a part of...
,
NorthNorth Dakota is a state located in the Midwestern region of the United States of America; on the Canadian border halfway between the Pacific and Atlantic oceans. North Dakota is the 19th largest state by area in the U.S.; it is the 3
rd least populous, with just over 641,481 residents as...
or
South DakotaSouth Dakota is a state located in the Midwestern region of the United States of America. It is named after the Lakota and Dakota Sioux American Indian tribes. South Dakota was carved out of the southern half of the Dakota Territory and admitted to the Union on November 2, 1889...
. There is also evidence to suggest the possibility of a New York album. Not only is Stevens's current residence in New York City, but at the footnote of his writing piece titled "Friend Rock", Stevens stated that he was reading a biography on
Robert MosesRobert Moses was the "master builder" of mid-20th century New York City, Long Island, and Westchester County, New York. As the shaper of a modern city, he is sometimes compared to Baron Haussmann of Second Empire Paris, and is one of the most polarizing figures in the history of urban planning in...
, who is a notable New Yorker. In late 2007, Stevens debuted several new songs about New York, including "BQE", a track about the
Brooklyn-Queens ExpresswayThe Brooklyn Queens Expressway is an expressway which runs from southern Brooklyn, New York to the Grand Central Parkway in Queens, New York. It is a portion of Interstate 278.-Route Description:...
, one of many urban developments designed and spearheaded by Robert Moses.
Stevens made brief mention to a possible collaboration with Asthmatic Kitty labelmate Rafter on an album about
CaliforniaCalifornia is the most populous state in the United States, and the third largest by area. California is the second most populous sub-national entity in the Americas, behind only São Paulo, Brazil...
. Stevens also recorded "The Lord God Bird" about the reported sighting of an
ivory-billed woodpeckerThe Ivory-billed Woodpecker is one of several species whose numbers have dwindled to the point where it is uncertain whether any remain. The species is listed as critically endangered and possibly extinct by the International Union for Conservation of Nature...
, thought to be extinct, in
ArkansasArkansas is a state located in the southern region of the United States. Its name is an Algonquin name of the Quapaw Indians. Arkansas shares a border with six states, with its eastern border largely defined by the Mississippi River. Its diverse geography ranges from the mountainous regions of the...
(known as the 'lord god' or 'great god' bird because of its breathtaking appearance). This was in connection with a
National Public RadioNational Public Radio is a privately and publicly funded non-profit membership media organization that serves as a national syndicator to 797 public radio stations in the United States. NPR was created in 1970, following congressional passage of the Public Broadcasting Act of 1967, signed into law...
piece in which "independent radio producers Dan Collison and Elizabeth Meister were curious about how Stevens writes his songs."
"Sufjan Stevens is not going to write a record for each of the 50 states after all" was the original text included on the online liner notes for their
Mews Too: An Asthmatic Kitty Compilation disc released on February 7, 2006. This statement was possibly included as a joke, as the text has since been removed and the current liner notes related to Stevens reads, "18. Sufjan Stevens can fold a fitted-sheet (he once worked as a professional folder in a commercial laundromat)."
In an article published on February 24, 2008, in
New York Magazine, Stevens implied that New Jersey could be the target of his next state project. After he gave a brief quote about the
New Jersey TurnpikeThe New Jersey Turnpike is a toll road in New Jersey and is one of the most heavily traveled highways in the United States...
, he was asked, "So is this the next musical project?" Sufjan joked, "New Jersey, the musical—an ode to the turnpike."
The BQE
On May 31, 2007,
Asthmatic KittyAsthmatic Kitty is an American independent record label founded in 1999 by a community of musicians from Holland, Michigan led by musician Sufjan Stevens and his stepfather Lowell Brams. Some were Holland natives, and others had come to attend local colleges and universities...
announced that Stevens would be premiering a new project titled
The BQE in early November 2007. The project, dubbed a "symphonic and cinematic exploration of New York City's infamous
Brooklyn-Queens ExpresswayThe Brooklyn Queens Expressway is an expressway which runs from southern Brooklyn, New York to the Grand Central Parkway in Queens, New York. It is a portion of Interstate 278.-Route Description:...
", was manifested in a live show.
The BQE featured an original film by Stevens (shot in
Super 8 mm filmSuper 8 mm film, also simply called Super 8, is a motion picture film format released in 1965 by Eastman Kodak as an improvement of the older 8 mm home movie format, and the Cine 8 format....
and standard 16 mm), while Stevens and a backing
orchestraAn orchestra is an instrumental ensemble, usually fairly large with string, brass, woodwind sections, and possibly a percussion section as well. The term orchestra derives from the name for the area in front of an ancient Greek stage reserved for the Greek chorus...
provided the live soundtrack. The performance used 36 performers which included a small band, a wind and brass ensemble, string players, horn players, and
hula hoopA hula hoop is a toy hoop that is twirled around the waist, limbs, or neck.Although the exact origins of hula hoops are unknown, children and adults around the world have played with hoops, twirling, rolling and throwing them throughout history. Hula hoops for children generally measure...
ers. There were no lyrics to the music.
The BQE was commissioned by the
Brooklyn Academy of MusicBrooklyn Academy of Music is a major performing arts venue in Brooklyn, a borough of New York City, known as a center for progressive and avant garde performance....
as part of their Next Wave Festival and performed on three consecutive nights from November 1–3, 2007.
The performance sold out the 2,109 seat BAM Opera House without any advertising. After three weeks of rehearsing the piece with the three dozen musicians involved, he presented the 30-minute composition.
The BQE was followed by an additional one hour of concert by Stevens and his orchestra.
The BQE won the 2008
Brendan GillBrendan Gill wrote for The New Yorker for more than 60 years. He also contributed film criticism for Film Comment and wrote a popular book about his time at the New Yorker magazine....
Prize.
On July 21, 2009 it was announced that the multimedia package would be released on October 20, 2009. It will consist of a CD of the show's soundtrack, a DVD of Brooklyn-Queen Expressway footage that accompanied the original performance (not a film of the performance itself), a 40-page booklet with liner notes and photos, and a stereoscopic 3D View-Master reel. There will also be a limited edition version that features the soundtrack on 180-gram vinyl and a 40-page BQE-themed comic book starring the show's hula hooping wonder women, the Hooper Heroes.
Run Rabbit Run
Stevens has recently released news via his record label website that he is working on new material and that he will appear at All Tomorrow's Parties New York, which is a music festival in New York. His new material will be rearranged versions of his old album
Enjoy Your Rabbit for strings, performed by the Osso String Quartet, and will be entitled
Run Rabbit RunRun Rabbit Run is an album by American indie folk singer-songwriter Sufjan Stevens, which was released on October 6, 2009. It is a re-working of his 2001 instrumental album Enjoy Your Rabbit...
. The album was released on October 6th, 2009.
Themes
Many of his songs have spiritual allusions. He says he does not try to make music for the sake of preaching. "I don't think music media is the real forum for
theologicalThe term "theology" literally means the study of God, deriving from the Greek word theos, meaning 'God', and the suffix -ology from the Greek word logos meaning "discourse", "theory", or "reasoning"...
discussions," says Stevens. "I think I've said things and sung about things that probably weren't appropriate for this kind of forum. And I just feel like it's not my work or my place to be making claims and statements, because I often think it's misunderstood."
Such themes are most notable on his album
Seven SwansSeven Swans is a folk rock music album by Sufjan Stevens. It includes songs about Abraham and Christ's Transfiguration, among many others. The album is softer and sparser than other albums by Stevens, relying more heavily on his trademark banjo and melodious voice.Seven Swans was received well by...
, the songs "Abraham", "Seven Swans", "To Be Alone with You", "He Woke Me Up Again", "We Won't Need Legs to Stand" and "The Transfiguration" directly address
ChristianityChristianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as presented by the revelations in the New Testament....
. In "Abraham", Stevens recounts the
Old TestamentIn Christianity, the Old Testament is the collection of books that form the first of the two-part Christian Biblical canon. These works correspond to the Hebrew Bible , with some variations and additions. In the Eastern Orthodox Church the comparable texts are known as the Septuagint, from the...
storyThe Binding of Isaac, in Genesis , is a story from the Hebrew Bible in which God asks Abraham to sacrifice his son, Isaac, on Mount Moriah.The narration is referred to as the Akedah or Akedat Yitzchak in Hebrew and as the Dhabih in Arabic...
in the Book of Genesis. The lyrics of "The Transfiguration" follow the Biblical accounts of
Matthew 17:1-8The Gospel of Matthew is one of the four canonical gospels in the New Testament. This synoptic gospel is an account of the life and ministry of Jesus of Nazareth...
,
Mark 9: 1-8The Gospel of Mark is the second of the four Canonical Gospels, but is believed by most contemporary scholars to be the first gospel written, on which the other two synoptic gospels, Matthew and Luke, were partially based....
, and
Luke 9:28-36The Gospel of Luke is the third and longest of the four canonical Gospels. This synoptic gospel is an account of the life and ministry of Jesus of Nazareth. It details his story from the events of his birth to his Ascension...
. The title of "All the Trees of the Fields Will Clap Their Hands" is a quote from
Isaiah 55:12The Book of Isaiah is a book of the Bible traditionally attributed to the Prophet Isaiah, who lived in the second half of the 8th century BC. In the first 39 chapters, Isaiah prophesies doom for a sinful Judah and for all the nations of the world that oppose God. The last 27 chapters prophesy the...
.
During a 2004 interview with Adrian Pannett for
Comes with a Smile magazine, when asked how important faith was to his music, he responded, "I don't like talking about that stuff in the public forum because, I think, certain themes and convictions are meant for personal conversation."
Studio albums
| Year |
Album |
|
|
|
|
|
|
| 2000 See also:* 2000 in music Record labels established in 2000-Events:*January - Gary Glitter is released from jail, two months before his sentence for sexual offences ends.*January 1**John Tavener is knighted in the New Year's Honours List....
|
A Sun Came A Sun Came is a folk rock music album by Sufjan Stevens, released in 2000. It was reissued on Asthmatic Kitty Records five years later.Among Stevens' back catalog, A Sun Came is notable for being recorded on 4 track...
|
— |
— |
— |
— |
— |
— |
| 2001 See also:* 2001 in music Record labels established in 2001-Events:*January 1**Comeback of Guns N' Roses in House of Blues**Hum disbands.*January 17 - Bass player Jason Newsted leaves Metallica after 14 years with the band....
|
Enjoy Your Rabbit Enjoy Your Rabbit is a 2001 electronic music album by Sufjan Stevens. It is a song cycle based around the animals of the Chinese Zodiac. The album was reworked and rearranged for string instruments and released in 2009 as Run Rabbit Run....
|
— |
— |
— |
— |
— |
— |
| 2003 See also:* 2003 in music Record labels established in 2003-Events:* January - following an investigation by The International Federation of the Phonographic Industry and London detectives, police raids in England and the Netherlands recover nearly 500 original Beatles studio tapes, recorded during...
|
Michigan Michigan is a concept album by Sufjan Stevens, with songs referencing cities and people in the state of Michigan. It is the first in "The 50 States" project, a planned series of 50 albums to encompass all 50 states of the United States...
|
— |
— |
— |
— |
— |
— |
| 2004 See also:* 2004 in music Record labels established in 2004-Events:*January 1**The Vienna New Year's Concert is conducted by Riccardo Muti.**Kurt Nilsen wins World Idol....
|
Seven Swans Seven Swans is a folk rock music album by Sufjan Stevens. It includes songs about Abraham and Christ's Transfiguration, among many others. The album is softer and sparser than other albums by Stevens, relying more heavily on his trademark banjo and melodious voice.Seven Swans was received well by...
|
— |
— |
— |
— |
— |
— |
| 2005 -Events:*During the year 2005, 12 rock music albums scored number 1 in the USA. This was the first time even ten albums have scored number 1 since 1996....
|
Illinois Illinois is a 2005 concept album by American songwriter Sufjan Stevens, with songs referencing places and people related to the U.S. state of Illinois. It is his second album based on a U.S. state, part of a planned series of fifty, that began with the 2003 album Michigan...
|
121 |
1 |
4 |
— |
172 |
23 |
| 2006
This is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 2006.-January:*January 10 - Eric Burdon releases his album Soul of a Man and begins touring with a new band....
|
The Avalanche: Outtakes and Extras from the Illinois Album |
71 |
— |
4 |
6 |
— |
93 |
| 2006
This is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 2006.-January:*January 10 - Eric Burdon releases his album Soul of a Man and begins touring with a new band....
|
Songs for Christmas Songs for Christmas is a box set of five separate EPs of Christmas-related songs and carols recorded by independent musician Sufjan Stevens between 2001 and 2006. The EPs had been given as gifts to friends and family of Stevens over the past six years, except for 2004 where he was too busy...
|
122 |
— |
3 |
— |
17 |
— |
| 2009 The following is a list of notable events and releases that have occurred or are expected to happen in 2009 in music.-January:*"Single Ladies " begins the year of 2009 at number one as Beyoncé's 5th solo number one hit and her ninth in total.*January 8 - Lady Gaga's debut single "Just Dance" hit...
|
Run Rabbit Run Run Rabbit Run is an album by American indie folk singer-songwriter Sufjan Stevens, which was released on October 6, 2009. It is a re-working of his 2001 instrumental album Enjoy Your Rabbit...
|
— |
— |
— |
— |
— |
— |
| 2009 The following is a list of notable events and releases that have occurred or are expected to happen in 2009 in music.-January:*"Single Ladies " begins the year of 2009 at number one as Beyoncé's 5th solo number one hit and her ninth in total.*January 8 - Lady Gaga's debut single "Just Dance" hit...
|
The BQE The BQE is a mixed-medium artistic exploration of the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway by Sufjan Stevens. The project originally manifested in the form of a live show, performed on November 1-3, 2007...
|
— |
— |
— |
— |
— |
— |
Compilation appearances
- "All Delighted People" (Eye of the Beholder Vol.1, Tract Records, October 3, 2000)
- "Woman at the Well", "(Year of the) Ox", and "Far Physician's Son" (8.21. a blue bunny compilation, Blue Bunny Records, 2000)
- "Damascus" (Seen/Unseen, Absalom Recordings, September 25, 2001)
- "The First Full Moon", "God'll Ne'er Let You Down", "Bushwick Junkie", "I Can't Even Lift My Head" (To Spirit Back The Mews, Asthmatic Kitty
Asthmatic Kitty is an American independent record label founded in 1999 by a community of musicians from Holland, Michigan led by musician Sufjan Stevens and his stepfather Lowell Brams. Some were Holland natives, and others had come to attend local colleges and universities...
, 2002)
- "For The Widows In Paradise, For The Fatherless In Ypsilanti" (Rough Trade Shops: Counter Culture 03: Best Of 2003, Rough Trade Records
Rough Trade Records is an independent record label, based in London, England. It was started in 1978 by Geoff Travis.-History:Geoff Travis was traveling in North America and amassed a huge record collection as he moved from coast to coast. He then shipped these records back to the UK which became...
, February 2, 2004)
- "Borderline" (Hope Isn't a Word, Comes With a Smile, 2004)
- "To Be Alone With You" (Music from the OC: Mix 4, Warner Bros. Records
Warner Bros. Records Inc. is an American record label that operates as a wholly owned subsidiary of Warner Music Group. It is also affectionately known as Warners or the Bunny, based on the Bugs Bunny cartoons released by Warner Bros. Pictures.-History:...
/Wea, 2005)
- "What Goes On" (This Bird Has Flown - A 40th Anniversary Tribute to the Beatles' Rubber Soul
This Bird Has Flown - A 40th Anniversary Tribute to the Beatles' Rubber Soul is an indie tribute album by a variety of artists that commemorates, as the title suggests, the fortieth anniversary of the release of The Beatles' 1965 album Rubber Soul. It was released on October 25 2005 by Razor & Tie...
, Razor & TieRazor & Tie is a New York based corporation founded in 1990 by Cliff Chenfeld and Craig Balsam. The company encompasses a record label with major label distribution, a home video company, a media buying company, a music publishing business, a marketing, promotion and sales team, and a direct...
, October 2005)
- "She Is" (Dream Brother: The Songs of Tim and Jeff Buckley
Dream Brother: The Songs of Tim and Jeff Buckley is a studio album performed by various artists in tribute to 1960s musician Tim Buckley, and his son, also a musician, Jeff Buckley...
, Full Time Hobby, October 3, 2005)
- "Opie's Funeral Song" (Mews Too: An Asthmatic Kitty Compilation, Asthmatic Kitty
Asthmatic Kitty is an American independent record label founded in 1999 by a community of musicians from Holland, Michigan led by musician Sufjan Stevens and his stepfather Lowell Brams. Some were Holland natives, and others had come to attend local colleges and universities...
, February 7, 2006)
- "Variation on 'Commemorative Transfiguration & Communion at Magruder Park'" (I Am the Resurrection: A Tribute to John Fahey, Vanguard Records
Vanguard Records is a record label set up in 1950 by brothers Maynard and Seymour Solomon in New York. It started as a classical label, but is perhaps best known for its catalogue of recordings by a number of pivotal folk and blues artists from the 1960s; the Bach Guild was a subsidiary...
, February 14, 2006)
- "The Friendly Beasts" (See You on the Moon! Songs for Kids of All Ages
See You on the Moon!: Songs for Kids of All Ages is a compilation album, released in 2006 on Paper Bag Records. The album features a number of indie rock artists, mostly but not exclusively from Canada, performing songs written in the style of children's songs.Most tracks are original songs written...
, Paper Bag RecordsPaper Bag Records is a Canadian independent record label, founded in 2002 and based out of Toronto, Ontario.Originally the label was created with the intention of focusing specifically on the Toronto-area indie rock music scene, including bands such as Broken Social Scene, Stars,...
, March 21, 2006)
- "Adlai Stevenson" (The Sound the Hare Heard
The Sound the Hare Heard is a 2006 compilation of mostly acoustic arrangements by a number of singer-songwriters, both well-known and relatively obscure...
, Kill Rock StarsKill Rock Stars is an independent record label founded in 1991 by Slim Moon and based in both Olympia, Washington and Portland, Oregon. The label has released a variety of work in different genres, making it difficult to pigeonhole as having any one artistic mission...
, May 9, 2006)
- "Chicago" and "No Man's Land" (Little Miss Sunshine
Little Miss Sunshine is a 2006 American comedy-drama film, and the directorial film debut of the husband-wife team of Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris. The screenplay was written by first-time writer Michael Arndt. It stars Greg Kinnear, Steve Carell, Toni Collette, Paul Dano, Abigail Breslin, and...
, Directors: Jonathan DaytonJonathan Dayton was an American politician from the U.S. state of New Jersey. He was the youngest person to sign the United States Constitution and a member of the U.S. House of Representatives, serving as the fourth Speaker of the United States House of Representatives, and later the U.S. Senate...
and Valerie Faris, August 18 2006)
- "Casimir Pulaski Day" (Guitar And Voice For Rainy Days, Volume 2, Your Musicland, 2006)
- "Free Man in Paris
"Free Man In Paris" is a song written by Canadian singer-songwriter Joni Mitchell. It appeared on her 1974 album Court and Spark, as well as her live album Shadows and Light. It is one of her most popular songs. It is about music agent/promoter David Geffen, a close friend in the early 1970s, and a...
" (A Tribute to Joni MitchellA Tribute To Joni Mitchell is a tribute to Joni Mitchell featuring Sufjan Stevens, Björk, Caetano Veloso, Brad Mehldau, Cassandra Wilson, Prince, Sarah McLachlan, Annie Lennox, Emmylou Harris, Elvis Costello, k.d. lang, and James Taylor.-Track listing:...
, NonesuchThe word nonesuch means something with nothing like it; an unrivalled thing; a paragon. Nonesuch can also refer to the following:*Nonesuch Press*Nonesuch Records*Nonesuch River Golf CourseNonesuch also appears as an alternate spelling for:...
, April 24, 2007)
- "Ring Them Bells" (I'm Not There: Original Soundtrack
The soundtrack album for the Bob Dylan biopic I'm Not There was released as a double CD on October 30, 2007. It features only one recording by Dylan himself—his previously unreleased recording of the title song "I'm Not There" recorded during The Basement Tapes' sessions in 1967—plus...
, Columbia RecordsColumbia Records is an American record label founded in 1888.Columbia is the oldest surviving brand name in pre-recorded sound, being the first record company to produce pre-recorded records as opposed to blank cylinders. Columbia Records went on to release records by an array of notable singers,...
, 2007)
- "Decatur, Or, Round of Applause for your Stepmother!" (Folk Off: New Folk And Psychedelia From The British Isles And North America Compiled By Rob Da Bank
Robert Gorham, known by the pseudonym Rob da Bank, is a British disc jockey. He presents a Saturday-night show, Rob da Bank, on BBC Radio 1 from 5am-7am, focused on promoting new left field music. Examples of artists featured on his show include Tipper, Moloko and a host of unsigned acts.Until...
, Sunday BestSunday Best is the music company founded and run by Radio 1 DJ Rob da Bank. Its primary business is as a record label, but it also stages regular club nights and is the flagship organisation behind the popular UK music festival Bestival which takes place on the Isle Of Wight each September.-...
, 2006)
- "In the Words of the Governor" (The Believer
-Overview:Published by McSweeney's out of San Francisco, the magazine also covers other artforms, and features articles about authors, artists, and literary issues of the past and present, often relating to politics and popular culture...
, music compilation CD, June/July 2007)
- "You Are the Blood" (Dark Was the Night
Dark Was the Night is the twentieth compilation release benefiting the Red Hot Organization, an international charity dedicated to raising funds and awareness for HIV and AIDS...
, 4AD4AD is a British independent record label that was started in 1979 by Ivo Watts-Russell and Peter Kent, funded by Beggars Banquet Records, and is still active today...
, February 17, 2009)
Collaborations
- Serena Maneesh
Serena Maneesh or Serena-Maneesh is the debut self-titled album by Serena Maneesh.The LP was partly recorded in Steve Albini’s respected Electrical Audio Recordings studio in Chicago as well as in various facilities in New York and Oslo...
by Serena ManeeshSerena Maneesh is an alternative rockband from Oslo, Norway.In an interview with Village Indian, Emil Nikolaisen, the songwriter of the band, explains the rather mysterious word-constellation the following way:’Serena’ is an adaptation of the Norwegian word for veil...The name came out from this...
(HoneyMilk Records, August 29, 2005) (Sufjan Stevens - flute, marimba)
- Done Gone Fire by Liz Janes (Asthmatic Kitty Records, September 6, 2005) (Sufjan Stevens - producer and performer)
- What's The Remedy? by Half-handed Cloud
Half-handed Cloud is a band from Berkeley, California. It was started as a one man band by John Ringhofer, who created the band name based on an occurrence in the Old Testament. Half-handed Cloud is under Asthmatic Kitty Records. His previous band was Wookieback with Matthew Vollmer and Brandon...
(Asthmatic Kitty Records, October 25, 2005) (Sufjan Stevens - producer and performer)
- These Friends of Mine
These Friends of Mine is the fourth album by American singer-songwriter Rosie Thomas, released in 2006. Sufjan Stevens, David Bazan, Damien Jurado, and Denison Witmer also appear on this album. The album was initially only available for purchase at online music stores...
by Rosie ThomasRosie Thomas is an American singer-songwriter, originally from Michigan. It was through mutual friends that she met Trey Many and began playing shows with Velour 100. They recorded one EP together and played a few short tours, where she met Damien Jurado and Pedro the Lion...
(Sub Pop Records, December 12, 2006) (Sufjan Stevens - producer and performer)
- "Racing Like a Pro" and "Ada" from Boxer
Boxer is the fourth studio album by Brooklyn-based indie rock band The National. It was released on May 22, 2007 by Beggars Banquet Records. The album features a guest performance by Sufjan Stevens on "Ada" and "Racing Like a Pro" and backing vocals by Marla Hansen. Following its release, it...
by The NationalThe National are a Brooklyn-based indie rock band formed in 1999 in Cincinnati, Ohio. The band's lyrics are written and sung by Matt Berninger in a distinctive, deep baritone. The rest of the band is composed of two pairs of brothers: Aaron and Bryce Dessner and Scott and Bryan Devendorf...
(Beggars Banquet RecordsBeggars Banquet is an English independent record label that began as a chain of record shops owned by Martin Mills and Nick Austin, and is part of the Beggars Group of labels...
, May 22, 2007) (Sufjan Stevens - piano)
- Welcome to the Welcome Wagon by The Welcome Wagon
The Welcome Wagon is a gospel / indie pop band from Williamsburg, Brooklyn, New York. The group consists of Presbyterian minister Vito Aiuto and his wife, Monique...
(Dec 2008)
- "Pity Dance" and "Around The Lion Legs" from Heavy Ghost by DM Stith
David Michael Stith is a singer/songwriter and multi-instrumentalist who released his first CD Heavy Ghost in 2009 on the Asthmatic Kitty label...
(Asthmatic Kitty Records, March 7, 2009) (Sufjan Stevens - piano, voice, stapler, stationary floor fan, bass drum, flutes)
Miscellaneous releases
- Michigan Outtakes (first available as free mp3
MPEG-1 Audio Layer 3, more commonly referred to as MP3, is a patented digital audio encoding format using a form of lossy data compression. It is a common audio format for consumer audio storage, as well as a de facto standard of digital audio compression for the transfer and playback of music on...
download on Stevens' website; now included on the vinyl version of Michigan)
- "The Dress Looks Nice on You" (7″ vinyl single) (Rough Trade Records
Rough Trade Records is an independent record label, based in London, England. It was started in 1978 by Geoff Travis.-History:Geoff Travis was traveling in North America and amassed a huge record collection as he moved from coast to coast. He then shipped these records back to the UK which became...
, 2004)
- "The Lord God Bird" (National Public Radio
National Public Radio is a privately and publicly funded non-profit membership media organization that serves as a national syndicator to 797 public radio stations in the United States. NPR was created in 1970, following congressional passage of the Public Broadcasting Act of 1967, signed into law...
website, July 6, 2005)
- Songs for Christmas, Vol VI: subtitle missing (Dec 2006, unreleased to the general public)
- Songs for Christmas, Vol VII: subtitle missing (Dec 2007, unreleased to the general public)
- "The Lonely Man of Winter" (Xmas Xchange Contest song, Dec 2007, unreleased to the general public)
- Songs for Christmas, Vol VIII: Astral Inter Planet Space Captain Christmas Infinity Voyage (Dec 2008, unreleased to the general public)
- "Sofia's Song" (April 2009, featured on Asthmatic Kitty Records' blog, The Sidebar)
External links