I Just Read About That…

SOUNDTRACK: SUFJAN STEVENS-Noel: Songs for Christmas Vol. I (2006).

I haven’t been reviewing the individual  Christmas CDs that I listened to.  However, since there were  a whole bunch of stories in this one New Yorker magazine, (easily  the most I’ve read in one issue) and since there are 5 Sufjan Stevens EPs in this collection, it seemed like a good fit.

Vol 1 is the shortest disc of the five in the box set.  It was recorded in his basement in 2001.  But lest you think that this is a lo-fi affair like the kids are so into these days, you’d be mistaken.  Sufjan’s basement must be ENORMOUS!  This disc is multitracked, with harmonies, and all manner of esoteric folk instruments.

It has four familiar traditional songs, “Silent Night” (a beautiful brief guitar instrumental) “O Come, O Come, Emmanuel,” (a lovely acoustic number done slightly differently than normal) “Amazing Grace,” (a mellow banjo version) and what he titled, “Holy Holy, etc.” (a pretty, short instrumental). Two originals, “We’re Goin’ to the Country!” (a fun folky song with sleighbells) and “It’s Christmas, Let’s Be Glad” (rollicking an fun) and one traditional song that I’ve never heard of (and this is a trend on each disc) “Lo, How a Rose E’er Blooming” (a 15th century German carol).

The disc is mostly sung by Sufjan, with his delicate voice and earnest falsetto.  And, as I said, the music is folkie, but with unexpected instruments.  In fact, his version of “Amazing Grace” is really delightful.  It’s cool to hear it in a more subdued version than some of the overblown carols out there.  It’s a promising start to what would become an annual tradition.

[READ: January 4, 2009] “The Privilege of the Grave”

This was a banner issue of The New Yorker.  Usually I read a few things, but this one was chock full of great stuff.  It started with this unpublished piece from Mark Twain that was written in 1905.

Mark Twain is a favorite author, and yet I haven’t read all that much by him.  I took a class on Twain and Henry James in college, and while I have read nowhere near all of his works, there’s something about Twain’s style, especially his later, bitter humor that I really like.

This piece is a short essay, one of Twain’s more bitter works analyzing humanity.  His basic gist is that the only time one is really afforded free speech is when he is dead.  No one criticizes the dead for what they say; however, anyone who dares to really speak his mind while alive risks ridicule and worse.  He admits the he himself is guilty as well, as he has to recently censor a piece for publication.

Certainly, this is a timely article during the current administration (which will change in two weeks), even if it was written over 100 years ago.