Tor / Sufjan Stevens: Illinoize

I came across these songs by Montreal-based producer Tor that sample a few of Sufjan Stevens's songs from the albums Illinois, A Sun Came, Seven Swans, and Songs For Christmas. MC's include; Aesop Rock, Big Daddy Kane, Gift of Gab (Blackalicious), C.L. Smooth, Outkast, Brother Ali, and Grand Puba.

You can listen and download Illinoize for free here.

Special thanks to Mark White for passing on this information about Illinoize.

(not so new) Music From Sufjan Stevens

I came across a track from our beloved Sufjan Stevens just now entitled "In The Words Of The Governor". To be honest, it sounds more like the White Stripes than Sufjan Stevens. It's very different from what we are used to expecting from Sufjan, but perhaps we should expect the unexpected. He has shown versatility throughout the years, so we should not expect him to stick to one thing for the rest of his musical career.

This song has more of a rock feel, which is something we haven't heard from Sufjan in a long while. (Recall the album A Sun Came, which has more "rock" moments than any of his work that preceded thereafter.)

Listen to the song (and read about the compilation that it will be a part of) here.

Edit:
Thank you to a fellow reader for catching an enormous error on my part due to a misunderstanding. This information about the song was released in 2007. I did not notice that until now. I must be more careful next time when posting information. Feel free to enjoy the song, anyway.

Dark Was The Night

A while back, I posted about the Dark Was The Night Compliation benefiting the Red Hot Organization.

So many wonderful musicians are taking part including Arcade Fire, Bon Iver, Andrew Bird, Beirut, Kevin Drew, and Sufjan Stevens.

Each Day, Dark Was The Night will be releasing one song from the compilation on Myspace so that you may stream it and get a glimpse at what the compilation is all about.

I am pleased to announce that today is the day that Sufjan's song entitled "You Are The Blood" is the featured song of the day.

Although it is only one song, I feel like Sufjan is definitely testing out a different sound, and venturing into new waters. This is not a bad thing, for music is meant to evolve over time. This particular song has more of an electronic touch, but the lovely piano and horns are not gone! Of course not!

Like I said, this is only one song, but if it's any indication of what his new material will sound like, I think it may be a pleasant surprise for all of us. Time will tell. Either way, it's no secret that I am anticipating the arrival of new music from Mr. Stevens.

Expecting great things....

Sufjan Stevens Literature

Thanks to All Good Naysayers, I just found out that Sufjan Stevens has a degree in creative writing, and has some written work floating around out there. AGN have provided various short stories, essays, interviews, and reviews from Sufjan Stevens.

Among these written works is an 18-page short story entitled We Are Shielded By The Holy Ghost, which I just began reading. It was written in 2002, and won The New School Chapbook Award in the fiction category in 2003. It also went on to be printed in 2003. While it is not known how many exact copies were printed, they were sold at shows during that time. I'm wondering if I could possibly find a physical copy somehow. For now, though, the electronic version will do just fine.

Read all of Sufjan's stories and other works here.

Habitat

One of my favorite musicians, Sufjan Stevens, is at it again. This time, with a band called Tidal River. The band is comprised of Sufjan Stevens, Lowell Brams (founder of Asthmatic Kitty), and Bryce Dessner (of The National).

They contributed a song entitled "A Cross Section Of Clown Mountain" for the Habitat Compilition, which is a 2-disc compilation benefiting Habitat For Humanity. As a member of Habitat For Humanity, and a fan of Sufjan's music, it was great to see this happen.

Habitat is on sale for $10.

For more information about the compliation or if you want to purchase it, please click here