Michigan (album)

Michigan
Studio album by Sufjan Stevens
Released	July 1, 2003 (2003-07-01)
Recorded	2003 in multiple locations
Genre	Indie folk, indie pop, baroque pop
Length	66:11
Language	English
Label	Sounds Familyre and Asthmatic Kitty/Secretly Canadian in the United States and Rough Trade in Europe
Producer	Sufjan Stevens
Sufjan Stevens chronology
Enjoy Your Rabbit (2001) Michigan (2003) Seven Swans (2004)

Michigan (styled Sufjan Stevens Presents... Greetings from Michigan, the Great Lake State on the cover) is a concept album by Sufjan Stevens, with songs referencing cities and people in the state of Michigan. It is the first in "The 50 States" project, a planned series of 50 albums to encompass all 50 states of the United States.

Album art

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 Penninsula, look about you" (sic): This is the English translation of Michigan's state motto.
• "The Great Lake State": This is a popular nickname for Michigan.

Track listing

All songs written and composed 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 Ste. 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 Pickeral 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

16. "Marching Band" – 3:41
17. "Niagara Falls" (Final) – 2:22
18. "Pickerel Lake" – 3:11
19. "Presidents and Magistrates" – 4:16
20. "Vito's Ordination Song" (Demo) – 5:25
21. "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".

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,^[1] at a sampling rate of 32 khz (lower than the rates typically used in recording). Michigan was produced in Pro Tools,^[1] which Stevens has also used for his following albums.^[2]

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.

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	[3]
Dusted Magazine	Favorable[4]
Pitchfork	8.5/10[5]
Sputnikmusic	[6]
Uncut	[7]

Critical reception of Michigan was favorable. Brandon Stosuy of Pitchfork Media 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.^[5]

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 Pickeral Lake? Pigeon? Marquette? Mackinaw?)"
• Daniel Smith – vocals on "Vito's Ordination Song"
• Elin Smith – "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 Pickeral Lake? Pigeon? Marquette? Mackinaw?)", and "Vito's Ordination Song"
• Megan Smith – "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 Pickeral Lake? Pigeon? Marquette? Mackinaw?)"

References

1. ^ ^{a b} Roberts, Rafter (March/April 2009). "Sufjan Stevens: So Right and So Wrong". Tape Op Magazine 70: 45. 
2. ^ Murray, Noel. "Sufjan Stevens | Interview". The A.V. Club. http://www.avclub.com/articles/sufjan-stevens,13942/. Retrieved 2010-05-16. 
3. ^ McIntosh, Gregory. "Greetings from Michigan: The Great Lake State". Allmusic. http://www.allmusic.com/album/greetings-from-michigan-the-great-lake-state-r646729. Retrieved November 16, 2010. 
4. ^ Tausig, Ben (July 25, 2003). "Midwest Magnificence". Dusted Magazine. http://www.dustedmagazine.com/reviews/897. Retrieved November 16, 2010. 
5. ^ ^{a b} Stosuy, Brandon (July 27, 2003). "Greetings from Michigan: The Great Lakes State". Pitchfork Media. http://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/7510-greetings-from-michigan-the-great-lakes-state/. Retrieved November 16, 2010. 
6. ^ Jackson, Chris (January 18, 2006). "Sufjan Stevens – Michigan". Sputnikmusic. http://www.sputnikmusic.com/review/4863/Sufjan-Stevens-Michigan/. Retrieved November 16, 2010. 
7. ^ "Sufjan Stevens – Michigan". Uncut. http://www.uncut.co.uk/music/sufjan_stevens/reviews/7734. Retrieved November 16, 2010. 

External links

• Asthmatic Kitty's page for Michigan
• Michigan at Allmusic
• Michigan at Discogs (list of releases)
• Michigan at MusicBrainz