Sufjan Stevens Xmas Song Exchange Results Are In!

The results are in and they sound great. Sufjan Stevens, one of indie music's most imaginative luminaries of the past few years, hosted a Christmas song contest last month. Being a Sufjan Stevens affair, it was not a garden variety contest. Instead, it was an exchange. Sufjan gives you one of his songs, he gets one of yours. An even swap, so to speak. Except he keeps his good name, his studio access, and his record contract/label. You, well, you get a Sufjan Stevens song that you can call your very own, I guess.

Besides the patently absurd premise, the contest yielded some beautiful results. And, thankfully, Asthmatic Kitty records, Stevens's label, has streamed some of the best entries via AKradio. I highly recommend that you check out these selections. So far, my favorite off of Asthmatic Kitty's stream is "Emily" by The Palace Flophouse, a delightfully juvenile narrative of a Christian boy longing for the attention of his Jewish friend's older sister on Hanukkah. Some of the pieces are stunning, and the production value on most tracks is impressive, considering that most of these are "home recordings." And the fact that most of the submitting artists are relative unknowns makes any "music in America is dead" argument turn to dust (not that I hear that all too often these days, but it was a common message not too long ago). The music industry may be hurting and in need of a tune-up, or, hell, who are we kidding, a full-on overhaul, but there is a diverse tapestry of talent making great art in the meantime.

Check out the winner and the top submissions here: http://asthmatickitty.com/news.php?newsID=243

Return

Christmas Day for those who don't celebrate (like myself) can be a quiet, isolating time. But Brooklyn was hopping today, which was great. The sun was shining. Folks were out walking their dogs, chatting it up with the neighbors. Coffee shops were open for business, and there were even seats to spare (a Park Slope rarity)! Even my favorite bagel place was open, much to my pleasant surprise. While I always love the bagels they serve, their choice of music frequently leaves me wanting. Today was no exception. I expected the usual Christmas fare, which would have been nice, in fact. I feel like I didn't get my usual share of "White Christmas," "Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree," or "Silver Bells." But no, none of that was what I heard on whatever pop station they had on. Instead, I was listening to Jordin Sparks's new-ish single, "Tatoo." While it would have been foolish to have high expectations of someone who must be enslaved to the American Idol record contract gods for the next several albums, I was disappointed to hear a single that was no more than a regurgitated amalgam of all of the pop cliches of the past two or three years. It's as if the producers responsible for the work of Beyonce, Rihanna, and Mariah had a fire sale and Jordin's production team got stuck with whatever was left over at the end of the day. The sad part is that Sparks is being pushed into a dying star-centered music production system that she and her voice are not prepared for. She's young and she's green, which made her a great Idol contestant. However, the girl needs vocal training, a lot of it in fact. And while that was apparent on the show, it becomes glaringly obvious in the studio. While there are a host of production tools to make even a tone-deaf schlub sound pitch-perfect, the schlub's track will still suck because it'll likely lack the measured breath support, the nuanced lyrical interpretation, and the sheer performance value that makes a great vocalist's work, well, great. With all of that said, the girl isn't even 20 and by no means tone-deaf or a schlub, so I bet she can wiggle herself out of the Idol-based contract, gain some artistic freedom, make time for vocal coaching, and use her celebrity capital for some great music making. Best of luck to you, Jordin!