Sufjan on Joyful Noise’s Flexi Disc Series

December 20th, 2012 , by

Sister label Joyful Noise Records has announced their 2013 lineup for Flexi Discs, and next year’s will include Sufjan Stevens appearing with Cat Martino.

What’s a Flexi?  Invented in the 1960s as an easy way to distribute singles alongside printed material (like magazines), a flexi is a paper-thin vinyl record. And Joyful Noise’s Flexis are clear, single-sided, 7″squares. It’s a pretty unusual format, but playable on any standard turntable.
The 2013 lineup also includes:
Birthmark
Here We Go Magic
Hella
Helvetia feat. Built To Spill
Melvins
Mike Adams At His Honest Weight
Monotonix
Rob Crow
Son Lux
The Sea And Cake
Sufjan Stevens & Cat Martino
WHY?

Flexis are not available for individual sale, you must subscribe to the entire series. However, you may cancel at anytime. You may sign up for automatic monthly payments, or pay all at once for the whole year.

Subscriptions are available for $5 / month (w/ a “deluxe subscription” available which includes a box set), right here.

EDIT: The tracks in the Flexi series are exclusive, including Sufjan and Cat’s. You won’t find them anywhere else except in Flexi form!

box-front-web

New Album from Alfred Brown of AKR Library Catalog Music Series

December 7th, 2012 , by

Earlier in 2012 we released Alfred Brown’s Music for Moving in Slow Motion as one of our Library Catalog Music Series (if you haven’t heard it you can hear it here).

Today Alfred released The Seagull: A Song Cycle on Abandonbuilding Records.

Originally intended as a soundtrack for a film adaptation of a play of the same name by Anton Chekhov, this collection eventually developed into an entity unto itself. In this adaptation, Chekhov’s tragic figure Konstantin Treplev was to be portrayed as an experimental composer of music, rather than a playwright and “The Silent Drum” was intended to be one of Treplev’s personal compositions. This cycle can be listened to as a chronological account of the story or as a meditation on the main themes. It is the internal dialog of a man plagued with self-doubt and self-pity, jealousy, and paranoia. It is the soundtrack that no one, but Konstantin can hear. These are his prayers to a god that he does not believe in. Prayers to save him from himself. Prayers that go unanswered.

You can hear and purchase The Seagull: A Song Cycle below, or here.

Christmas album from Chris Schlarb

December 7th, 2012 , by

Sufjan isn’t the only AKR artist who makes a Christmas album every year. See also Chris Schlarb, who’s established a great annual holiday tradition of recording a family Christmas album.

This year, Schlarb & Co. cover Fleetwood Mac, including classics like “Go Your Own Way” and “The Chain.” You can download Schlarb’s Christmas gift to the internet by clicking here.

Or instead enjoy this strange Fleetwood Mac Christmas video:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Delzn2tWQ1g[/youtube]

The Songbook for Siftbam’s Sing-A-Long; Indianapolis tickets released

December 6th, 2012 , by

If you’re going to one of the remaining shows from The Sirfjam Stephanapolous Christmas Sing-A-Long Seasonal Affective Disorder Spectacular Music Pageant Variety Show Disaster, you’ll need a songbook. Your entrance fee + ticket reservation accusation + online bandwidth transmission charge + emitted diode light security insurance fee entitles you to receive one at the show, but we know that some of you may wish to have them early so as to study, to color, to share.

Click here to download the songbook in PDF form. Print in B/W, fold in half.

EDIT: We just moved the show in Indianapolis on December 14th from the Old National Deluxe to the Old National Egyptian Room. The Wheel of Christmas is larger than the basement. Tickets available now – click here to get them for $20 + fees.

Finally Visible: Invisible Life from Helado Negro

November 29th, 2012 , by

From the room he grew up in, in South Florida, to his apartment in Savannah, and now in his current home in Brooklyn, Roberto Lange of Helado Negro has never not made music. Tones whittled out of these places, memories, time and all its impressions, Invisible Life is Helado Negro’s third full-length album. Like captured light, it is a reflection of Helado Negro’s refined love affair with synthesis, sampling, and his own strengthening voice.

Singing in Spanish, as well as English, Helado Negro is a bilingual tour guide into the transcendent zone of wavelength where music is mutually transacted bouncing between artist and listener. Assisting in this transaction are contributions from collaborators including Bear in Heaven’s Jon Philpot, Mouse on Mars’ Jan St. Werner, Devendra Barnhart, Matt Crum and Eduardo Alonso. Each help multiply the whispered dream of Helado Negro into a full-spectrum technicolor existence.

In the way of artists like Caetano Veloso, The Sea and Cake, and even Sade, Helado Negro floats beyond his own identity into that democratic forest of shape and color.

Helado Negro’s Invisible Life is out March 5th, 2013. Until then, please enjoy “Dance Ghost” on Pitchfork by clicking here.

New videos from Sheila Saputo & Sufjan Stevens

November 20th, 2012 , by

Later this week, Sufjan Stevens begins his tour for Silver & Gold starts this week. If you’re going, there’s some homework. Listen to and memorize these songs, and then watch a few videos featuring Sheila Saptuo, who’s opening for Sufjan. The videos, directed and produced by Jeff Shoop, Rosie Thomas, and Deborah Johnson are featured on Pitchfork today. Click here to view all of them.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cBaJHcnVAvg&feature=player_embedded[/youtube]

 

New Video for Sufjan’s “I’ll Be Home For Christmas”

November 18th, 2012 , by

We Are Films talks about the production of Sufjan’s new video, “I’ll Be Home For Christmas.”

Read the Rest...

Sufjan’s Silver & Gold Out Now

November 13th, 2012 , by

Silver & Gold, the 5-EP compilation of Christmas music by Sufjan Stevens, is out now.

Continuing where Sufjan’s 2006 Songs for Christmas ended, Silver & Gold includes volumes 6 through 10. The CD boxset includes stickers, temporary tattoos, a paper ornament, song lyrics and chord charts, liner notes and essays, and of course five Christmas EPs.

Look to the right for purchasing options.

[bandcamp album=3123296626 bgcol=FFFFFF linkcol=186D9E size=grande]

On Friday, Sufjan released a video of “Justice Delivers Its Death,” which you can view below, and today we’re releasing “I’ll Be Home For Christmas,” as directed and produced by the Craig Brothers. Keep your eye on this YouTube playlist for more Silver & Gold related videos.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B3cfUolJxYg&list=PL67VKSNJdY_XetkvIImJEMOiraVbQ_cvQ&index=3&feature=plpp_video[/youtube]

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dNUbEDPWrvw&list=PL67VKSNJdY_XetkvIImJEMOiraVbQ_cvQ&index=1&feature=plpp_video[/youtube]

New EP from Denison Witmer: The Ones Who Wait Part 2

November 6th, 2012 , by

The Ones Who Wait—Part 2, a six-song EP by Denison Witmer, comes out today.  Part 2 is a follow-up to Denison’s March 2012 full-length, The Ones Who Wait.  Rather than a cohesive album, Part 2 is a collection of songs that form a concluding chapter to The Ones Who Wait, tying up loose ends in anticipation of the spring 2013 release of Denison’s tenth record.  The EP features a handful of reinvented songs from The Ones Who Wait, previously unreleased material, and a spacious, patient cover of label-mate Sufjan Steven’s “Abraham.”  The Ones Who Wait—Part 2 is available on Bandcamp, iTunes, Amazon.

A Cold November; new video from Shannon Stephens

November 5th, 2012 , by

[vimeo width=”542″ height=”305″]http://vimeo.com/47125330[/vimeo]

Welcome to November. In Seattle, home of Shannon Stephens, this is a tough month; the vestiges of summer are gone entirely, the sun has disappeared behind clouds, and the rain falls sharp and  cold. Shannon’s “Cold November” is a perfect respite. Video producer Fish & Crown captured it on film. DM Stith is on piano and Andrew Rudd on extra piano and bells.

You can download a similar version over on Noisetrade below.

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