{"id":13086,"date":"2012-10-22T11:42:38","date_gmt":"2012-10-22T19:42:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thelefortreport.com\/blog\/?p=13086"},"modified":"2012-10-22T14:30:25","modified_gmt":"2012-10-22T22:30:25","slug":"listen-and-download-two-songs-from-sufjan-stevens-upcoming-christmas-song-box-set-silver-gold","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thelefortreport.com\/blog\/2012-10\/listen-and-download-two-songs-from-sufjan-stevens-upcoming-christmas-song-box-set-silver-gold\/","title":{"rendered":"Listen and Download Two Songs from Sufjan Stevens’ Upcoming Christmas Song Box-Set “Silver & Gold”"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

On November 13th, Sufjan Stevens<\/strong> will release another box-set of 58 Christmas-related songs entitled Silver & Gold<\/strong>.\u00a0 Prior to that date, Stevens has made two of these songs available for streaming\/download (kind of like getting an early peep into Santa’s closet, er bag):\u00a0 the pithy Ding-a-ling-a-ring-a-ling<\/a><\/strong><\/em> and the epic Christmas Unicorn<\/a><\/strong><\/em>.\u00a0 Once again Stevens’ musical genius entices on all fronts.\u00a0 Yes, even in this setting.\u00a0 Bravo!\u00a0 And amen!<\/p>\n

The concept is explained on Stevens’ record label’s site as set forth below.\u00a0 Go HERE<\/strong> <\/a>to pre-order the recording.<\/p>\n

From Sufjan and crew in “explanation”<\/strong>:<\/p>\n

“Christmas is a drag. Year after year, winter upon winter, we find ourselves \u201cgoing through the motions of merriment,\u201d possessed by a fervent celestial fever, conquered, squandered, beaten, broken, reduced to that clammy, pre-pubescent spoiled brat kid of our childhood, throwing a fit on Santa\u2019s lap, faced with the hard-candy facts of reality, knowing for certain we will never really get what want for Christmas.<\/p>\n

Or in life, for that matter.<\/p>\n

This is the true horror-show catharsis of Christmas: the existential emptiness that perseveres in the heart of modern man as he recklessly pursues his search for happiness and comes up empty handed.<\/p>\n

And yet, against all odds, we continue to sing our songs of Christmas. If Christmas is the holiday of \u201cworst case scenarios\u201d then its carol has become its most corrupted currency, intoning rhapsody and romance with mistletoe and Marshmallow Fluff, placating the public with indelible melodies propagating a message of peace, love, and venture capitalism.<\/p>\n

So what is it about Christmas music that continues to agitate our aging heartstrings? Is it the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen? Or the boundless Potential Energy inherent in this bastard holiday so fitfully exploited, adapted, and confounded with no regard for decency?<\/p>\n

Maybe this: Christmas music does justice to a criminal world, marrying sacred and profane, bellowing obtuse prophecies of a Messiah in the very same blustery breath as a candy-coated TV-jingle advertising a string of lights and a slice of fruitcake. Gloria!<\/p>\n

Who can save us from the infidels of Christmas commodity? Look no further, tired shopper, for your hero arrives as the diligent songwriter Sufjan Stevens: army of one, banjo in one hand, drum machine in the other, holed up in his room, surrounded by hymnals, oratorios, music charts, sacred harp books, photo-copied Readers Digest Christmas catalogs\u2014all the weaponry of Yuletide incantations\u2014singing his barbaric yawp above the snow-capped rooftops.<\/p>\n

His song is love; his song is hope; his song is peace. His song conjures the fruitcake world of his own imagination with steadfast pursuit of the inexplicable bliss of Christmas Promises\u2014\u201cGloria in excelsis deo\u201d\u2014summoning the company of angels, the helper elves, the shepherds keeping flock, the innkeepers, the coupon-clippers, the marathon runners, the cross-country skiers, the bottom feeders, the grocery store baggers, the bridge and tunnel drivers, the construction workers, the ice cream makers, the toll booth workers, the street sweepers, the single mothers, the custodians, the rich and the poor, the walking dead, the community of saints, the Virgin Mary, the Holy Spirit, the Prince of Persia, and all the invisible hosts of heaven to participate in this absurd cosmic adventure, pursuing holly-jolly songs of hope and redemption with a sacred heart for the love of the holidays, for the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come. Amen.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

On November 13th, Sufjan Stevens will release another box-set of 58 Christmas-related songs entitled Silver & Gold.\u00a0 Prior to that date, Stevens has made two of these songs available for streaming\/download (kind of like getting an early peep into Santa’s closet, er bag):\u00a0 the pithy Ding-a-ling-a-ring-a-ling and the epic Christmas Unicorn.\u00a0 Once again Stevens’ musical […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-13086","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-music"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thelefortreport.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13086","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thelefortreport.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thelefortreport.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thelefortreport.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thelefortreport.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13086"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.thelefortreport.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13086\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thelefortreport.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13086"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thelefortreport.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13086"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thelefortreport.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13086"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}