Tagged with sufjan stevens

Listen: Freelance Whales – “Diluvia”

Freelance Whales is an indie rock band from Queens, New York.  The band’s sophomore album, Diluvia, is currently streaming on NPR. You can listen to it on the NPR website. Freelance Whales has been compared to The Postal Service and Sufjan Stevens, but in their newest release it feels as if they have finally created their own, unique sound.  Diluvia has many of the similar attributes that many fans loved about their first album, Weathervanes, such as use of the banjo and glockenspiel. Check out a number of tour dates and see if the band’s coming to your city. Freelance Whales is a fun band to see live.

10/04 -Chicago, IL @ Lincoln Hall
10/05 – Minneapolis, MI @ 7th St Entry
10/06 – Madison, WI @ Redamte
10/07 – Iowa City @ Maintenance Shop
10/10 – Dallas, TX @ Trees
10/11- Houston, TX @ Fitzgerald’s
10/13 – Mexico City, MX @ Capital Corona Festival
10/14 – Austin, TX @ Austin City Limits
10/16 – Los Angeles, CA @ El Rey
10/18 – San Francisco, CA @ Mezzanine
10/20 – Portland, OR @ Doug Fir
10/21 – Seattle, WA @ Chop Suey
10/23 – Salt Lake City, UT @ Kilby Court
10/24 – Denver, CO @ Bluebird
10/26 – St. Louis, MO @ Firebird
10/27 – Nashville, TN @ The End
10/28 – Atlanta, GA @ The Loft
10/30 – Chapel Hill, NC @ Local 506
10/31 – Washington, DC @ 9:30 Club
11/01 – New York, NY @ Webster Hall
11/02 – Philadelphia, PA @ Union Transfer
11/03 – Boston, MA @ Paradise

Listen: s / s / s – “Museum Day”

s / s / s is the name that Sufjan Stevens, Son Lux, and rapper Serengeti have chosen to use for their new supergroup and on March 20th, the trio will release their first project, an EP entitled Beak & Claw, via Anticon. Our first preview of the EP comes in the form of opening track “Museum Day”, a masterful blend of genres that features an auto-tuned Sufjan (very much in the vein of his newest album The Age of Adz) alongside somber rhymes from Serengeti. It’s pretty interesting to hear everything blend together so effortlessly and if this track is any indication, Beak & Claw will be in heavy rotation throughout the rest of the year. You can give “Museum Day” a listen below.

Stream: The Roots – ‘undun’

It’s sad to admit that nowadays, leaks are almost inevitable. Unless you devote every living moment towards protecting your music from being leaked or don’t allow any advanced listens — I’m looking at you Kanye and Jay — your album will probably get leaked. After releasing thirteen records, it seems The Roots know what they’re doing and a few days ago, partnered with NPR to offer a free stream of their latest, undun, a strikingly powerful album about the fictional Redford Stephens, a poor Philadelphian kid who gets tangled up in the drug trade.

With help from Sufjan Stevens (his song “Redford” inspired the character’s name), Just Blaze, Big K.R.I.T., and more, The Roots’ first attempt at a concept album is an inspiring and beautiful piece of work. You can listen to the whole thing at NPR right now, with the album available in stores everywhere on December 6th via Def Jam.

undun Tracklist:

01. The Un
02. Sleep
03. Make My (feat. Big K.R.I.T.)
04. One Time (feat. Phonte & Dice Raw)
05. Kool On (feat. P.O.R.N.)
06. The Other Side
07. Stomp (feat. P.O.R.N.)
08. Lighthouse
09. I Remember
10. Tip The Scale
11. Redford (For Yia Yia & Pappou)
12. Possibility
13. Will To Power
14. Finality

MiaoMix Monday #5 [Halloween]

Today is Halloween and today’s the perfect day to celebrate. I put together a mix of songs that in my opinion would be great to listen to during Halloween. None of them are actually directly related to Halloween in any way, but I think they have a very suitable vibe. The playlist this week isn’t really focused on any specific genre, but the first half of the playlist is rap and the 2nd half is a mix of dubstep, folk, and R&B music. The last song is “John Wayne Gacy, Jr.” by Sufjan Stevens and if you’re at all familiar with the song, you’d think it wouldn’t fit in this playlist, but I think that it’s a perfect ending to this week’s mix.

Kid CuDi – “Maniac (feat. Cage & St. Vincent)”
Das Racist – “Sit Down, Man (feat. El-P) (Produced by Scoop Deville)”
Tyler, The Creator – “Tron Cat”
GZA/Genius – “Shadowboxin'”
The Weeknd – “Wicked Games”
Massive Attack – “Paradise Circus (Zeds Dead Remix)”
Burial – “Archangel”
Sufjan Stevens – “John Wayne Gacy, Jr.”

The National and Friends

In a recent show, The National were joined on stage by Sufjan Stevens and Nico Muhly. The National and friends performed “Afraid Of Everyone” and “Terrible Love” from their newest record High Violet. Watch a video here.