Music Review: Welcome to the Welcome Wagon

Grade: A-

The Sunday Morning Gospel Hour meets Great Lakes brass-ified (Sufjan-ified) eccentric indie-pop.

While we all wait for Sufjan Stevens’ next legitimate album, this will more than do.

Welcome to the Welcome Wagon is the brainchild of Vito Aiuto (pastor of Resurrection Presbyterian Church in Brooklyn and the same Vito from “Vito’s Ordination Song”), his wife Monique, and the previously-mention Stevens.  And while this is not technically a Sufjan Stevens album (here he serves as producer and backup vocalist/instrumentalist), you can’t really separate this album from the Stevens canon.  His fingerprints are all over it.

That being said, this album still stands on its own as something unique, fresh, and pleasing.  While injected with some of the same brass and backup vocal armies traditionally found in Sufjan’s elaborate compositions, Welcome to the Welcome Wagon strikes a simpler, slower, more reverent tone.

Welcome to the Welcome Wagon, simply put, is church music.  It’s perhaps an unfair label to put on artists who have no interest of entering the brand-Christian music market, but Aiuto is a pastor, after all.  But when I say this is church music, don’t make the mistake of conjuring images of (at times) wishy-washy “I’m in love with Jesus” arena anthems.  We’re moreso talking about hymns here– amazingly, thankfully, this type of music is still being written.  Not unlike Sufjan’s own songs of faith, Welcome Wagon relies almost exclusively on biblical imagery and narrative, and specifically those dealing with atonement and holy week (making it a great listen for the drive to this morning’s Easter Sunday service).  The combination of rarely-heard Biblically-focused writing, old-style folk, and brassy, indie-licious trim make this one of the oddest albums I’ve ever encountered.  But that’s part of what makes it so endearing.

If you’re a fan of Sufjan Stevens (or Denison Witmer, Rosie Thomas, Danielson Famile, etc.), Welcome to the Welcome Wagon will fit into your library quite comfortably.  If you’re new to this circle of unique, thoughtful musicians, you may be surprised at just how enjoyable this album is.

5 tracks to check out:

1.  Up on a Mountain

2. Hail to the Lord’s Annointed

3.  I Am a Stranger

4.  But For You Who Fear My Name

5.  Sold! To the Nice Rich Man

Daily_Blog: 12/23

You Gave a Good Fight, Panthers…

I would like to raise my glass (of Orange Juice?) to the Carolina Panthers and their effort against the New York Giants in Sunday night’s epic matchup.  With both teams coming in at 11-3, the winner of the game took home the #1 seed and homefield advantage in the playoffs.  Despite being the hottest team in the NFL, few gave Carolina a chance (the media tends to lean toward all things New York, after all).  On a windy, frozen night, both teams illustrated that they are far and away the best teams in the NFC.  However, when John Kasay’s 50 yard field goal with 10 seconds remaining went wide left by just inches, I had a feeling that the game was done.  When the team captains met at midfield for the overtime coin flip, you could see immense mutual respect among the players…kind of a “it stinks that someone has to lose this game” thing.  But the Panthers ultimately would, as their frigid defensive line just got completely worn down by the Giants’ beastly rushing attack.  Here’s to a great playoff run, Panthers.  And New York…I’m sure we’ll see you again in a few weeks.

Mannheim Stevens-Roller…

Sufjan Stevens makes a private Christmas EP every year for family and friends, and volumes 1-5 eventually were compiled into the very-popular Songs For Christmas.  Well, apparently he didn’t stop with those, as Volume 8 is now circulating on the internet, which raises a couple of questions: Where in the world are Volumes 6 and 7, and can we expect another compilation anytime soon?  Anyways, Volume 8 sees Sufjan mostly returning to the old days of his special brand of electronica.  I’m never big on electronica, and Sufjan’s electronic music is admittedly no exception.  However, there are a couple of songs of this fashion that actually work.  The standout, without a doubt, though, is “Christmas in the Room,” a simple, piano-driven song lyrically reminiscent of Jars of Clay’s “Hibernation Day.”  The EP is worth it just for that one track, but the collection as a whole isn’t in the same league as any of Volumes 1-5.  It also begs the question, with this mostly electronic fare, his recent jazzy covers of Bob Dylan and Joni Mitchell songs, and the grunge-rock slack-talking single “In the Words of the Governor”…what in the world is the next Stevens State-Album going to sound like?

CS4!…

Concoxions has taken the plunge into Adobe CS4, and I’m downright giddy about it.  We were mainly interested in InDesign CS4’s ability to make interactive Flash/PDF magazines, but the suite as a whole should really be of great benefit to our online presence.  Having enough time to make that happen, though, will be a challenge.

U2/3/3/09…

At long last, U2 is going to let us hear what they’ve been working on for the last few years, releasing No Line on the Horizon on March 3rd.  Bono claims that the oft-delayed album will be a step up creatively from their last two efforts, which he claims plateaued creatively.  That’s a pretty good plateau, if you ask me.

Foiled Again!…

I don’t want Frank Wren’s job.  I’ve said in the past that I would enjoy being a Major League General Manager, but forget it.  Wren, in his first year as senior GM for the Braves, has seen the worst-luck off-season ever.  First, we thought we had a deal to trade for Cy Young-winner Jake Peavy.  Nevermind, the Padres are non-commital.  Then, a long term deal for ace AJ Burnett.  Nevermind, the Yankees want him, so he’s gone.  Then, we had a verbal agreement to sign old Brave favorite SS Rafael Furcal.  Nevermind, his agent is a….bad word.  However, I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: I am very happy that Wren has not sold the farm in order to get one of these desperation deals done.  He realizes that the Braves’ greatest strength is the minor league talent, and while it may not excite the impatient, letting these young guys develop into great ballplayers is the way to go, rather than overspending for players and agents who feel entitled to countless millions.  So, this season may not be a pretty one, but 2010 or 2011 could see the return of the Braves.  And I’ll stick with them until they get there.

Merry Christmas Eve Eve, and a happy Christmas Eve.

Blogging is for lists, Vol. II: Sufjan Stevens

(Photo: Joe Lencioni, Shifting Pixel)

Time for another (pretentious?) list.

Sufjan Stevens’ music isn’t for everyone.  If you mainly rock out to death metal, for example, you’re probably not going to go crazy for long banjo and orchestra-riddled compositions built upon obscure Midwest trivia.  Or you may, I don’t know.  I’m not sure what you kids are listening to these days.

There’s nothing ordinary about Sufjan’s rise to indie-fame (but isn’t that what being indie is all about?).  A quiet, oboe-playing kid decides to do an experimental instrumental electronic album based on the Chinese Zodiac (Enjoy Your Rabbit), takes a break from music, starts his own record label with his step-father, announces that he’s going to make a soundtrack for every state in the United States, and does so with an army of banjos, woodwinds, strings, synths, and bells (many of which he plays himself, then mixes together himself).  Oh, and those “God” and “faith” things pop up a lot along the way, too.  And as you see in the picture above, costumed concerts are the norm, too.  That’s an act destined to hang around in Top 40 radio for years, right?

Somehow, though, Stevens has become a household name, based on a little something called “quality” and the critical acclaim that comes with it.  Come On!  Feel the Illinoise!, his latest (non-Christmas-themed) effort, was the best-reviewed album of 2006, was Paste’s album of the year, and was featured on the soundtrack of just about every movie going for that Little Miss Sunshine vibe (including Little Miss Sunshine itself).

So I give you my favorite fifteen Sufjan Stevens songs…consider them to be fifteen suggestions, if you’re looking for some new music to get with those coming Christmas iTunes gift cards.

15. “Come On! Let’s Boogie to the Elf Dance!” (from Songs for Christmas): This selection is really just here to represent all of Songs for Christmas, since holiday-themed songs don’t normally make these lists.  ”Come On!…” is an addictive mishmash of Christmas themes and musical styles, and is a great example of Stevens’ use of musical form to convey a certain message.  Be sure to check out “Get Behind Me Santa!” as well as the rest of this gigantic collection of Christmas songs.

14. “Come On! Feel the Illinoise!, Pt. I: The World’s Columbian Exposition/Pt. II: Carl Sandburg Visits Me In a Dream (from Come On Feel the Illinoise): Did I mention that Stevens loves absurdly long titles?  This one isn’t at all the longest, either.  In this two-parter, Sufjan throws just about every instrument at you in a jolly orchestral exposition.  It’s hard to listen to this song and not feel good about life.

13. “Ring Them Bells” (from the I’m Not There soundtrack): This Bob Dylan cover, made for last year’s biopic, only vaguely sounds like a Bob Dylan song musically, but still carries the proper spirit.  Interestingly, Dylan’s approach to Christian themes in his writing closely mirrors Stevens; it would be easy to assume that this was a Sufjan original.

Portfolio Works, Braves Don’t; Song of the day

The bad news: No early MobileMe update as anticipated.  

The good news: .Mac is back to its normal self, and thankfully, so is my portfolio.

 

In completely unrelated news, the Braves turned in an inspired, 4-error performance in another loss to the Brew crew.  Was I not strong enough in my wording yesterday?

Song of the Day: Ring Them Bells, Sufjan Stevens, I’m Not There Soundtrack (originally by Bob Dylan…obviously) –Sufjan meets Dylan…Yep, it’s as strange as it sounds, but it’s also a good one.

Viva La Vida Review and Other Thoughts

Quick review of Coldplay’s Viva La Vida:

It’s good.  Get it.

It’s mature, it shows restraint, it’s diverse and fresh instrumentally, and is surprisingly sing-alongable.  It doesn’t have the constant drive that X&Y had…but that may be what makes it better.  And there’s some serious spiritual struggling going on in these lyrics – very relatable.  

So lately I’ve been trying, out of necessity, to get my portfolio up to date for an impending job interview.  Let me take this chance to remind everyone out there that, while I generally love the software that Apple puts out there, do not touch iWeb unless you absolutely have to.  I’ve been learning real web design lately, but I need this up quickly, and trusted iWeb to do the job.  It, in turn, transformed my portfolio into word vomit.

Speaking of which, if you want to learn web design, or pretty much anything related to creative software (Photoshop, After Effects, Final Cut, almost everything), take a stroll over to Lynda.com.  For $25 a month, you can have access to an inexhaustible library of training videos…we’re talking hours and hours of really good stuff.  I bring this up because I’ve buried myself in the Dreamweaver training lately, and I’m amazed at how much I’ve learned in just a few days.

Where’s the Hooked On Phonics kid when you need him?

And finally…to the Braves….look, I know you’re hurting.  I know it’s hard to get by with the Richmond Braves plus a one-legged Chipper Jones.  But can you still just try and make a run at things?  Soon?  This whole “almost in the race” mediocrity is getting old.  Don’t you think you deserve better?

Inspiration Double Take

While I’m personally looking for inspiration in order to make a Seesalt theme song video, I thought I would answer a couple of requests to pass along a couple of videos that I’ve been hooked on lately.

The first is the opening video for Drive 2008 at North Point Community Church.  I actually had the opportunity to do some work for this conference (just some looping animations for individual sessions), but this is the video you need to see.  I talked to Mike Davis (NP’s staff graphic designer) at my graduation, and he said that the video was a combination in-house/out-of-house job.  No matter what, this one pretty much sets the bar for church conference videos, especially with its three-screen awesomeness.  Click the picture for the link (link goes to Ragamuffin Soul, blog of one of the worship leaders/all-around-creative-gurus at Buckhead Church in Atlanta).

The second video is one that, if you’ve been watching TV lately, you’ve seen.  But this is a special request from my sister, so I thought I would throw it up there.  This is the new iTunes commercial advertising the new Coldplay album–done by a studio called Logan, who has done many of the iTunes commercials, and they’re pretty much one of the standards that little beginners like me hope to emulate.  For such a short commercial, the feel is amazingly dramatic, and it’s an incredible example of how particles and lighting should be used.  Click for link.