Come On Feel The Majesty Snowbird

photo credit

As the months roll on, Old Man Winter stirs in his slumber waiting to awake, while Middle Aged Man Autumn has arrived large and in charge. When my thoughts draw to the cooler months I'm reminded of holidays, namely Christmas. And when I think of Christmas, I'm reminded of sleighbells, snow, and fat bearded men (I also think of fat bearded men when I think of pirates and square dances). I also think of none other than Sufjan Stevens, who has masterfully been cranking out great sounds for a while now, some very reminiscent of December 25th, the birth of Lord, and also the day an imaginary fat man in red comes down your chimney (very different than the day a REAL fat man in red comes down your chimney - that is the day of Red Dawn 2: They're Back...And They're Fat).

Another great thing that happens in the latter seasons of the year, namely Fall, is that bands take their shows on the road. This past weekend I saw Sufjan play one of his three shows at Town Hall in NYC. I'm happy to report it was awesome.

Sufjan has managed to recraft arrangements of his already wildly instrumented songs performing with an 8 piece string section, plus the already present horns, bells, banjos, and guitars to create an incredibly full, dreamlike sound. And since we've been talking so much about the winter months, I'm pleased to offer you an early Christmas gift. Head on over to Ryspace to get a full download of one of the weekend's live sets (there's a full set with appluase and banter, and a tighter track by track listing). This is my second offering of Sufjan holiday gifting to you in the past year. And I'm just regifting from other's sites, much like virtual fruitcake or bad sweaters - passing on what others gave to me (which is much better than fruitcake or a Faded Glory original).

I attended the Sunday show, which was packed out and a great time. It was truly an experience hearing the songs and seeing Sufjan and the Butterfly Brigade band come out in butterfly costumes and flood the air with thick sweet sounds of symphony. During "The Man Of Metropolis Steels Our Hearts" and "That Was The Worst Xmas Ever" people came through the crowd tossing out inflatable mascots - Superman's for "Metropolis" and Santa's for "Xmas". People hit them around like beach balls during the songs and you can hear the dolls squeaking and people laughing on the those tracks. Thanks to Ryspace and Brooklyn Vegan - 2 great music blogs - for the news on the shows and the track listings. Also, head over to Asthmatic Kitty to check out more Christmas themed news with more Sufjan Christmas albums on the way (CHRISTMAS IS COMING - YOU CANNOT ESCAPE IT).

Enjoy.