If I Could Have Three Musical Wishes

     If I could have three musical wishes come true in the form of new albums, I'd wish for ones from Sufjan Stevens, Broken Social Scene and Moonbabies. They are probably my three favorite bands (well, let's not forget Andrew Bird). Unfortunately, however, unlike Mr. Bird, they've gone far too long between records for my liking.

     Granted, Broken Social Scene's members have been putting out individual albums, as we had Kevin Drew, Brendan Canning and most recently Charles Spearin releases over the past two years. But that's just not the same. That's like picking the sugar, butter and chocolate chips out of chocolate chip cookies--they're okay by themselves but the whole is much, much more than the sum of its parts.

     Moonbabies are actually hard at work on their next album, according to Ola Frick's blog. They've been holed up in Berlin for most of the year and he assures us that things are coming along splendidly. They will definitely have something out next year.

     When it comes to my man Sufjan, well, things have been way too quiet on his part for way too long. He's beginning to make some noises, as he's currently playing several shows (many already sold out, sorry) with Brooklyn band Cryptacize, but there's no word about a new record on the way.

     So what am I--we--supposed to do in the meantime? I suppose we have to listen to all the old albums we have and try to be patient. Anyone who knows me knows that patience is one thing I am sorely lacking, so I'm probably not going to be the best example of it! Nonetheless, there's nothing else to do, is there? Sigh.

Moonbabies--"Sun A.M." mp3 off The Orange Billboard (buy ) I believe this is the first Moonbabies song I ever heard. I had to find out what it was immediately and there has been no going back ever since. 

Broken Social Scene--"Lover's Spit (Feist Vocal)" mp3 off Bee Hives (buy) I thought I read somewhere that the band is working on new material, but damned if I can find the article. Oh well. This is a really beautiful version of a really beautiful song.

Sufjan Stevens--"Woman at the Well" mp3 off Outtakes and Rarities This song is from 2000 and bears all the hallmarks of a classic Sufjan track--his hushed voice, the repetitive, spacey background vocals, the build-up in intensity. Even then he was a genius.

**UPDATE** Sufjan does have a new album coming out, an instrumental masterpiece called The BQE, which is a serenade/homage of sorts to the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway, of all things. You can read all about it here, and as of Oct. 20th, you can buy it here.

tags: wheres that genie  

links: digg this    del.icio.us    technorati