photos by Vincent Cornelli

"Hey, I'm your host: DJ Sufjan. Thanks for coming," he says, trying to stir the audience.

It will be a night of art -- but exactly how, or what kind of art, no one is certain.

Stevens speaks for a brief moment and introduces the first act, singer/songwriter DM [Stith]. Unlike most folk singers, [Stith] is backed by six other musicians: a percussionist, a bassist, a cellist, two violinists and a viola player. The classical backing only serves to assist his enchanting howl, which channels Eastern rhythms. His short set is defined by simple, delicate arrangements, like an appetizer before the main course.

A few moments pass, and Stevens climbs the stage once more. This time, he explains that his second album, "Enjoy Your Rabbit," was an electronic experiment that no one seemed to understand. As a result, he had the songs rewritten for the string quartet Osso, a group of classically trained women who perform interpretations of Stevens' songs. Stevens' experimental computer distortion transforms into high notes. The audience, formerly busy in conversation, is respectably silent. Dreamy sequences approach and linger as each song reaches a close. It is, most definitely, a non-traditional take on a classical medium. [NYU News]

After the live music came a screening of the BQE movie. The pictures in this post are from the third show on Saturday night. They did it at 7:30pm, 10:00pm, and then again st 12:30am (technically Sunday morning). The show is now on tour (though without Sufjan to introduce things), and will play NYC one more time. It happens at The Bell House on November 7th, and tickets are still on sale. More pictures from 92Y below...

Continue reading "a BQE evening w/ Sufjan Stevens, DM Stith & the Osso Quartet @ 92YTribeca in NYC - pics "

photos by Tammy Lo, words by Andrew Frisicano

Sufjan Stevens played the first show of his four-night NYC run last night (10/4) at Bowery Ballroom. The set mostly covered material from Seven Swans (visited extensively at ATP NY in Sept.), Michigan, Illinois and new tracks. Full setlist and more pictures from that show, below.

His current tour dates (including all four NYC shows) are with Sufjan's Asthmatic Kitty labelmates Cryptacize (who are touring with Fiery Furnaces this November). That's just one of many goings-on Sufjan has with the Asthmatic Kitty label he co-founded. He's collaborating with his step-father (also the label's other co-founder) Lowell Brams on Music for Insomnia, Brams' debut and part of the label's Library Catalog series. The album, due December 8th, also includes contributions by Bryce Dessner (of the National and the Long Count) and cover art by Asthmatic Kitty's DM Stith.

Stith will be opening at Sufjan's Osso Quartet/BQE shows at 92YTribeca on October 24th and 25th. Two two screening on the 24th are sold out, but there's still tickets for the show on the 25th.

The Osso Quartet is taking that show on the road at the end of October into early November. The last show of the tour was to be at TBA venue in Philly. Instead it appears that they're closing out the tour at the Bell House on Sunday, November 7th. Tickets are on sale now. If is unclear if Sufjan will actually be at the new date. He will be at 92Y, but not on the rest of that tour.

In 2000, Asthmatic Kitty artist Shannon Stephens was interviewed by Sufjan to discuss her just-released debut album. He interviewed her again a few weeks ago to catch up and discuss The Breadwinner, Shannon's first album in 10 years, which came out September 8th. In the new interview (more of a discussion), Sufjan revealed some interesting things about himself...

Sufjan: I'm at a point where I no longer have a deep desire to share my music with anyone, having spent many years imparting my songs to the public. Although I have great respect for the social dynamic of music--that it should be shared with others, that it brings people together--I now feel something personal is irrevocably lost in this process. Now, while I refuse to act wholly on this impulse (I refuse to take my audience for granted in spite of my mood), I'm still trying to find the value of the song in private. Having spent ten years in private (not sharing your music), can you offer some wisdom on this matter? Does a song have any meaning even it's not shared?

A new video from Shannon is posted below.

More pics, video and the setlist from Sufjan's 10/4 Bowery show, with the above mentioned Asthmatic Kitty goodies, below...

Continue reading "Sufjan Stevens played Bowery Ballroom (pics, setlist), Brooklyn BQE show added & other Asthmatic Kitty news"

photos by Ryan Muir

DOWNLOAD: Sufjan Stevens - Movement VI--Isorhythmic Night Dance with Interchanges (MP3)

When Sufjan Stevens took the stage to a packed room for the opening set of ATP NY's Day Two, the Detroit singer promised to go easy on peoples' headaches. "This will be an early-afternoon hangover special," he promised, explaining that the set would draw heavily on Seven Swans, his gentle, spare 2004 debut. He started with "All the Trees of the Fields Will Clap Their Hands," in which a plinking banjo riff suggested a tiny music box, mesmerizing and intricate.

Stevens was breathy and hushed, and his backing band -- all in matching tie-die shirts purchased at the grounds' kitsch-stuffed gift shop -- slowly built up songs around him. In keeping with the mellow vibes, "The Dress Looks Nice On You" played like particularly chaste make-out music: "I can see a lot of life he you," he cooed, "I can see a lot of bright in you/ And I think the dress looks nice on you." Someone in the back of the room wolf-whistled. As far as Christian post-folk pick-up lines go, this was pretty racy stuff. [Rolling Stone]

The pics here are from Sufjan's ATP NY set on Saturday. Jesus Lizard played on Friday. Flaming Lips on Sunday.

Sufjan has a string of 'small club' dates coming up. And he's appearing with the Osso Quartet at the start of their Run Rabbit Run tour which will also include a screening of the new Sufjan BQE DVD. A new MP3 from the forthcoming BQE album, is posted above.

The BQE album tracklist, and the rest of the ATP pictures, below...

Continue reading "Sufjan Stevens - 'Seven Swans' ATP pics, a BQE MP3"

Speaking of the BQE, 92YTribeca added a 3rd show/screening (on sale now)

In late October Osso will begin a North American tour in support of their debut record Run Rabbit Run, a re-arrangement of Sufjan Stevens' Enjoy Your Rabbit--a genre-bending electronic instrumental song cycle referencing the animals of the Chinese zodiac--for the string quartet. The album is due out October 6 on Asthmatic Kitty Records. Also featured on the tour will be screenings of Stevens' The BQE, a 40-minute symphonic and cinematic exploration of New York's infamous Brooklyn-Queens Expressway....Asthmatic Kitty recording artist DM Stith...will also perform.

Tickets for the NYC BQE screenings on October 24th, which will have Sufjan in attendance, are currently sold out. Sufjan will be playing a set at ATP NY on September 12th. Full dates and more info on the Osso + BQE tour (with DM Stith on most dates) below...

Continue reading "Osso Quartet playing re-arranged Sufjan Stevens album on tour w/ BQE movie & Asthmatic Kitty label-mate DM Stith"

Tickets are on sale for the BQE screenings (early & late) (thx arakias).

"Sufjan Stevens premiered The BQE, a film and musical suite exploring New York City's infamous Brooklyn-Queens Expressway, at the Brooklyn Academy of Music's Next Wave Festival in November 2007. The critically applauded performance featured 36 performers including a band, a wind and brass ensemble, string players, a horn section, projected film footage of the expressway and five hula hoopers. On October 20, Asthmatic Kitty Records will release The BQE (also available via Rough Trade in the UK, P-Vine in Japan, Spunk in Australia).

The comprehensive package features the CD soundtrack, the DVD of the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway film footage, a 40-page booklet with extensive liner notes & photographs and an accompanying stereoscopic 3-D Viewmaster® reel. Furthermore, Asthmatic Kitty will release a limited edition double gatefold vinyl edition of The BQE on 180-gram vinyl with a large-scale 32-page booklet including liner notes, photographs and a black and white version of a 40-page BQE-themed Hooper Heroes comic book. View a video trailer of The BQE below.

On October 24, 92YTribeca will host the premiere screening of The BQE DVD with an introduction by Stevens. At the screening, the Osso Quartet will perform selections from Run Rabbit Run. Tickets for this event go on sale July 23."

Sufjan Stevens is playing ATP NY on September 12th. BQE trailer and more info below...

Continue reading "Sufjan Stevens releasing The BQE, appearing at NY screening"

Sufjan Stevens @ BAM - Nov 2, 2007 (CRED)

The first set of pictures was pretty limited, so here's some more....

Continue reading "more photos & reports from Sufjan Steven's BQE"

What does a Hula Hoop have to do with a crowded urban expressway? Much like the automobile, the hoop relies on the basic laws of physics administrated by the simple machine of the wheel, the greatest of human inventions. Notably, there are no macroscopic wheels to be found in animals or plants. It is a purely human construction. And yet the wheel has come to symbolize spiritual transcendence, reincarnation, yin and yang, Chakra, the wheel of life, the calendar, the seasons, astrology, and divinity. We are contained by the rotations of the planets and moons around the sun; we are all cosmically connected by vast circular motions in the solar system. Is it no wonder, then, that this geometric phenomenon has been appropriated both for the modern convenience of the automobile and for the amusement proffered by a plastic toy? [Sufjan Stevens (PDF)]

Continued below....

Continue reading "Sufjan Stevens performed "BQE" @ BAM"

Bridget St John, David Garland, Dave Deporis (CRED)

This Sunday, Oct. 28, Sufjan Stevens will premier a couple pieces from his new orchestral project "The BQE" on David Garland's radio show Spinning On Air. That'll be heard Oct. 28, 7- 8 pm on WNYC-FM 93.9 in New York City, and online. David will also interview Sufjan. David also threw a preview up on YouTube....

Continue reading "Sufjan Stevens The BQE, Part 6 on WNYC (video)"