Forget the 50 States. Christmas is a bigger concept. As some of\nyou may or may not know, for the past few years, as a holiday\ntradition, Sufjan has embarked on an extraordinary experiment to\nrecord an annual Christmas EP. It started in 2001, the year of\nEpiphanies, and continued onward (skipping only 2004), culminating\ninto an odd and idiosyncratic catalog of music that has only\nexisted in the Asthmatic Kitty archives (and on a number of file\nsharing sites). The recording process took place every December,\nfor one week, usually at home, provoking collaborations with\nfriends, roommates, and musical peers. Armed with a Reader’s Digest\nChristmas Songbook (and a mug of hot cider) Sufjan & friends\nconcocted a musical fruit cake year after year, implementing every\nmusical instrument they could find lying around the house: banjo,\noboe, Casiotone, wood flute, a buzzy guitar, hand claps, sleigh\nbells, Hammond organ, and some tree tinsel. Did we mention sleigh\nbells? It doesn’t take much to capture that Creepy Christmas\nFeeling, does it? Recorded, mixed and mastered at home, the EPs\nthemselves were often assembled in the kitchen, stapled together,\nand sent out with stickers and stamps to loved ones across the\nglobe, year after year, with little Christmas cards that read:\n“Merry Christmas. You are something special. Santa Claus loves you.\nAnd so do I.” And then, one day, some of these songs showed up\nonline. Curious little web zines and fan sites posted mp3s. People\nstarted asking questions. What is this I hear about Sufjan doing\nthe boogey to the elf dance? Where can I get these Christmas\ngoodies? Well, not wanting to be the Grinch, we decided to deck the\nhalls, if you know what I mean.

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But let’s back up a bit. Having an inherent aversion to the\nstandard Christmas carol, Sufjan indulged in the project initially\nas an exercise to make himself “appreciate” Christmas more. It was\na tough childhood, but you can’t be a Christmas Curmudgeon forever,\ncan you? What he discovered, for better or for worse, was a\nfascinating canon of Yuletide hits, some emotionally rewarding,\nsome painfully cliché. Jingle Bells. Silent Night. We Three Kings.\nThe whole nine yards. The musical undertaking led Sufjan (and his\ncoterie of friends) to reckon with a holiday that celebrates, above\nall things, the spirit of excess–Santa Claus, popcorn balls,\nmistletoe, and Kmart blue light specials, to name a few. What does\nit all add up to? A headache, a hangover, and sentimental\nruminations of Baby Jesus, the Virgin Mary, and all those animals\nin the manger. Is there any other holiday that so seamlessly mixes\nthe sacred and the profane?

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Recording traditional favorites alongside unique originals,\nSufjan has, over the course of five years, constructed an odd,\nimpressive, and compelling collection of Christmas hits (and some\nmisses) that will either warm your heart or make you throw up\neggnog all over the bath mat (depending on your constitution).\nAsthmatic Kitty Records is preparing to release ALL of the material\n(newly mixed and mastered) in one generous box set, due in stores\nNovember 21, just in time for the holiday shopping craze. The box\nset (titled “Songs for Christmas”) will be chock full of surprises,\nincluding the following novelty items (if you don’t mind us ruining\nthe surprise):

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• Five individually packaged CD EPs! • Five Christmas stickers!\n• Extensive liner notes and short stories by Sufjan Stevens! • An\noriginal Christmas essay by Rick Moody! • An animated music video\nand comic strip by Tom Eaton! • A Christmas Songbook with lyric\nsheets and chord charts–so you can sing along too! • An original\nChristmas Family Portrait painting of Santa Sufjan (with wife and\nkids!) by Jacques Bredy!

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Wow! It’s the stocking stuffer of the century! Which isn’t\nsaying much, considering the century is still so young!

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Here’s a “quick” look at the track listing (can someone please\npass the Rolaids!):

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Noel: Songs for Christmas, Vol. I (recorded December 2001)

\n\n1. Silent Night\n2. O Come O Come Emmanuel\n3. We’re Goin’ To the Country! *\n4. Lo How A Rose E’er Blooming\n5. It’s Christmas! Let’s Be Glad! *\n6. Holy Holy, etc.\n7. Amazing Grace\n\n

Hark!: Songs for Christmas, Vol. II (recorded December 2002)

\n\n1. Angels We Have Heard on High\n2. Put the Lights on the Tree *\n3. Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing\n4. I Saw Three Ships\n5. Only at Christmas Time *\n6. Once in Royal David’s City\n7. Hark! The Herald Angels Sing!\n8. What Child Is This Anyway?\n9. Bring A Torch, Jeanette, Isabella\n\n

Ding! Dong!: Songs for Christmas, Vol. III (recorded December\n2003)

\n\n1. O Come, O Come Emmanuel\n2. Come on! Let’s Boogey to the Elf Dance! *\n3. We Three Kings\n4. O Holy Night\n5. That Was the Worst Christmas Ever! *\n6. Ding! Dong! *\n7. All the King’s Horns *\n8. The Friendly Beasts\n\n

Joy: Songs for Christmas, Vol. IV (recorded December 2005)

\n\n1. The Little Drummer Boy\n2. Away In A Manger\n3. Hey Guys! It’s Christmas Time! *\n4. The First Noel\n5. Did I Make You Cry On Christmas Day? (Well, You Deserved It!)\n*\n6. The Incarnation *\n7. Joy To The World\n\n

Peace: Songs for Christmas, Vol. V (recorded June 2006)

\n\n1. Once in Royal David’s City\n2. Get Behind Me, Santa! *\n3. Jingle Bells\n4. Christmas in July *\n5. Lo! How A Rose E’er Blooming\n6. Jupiter Winter *\n7. Sister Winter *\n8. O Come O Come Emmanuel\n9. Star of Wonder *\n10. Holy, Holy, Holy\n11. The Winter Solstice *

\n12. denotes original songs by Sufjan Stevens © 2006 New Jerusalem\nMusic/ASCAP

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