Christmas Special: Sufjan Stevens: Silver & Gold: Songs for Christmas, Vols. 6-10

    It's that time of year again, if not a little more than late unfortunately, I've been much busier than normal this year with going to my girlfriend's family's house for Christmas (strike that. fiancé's family's house!). But, I return to you this Christmas season with another Sufjan Stevens release: Silver & Gold: Songs for Christmas, Vols. 6-10, which just came out in November of 2012. Apparently, we should expect one of these compilation albums every five years or so (this one done between 2006-2010), because each Christmas him and some friends get together and record songs and carols Sufjan style, which becomes one of the EPs that makes up Silver & Gold. The EPs are:

    Highlights include: "Coventry Carol", with very nice classical guitar and banjo with strings and chorus; "Carol of St. Benjamin the Bearded One", which has a beautiful melody with arpeggiated chords in the background and chorus in a call/response/counterpoint/counter melody sort of way; and "Barcarola (You Must Be a Christmas Tree)", one that grows steadily over the entire track and builds nicely at the end.

    The longest of the EPs, highlights include: "Christ the Lord is Lord", which is quite short and I'm not sure if it is the full original score or arranged or what, but it is labeled as music by Czech composer, Leoš Janáček--simply worth noting Sufjan's broad use of musical material, which I applaud!;  "Ah Holy Jesus", just a beautiful chorale by Johann Crüger, sung by a decent choir too--there are two other versions of this tune; "Ding-a-ling-a-ring-a-ling", an inane track of garage band nonsense that is noisy and loud and repetitive, but it sort of grows on you I guess; "Make Haste to See the Baby", worth listening to the first half that contains a gorgeous mellow instrument of unknown origin to me (maybe reed organ?), before the overly boomy and out of tune piano arrives; "Even the Earth Will Perish and the Universe Give Way", which also has the reed organ and twinkling pianos.

    Highlights include: "Angels We Have Heard On High", a recomposed version by Sufjan that is very pleasant and shows off his baroque pop and electronic skills quite eclectically but nicely; "Christmas in the Room", a nice blend of simple electric guitar and electronic synths; all told you should expect to hear lots of electronica in this EP, perhaps he was going through his The Age of Adz phase?

    Highlights include: "Sleigh Ride" Sufjan style, with a surprise horse whinny at the end; and "X-Mas Spirit Catcher", a fun kind of silly tune with lots of beat boxing, yet with moments of luxurious chords in the piano. This EP is mostly slapstick arrangements of typical songs I guess, especially with the picture on the cover causing you to expect light-heartedness, but listen to "Let it Snow! Let it Snow! Let it Snow!" and you'll see what I mean.

    Highlights include: "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas", simple and pleasing; "Up on the Housetop", which shows off Sufjan and company trying to be all hip hop R&B; "Justice Delivers its Death", a beautiful flowing song with piano, acoustic stringed instruments and reverb harmonized vocals; "Christmas Unicorn", perhaps the highlight on the entire Silver & Gold.
    I hope you take the two hour (I'm guessing) time it takes to listen through it. But, it is a worthy diversion and I wish I could have brought it to you earlier, but hey Christmas music is good all winter. I hope it brings some cheer to you, and maybe in all its silliness reminds you of the true spirit and meaning of Christmas, the Birth of Christ, and the bringing of hope into a broken world. Listen in its entirety on Sufjan's Bandcamp, here. Also see his website, here, and notes on each song (who wrote, who composed that sort of thing), here on Wikipedia. The song "Christmas Unicorn" over under 'Monthly Sample Tracks'. Enjoy! And happy festivities this last day of 2012!

Digitalism: I Love You Dude

    I enjoy a solid electro house album every now and again, and Digitalism is no exception. These guys are major players in their field. Hailing from Hamburg, Germany, the duo of Jens "Jence" Moelle and İsmail "Isi" Tüfekçi that is Digitalism has been around since 2004, dropping their first full album in 2007, Idealism. At the time, I was a relative newcomer to the genre (I probably hadn't even listened to Daft Punk entirely yet), but I liked a few of their songs, namely "Pogo", which appeared on commercials and on video game soundtracks. I assume most electronica duos collect songs slowly, over time, and once they have enough for an album just compile singles and Ep's they've released, so it wasn't until 2011 that Digitalism put out I Love You Dude, their sophomore release. More recently, April 16, 2012, they compiled a D J-Kicks album, #43 specifically, which is a series dating back to 1995 and includes a long list of notable artists. Most of the album is other artists, chosen by Digitalism as representative of them, but they included a number of their own tracks and remixes as well. You can see their entry here, as well as navigate to others, including Gold Panda's set. An interesting difference between the two sets named above are that Gold Panda blended each track, merging them together as one long session, while Digitalism kept them separate. To my knowledge, each D J-Kicks series is slightly different in some regard, and of course takes into account the strengths and particular style of the DJs involved. Make sure to download the free track, "A New Drug" while you're there.
    Digitalism's style is very in your face (they call it "rough"), pulsating, not quite uptempo, with heavier beats that lean on the dance style spectrum to be sure. The duo uses a lot of sounds that are familiar to French House, citing Daft Punk and Philippe Zdar as influences. Their biggest motivation, however, is the emotional draw of movies and pictures. They are constantly trying, in their words: "to bring back some romance into electronic music. I think our music is a bit romantic as well, a bit melancholic, that's been missing before... there's been so much club music around that’s only functional stuff." I totally agree, in two cases, that there is too much functional techno that has no real vitality and that electro house has more to offer the listener than something to sit back and chill to. I've always preferred the meatier electronica. Read the full interview I took the above quote from at the DCist, here.
    Some of the highlights of I Love You Dude, are the opening track, "Stratosphere", which has a Chemical Brothers or Daft Punk Tron Legacy type of feeling, an epic-ness. I love the synths, the beat and how it draws into itself to the point of no sound before growing again. The next track, "2 Hearts", is really interesting too, because it is a sudden mood change in a way, sound-wise and that it includes vocals. It almost gives the impression of a indie pop track--hopefully that is not an insult. As always, I love a distorted timbre, like Royksöpp uses, and Digitalism does not disappoint, with "Circles", "Forrest Gump" (written by Julian Casablanca of The Strokes), and "Miami Showdown". I should note, another thing you'll hear is "Reeperbahn", which has such a German sound, almost Heavy Metal, but more subdued within the context of electronica; in other words not anywhere near what Pendulum did with their sophomore album, Immersion. Finally, finishing up the album, "Encore" also has a similar vibe to Justice and that's fine with me too. With the iTunes version, there is an extra track, "Harrison Fjord"--a nice play on words, I must admit. And two extra tracks come with the Japanese edition (no offense given or taken, why do the Japanese always get stuff we don't?)
    To listen to the entire album for free, check out Digitalism's MySpace, here. I'd also recommend checking out their SoundCloud, where you can find a few isolated songs (not put together into a set for ease of reference or access unfortunately) from their D J-Kicks album, here. I have linked the song, "Circles" over under the 'Monthly Sample Tracks' for you to get a taste if you're not willing to just jump in full throttle. Enjoy!

Andy Shauf: The Bearer of Bad News

    Canadian folk song-writer Andy Shauf is this weeks extra belated post (if you're actually reading on a regular basis, first thanks!, and sorry for making you wait as I've been super busy lately). Hailing from Saskatchewan  his first releases were two 8-tracks, Love and the Memories of It (2006) and Grandpa Songs (2007). The rest of his discography seems to be all over the place and it has been difficult tracing it as there is not Wikipedia entry (it's amazing how much we've come to rely on that site for information!). This was followed by a full length, Darker Days (2009); an EP, Four Songs (2009); another 8-track, Waiting for the Sun to Leave (2010); which leads us to this year with an EP length Sam Jones Feeds His Demons (March 2012) and a his latest full release, this album, The Bearer of Bad News (Nov. 6, 2012). There may be stuff missing in there I do not know about.
    The Bearer of Bad News is a compilation of sorts, including songs written from 2008-2011. I assume these songs have not been excluded from live sessions, as Andy Shauf appears to have some sort of following in that way. According to his Bandcamp mini bio he is "building a cult following" and puts on an "intimate live show". They do not appear to have been pre-released, yet there is a great sense of cohesion for songs that have been composed over the course of 3 years. Maybe one giveaway is the instrumentation? Some tracks there is this fantastically dark brooding clarinet choir with multiple vocals, presumably himself recorded over himself, while others include strings, different acoustic guitar timbres, and/or more piano. Tempos vary at times too, from slightly upbeat, to really subtle jazz, to even down tempo. One song even has roots more in 60's era rock (i.e. "Jerry Was a Clerk"). Even so, it is difficult to pinpoint and would likely lead to much misguided speculation, as I have already done.
    Andy Shauf reminds me somewhat of Sondre Lerche in The Bearer of Bad News, with quality song creation and yet simple almost pop-ish sensibilities. What I mean is, the songs are effective even though they are not super complex in form or construction. They are not, however, nearly as upbeat as Sondre Lerche, and the comparison does not last long as Andy Shauf seems to be making a name for himself. Indeed, this album could make some waves before the year is out. I, for one, just stumbled across it because of BIRP!'s December playlist, see here (his addition is at the bottom).
    I hope you take time to discover Andy Shauf's music, there are a number of places to listen. Check out his Bandcamp, which contains early and later stuff, here; while his MySpace fills in the middle, here. Also, I've put the song "I'm Not Falling Asleep" from his SoundCloud over under the 'Monthly Sample Tracks'. Enjoy!