Wednesday, July 6, 2011

The Old is New Again

Yesterday, Sufjan Stevens executed a surprise release of a new EP. Taking a page out of Radiohead's book, he put the EP on the increasingly promising Band Camp site and invited fans to stream it for free or download it for $5 (not bad for 60 minutes of music).

All Delighted People has become a favorite at recent concerts and the long-form track is the headliner of this release. However, the bones of this track are not new and go all the way back to 2000 when Stevens placed a track entitled "All Delighted People" on a compilation album called "Eye of the Beholder, Vol. 1". The song is very typical of Steven's style in 2000, with glitchy electronic touches over an electric guitar line and soft vocals. It's a great song. Obviously, Stevens has used it as a foundation to build the sprawling orchestral epic that is found on the new EP.

This is a similar approach to what Sigur Ros used for their song "Hafsol". The song appeared on their first album in an embryonic form before being revamped for years in their live show into a cataclysmic closing song.

It's great to hear artists going back to their early songs and bringing them to full actualization with their continually evolving musical tastes and skills.

Listen to Sufjan's 2000 version of All Delighted People Here:

Source: http://iguitaround.blogspot.com/2010/08/old-is-new-again.html

Labrador (band) The Magic Numbers The Go! Team The Honey Buzzards

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