This guy's going to be there.

Additions to the lineup of the POP Montreal International Music Festival, the music extravaganza taking over the Canadian city from September 30 to October 4, have been announced. Performers recently added to the roster include Sufjan Stevens, Yo La Tengo, Jay Reatard, Micachu & The Shapes, Japandroids, Joel Plaskett, Kid Koala Presents: The Slew, Young Galaxy, Aids Wolf, and Ninjasonik, among others. These artists join musicians such as Fever Ray, Diamanda Galas, Butthole Surfers, Os Mutantes, Mono, Matt and Kim, and Destroyer, along with MANY other exciting bands and performers. Passes are still available for the epic event, with the Super Festival Pass available for $225 until September 30 and the regular passes for $75. An event not to be missed, for sure.

Hot on the heels of the announcement regarding his BQE multimedia project, Sufjan Stevens has unveiled an intimate, East Coast tour beginning in late September with Cryptacize. Stevens’ label, Asthmatic Kitty, explains that the tour will have nothing to do with the BQE project, but outlines a scalper-busting ticketing system whereby all ticket purchasers will pick up their tickets to a given show at will-call the night of the show, with a two ticket limit per customer.

Tour dates are as follows:
09.22.09: Philadelphia, PA @ Johnny Brenda’s
09.23.09: Ithaca, NY @ Castaways
09.24.09: Cleveland, OH @ Beachland Ballroom
09.25.09: Pontiac, MI @ The Pike Room Crofoot Ballroom
09.26.09: Champaign, IL @ The High Dive
09.27.09: Minneapolis, MN @ 400 Bar
09.28.09: Madison, WI @ The Majestic
09.29.09: Bloomington, IN @ Buskirk Chumley
10.01.09: Toronto, ON @ Lee’s Place
10.02.09: Montreal, QC @ Cabaret
10.03.09: Portland, ME @ Port City Music Hall
10.04.09: New York, NY @ Bowery Ballroom
10.05.09: New York, NY @ Bowery Ballroom
10.06.09: Brooklyn, NY @ Hall at Williamsburg
10.07.09: Brooklyn, NY – Hall at Williamsburg

In October 2007, Sufjan Stevens unveiled his audiovisual tribute to the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway, titled The BQE as part of the Brooklyn Academy of Music’s Next Wave Festival. The project featured three simultaneous film projections, a 35-piece band, and live hula hoopers over the course of three nights; at the conclusion of the show, Sufjan entered the studio, hoping to record the soundtrack, but shelved the project.

Now, Stevens has returned to the project, mixing the music, editing the video, and creating a multimedia package to be released on October 20. The two-disc album will also feature a DVD of the film, an accompanying booklet, and a stereoscopic image reel. On October 24, 92Y Tribeca will host a release party for The BQE. Tickets will go on sale Thursday, July 23.

In his opening column, Michael Cranston — the IM Solipsist — voices meta-concerns of how to be interesting in a market already grossly oversaturated in blogs and opinions to Tripwire Editor Derek Evers.

Are You Reading This?

I don’t know if I would be.
Read the full story

Words and photos by Sarahana

Vetiver, Papercuts and These United States at the Bell House last week was a pretty stellar line-up, and probably a reaffirmation that this spacious barn-like room in Gowanus, with killer late night meat pies no less, is one of the best places to see new music in New York City (Sufjan Stevens was present, and someone told me that Devendra Banhart was around, too).
Read the full story