THE BQE- A Film By Sufjan Stevens from Asthmatic Kitty on Vimeo.

September 20th through 22nd, Capitol Hill’s Northwest Film Forum will be screening the the BQE, a joint film and orchestral creation from the mind of Sufjan Stevens. Initial commissioned as a part of a 2007 Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM) event, the film that’s inspired by the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway is the only peep out of Sufjan Seattle is likely to get this year. We weren’t lucky enough to be in New York last weekend for his ATP Seven Swans set and his upcoming tour reinterpreting Enjoy Your Rabbit doesn’t bring him across the Rocky Mountains, so us Western Sufjanites will just have to do. Check the hula-hoop filled trailer above and then download one of the tracks below.

MP3: Movement VI–Isorhythmic Night Dance with Interchanges by Sufjan Stevens from the BQE courtesy of Asthmatic Kitty Records

The BQE plays NWFF Sunday September 20th through Tuesday September 22nd, at 7pm and 9pm daily.

The BQE arrives on DVD October 20th. Pre-order it from Asthmatic Kitty Records.

Fourth of July Fireworks ::: photo by Josh Lovseth

I have to admit, I’m one of those America haters who prefers “Oh Canada” to the “Star Spangled Banner” as far as anthems go. To me “Oh, Canada” is just a superior song.

However, there are two versions of the “Star Spangled Banner” that have me wondering if I’ve been wrong to covet Canada’s anthem. (First and importantly, when was the last time you heard a cover of “Oh Canada,” anyway?) One version is, of course, Jimi Hendrix’s shredding live rendition. The other rendition was one that Sufjan Stevens was playing around with in 2004. In his version, Sufjan takes some lyrical freedoms to the anthem, managing to turn the “Star Spangled Banner” into his very own, just as Jimi did at Woodstock.

Here’s a live recording for your enjoyment, that coincidentally Sufjan played in Toronto in 2004. Take that “Oh Canada.”

We hope you have a Happy 4th of July, shared with family and friends and enjoying some of this gorgeous Seattle summer weather.

Hey guys, sorry this is coming a few days late and is one of my only recent post. Yours truly picked up an honest to god day job, and thus my contributions to Sound on the Sound have been suffering/non-existent. I promise you, that this will change in November, now that I’ve gotten a bit of  handle on the day-job and that best of/end of the year posts are right around the corner.

Without further ado, I present to you the songs and albums that have kept me sane in this largely music-less month.

* A Gun That Shoots Knives - “Stay In School Mother Fucker”
* Starfucker - Starfucker
* See Me River - Time Machine
* The Moondoggies - Don’t Be A Stranger
* Black Eyes & Neckties(the best Halloween-ish music ever)
* Land of Talk - Some Are Lakes
* Catfish Haven - Devastator
* Laura Veirs - Saltbreakers
* Bon Iver -Daytrotter Session
* The Shackeltons - “Soft Heart”
* Hopscotch Boys - Sad and Lonely Eyes
* The Whore Moans - Watch Out For This Thing
* Sufjan Stevens - “Majesty Snowbird”
* Jake One - White Van Music 

Oh man, I’m a little torn about this posting.  I’d heard in the past that Asthmatic Kitty had some religious ties (a close confidant of mine referred to them as “Jesus Freaks”) but I’ve liked so much of their music recently, that I’ve been able to sort of shelve my animosity towards organized religion and just sort of experience that record label on a musical level.  They sent over a press release about The Welcome Wagon a bit back, and I was instantly excited by the sort of twangy gospel feeling they invoked. I know, I know, I should just be listening to music for the sake of music listening, but overtly Christian metaphors and imagery turn me off faster than a hooking grandma.  So when this Sufjan produced duo starts singing about Noah’s Ark and, you know, their “maker”, I should be done.

But, for whatever reason, I can see past this, just for the moment, and absorb the densely layered Sufjan Stevens sound for its sheer musicality.  I implore you to do the same, but be warned, they’re talking about Jesus, so don’t let anyone impressionable around the speakers.

The Welcome Wagon - Sold! To The Nice Rich Man

 Like an insane person, I attempted to drive in Seattle, while it was snowing. Bad idea. And like a true Seattle-ite, it was because my coffee maker’s broken and I needed my fix. I love Seattle in the snow, my city rarely looks more beautiful. I do not however, love Seattle drivers in the snow. If you live here, you know we can barely drive as it is, add in snow and it’s basically a large scale version of slow motion passive-agressive bumper cars.

What would usually be a ten minute errand turned into an hour long adventure, but KEXP was good company. DJ Jack Walters was playing snow songs, which are distinctly different than rainy day songs it would seem. Lovely and bare folk tunes seemed to be the common string, though he also played some songs specifically mentioning winter and snow. It inspired me to come home and share a few of my favorite snowy day songs, hope you enjoy.

Sufjan Stevens - Sister Winter  Sufjan Stevens - Sister Winter

I was going to post this later this month, as an example as one of the very few Holiday/Christmas songs that I actually like. Unfortunately, my Christmas song loving co-workers informed me, despite the wishing everyone a happy Christmas at the end of the song, this does not qualify as an actual Christmas Song. It does however, in my mind, make a perfect snowy day song.

Bright Eyes - Something Vague Bright Eyes - Something Vague

This song doesn’t sound nearly as good when you listen to it in the summer-time. There’s an achy moodiness to “Something Vague,” as well as some great early imagery in the song which clearly declares this to be a lonely and lovely winter song. It happens to be one of my favorite Bright Eye’s song, which curiously all come off his earlier records.

Arcade Fire - Neighborhood #1 (Tunnels) The Arcade Fire - Neighborhood #1

I know part of my winter association with this album, was the time of year I fell in love with it. But I always imagined the tunnels Win sings of, were being dug in snow.

Leonard Cohen - Famous Blue Raincoat Leonard Cohen - Famous Blue Rain Coat

“It’s 4 in the morning, the end of December.” Even if it’s 80 degrees outside, the combination of this first line and Leonard Cohen’s voice, which sounds like a cold and dark grey day, makes my teeth want to chatter instinctively. A classic winter song.

The temperature starts going below freezing, and out come the weepy string songs. This is of course, interspersed with the sparse acoustic tunes, which also dominate my winter listening.

Take a look at a few of my most played tunes as of late:

* the entire lovely album, Manressa Castle - The Solvents
 here’s one of my favorite songs on the album, All Your Demons Pulling: All Your Demons Pulling - Solvents

* Majesty Snowbird - Sufjan Stevens

* Cold Wind - The Arcade Fire

* I Found A Reason - Cat Power I Found A Reason - Cat Power

* and a whole lot of Andrew Bird and Elliott Smith

Recently Sufjan was commissioned to write a 25-minute musical arrangement for a New York festival called “The Next Wave Festival” put on by the Brooklyn Art Museum. The festival took place last week, and Sufjan dropped by the WNYC studio to preview a couple of the songs on air. The entire piece is called ‘The BQE’, named after the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway, a prominent slice of freeway in New York City. The interview is quite informative, covering alot of ground, but focusing on his creative process for this piece and how it’s different from his other work. Sufjan hints a recording of the entire ‘The BQE’ complete with the visuals as it appeared at the festival may appear one day, but for now, this is the best we’re going to get. They couldn’t get the entire 30-piece into the studio, so it’s a pared down version, but it’s still identifiably Sufjan, and those with a love for his hyper-active oboe’s will definitely be pleased. 

Is Sufjan’s next album going to be set right here in the Pacific Northwest?

Gorilla vs. Bear shares that the rumored state would be our lovely neighbors to the south, Oregon. (we’re their Canada) The rumored title: Oregon, With the Wind.

You can check out Sufjan’s Pure Volume page, which first reported the “exclusive news” including a track titled “Portland, or Whistling Under Water.” Perhaps most exciting, the new album is said to feature “Majesty Snowbird” which might be the finest song that Sufjan has ever written.

Is it for real? Maybe.

Is it even Sufjan singing on the new track? Doesn’t sound like it. AT ALL.

But a girl, can certainly hope for the new album. (and I, most certainly am)

Update 6/18/07: Official word from Asthmatic Kitty is… it’s FALSE. Another pure volume hoax…. like that new Postal Service track. C’est la vie.

Good god. I hope this is all true.

The music is great, perhaps a bit more of a mellow vibe than Alligator overall — perhaps somewhere between the Cherry Tree mellow/ beautiful sound and the Alligator more up-beat/rocking sound. Most notable about the record is that it has the best arrangements they’ve done, by far, and there’s some unexpected & wonderful new elements that you haven’t heard before. Think trumpets, and other brass instruments; increased use of female backing vocals; excellent piano bits by Thomas Bartlett (aka Doveman & sideman to David Byrne, Bebel Gilberto, Laurie Anderson, The Frames, Yoko Ono); and possible even some playing by band friend, Sufjan Stevens.

Alligator floored me. Sad Songs for Dirty Lovers is one of my all time favorite albums. Sufjan will be playing with a String Quartet in Cincinnati at the 2007 Music Now Festival curated by none other than National member Bryce Dessner so possibly they are closer than I ever realized.

Courtesy of Pitchfork and their new “24-hour Stevens news service, SUF-SPAN” we are alerted to Soof stirring up some rumors with an interview at the Asthmatic Kitty Website. Interviewing fellow musician Rafter, Sufjan throws out this as the last question:

Sufjan: Being a native of the Golden State, do you want to collaborate on a record about California?

Rafter: Yes! I think we could probably have a really nice time making a great record.

I always knew Soof had a soft spot in his heart for the West. I his 50 states song he has this lyric especially our state:

There’s a Nevada, see Washington win
Or Arizona, Colorado
Connecticut Yankee, love Ohio
Louisiana, Delaware who
Go Minnesota, we’re thinking of you

When we came to Washington
We went running through the rain
In my favourite city park
In my favourite time of day

I wonder if that second part is talking about here or DC…