It may be tempting to reduce Convocations into a longform ambient anomaly within Sufjan Stevens’ vast catalogue. It is, however, neither an anomaly nor entirely ambient. This is not a side project. From his numerous dance scores for New York City Ballet to instrumental albums such as Enjoy Your Rabbit, Aporia, and The BQE, Stevens…
The Greatest Gift is a mixtape of outtakes, remixes and demos from Sufjan s 2015 album Carrie & Lowell. Already on vinyl and digital, the mixtape arrives on CD format on November 16. This collection serves as a companion piece to the Carrie & Lowell Live album released earlier this year (and as an expansion…
Asthmatic Kitty announces the second installment of Sufjan Stevens 50 State Project, llinois, a 22-track anthematic tone poem to The Prairie State. Following the 2003 collection of songs for his home state, Michigan, Stevens presents an emphatic answer to the question: Can a songwriter express the spirit of a state he s never called home?…
Once you ve taken in how wonderful it sounds, it ll be time to thrill at how much of it there is, then how dense it all is. Not simply wonderful music, Michigan is a collection of short stories set to song. Meticulously researched histories, in most cases, whose subject matter veers from folklore to…
Reflections is a recording of Sufjan Stevens’ sixth collaboration with acclaimed choreographer Justin Peck. Originally commissioned for performances (May 17 – 26, 2019) by Houston Ballet, the piano duet was recorded at Oktaven Studios by Ryan Streber and performed by pianists Timo Andres and Conor Hanick. Reflections is characteristic Stevens: dynamic, melodic, memorable, emotionally resonant,…
The little secret behind Sufjan Steven’s acclaimed Illinois is that it was originally conceived as a double album, culminating in a musical collage of nearly 50 songs. But as the project began to develop into an unwieldy epic, common sense weighed in—as did the opinions of others—and the project was cut in half. But as…
Aporia is a New Age album from Sufjan Stevens and his step-father and record label co-owner, Lowell Brams, brimming with moody, hooky, gauzy synthesizer soundscapes and created collaboratively in the spirit of the New Age composers who sanded off the edges of their synths’ sawtooth; Aporia is not a mere curio in the Sufjan Stevens…
This deluxe edition of The Decalogue comprises a Stoughton tip-on gatefold jacket, 180-gram vinyl, 40 page songbook, 9×12 art print, and download card.The title of The Decalogue has a touch of the grandiose: it means The Ten Commandments. Yet this score, composed by Sufjan Stevens for a dance work choreographed by Justin Peck that premiered…
Sugar Ray became widely known through their infectious pop single “Fly”, and a consequent lighter musical direction displayed by songs like “Every Morning”, “Someday”, and “When It s Over”. However, at Sugar Ray s earliest conception, they were a rock metal band at heart, with enough goofy energy to land them a deal with Atlantic…
Sugarhill Gang Rapper s Delight: The Best Of The Sugarhill Gang on Limited Edition 180g 2LP from Friday Music Mastered by Joe Reagoso When you mention legends in the music industry, you have to pay your respects to the Sugarhill Gang, hip hops first superstars and pioneers. Put together by legendary recording artist producer record owner Sylvia Robinson who named the…
A Way of Life was recorded in the fashion of a live album and the result is a timeless masterwork that possesses a raw, confrontational edge, similar to Suicide s first album. A Way of Life s accompanying live disc is a challenging encounter between the band and their audience at the Town and Country…
Cousins Ruby da Cherry and $lick $loth grew up together, white kids in black neighborhoods on the east and west banks of New Orleans. Once they joined forces, the result was a dark blend of horrorcore glitch-trap with booming bass, ominous atmospherics, and occultish, drugged-out rhymes. In 2020 $uicideboy$ released Stop Staring at the Shadows followed by their latest and greatest…
We choose life or death. No third option exists. $uicideboy$ rap like their lives depend on it, because they actually do. Hip-hop lifted the New Orleans duo of cousins-Scott Arcenaux, Jr. a.k.a. $lick Sloth and Aristos Petrou a.k.a. Ruby da Cherry-out of a violent drug-riddled hood nightmare and into an underground phenomenon. On the way…
A new Suma record doesn’t happen every day. Now in their 15th year, the Malmö, Sweden-based outfit have always stayed active through a variety of splits, compilations and EPs, and they even had a live tape out last year for a fortunate few who were able to grab one, but it’s been six years since…
Featuring what may be his only recordings on the Prophet keyboard, these once lost performances expand the omniverse of Ra across a stellar set of lengthy cuts! All recorded in a single day and finally making their terrestrial debut, pressed on yellow vinyl and packaged with a Prophet keyboard brochure plus notes from Ranthropologist Brother…
In the endless ocean of SUN RA recordings, Space Is The Place ranks among the very best but more importantly stands as the most immediately understandable of his records. This masterpiece touches flawlessly on elements of many of RaÕs multiple phases and provides both a mission statement for and a gateway to his immaculate body…