So I was doing another loop around the blogs looking for music when I came across a blog called Berkeley Place, which was featuring a genius idea. The blogger chose an album or a theme and made a post featuring news, music, and other things starting with the letters A through Z. I realized that this would be the perfect excuse to make the mega-Sufjan Stevens post I'd always wanted to make. Naturally I stole the idea and am doing it here, so enjoy. Thanks again to Berkeley Place for the inspiration.
A is for
The Avalanche: Outtakes and Extras from the Illinois Album, Sufjan's follow up album to
Illinois.
B is for "
Borderline", off of
The Dress Looks Nice on You, a promo single released in the UK
.
C is for "
Chicago! To String Remix" by Jongalloway (Thanks to
Derek for this one)
D is for "
Decatur, Or Round of Applause for Your Stepmother" (off
Illinois), rapidly becoming one of my all-time favorite Sufjan tracks.
E is for one of Sufjan's first albums,
Enjoy Your Rabbit, in which every song is titled "Year of the..."
F is for "
For the Widows in Paradise, For the Fatherless in Ypsilanti", featured on
Greetings From Michigan and the
All Things Go Sleep Mixtape. (
Here is a video of Sufjan playing "For The Widows..." solo)
G is for "
All Good Naysayers, Speak Up! Or Forever Hold Your Peace!", off of
Greetings from Michigan (It's a stretch but I had to find a way to include this song, as it's my most played Sufjan track on iTunes).
H is for the "
The Henney Buggy Band", off of Sufjan's newest album,
The Avalanche: Outtakes and Extras from the Illinois Album (Thanks to Stereogum for the track).
I is for "
I Can't Even Lift My Head", off of
To Spirit Back to the Mews.
J is for "
Jacksontown", mc DJ's remix of the
Illinois track, "Jacksonville". mc DJ remixed almost every track on
Illinois for his remixtape, appropriately titled
Illin-noise. (Download album
here)
K is for
Asthmatic Kitty, The record label that Sufjan is signed to.
L is for "
Lo How A Rose E'er Blooming", a holiday classic featured on Sufjan's first Christmas album,
Hark! Songs for Christmas Volume 1 (Thanks again to
Derek).
M is for another one of my favorites from
Illinois, "
The Man of Metropolis Steals Our Hearts".
N is for
No more music from Sufjan for a while, according to
this story.
O is for "
The One I Love", Sufjan's live cover of the R.E.M. classic performed at SXSW.
P is for "
The Predatory Wasp of the Palisades Is Out to Get Us!", off of
Illinois.
Q is for the ridiculous
Quantity of Sufjan songs and albums (over 110 songs in under 5 years)
R is for
Rosie Thomas, who reportedly was carrying Sufjan's baby, according to
Pitchfork. Sufjan later dismissed the rumor with a
letter.
S is for "
Dear Mr. Supercomputer", yet another track featured on Sufjan's newest album,
The Avalanche: Outtakes and Extras from the Illinois Album (Thanks to
I Guess I'm Floating for this one).
T is for "
To Be Alone With You", featured on
Seven Swans as well as the
All Things Go Valentines Day Mixtape.
U is for "
The Upper Peninsula", off of
Greetings From Michigan: The Great Lake State.
V is for "
Vito's Ordination Song", an overlooked but incredibl
y underrated track off of
Greetings From Michigan.
W is for "
Wolverine", a B-Side from the Michigan album.
X is for absolutely nothing!
Y is for "Say
Yes! To Michigan!" off of (duh)
Greetings From Michigan.
Z is for
Zombies!!!, or, more accurately, "
They Are Night Zombies!!! They Are Neighbors!!! They Have Come Back From the Dead!!! Ahhhhh!!!" (off of
Illinois)
I hope you enjoyed this A to Z post. Let me know if you want me to do more of these featuring other artists or themes. Remember to please buy all of these albums because, honestly, Sufjan deserves your money. I have added links below where you can purchase most all of these albums, so please do so if you haven't already.
Buy Greetings From Michigan: The Great Lake State
Buy Illinois
Buy A Sun Came
Buy Enjoy Your Rabbit
Buy Seven Swans
-Zack
So I was doing another loop around the blogs looking for music when I came across a blog called Berkeley Place, which was featuring a genius idea. The blogger chose an album or a theme and made a post featuring news, music, and other things starting with the letters A through Z. I realized that this would be the perfect excuse to make the mega-Sufjan Stevens post I'd always wanted to make. Naturally I stole the idea and am doing it here, so enjoy. Thanks again to Berkeley Place for the inspiration.
A is for The Avalanche: Outtakes and Extras from the Illinois Album, Sufjan's follow up album to Illinois.
B is for "Borderline", off of The Dress Looks Nice on You, a promo single released in the UK.
C is for "Chicago! To String Remix" by Jongalloway (Thanks to Derek for this one)
D is for "Decatur, Or Round of Applause for Your Stepmother" (off Illinois), rapidly becoming one of my all-time favorite Sufjan tracks.
E is for one of Sufjan's first albums, Enjoy Your Rabbit, in which every song is titled "Year of the..."
F is for "For the Widows in Paradise, For the Fatherless in Ypsilanti", featured on Greetings From Michigan and the All Things Go Sleep Mixtape. (Here is a video of Sufjan playing "For The Widows..." solo)
G is for "All Good Naysayers, Speak Up! Or Forever Hold Your Peace!", off of Greetings from Michigan (It's a stretch but I had to find a way to include this song, as it's my most played Sufjan track on iTunes).
H is for the "The Henney Buggy Band", off of Sufjan's newest album, The Avalanche: Outtakes and Extras from the Illinois Album (Thanks to Stereogum for the track).
I is for "I Can't Even Lift My Head", off of To Spirit Back to the Mews.
J is for "Jacksontown", mc DJ's remix of the Illinois track, "Jacksonville". mc DJ remixed almost every track on Illinois for his remixtape, appropriately titled Illin-noise. (Download album here)
K is for Asthmatic Kitty, The record label that Sufjan is signed to.
L is for "Lo How A Rose E'er Blooming", a holiday classic featured on Sufjan's first Christmas album, Hark! Songs for Christmas Volume 1 (Thanks again to Derek).
M is for another one of my favorites from Illinois, "The Man of Metropolis Steals Our Hearts".
N is for No more music from Sufjan for a while, according to this story.
O is for "The One I Love", Sufjan's live cover of the R.E.M. classic performed at SXSW.
P is for "The Predatory Wasp of the Palisades Is Out to Get Us!", off of Illinois.
Q is for the ridiculous Quantity of Sufjan songs and albums (over 110 songs in under 5 years)
R is for Rosie Thomas, who reportedly was carrying Sufjan's baby, according to Pitchfork. Sufjan later dismissed the rumor with a letter.
S is for "Dear Mr. Supercomputer", yet another track featured on Sufjan's newest album, The Avalanche: Outtakes and Extras from the Illinois Album (Thanks to I Guess I'm Floating for this one).
T is for "To Be Alone With You", featured on Seven Swans as well as the All Things Go Valentines Day Mixtape.
U is for "The Upper Peninsula", off of Greetings From Michigan: The Great Lake State.
V is for "Vito's Ordination Song", an overlooked but incredibl
y underrated track off of Greetings From Michigan.
W is for "Wolverine", a B-Side from the Michigan album.
X is for absolutely nothing!
Y is for "Say Yes! To Michigan!" off of (duh) Greetings From Michigan.
Z is for Zombies!!!, or, more accurately, "They Are Night Zombies!!! They Are Neighbors!!! They Have Come Back From the Dead!!! Ahhhhh!!!" (off of Illinois)
I hope you enjoyed this A to Z post. Let me know if you want me to do more of these featuring other artists or themes. Remember to please buy all of these albums because, honestly, Sufjan deserves your money. I have added links below where you can purchase most all of these albums, so please do so if you haven't already.
Buy Greetings From Michigan: The Great Lake State
Buy Illinois
Buy A Sun Came
Buy Enjoy Your Rabbit
Buy Seven Swans
-Zack
19 comments:
I like this idea a lot.
Man this Sufjan guy gets ridiculous amount of love on these mp3 blogs spread across the internet.
I need to listen to him to see if all the adoration is worthy but all the hype has somehow tarnished whatever star he might be.
That last comment was probably Sufjan playing devil's advocate.
For gawd's sake, just post his entire catalog why don't you. One or two tracks, OK. But this many? Verges on abusing the poor guy.
His whole catalog would be a little long to post in just one entry. But don't worry by the 2008 Sufjan won't be able to make another penny thanks to our efforts. Next up we are going to ruin the career of those fuckers in Bloc Party.
No seriously, I agree it is a lot, but it is also a nice treat for you all isn't it?
i love this idea
sufjan makes me wanna lala
If you promise to ruin Bloc Party, then all will be forgiven. I could never hear those whiney bastards again and die a happy man.
I love you. All of you. Thank you for taking the time to post this. :)
- shannon
thanks for the shout out. i've been doing the A to Z thing, mostly on Fridays, ever since I started the blog.
Sorry to be pendantic, but "Ypsilanti" is off "Michigan," not "Illinois." I normally wouldn't care, but I was born there, so I thought I should mention it.
Sorry Anonymous, what a bonehead move by me. I don't even know why i put Illinois there. Anyways, its fixed.
i love you guys so much right now. it's a great idea, and thanks for all the extra sufjan stevens tracks!
to anyone else getting upset that there's a ton of sufjan stevens tracks up:
most people probably already have most of the sufjan stevens stuff up on there, since his albums have been out for a while, and even if they haven't, it's a good intro to the sufjan stevens sound!
-rae
Compair to the massive volume of work he's produced this is a tiny amount, and a musician will make most of their money by doing gigs which posts like this will encourage people to go and see. I know that if he were to tour near me i would definatly fork out the £15 it would cost to see him.
ok i just bucked up and (finally) bought Illinois - hope that's some consolation to those worrying about Sufjan's finances.
And this blog feature is what put me over the top - Thanks ATG!
i wish i could buy Avalanche right now, too...
I've taken your Sufjan Steven's A to Z and made my own for Daryl Palumbo.
Daryl Palumbo A to Z
Thanks, for the inspiration
- James
www.danceinmyblood.com
I have been looking for sites like this for a long time. Thank you!
» »
"Illinois" is in the movie Little Miss Sunshine....how cool is that?
"Michigan" is a great disc and probably inspired from Sufjan's time living there and going to school. Many notable unknown artists starting to get some attention on the web from Michigan including, Jeff Daniels, Jen Cass, Steppin In It, Drew Nelson, Rachael Davis, Ralston Bowles, Sweet Japonic, Potato Moon, Arganik, Truckstop Cobras, Nobody's Darlin', David Molinari, and so much more Michigan Musicians Network's myspace has som much more....check it out
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