The_BQE_(soundtrack)

<i>The BQE</i> (soundtrack)

The BQE (soundtrack)

2009 soundtrack album by Sufjan Stevens

The BQE is a mixed-medium artistic exploration of the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway by Sufjan Stevens. The project originally manifested in the form of a live show, performed on November 1–3, 2007. The show consisted of an original film, directed and written by Stevens, accompanied by an orchestra performing a live soundtrack.

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The album recording was made after the rehearsals for the show. It was recorded live during a one-day session in Legacy Studios' A509 orchestral suite (since closed and demolished) with most of the group in the same large room together.

A multimedia package of The BQE was released on October 20, 2009. The set consists of a CD of the show's soundtrack, a DVD of Brooklyn-Queen Expressway footage that accompanied the original performance (not a film of the performance itself), a 40-page booklet with liner notes and photos, and a stereoscopic 3D View-Master reel. There is also a limited edition version that features the soundtrack on 180-gram vinyl and a 40-page BQE-themed comic book starring the show's hula-hooping wonder women, The Hooper Heroes.

Regarding The BQE, Stevens said:

I intended to create a non-personal, non-narrative piece. I tried to reduce my own personal investment as much as possible, and I refused to incorporate one of my strengths, which is the song. I was relinquishing my greatest weapon.[9]

Ballet

Justin Peck's ballet In the Countenance of Kings, made for the San Francisco Ballet, is set to music from The BQE.[10][11]

Track listing

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Personnel

Production

  • Alejandro Venguer, assisted by Jeff Kirby and Tyler Van Dalen – recording, legacy studios, New York City
  • Casey Foubert, James McAlister, and Sufjan Stevens – additional recording, Sufjan's office in Brooklyn
  • Sufjan Stevens – mixing
  • Lisa Moran – production management
  • Michael Atkinson – music editing, copyist

Performing artists

"Hooper Heroes" Comic Book/Stereoscopic Reel

  • Sufjan Stevens – story, writing
  • Stephen Halker – story, penciling, inking, lettering, coloring
  • Heidi Cho – coloring
  • David Min – coloring
  • Matt Loux – cover watercolour
  • Christian Ackler – cover masthead

Charts

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References

  1. [1]
    "Sufjan Stevens All Delighted People". AllMusic. Retrieved August 5, 2016.
  2. [2]
    "Sufjan Stevens: the BQE". anydecentmusic.com. AnyDecentMusic?. Retrieved May 29, 2018.
  3. [3]
    "The BQE by Sufjan Stevens". Metacritic. Retrieved April 29, 2019.
  4. [4]
    AllMusic review
  5. [5]
    "Drowned in Sound review". Archived from the original on October 20, 2009. Retrieved October 19, 2009.
  6. [6]
    NME review
  7. [7]
    Pitchfork review
  8. [8]
    Slant review
  9. [9]
    Bell, Sean (October 19, 2009). "Sufjan Stevens: American 21st-century Renaissance man". Herald Scotland. Retrieved November 26, 2009.
  10. [10]
    "2016 Repertory Season: Program 7: San Francisco Ballet". www.sfballet.org. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016.
  11. [11]
    "Justin Peck world premiere rounds out SF Ballet Program 7" by Leslie Katz, San Francisco Examiner. April 11, 2016. Accessed April 13, 2016.
  12. [12]
    https://www.facebook.com/asthmatickitty/videos/10154819349836412/ [user-generated source]
  13. [13]
    "Pink Narcissus".
  14. [14]
    "Sufjan Stevens Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved January 30, 2021.
  15. [15]
    "Sufjan Stevens Chart History (Independent Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved May 30, 2021.
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