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Sufjan Returns!

Kevan

By Kevan,
in Someone Else's Song

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Oil Can Boyd

Oil Can Boyd

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That is good news. It's been a while since he toured.

 

Saw this on-line:

 

Regarding the as-yet-untitled new Sufjan Stevens album, [the National’s Bryce] Dessner told Exclaim! “We’ve played on some of the tracks and been listening to some of the stuff as he’s been working on it.”

 

Dessner didn’t want to reveal too much about the new, Stevens album, but when asked if the new material sounded like his older records, Dessner said “no,” adding, “It’s going to be incredible, It’s going to probably blow people’s minds.”

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SeattleC

SeattleC

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Would everyone agree John Wayne Gacy is the creepiest song ever written? Maybe a good poll topic. Hmmm?

 

 

It is an extremely creepy song, but well done. His voice is amazing on it. I have it turned off on itunes though, as I can't handle it in the random mix.

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sonicshoulder

sonicshoulder

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It is an extremely creepy song, but well done. His voice is amazing on it. I have it turned off on itunes though, as I can't handle it in the random mix.

Nothing like a good afternoon cookout, feelin good with the family and friends and here comes..."his father was a drinker..." Yeah, its off my random too!! Definitely a great tune though.

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Moss

Moss

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Would everyone agree John Wayne Gacy is the creepiest song ever written? Maybe a good poll topic. Hmmm?

 

I can't think of a creepier one off the top of my head. Although Angels and Fuselage by DBT always gives me the willies. Try listening to that one on a plane some time.

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Magnetized

Magnetized

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I can't think of a creepier one off the top of my head. Although Angels and Fuselage by DBT always gives me the willies. Try listening to that one on a plane some time.

 

Well, this is my first listen to John Wayne Gacy, but to my ears it's a little too literal to be truly creepy. My number one candidate for creepy song--and brilliant too, by the way--is "In Germany Before the War" by Randy Newman. It's based on a real serial killer, Peter Kürten, from Dusseldorf, who was executed in 1931. Fritz Lang's movie M was also supposed to be based on this child murderer. Here's a young Randy Newman performing the song. I think the combination of sparse lyrics, haunting melody and the spaces in between make this one of the most chilling and beautiful songs ever written. (But then I think Randy Newman is a genius. So there's that.)

 

http://youtu.be/I-34xJCI7MY

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solace

solace

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kind of amazed he's playing a 2500 seat theater here for nearly $50 after fees...

 

i'll have to live w/ the show i saw last year at the 400 Bar (it was just good not great tho, and i've seen him put on a very campy/lame show just after Illinois came out)

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Al.Ducts

Al.Ducts

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:dancing :thumbup

 

JUST ANNOUNCED (from Asthmatic Kitty release):

 

Last week we had the pleasure of releasing the All Delighted People EP (available for download for $5 and free stream right here). And the week before we announced a fall tour (tickets are still for sale here, but selling quickly).

 

And today, we are proud to announce the upcoming release of The Age of Adz (pronounced Odds), the first song-based full-length from Sufjan Stevens since 2005's Illinois. The Age of Adz will drop on October 12th (CD, MP3) with a double-LP following on November 9th.

 

For the next three weeks you can preorder the CD and LP and receive an MP3 download on September 28th, two weeks before the release date.

 

Preorder it all right here.

 

It’s much too soon to cast descriptive lots, but we can say the new album sounds nothing like the All Delighted EP (although it shares similar themes of love, loss, and the apocalypse). Nor is this new album built around any conceptual underpinning (no odes to states, astrology, or urban expressways).

 

We can say it shows an extensive use of electronics (banjos and acoustic guitars give way to drum machines and analog synthesizers), and an obsession with cosmic fantasies (space, heaven, aliens, love), to create an explicit pop-song extravaganza, augmented by heavy orchestration, and maybe even a few danceable moments. Enjoy Your Rabbit meets the BQE. But with songs. Verse, chorus, bridge, backbeat. Gated reverb. Space echo. Get your boogey on.

 

The “Adz” of the title loosely refers to the apocalyptic paintings of outsider artist Royal Robertson (1930-1997), whose work is used for the album cover, interior design, and as general inspiration for the tone of the album.

AKR077_AoA_350.jpg

 

http://asthmatickitty.com/news.php?newsID=615

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  • 2 weeks later...
TCP

TCP

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I've been listening to the EP a lot lately. Easily my favorite of 2010 so far. Kind of weird to call 8 songs and 60 minutes an EP. Anything over 40 is an album to me.

What does everyone else think?

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anthony

anthony

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I've been listening to the EP a lot lately. Easily my favorite of 2010 so far. Kind of weird to call 8 songs and 60 minutes an EP. Anything over 40 is an album to me.

What does everyone else think?

I just listened to the EP for the 1st time and really, really liked it.

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  • 3 weeks later...
marino13

marino13

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I read last week that he was pleading for people not to buy the album on Amazon if they offer up the 3.99 deal like they did with The Suburbs. I think he just needs to consider himself lucky if someone wants to buy it in the first place vs. just getting it for free.

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Oil Can Boyd

Oil Can Boyd

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I read last week that he was pleading for people not to buy the album on Amazon if they offer up the 3.99 deal like they did with The Suburbs. I think he just needs to consider himself lucky if someone wants to buy it in the first place vs. just getting it for free.

 

Here is the email they sent out:

 

Hi:

 

(A brief foreword: this is the only email you'll get from us. We have your email because you bought Sufjan Stevens' EP on Bandcamp. If you do like to hear more from us you can sign up for our email list here. Which we wish you would.)

 

Thanks for supporting us and Sufjan with your purchase of his EP All Delighted People. Please keep reading but to cut to the chase, you can preorder Sufjan Stevens' new full-length, The Age of Adz, from Bandcamp for $8 right here:

http://sufjanstevens.bandcamp.com/album/the-age-of-adz

 

We love getting good music into your hands. We think it makes you happy, and that makes us happy. And that's why we're writing this email: to make everyone happy. It's admittedly a long email but we hope you'll stick with us for at least a little while because we want to explain something.

 

On October 12th we are proud to release Sufjan Stevens' first song-based full-length album in 5 years, The Age of Adz. We think it's one of the best things we've heard in a long time and we're hoping you'll buy it.

 

So. We have it on good authority that Amazon will be selling The Age of Adz for a very low price on release date, not unlike they did with Arcade Fire's recent (and really terrific) The Suburbs. We're not 100% sure Amazon will do this, but mostly sure.

 

We have mixed feelings about discounted pricing. Like we said, we love getting good music into the hands of good people, and when a price is low, more people buy. A low price will introduce a lot of people to Sufjan's music and to this wonderful album. For that, we're grateful.

 

But we also feel like the work that our artists produce is worth more than a cost of a latte. We value the skill, love, and time they've put into making their records. And we feel that our work too, in promotion and distribution, is also valuable and worthwhile.

 

That's why we personally feel that physical products like EPs should sell for around $7 and full-length CDs for around $10-12 We think digital EPs should sell for around $5 and full-length digital albums for something like $8.

 

So you might wonder why we'd "allow" Amazon to sell it for lower than that.

 

There are several reasons why, but mostly? It's because we believe in you. We trust you and in your ability to make your own choice.

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Kalle

Kalle

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So what are people's thoughts on the new album?

 

At first it seemed really hard to decipher with so much stuff going on. He's gone with a lot of new instrumentation, lot's of drum machines, synths, blurps and bleeps. I dunno after getting a few really good listens and getting familiarized with the songs I think it's a really great record, I'm really intrigued as to how he's going to do it live.

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anthony

anthony

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So what are people's thoughts on the new album?

 

I have not heard the Age of Adz, yet but I love, love, love the EP.

 

All Delighted People is such an epic song. It is mesmerizing in its bombast. It seems to me to be a song Mozart would have written if he was 25, smoking a lot of weed, and had a killer ProTools rig. The little callbacks to Sounds of Silence is fascinating. I love the compare/contrast of the original and Classic Rock version. It really shows his gift for arrangement. Has Sufy ever rocked harder than the outro of the CRV?

 

Enchanting Ghost is so good. Heartfelt and kinda spooky.

 

The 17 minute Djohariah is just ridiculously awesome. 12 minutes of intro before the 1st verse!?! It seems like a lost Capaldi/Winwood Traffic tune: resplendent in all its endless musical mastabatory jamming. A masterpiece.

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