Michigan (album)

Michigan
Studio album by Sufjan Stevens
Released July 1, 2003 (2003-07-01)
Recorded 2003 in multiple locations
Genre
Length 65:58
Label Sounds Familyre, Asthmatic Kitty/Secretly Canadian, Rough Trade
Producer Sufjan Stevens
Sufjan Stevens chronology
Enjoy Your Rabbit
(2001)Enjoy Your Rabbit2001		 Michigan
(2003)		 Seven Swans
(2004)Seven Swans2004

Michigan (styled Sufjan Stevens Presents... Greetings from Michigan, the Great Lake State on the cover) is a concept album by American indie folk songwriter Sufjan Stevens, released on July 1, 2003 on Sounds Familyre, Asthmatic Kitty and Secretly Canadian in the US, and on Rough Trade in Europe. It is Stevens' third studio album and features songs referencing places, events, and persons related to the U.S. state of Michigan.

The album is the first in Stevens' fifty states project, a planned series of fifty albums to encompass all fifty U.S. states. Stevens only released two state albums before admitting the project was a "promotional gimmick".[8]

Recording and production

The album was recorded and produced entirely by Stevens, using relatively cheap equipment for a market release. All of the tracks were recorded using 2 Shure SM57s and an AKG C1000, running through a Roland VS880EX,[9] at a sampling rate of 32 kHz (lower than the rates typically used in recording). Michigan was produced in Pro Tools,[9] which Stevens has also used for his following albums.[10]

The instrumentation was recorded in various locations: a home in Petoskey, Michigan; Buxton School in Williamstown, Massachusetts; the N. J. Rec. Room in Clarksboro, New Jersey; and throughout Brooklyn, including Stevens' apartment and those of his friends and St. Paul's Church.

Artwork

Album art features original hand-paintings by Martha Stewart Living crafts editor Laura Normandin.

The two-disc vinyl edition of Michigan contains an inscription within the run-off groove of each LP side:

  • "Say YES to Michigan!": This was an old state tourism board slogan.
  • "Go! Tigers!": The Detroit Tigers are a Major League Baseball team based in Michigan.
  • "If you seek a Pleasant Peninsula, look about you": This is the English translation of Michigan's state motto.
  • "The Great Lake State": This is a popular nickname for Michigan.

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[11]
The Guardian[12]
The Irish Times[13]
Mojo[14]
Pitchfork8.5/10[15]
Q[16]
Uncut[17]

Michigan received acclaim from critics. Brandon Stosuy of Pitchfork described the album as "a beautiful, sprawling homage" to the state, noting its "lush production", but criticizing the excessive length of some of the album's tracks.[15]

Legacy

Upon the album's tenth anniversary, Stereogum's Chris DeVille stated: "[Stevens's] widescreen love letter to his home state was such a momentous leap forward... Sufjan has produced a wealth of fascinating, deeply affecting (and sometimes deeply affected) music over the years... Nowadays, aggressive guitar bands like Coliseum are considered punk or metal because indie rock is the kind of genre where neoclassical whiz kid Nico Muhly contributes string arrangements to seemingly every major record, where Régine Chassagne passionately rocks the accordion, where Bon Iver channels Richard Marx unironically. Michigan’s flurry of glockenspiels, oboes, trombones, and, yes, banjos had a lot to do with that."[18]

As of 2005 it has sold 27,000 copies in United States according to Nielsen SoundScan.[19]

Track listing

All tracks written by Sufjan Stevens and published by New Jerusalem Music, ASCAP.

No.TitleLength
1."Flint (For the Unemployed and Underpaid)"3:43
2."All Good Naysayers, Speak Up! Or Forever Hold Your Peace!"4:33
3."For the Widows in Paradise, for the Fatherless in Ypsilanti"3:57
4."Say Yes! to M!ch!gan!"2:45
5."The Upper Peninsula"3:23
6."Tahquamenon Falls"2:18
7."Holland"3:26
8."Detroit, Lift Up Your Weary Head! (Rebuild! Restore! Reconsider!)"8:20
9."Romulus"4:41
10."Alanson, Crooked River"1:18
11."Sleeping Bear, Sault Saint Marie"2:52
12."They Also Mourn Who Do Not Wear Black (For the Homeless in Muskegon)"6:21
13."Oh God, Where Are You Now? (In Pickerel Lake? Pigeon? Marquette? Mackinaw?)"9:23
14."Redford (For Yia-Yia & Pappou)"2:02
15."Vito's Ordination Song"7:06

Bonus tracks included on the double-disc vinyl release

  1. "Marching Band" – 3:41
  2. "Pickerel Lake" – 3:11
  3. "Niagara Falls" – 2:22
  4. "Presidents and Magistrates" – 4:16
  5. "Wolverine" – 2:10

The vinyl release also includes alternate arrangements of "Vito's Ordination Song" and "Romulus".

The European re-release of the album in 2004 also contains the bonus tracks "Marching Band" and "Pickerel Lake".

The song "Redford" was the inspiration for the name of the protagonist Redford Stephens of The Roots 2011 album Undun, who used the song as the opening to a four-part instrumental movement at the end of the album.[20]

Personnel

  • Sufjan Stevens – oboe, English horn, piano, electric organ, electric piano, banjo, acoustic and electric guitar, bass guitar, vibraphone, xylophone, glockenspiel, recorders, wood flute, and whistles, drum kit, percussion, shakers, sleigh bells, tambourine, cymbal, singing, layout, art design, arrangement, mixing, production
  • Monique Aiuto – vocals on "Detroit, Lift Up Your Weary Head! (Rebuild! Restore! Reconsider!)" and "Vito's Ordination Song"
  • Vito Aiuto – vocals on "Vito's Ordination Song"
  • Alan Douches – mastering at West Westside Studios in New Jersey
  • Tom Eaton – trumpet on "Flint (For the Unemployed and Underpaid)", "For the Widows in Paradise, For the Fatherless in Ypsilanti", "Detroit, Lift Up Your Weary Head! (Rebuild! Restore! Reconsider!)", and "Vito's Ordination Song"
  • Laura Normandin – artwork
  • John Ringhofer – trombone and vocals on "Oh God, Where Are You Now? (In Pickerel Lake? Pigeon? Marquette? Mackinaw?)"
  • Daniel Smith – vocals on "Vito's Ordination Song"
  • Elin Smith – vocals on "All Good Naysayers, Speak Up! Or Forever Hold Your Peace!", "For the Widows in Paradise, For the Fatherless in Ypsilanti", "Say Yes! to M!ch!gan!", "The Upper Peninsula", "Sleeping Bear, Sault Saint Marie", "They Also Mourn Who Do Not Wear Black (For the Homeless in Muskegon)", "Oh God, Where Are You Now? (In Pickerel Lake? Pigeon? Marquette? Mackinaw?)", and "Vito's Ordination Song"
  • Megan Smith – vocals on "All Good Naysayers, Speak Up! Or Forever Hold Your Peace!", "The Upper Peninsula", "Detroit, Lift Up Your Weary Head! (Rebuild! Restore! Reconsider!)", "Sleeping Bear, Sault Saint Marie", "They Also Mourn Who Do Not Wear Black (For the Homeless in Muskegon)", and "Oh God, Where Are You Now? (In Pickerel Lake? Pigeon? Marquette? Mackinaw?)"

References

  1. ↑ "Sufjan Stevens All Delighted People". Drowned in Sound. Retrieved 5 August 2016.
  2. ↑ "Sufjan Stevens: Seven Swans". The A.V. Club. Retrieved 5 August 2016.
  3. ↑ "Sufjan Stevens Greetings from Michigan: The Great Lakes State". Pitchfork (website). Retrieved 18 May 2016.
  4. ↑ "Sufjan Stevens All Delighted People". Sputnikmusic. Retrieved 5 August 2016.
  5. ↑ "Five Reasons Sufjan Stevens' Michigan Gave Us Hope". Consequence of Sound. Retrieved 18 May 2016.
  6. ↑ "Sufjan Stevens All Delighted People". Sputnikmusic. Retrieved 5 August 2016.
  7. ↑ "Sufjan Stevens – The Age of Adz". The Line Of Best Fit. Retrieved 5 August 2016.
  8. ↑ Purcell, Andrew (27 October 2009). "Sufjan Stevens's symphony for New York". The Guardian. Retrieved 20 December 2012.
  9. 1 2 Roberts, Rafter (March–April 2009). "Sufjan Stevens: So Right and So Wrong". Tape Op Magazine. 70: 45.
  10. ↑ Murray, Noel. "Sufjan Stevens | Interview". The A.V. Club. Retrieved 2010-05-16.
  11. ↑ McIntosh, Gregory. "Greetings from Michigan: The Great Lake State – Sufjan Stevens". AllMusic. Retrieved November 16, 2010.
  12. ↑ Peschek, David (June 25, 2004). "Sufjan Stevens, Michigan". The Guardian. Retrieved November 16, 2010.
  13. ↑ Clarke, Jocelyn (July 2, 2004). "Sufjan Stevens: Michigan (Rough Trade)". The Irish Times. Retrieved April 13, 2018.
  14. ↑ "Sufjan Stevens: Michigan". Mojo: 110. Michigan revels in a broader musical palette and more upbeat mood than its follow-up... A pocket masterpiece...
  15. 1 2 Stosuy, Brandon (July 27, 2003). "Sufjan Stevens: Greetings from Michigan: The Great Lakes State". Pitchfork. Retrieved November 16, 2010.
  16. ↑ "Sufjan Stevens: Michigan". Q: 118. [L]ayers of elegiac instrumentation sculpt a deeply emotive, baroque chamber-pop landscape.
  17. ↑ "Sufjan Stevens – Michigan". Uncut. Archived from the original on February 12, 2006. Retrieved November 16, 2010.
  18. ↑ DeVille, Chris (July 1, 2013). "Greetings from Michigan: The Great Lake State Turns 10". Stereogum. Retrieved July 1, 2013.
  19. ↑ http://www.billboard.com/articles/news/62152/stevens-album-soars-despite-superman-flap
  20. ↑ Goodman, William. "?uestlove Explains How SPIN and Sufjan Inspired the Roots' 'undun'". Spin. Retrieved 2011-12-09.
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