Michigan | ||||
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Studio album by | ||||
Released | July 1, 2003 | |||
Recorded | 2003 in multiple locations | |||
Genre | ||||
Length | 65:58 | |||
Label | Sounds Familyre, Asthmatic Kitty/Secretly Canadian, Rough Trade | |||
Producer | Sufjan Stevens | |||
Sufjan Stevens chronology | ||||
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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". [5] The other album was Illinois (based on the U.S. state of Illinois), which was released in 2005.
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, [6] at a sampling rate of 32 kHz (lower than the rates typically used in recording). Michigan was produced in Pro Tools, [6] which Stevens has also used for his following albums. [7]
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.
A 20th-anniversary re-release was released on June 13, 2023. [8]
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:
Review scores | |
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Source | Rating |
AllMusic | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Collective | 3.5/5 [10] |
The Guardian | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
The Irish Times | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Mojo | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Now | 4/5 [14] |
Pitchfork | 8.5/10 [15] |
Q | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Tiny Mix Tapes | 4.5/5 [17] |
Uncut | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
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] In December 2003, American webzine Somewhere Cold voted Michigan Album of the Year on their 2003 Somewhere Cold Awards Hall of Fame list. [19] A year later, in December 2004, Somewhere Cold voted Michigan Vinyl of the Year on their 2004 Somewhere Cold Awards Hall of Fame list. [19]
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." [20]
By 2005, it had sold 27,000 copies in the United States, according to Nielsen SoundScan. [21]
The song "Redford" was the inspiration for the name of the protagonist 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. [22]
All tracks are written by Sufjan Stevens and published by New Jerusalem Music, ASCAP
No. | Title | Length |
---|---|---|
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 |
Total length: | 65:58 |
No. | Title | Length |
---|---|---|
16. | "Marching Band" | 3:41 |
17. | "Pickerel Lake" | 3:11 |
18. | "Niagara Falls" | 2:22 |
19. | "Presidents and Magistrates" | 4:16 |
20. | "Wolverine" | 2:10 |
Total length: | 81:38 |
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".
Royal City was a Canadian indie rock band from Guelph.
Sufjan Stevens is an American singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist. He has released ten solo studio albums and multiple collaborative albums with other artists. Stevens has received Grammy and Academy Award nominations.
Seven Swans is a folk rock music album by Sufjan Stevens, released on March 16, 2004 on Sounds Familyre Records. It is Stevens' fourth studio album and features songs about Christian spiritual themes, figures such as Abraham, and Christ's Transfiguration. The songs are primarily "lush acoustic compositions" with Stevens' banjo. It was recorded and produced by Daniel C. Smith, Sufjan's close friend. The album was released on compact disc by Sounds Familyre Records and vinyl LP; the vinyl was released by Burnt Toast Vinyl.
A Sun Came is the debut studio album by American singer-songwriter Sufjan Stevens, released in 2000 on Asthmatic Kitty. It was reissued four years later. Among Stevens' back catalog, A Sun Came is notable for being recorded on four-track.
Illinois is a 2005 concept album by American singer-songwriter Sufjan Stevens. His fifth studio album, it features songs referencing places, events, and persons related to the U.S. state of Illinois. Illinois is Stevens' second based on a U.S. state—part of a planned series of fifty that began with the 2003 album Michigan and that Stevens has since acknowledged was a joke. It was adapted into a musical, Illinoise, in 2023 and, after playing smaller venues, opened at the St. James Theatre on Broadway in April 2024.
Asthmatic Kitty is an American independent record label founded in 1999 by a community of musicians from Holland, Michigan led by Sufjan Stevens and his stepfather Lowell Brams. Some were Holland natives, and others had come to attend local colleges and universities. While the original Holland nucleus has dispersed across the country, the community has grown, with new artists and shared projects with other independent labels. The Library Catalog Music Series, inaugurated in 2009, showcases instrumental music by a wide variety of musicians, with eighteen albums in print as of February 2013, and more scheduled for release. Asthmatic Kitty is now based in Lander, Wyoming, Atlanta, Georgia and Brooklyn, New York.
The Avalanche is a 2006 compilation album by indie rock singer/songwriter Sufjan Stevens, consisting of outtakes and other recordings from the sessions for his album Illinois, released the previous year. The title song "The Avalanche" was also a bonus track on the Illinois vinyl and iTunes release.
Shara Nova is the lead singer and songwriter for My Brightest Diamond. As a composer she is most recognized for her choral compositions and the baroque chamber opera "You Us We All". New music composers Sarah Kirkland Snider, David Lang, Steve Mackey and Bryce Dessner have composed pieces for Nova's voice. She has recorded as a guest vocalist with David Byrne, Laurie Anderson, The Decemberists, Sufjan Stevens, Jedi Mind Tricks, The Blind Boys of Alabama and Stateless as well as extensive collaborations with visual artists Matthew Ritchie and Matthew Barney. She was formerly the frontwoman of AwRY. On March 3, 2016, Shara legally changed her last name from Worden to Nova after divorcing her husband, to whom she had been married most of her adult life.
The Welcome Wagon is a Gospel/indie pop band from Williamsburg, Brooklyn, New York. The group consists of Presbyterian minister Thomas Vito Aiuto and his wife, Monique. Their debut album, Welcome to the Welcome Wagon (2008), was produced by Sufjan Stevens.
Purity of Heart Is to Will One Thing is a 2009 EP by The Welcome Wagon, released by Asthmatic Kitty and produced by Sufjan Stevens. "There Is a Fountain Filled with Blood" previously appeared on the various artists compilation To Spirit Back the Mews, released by Asthmatic Kitty in 2001. All of the songs from the EP are outtakes from their debut album Welcome to The Welcome Wagon.
The Age of Adz is the sixth studio album by American singer/songwriter Sufjan Stevens, released on October 12, 2010 by Asthmatic Kitty. It was Stevens' first song-based full-length album in five years, since the release of Illinois in 2005.
American singer-songwriter Sufjan Stevens has released thirteen studio albums, three compilation albums, three soundtracks, two mixtapes, thirteen extended plays (EP), twenty singles, eight promotional singles, and eight music videos. Through his record label Asthmatic Kitty Records, Stevens released his first two albums A Sun Came and Enjoy Your Rabbit in 2000 and 2001, respectively. For his next two releases – Michigan (2003) and Seven Swans (2004) – the singer partnered with Sounds Familyre Records for the distribution of both releases. Seven Swans was supported by Stevens' debut single "The Dress Looks Nice on You". The same album was reissued in 2009 and included the new single "I Went Dancing with My Sister". His fifth album, Illinois, was his first release to enter record charts, where it reached the lower positions in several countries and was certified Gold by the Recording Industry Association of America for shipments of 500,000 copies. The Avalanche, a compilation album consisting of outtakes from Illinois, was released in 2006 and also reached various charts internationally.
"Chicago" is a track from Sufjan Stevens 2005 concept album Illinois, released on Asthmatic Kitty. The song tells the semi-autobiographical story of a young man on a road trip, and his youthful idealism. The track is one of Stevens' most popular songs, and he usually ends his live shows with a version of this song. The song has been recorded in five different versions by Stevens himself, the versions not on Illinois being included on the collection The Avalanche, and one demo released digitally on Stevens' website, later released as a 12" single bundled with the Illinois: Special 10th Anniversary Blue Marvel Edition.
Sisyphus is the debut studio album by Sisyphus, a collaborative project between Serengeti, Son Lux, and Sufjan Stevens. It was released through Asthmatic Kitty on March 18, 2014. The project was commissioned by the Walker Art Center and the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra's Liquid Music series to accompany an exhibition of the work of visual artist Jim Hodges, scheduled to run from February 14 through May 11, 2014.
Carrie & Lowell is the seventh studio album by American musician Sufjan Stevens. It was released on March 31, 2015, by Asthmatic Kitty. It was produced by Stevens, and features guest contributions from Thomas Bartlett, Sean Carey, Casey Foubert, Ben Lester, Nedelle Torrisi, and Laura Veirs.
"No Shade in the Shadow of the Cross" is a song by American singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Sufjan Stevens. It is the tenth track and lead single from his seventh studio album, Carrie & Lowell, and was released digitally on February 16, 2015 on Asthmatic Kitty and as a one-track 7" on March 3, 2015 on Joyful Noise Recordings.
The Decalogue is a 2017 soundtrack album to the Justin Peck ballet of the same name, by Timo Andres and Sufjan Stevens. The album was released by Asthmatic Kitty to mixed reviews. The ballet debuted in 2017 with the New York City Ballet.
The Ascension is the eighth studio album by American musician Sufjan Stevens. It was released through Asthmatic Kitty on September 25, 2020. The record was influenced by a range of artists, particularly Ariana Grande and her 2018 song "Thank U, Next".
Convocations is the ninth studio album by American musician Sufjan Stevens, released through Asthmatic Kitty on May 6, 2021. Recorded during the COVID-19 pandemic following the death of Stevens's father, the album was released in five volumes, with a combined total of 49 instrumental songs.
A Beginner's Mind is a collaborative album by American musicians Sufjan Stevens and Angelo De Augustine. The album was released by Asthmatic Kitty on September 24, 2021. After being teased by Asthmatic Kitty for several days, the album was formally announced on July 7, 2021, along with its track listing and two singles, "Reach Out" and "Olympus". Daniel Anum Jasper created the album's cover artwork.
Michigan revels in a broader musical palette and more upbeat mood than its follow-up... A pocket masterpiece...
[L]ayers of elegiac instrumentation sculpt a deeply emotive, baroque chamber-pop landscape.