Like Avalanche, Songs for Christmas is nothing if not eclectic. A whole sleigh-load of carols and original tunes collected from 2001 to 2006, these songs were written and recorded off the cuff, and naturally many of them feel a little ragged and underdone. But they're far more mature than any of the songs on A Sun Came, and there are moments of quirky holiday splendor -- moments akin to some of the best material on Greetings from Michigan and Illinoise -- that make plowing through the entire five-EP set a pleasure. If you're worried that Sufjan Stevens will sound a trifle predictable or indulgent covering traditionals like "Silent Night," your worries are justified. Recorders, oboes, glockenspiels, and banjos abound, and Stevens approaches these songs with the same vulnerability, preciousness, and weird religious overtones (ŕ la Seven Swans) as he has on his previous work. That aside, "O Holy Night" and "O Come O Come Emmanuel" are deeply affecting, especially because they rely on Stevens' idiosyncratic arrangements and frail voice. The real sugarplums, though, are the original tunes. "That Was the Worst Christmas Ever!" is all meandering banjos and luminous harmonies reminiscent of "Romulus" and "Casimir Pulaski Day," and the jumpy "Get Behind Me, Santa!" reaches "The Man of Metropolis Steals Our Hearts" heights with some of the best Santa-related lyrics the world has yet known ("You're a bad brother breakin' into people's garages!"). Stevens fans will love Songs for Christmas. Unabashedly, almost frighteningly, with the kind of glee normally attributed to a certain jolly old elf, fans will revel in this little blue box with its silver lettering and scribbly Christmas art. In addition to 42 shiny new tracks, the lucky recipients of Songs for Christmas will also receive: An animated short by Tom Eaton! One (mildly creepy) poster of Stevens in full holiday regalia! Two short stories by Stevens! A weird essay by Rick Moody! And a complete singalong book for the entire EP set! Not to mention stickers! And comics! Songs for Christmas is a veritable stocking's worth of doodads and oddities lovingly embroidered with Stevens' kitschy crayon drawings, scribbly pencil sketches, and extra-long song titles. Which adds up to one merry Christmas indeed for Sufjan Stevens fans.
If you're like me, the last few months of non-stop popular Christmas music is like a slow methodical torture...every song another drip to the forehead...that's only ever broken up by moments of pure agony (McCartneys "wonderful christmastime", Band Aid's "do they know it's christmas", anyone singing along to the "Hanukkah Song"). It makes me feel like a scrooge...which is unfortunate cause rea...
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I know, I know. We're sick of hearing about Sufjan's Christmas box-set. I've avoided it myself. I'd been doing a good enough job stuffing as much of his music down my throat as it was, and the box-set looked like a huge dessert after a huge meal. I was full of Sufjan.Then earlier this evening, I stumbled upon an MP3 of "Star of Wonder" from, I think, the fifth disc in this collection over at "i...
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Just so there's no chance you'll miss it, the new iTunes Single of the Week is just great.I think my favorite song from Songs For Christmas is "Sister Winter". She lends summer happiness, but on every winter day except one she will be repayed. She breaks hearts, but on Christmas even she is a friend.That song and "The Predatory Wasp of the Palisades Is Out To Get Us!" and a few Belle & Sebastia...
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I'm not sure if this has permeated the mog-o-sphere, BUT a friend of mine recently passed this along to me. Sufjan Stevens-Songs for Christmas I found the first 3 parts on this "blog":http://chattablogs.com/quintus/archives/019666.html but I do believe that there is more. It has pretty much been in permanent rotation at the house. *Happy Holidays! Merry Christmas!*
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Real quick, 'cause he's not interesting in general to me anymore (like I've said, he's gotta switch it up big time - he talks the talk sometimes, but can he walk the walk? Not so sure): I'm listening to Sufjan Stevens' most recent relased recording, Peace: Songs for Christmas Vol. V. It's nice. Right? It's nice. But why isn't it, or The Avalanche, or even bits of Illinois, as good as Michigan? ...
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Allll right kids. It's getting close to that time again. Christmas is only 36 more days away and as soon as that dirty turkey and stuffing clears the table we can start thinking about what really matters. The shit we're getting for Christmas.I know, I know. 36 days is a long ass time. But. The Sufjan Stevens Christmas album is coming out on the 21st. And that's only two days away. So. ...
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I was curious about Sufjan Steven's next album, "Songs For Christmas". You can stream every song right now on the Asthmatic Kitty Records website. My Firefox didn't work, but IE worked. I'm not a huge fan, but I really enjoyed the Illinois album, so I'm excited to what he can bring to the usually very boring and cheesy Christmas genre.http://www.asthmatickitty.com/suf_xmas/suf_xmas.php
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Well, judgin by the TV it must be Christmas -Steve McQueen's just missed jumping into Switzerland and Bartlett and the boys have been mown down for attempting The Great Escape, (the BBC's msot bizarre festive favourite) so before I go and get lost in a day of gluttony, greed and spending time with people I love but don't particularly like (no doubt with usual conversations about the "ambiance" ...
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You better watch out You better not cry You better not pout I'm telling you whyHipster Claus is coming to townOnce In Royal David's City is a Christmas carol, which was originally a poem written by Cecil Frances Humphreys Alexander, who in 1848 married an Anglican clergyman, and in 1867, upon her husband's consecration, thereby became a bishop's wife.This version comes courtesy of Sufjan Steven...
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If you're like me, the last few months of non-stop popular Christmas music is like a slow methodical torture...every song another drip to the forehead...that's only ever broken up by moments of pure agony (McCartneys "wonderful christmastime", Band Aid's "do they know it's christmas", anyone singing along to the "Hanukkah Song"). It makes me feel like a scrooge...which is unfortunate cause rea...
More >
Real quick, 'cause he's not interesting in general to me anymore (like I've said, he's gotta switch it up big time - he talks the talk sometimes, but can he walk the walk? Not so sure): I'm listening to Sufjan Stevens' most recent relased recording, Peace: Songs for Christmas Vol. V. It's nice. Right? It's nice. But why isn't it, or The Avalanche, or even bits of Illinois, as good as Michigan? ...
More >
I know, I know. We're sick of hearing about Sufjan's Christmas box-set. I've avoided it myself. I'd been doing a good enough job stuffing as much of his music down my throat as it was, and the box-set looked like a huge dessert after a huge meal. I was full of Sufjan.Then earlier this evening, I stumbled upon an MP3 of "Star of Wonder" from, I think, the fifth disc in this collection over at "i...
More >
I'm not sure if this has permeated the mog-o-sphere, BUT a friend of mine recently passed this along to me. Sufjan Stevens-Songs for Christmas I found the first 3 parts on this "blog":http://chattablogs.com/quintus/archives/019666.html but I do believe that there is more. It has pretty much been in permanent rotation at the house. *Happy Holidays! Merry Christmas!*
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Well, I did something different this year: I bought a few Christmas albums. Traditionally, I have despised Christmas music (R n B versions of Winter Wonderland are pure trash and acapella groups singing any Christmas songs at all make ill), but this year I thought I'd give it a try.I bought three albums:1. Jars of Clay - Christmas Songs2. Relient K - Let It Snow Baby, Let It Reindeer3. Sufjan ...
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The tree is up, the lights are on, the cat is chasing stray baubles and bringing up strands of tinsel with her hairballs, the kids are over-hyped on sweets and chocolate..Somehow Mr Stevens has captured the magic and the kitch and the kid's-singed-fringe-on-the-Christingle smell of Christmas with this set of EPs (five recorded over six years), and it has become a staple of my Christmas listenin...
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Allll right kids. It's getting close to that time again. Christmas is only 36 more days away and as soon as that dirty turkey and stuffing clears the table we can start thinking about what really matters. The shit we're getting for Christmas.I know, I know. 36 days is a long ass time. But. The Sufjan Stevens Christmas album is coming out on the 21st. And that's only two days away. So. ...
More >
I was curious about Sufjan Steven's next album, "Songs For Christmas". You can stream every song right now on the Asthmatic Kitty Records website. My Firefox didn't work, but IE worked. I'm not a huge fan, but I really enjoyed the Illinois album, so I'm excited to what he can bring to the usually very boring and cheesy Christmas genre.http://www.asthmatickitty.com/suf_xmas/suf_xmas.php
More >
One more day of school--then break!!Yesterday I downloaded That Was the Worst Christmas Ever! by Sufjan Stevens, and it is SO BOSH!! It's the first song I've heard by him, and I'm in love. It's a free download of the week on itunes, if you're interested.Two parties out of four classes tomorrow.. woot. Must remember to bring food, must remember to bring food, must remember to bring food... I ...
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It seems the more I listen to this album, the more I like it.Here's one of Sufjan's originals, from the 5th EP (Peace) of the Songs For Christmas box set. This one took a few listens for me until I liked it. Now I love it.Not only do I love the music from this compilation of music, but the packaging is just amazing. The box set comes with:-A Sufjan Stevens family poster (hilarious)-A comic stri...
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We're almost one month away from Christmas, so you know what that means...time to start hauling out the Christmas albums!Gone are the days of listening to "Beyond the Season" by Garth Brooks or the Chipmunks Christmas album. (Those definitely weren't my calls.) It's all about Sufjan Stevens now. Stevens put out one of the greatest albums of 2005 with Illinois, and a year later, he released this...
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Just so there's no chance you'll miss it, the new iTunes Single of the Week is just great.I think my favorite song from Songs For Christmas is "Sister Winter". She lends summer happiness, but on every winter day except one she will be repayed. She breaks hearts, but on Christmas even she is a friend.That song and "The Predatory Wasp of the Palisades Is Out To Get Us!" and a few Belle & Sebastia...
More >
via Asthmatic Kitty RecordsBecause I am full of good karma and luck, I had a seat on the only cancelled United flight from LGA to Chicago yesterday. Supposedly, the flight was cancelled due to “the weather,” but I suspected that this may not have been the case since all the other shuttle flights were good to go. I’d been on standby at the airport since 3 AM, with little to no hope that I w
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