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