new Sufjan Stevens - Songs For Christmas - mp3s
yes. that's right. it is far too gorgeous outside for me to be posting this.

but obviously, i have no choice.

you've read it before...

Forget the 50 States. Christmas is a bigger concept. As some of you may or may not know, for the past few years, as a holiday tradition, Sufjan has embarked on an extraordinary experiment to record an annual Christmas EP. It started in 2001, the year of Epiphanies, and continued onward (skipping only 2004), culminating into an odd and idiosyncratic catalog of music that has only existed in the Asthmatic Kitty archives (and on a number of file sharing sites). The recording process took place every December, for one week, usually at home, provoking collaborations with friends, roommates, and musical peers. Armed with a Reader’s Digest Christmas Songbook (and a mug of hot cider) Sufjan & friends concocted a musical fruit cake year after year, implementing every musical instrument they could find lying around the house: banjo, oboe, Casiotone, wood flute, a buzzy guitar, hand claps, sleigh bells, Hammond organ, and some tree tinsel. Did we mention sleigh bells?

...Recording traditional favorites alongside unique originals, Sufjan has, over the course of five years, constructed an odd, impressive, and compelling collection of Christmas hits (and some misses) that will either warm your heart or make you throw up eggnog all over the bath mat (depending on your constitution). Asthmatic Kitty Records is preparing to release ALL of the material (newly mixed and mastered) in one generous box set, due in stores November 21, just in time for the holiday shopping craze.

[read the rest here, in case you don't remember or didn't know.]

***PREORDER NOW, yo! you would be SO LAME not to buy this.***
i never star things. this is urgent.


::::here's a lovely little mid-October sampling of the season of Sufjan:
Sufjan Stevens - Get Behind Me, Santa! - single material. enough said. also: Get Behind Me Satan? weird coincidence? nope. definitely not. kudos, Jack.
Sufjan Stevens - Christmas In July - this track is poppy, hoppy, barely a christmas song at all. i've listened to it about 6 times, and it's neither Christmas OR July. so there. (2:30 in... mm mm... love that)
Sufjan Stevens - Jupiter Winter - light. strings and bells. like a snowflake. (yes, i said it)

Bonus - because we love you, and you love him. we know.
Sufjan Stevens - That Was The Worst Christmas Ever - i've had a few of these. this is wonderfully written and i love everything he ever does with a euk.
Sufjan Stevens - Lo! How A Rose E'er Blooming - beautiful. sad. like only he can.


Edit: Please head on over to Asthmatic Kitty, where they're streaming the whole thing for you. that is far more worthy of your time, because the whole damn point is for you to buy this for yourself and everyone you love this christmas, and have a happier holiday for it. trrrrrrrust me.



buying this will so be worth the money. get it for everyone you know. it will make your holiday ten times better, i absolutely promise. this and Vince Guaraldi's A Charlie Brown Christmas - you know, this one. sigh.

and it's not even halloween yet, my god.  shan  5:37 PM  |  view comments (4)