Jump to content

Sufjan Stevens

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Tom Hek (talk | contribs) at 12:56, 21 February 2008. The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

Sufjan Stevens

Sufjan Stevens (Template:PronEng) (born July 1, 1975) is an American singer-songwriter and musician from Petoskey, Michigan.

He is considered part of the folk revival in indie pop, but his influences are very broad. His music has been likened to electronica[1] and the minimalism of Steve Reich.[2] Stevens announced plans to make a concept album for each of the 50 U.S. states, having begun the series with Michigan (2003) and Illinois (2005).

Early life

Stevens was born 1 July 1975 in Detroit, Michigan, and grew up in Petoskey[3] where he attended Harbor Light Christian School as well as the prestigious Interlochen Arts Academy. He attended Hope College in Holland, Michigan.

Sufjan is an Arabic name[4] that predates Islam and most famously belonged to Abu Sufyan, a figure from early Islamic history. It has been mentioned in the press that the name was given to Stevens by the founder of Subud, an inter-faith, non-religious spiritual community to which his parents belonged when he was born.[5] Stevens said once in an interview, "It sounds like Devendra [Banhart] kind of grew up in this strange kind of cultish environment, and I don't mean that word in a demeaning way. I think we probably come from similar backgrounds. There's a little bit of that in my history."[6]

A multi-instrumentalist, Stevens is well known for his use of the banjo, but also plays guitar, piano, drums, and several other instruments, often playing all of these on his albums through the use of multitrack recording. While in school, he studied the oboe and English horn, which he also plays on his albums; he is one of the few musicians in popular music to use these instruments. A multitude of instruments are played in unison to give his songs a "symphony-like" sound. Strings and horns are often prominent in many of his songs.

Stevens currently lives in the Brooklyn borough of New York City in the neighborhood of Kensington[7] where he makes up the Asthmatic Kitty Records staff of the Brooklyn office.[8] His brother Marzuki Stevens is a nationally recognized marathon runner.[9]

Career

Stevens at the Independent Music Awards, Webster Hall, New York City

Stevens began his musical career as a member of Marzuki, a folk-rock band from Holland, Michigan. He also played (and continues to play) various instruments for Danielson Famile. While in school at Hope College, Stevens wrote and recorded his debut solo album, A Sun Came, which he released on Asthmatic Kitty Records, a record label he founded with his stepfather. He later moved to New York City, where he was enrolled in a writing program at the New School for Social Research.

While in New York, Stevens composed and recorded the music for his second album, Enjoy Your Rabbit, a song cycle based around the animals of the Chinese Zodiac that ventured into electronica.

Stevens followed this with the first of his ambitious "50 states" albums, a collection of folk songs and instrumentals inspired by his home state of Michigan. The result, the expansive Michigan ("Greetings from Michigan the Great Lake State") included odes to cities including Detroit and Flint, the Upper Peninsula, and vacation areas such as Tahquamenon Falls. Melded into the scenic descriptions and characters are his own declarations of faith in God, sorrow, love and the regeneration of Michigan.

Following the release of Michigan, Stevens compiled a collection of songs recorded previously into a side project, the Christian-folk album Seven Swans, which was released in March 2004.

Next he released the second in the 50 states project, entitled Illinois or Come On Feel the Illinoise. Among the subjects explored on Illinois: the cities of Chicago, Decatur and Jacksonville; the World's Columbian Exposition of 1893; the state's (somewhat confusing and obscure) observance of a holiday in honor of Casimir Pulaski; the poet Carl Sandburg; and the serial killer John Wayne Gacy Jr.

Over the 2005 winter holidays, Stevens recorded an album with Rosie Thomas and Denison Witmer playing banjo and providing vocals. In April 2006, Pitchfork erroneously announced that Stevens and Thomas were having a baby together, but were forced to print a retraction.[10][11][12] Witmer and Thomas later admitted it was an April Fools' prank.[13] In December 2006, the collaborative recordings were digitally released by Nettwerk as a Rosie Thomas album entitled These Friends of Mine. The album was released in physical form on March 13, 2007. In April of 2007, in Brooklyn and Philadelphia Stevens made surprise unannounced appearances on Rosie's tour in support of this album.

On September 11, 2006 in Nashville, TN, Stevens debuted a new composition, a 10+ minute piece titled "Majesty Snowbird".[14][15] On November 21, 2006, a five CD box set Songs for Christmas was released, which contains originals and Christmas standards recorded every year since 2001 (except 2004). "Sufjan indulged in the project initially as an exercise to make himself 'appreciate' Christmas more"[16] It seems Stevens was interested in the contrast between the excesses of Christmas and the spirit of it (or the "sacred and the profane"). The songs were the work of an annual collaboration between Stevens and different friends including minister Vito Aiuto; the songs themselves were distributed to friends and family.

So far in 2007 he has played shows sporadically, including playing at the Kennedy Center to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the Millennium Stage concerts.[17] He was recently commissioned by the Brooklyn Academy of Music to create a "music and film work" titled "The BQE", which will serve as "a symphonic and cinematic exploration of NYC’s infamous Brooklyn-Queens Expressway" which made its world premiere at BAM's Next Wave festival on November 1-3, 2007.[18] Stevens has also worked as an essayist lately, contributing to Asthmatic Kitty Records' "Sidebar" feature and Topic Magazine.[19] He wrote the introduction to the 2007 edition of The Best American Nonrequired Reading.[20][21]

Stevens has contributed to the music of Denison Witmer, Soul Junk, Half-handed Cloud, Brother Danielson, Danielson Famile, Serena Maneesh, Castanets, Shannon Stephens, and Liz Janes. In 2007 alone, Stevens played piano on The National's album Boxer, produced and contributed many instrumental tracks to Rosie Thomas's album These Friends of Mine, multiple instruments on Ben + Vesper's album All This Could Kill You and oboe and vocals to David Garland's new album Noise in You.

He has contributed covers of Tim Buckley ("She Is"), Joni Mitchell ("A Free Man in Paris"), Daniel Johnston ("Worried Shoes"), John Fahey ("Variation on 'Commemorative Transfiguration & Communion at Magruder Park"), The Innocence Mission ("The Lakes of Canada") and The Beatles "What Goes On" to various tribute albums. His versions of "A Free Man in Paris" and "What Goes On" are notable for only retaining the lyrics of the original, as Stevens has taken his own interpretation on the melody and arrangement. His rendition of "The Star Spangled Banner" has a similar rearranged melody and arrangement as well as a whole new verse.[22]

Sufjan Stevens contributed the Introduction to The Best American Nonrequired Reading, edited by Dave Eggers. The short story -- about his early childhood education and learning to read -- is titled How I Trumped Rudolf Steiner and Overcame the Tribulations of Illiteracy, One Snickers Bar at a Time.

Stevens is touring Australia in early 2008.[23] His Sydney appearances are as part of the Sydney Festival 2008.

The Fifty States Project

File:Illinois-stevens.jpg
Original album cover of Illinois featuring depiction of Superman

Beginning with Michigan, Stevens announced an intent to write an album for each of the 50 U.S. states, although in interviews he wavers between utter sincerity and self-deprecating irony when describing the idea.

Stevens spent the second half of 2004 researching and writing material for the second of these projects, this time focusing his efforts on Illinois. As with Michigan, Stevens used the state of Illinois as a leaping-off point for his more personal explorations of faith, family, love, and location. Though slated for general release on July 5, 2005, the album was briefly delayed by legal issues regarding the use of Superman in the original album cover artwork. In the double vinyl release, a balloon sticker has been placed over Superman on the cover art of the first 5,000 copies. The next printings had an empty space where the Superman image was, as with the CD release.[24]

The widely acclaimed Illinois was the highest-rated album of 2005 on the Metacritic review aggregator site, based on glowing reviews from Pitchfork, The Onion A/V Club, Spin, Billboard, Entertainment Weekly, Rolling Stone, The New York Times, KEXP, and The Guardian.[25] The 2006 PLUG Independent Music Awards awarded Stevens with the Album Of The Year, Best Album Art/Packaging, and Male Artist Of The Year. Pitchfork Media, No Ripcord, and Paste Magazine named Illinois as the editors' choice for best album of 2005 and Stevens received the 2005 Pantheon prize, awarded to noteworthy albums selling fewer than 500,000 copies, for Illinois.[26] In April of 2006, Stevens announced that 21 pieces of music he had culled from the Illinois recording sessions would be incorporated into a new album, called The Avalanche,[27] which was released on July 11, 2006.

The next states to be taken on in the project have been reported as Oregon and Rhode Island.[28] Minnesota may be another candidate; in late 2005 and early 2006 Stevens played a new instrumental track titled "The Maple River". The Maple River mentioned in the title of the song runs through several counties in southern Minnesota. There is also evidence to suggest the possibility of a New York album. Not only is Stevens' current residence in New York City, but at the footnote of his writing piece entitled "Friend Rock", Stevens stated that he was reading a biography on Robert Moses, who is a notable New Yorker.[29] In late 2007, Stevens debuted several new songs about New York, including "BQE", a track about the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway.

Stevens made brief mention to a possible collaboration with Asthmatic Kitty labelmate Rafter on an album about California[30] in a recent interview. Stevens also recorded "The Lord God Bird"[31] about the ivory-billed woodpecker rediscovered in Arkansas (known as the 'lord god' or 'great god' bird because of its breathtaking appearance). This was in connection with a National Public Radio piece in which "independent radio producers Dan Collison and Elizabeth Meister were curious about how Stevens writes his songs."

"Sufjan Stevens is not going to write a record for each of the 50 states after all" was the original text included on the online liner notes for their Mews Too: An Asthmatic Kitty Compilation disc released on February 7, 2006.[32] This statement was possibly included as a joke, as the text has since been removed and the current liner notes related to Stevens reads, "18. Sufjan Stevens can fold a fitted-sheet (he once worked as a professional folder in a commercial laundromat)."

The BQE

On May 31, 2007, Asthmatic Kitty announced that Stevens would be premiering a new project entitled The BQE in early November 2007. The project, dubbed a "symphonic and cinematic exploration of New York City's infamous Brooklyn-Queens Expressway", was manifested in a live show. The BQE featured an original film by Stevens (shot in Super 8 mm film), while Stevens and a backing orchestra provided the live soundtrack. The performance included a small band, a wind and brass ensemble, string players, and hula-hoopers. There were no lyrics to the music. The BQE was commissioned by the Brooklyn Academy of Music as part of their Next Wave Festival and performed on three consecutive nights from November 1–3, 2007. The composition was 30 minutes long, and was followed by an additional one hour of concert by Stevens and his orchestra.

Spiritual themes

Many of Stevens' songs have spiritual allusions. Stevens says he does not try to make music for the sake of preaching. "I don't think music media is the real forum for theological discussions," says Stevens. "I think I've said things and sung about things that probably weren't appropriate for this kind of forum. And I just feel like it's not my work or my place to be making claims and statements, because I often think it's misunderstood."[33]

Such themes are most notable on his album Seven Swans, the songs "Abraham", "Seven Swans", "To Be Alone With You", "He Woke Me Up Again", "We Won't Need Legs to Stand" and "The Transfiguration" directly address Christianity . In "Abraham", Stevens recounts the Old Testament story in the Book of Genesis. The lyrics of "The Transfiguration" follow the Biblical accounts of Matthew 17:1-8, Mark 9: 1-8, and Luke 9:28-36.[34] The title of 'All The Trees Of The Fields Will Clap Their Hands' is a quote from Isaiah 55:12.[35]

During a summer 2004 interview with Adrian Pannett for Comes with a Smile magazine, when asked how important faith was to his music, he responded, "I don't like talking about that stuff in the public forum because, I think, certain themes and convictions are meant for personal conversation."[36]

Discography

Studio albums

Year Album US Hot 200 US Heatseekers US Independent US Digital US Internet Canada
2000 A Sun Came - - - - - -
2001 Enjoy Your Rabbit - - - - - -
2003 Michigan - - - - - -
2004 Seven Swans - - - - - -
2005 Illinois 121 #1 4 - 172 -
2006 The Avalanche 71 - 4 6 - 93
2006 Songs for Christmas 122 N/A 3 - 17 -
  • Notes:
    • A Sun Came was re-released on July 20, 2004.
    • Enjoy Your Rabbit was re-released June 8, 2004.
    • Michigan is also known as Greetings from Michigan: The Great Lake State.
    • Michigan was released on vinyl on September 20, 2004.
    • Illinois is also known as Come on, Feel the Illinoise!.
    • Illinois was released on vinyl on November 21, 2005.
    • The Avalanche is also known as The Avalanche: Outtakes and Extras from the Illinois Album.
    • Stevens can no longer appear on the Top Heatseekers chart as The Avalanche appeared in the Billboard Top 100.

Singles

Compilation appearances

Collaborations

Miscellaneous releases

  • Michigan Outtakes (first available as free mp3 download on Stevens' website; now included on the vinyl version of Michigan)[37]
  • "The Lord God Bird" (National Public Radio website, July 6, 2005)

Samples

Template:Multi-listen start Template:Multi-listen item Template:Multi-listen end

References

  1. ^ Pattison, Louis. "Avalanche Review". Amazon.co.uk. Retrieved 2006-11-29. Part psychedelic bluegrass, part extra-terrestrial electronic ambience, and part tribal percussion-fest
  2. ^ Gill, Andy. "Illinoise Review". Uncut. Retrieved 2006-11-29. All rendered in a weird, pan-stylistic blend of alt.country, minimalism and American brass band music
  3. ^ Vander Plaat, Heather (April 2006). ""A distinctive musical voice"". {{cite news}}: |access-date= requires |url= (help); Unknown parameter |publication= ignored (help)
  4. ^ Harrington, Richard (September 23, 2005). ""Sufjan Stevens's Musical States of Mind"". Washington Post. Retrieved 2006-08-27.
  5. ^ Odland, Jeffrey (May 12, 2004). ""Junkmedia: An Interview with Sufjan Stevens"". Junk Media. Retrieved 2006-08-27.
  6. ^ Bemis, Alec Hanley (August 28, 2005). ""The Soft Revolution"". Los Angeles Times Magazine. Retrieved 2007-02-11.
  7. ^ Guarino, Mark (July 2006). "Sufjan Stevens: Wonder Boy". Harp Magazine. Retrieved 2006-11-29.
  8. ^ "About Us". Asthmatic Kitty Records. Retrieved 2006-11-29.
  9. ^ "Sufjan Stevens". Asthmatic Kitty Records. Retrieved 2007-12-22.
  10. ^ "Sufjan Stevens Hypothetical Tracklists". Stereogum.com. April 13, 2006. Retrieved 2006-11-29. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  11. ^ "Sufjan E-Mails Smack Down". Filter Magazine. April 13, 2006. Retrieved 2006-11-29. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  12. ^ Crock, Jason (May 15, 2006). "Interview: Sufjan Stevens". Pitchforkmedia.com. Retrieved 2006-11-29. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  13. ^ "April Fools". www.denisonwitmer.com. Retrieved 2007-06-16.
  14. ^ "Sufjan Stevens, Paramount Theatre; Austin, TX 09-16-2006". pitchforkmedia.com. Retrieved 2007-06-16.
  15. ^ "Video/MP3: Sufjan Stevens: "Majesty Snowbird" (Live)". pitchforkmedia.com. Retrieved 2007-06-16.
  16. ^ "Songs For Christmas". Ashmtatic Kitty Records. November 21, 2006. Retrieved 2006-11-29. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  17. ^ "Live: Sufjan Stevens; Kennedy Center, Washington D.C., 5 February 2007". pitchforkmedia.com. Retrieved 2007-06-16.
  18. ^ "Sufjan Goes High Art for Brooklyn Academy of Music". pitchforkmedia.com. Retrieved 2007-06-16.
  19. ^ "Sufjan Stevens Pens Personal Essay for Topic Magazine". pitchforkmedia.com. Retrieved 2007-06-16.
  20. ^ "Sufjan Pens Eggers' Nonrequired Collection Intro". pitchforkmedia.com. Retrieved 2007-06-16.
  21. ^ Dave Eggers and Sufjan Stevens, The best American nonrequired reading 2007, Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin (2007). ISBN 0-61890281-3.
  22. ^ "Star Spangled Banner". brendoman.com. Retrieved 2007-06-16.
  23. ^ Sydney Festival 2008 - MUSIC
  24. ^ "Illinois now available on vinyl". Asthmatic Kitty records. Retrieved 2007-06-16.
  25. ^ "Best of 2005". Metacritic. Retrieved 2006-11-29.
  26. ^ MP3.com: Music News - Sufjan Stevens nabs Pantheon
  27. ^ Cohen, Jonathan (April 7, 2006). "Stevens revisits 'Illinois'". Monsters and Critics.com. Retrieved 2006-11-29. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  28. ^ Dahlen, Chris (July 13, 2005). ""Art of the States"". SF Weekly. Retrieved 2006-08-27.
  29. ^ Asthmatic Kitty Records : Sidebar
  30. ^ "Interview: Questions for Rafter". Asthmatic Kitty. February 15, 2007. Retrieved 2007-02-16. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  31. ^ "Brinkley, Ark., Embraces 'The Lord God Bird'". National Public Radio. July 6, 2005. Retrieved 2006-08-27. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  32. ^ "Asthmatic Kitty Records : Various Artists > Mews Too: An Asthmatic Kitty Compilation". Retrieved 2006-11-29.
  33. ^ Sylvester, Nick (August 8, 2005). "Without a Prayer". The Village Voice. Retrieved 2006-08-27. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  34. ^ "Keyword Search = Transfiguration". BibleGateway.com. Retrieved 2006-11-29.
  35. ^ "Isaiah 55:12 (New Living Translation)". BibleGateway.com. Retrieved 2006-11-29.
  36. ^ "Comes With A Smile - Number 15 - Summer 2004". All Good Naysayers, Speak up!. Retrieved 2007-06-16.
  37. ^ Asthmatic Kitty Records : Sufjan Stevens > Michigan

Further reading

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Sufjan Stevens.


Template:Persondata

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Sufjan_Stevens&oldid=193023286"