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Denny Renshaw

Jul 21, 2009 By Kyle Lemmon Sufjan Stevens

In October of 2007, Sufjan Stevens revealed The BQE, a film and orchestral meditation on New York City’s very ugly and very congested Brooklyn-Queens Expressway. The artsy soiree, replete with five hula hoopers, strings, woodwinds, horns, and Steven’s homemade footage debuted at Brooklyn Academy of Music’s Next Wave Festival. On October 20th, Asthmatic Kitty Records will release The BQE (October 19th on Rough Trade in the U.K.). That’s the album artwork down below. It may not be another state album (it’s been four years since Illinois this month), but this sure looks like a worthwhile package.

The comprehensive package features the CD soundtrack, the DVD of the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway film footage, a 40-page booklet with extensive liner notes and photographs and an accompanying stereoscopic 3-D Viewmaster® reel. Side note: Apparently, the fun plastic kid’s toy was initially used as a tourism promotional tool and premiered at the 1939 NYC World’s Fair. That convention was part of the impetus for the construction of the BQE, as New York City motorists traveled back and forth from Flushing, Queens. For hardcore Stevens fans, Asthmatic is releasing a limited edition double gatefold vinyl edition of The BQE on 180-gram vinyl with a 32-page booklet including liner notes, photographs and a black and white version of a 40-page BQE-themed Super Teenage Hooper Heroes comic book. A very detailed examination of the project can be found here and a trailer of The BQE‘s film portion is at the following link: http://vimeo.com/5682252

On October 24, 92YTribeca will host the premiere screening of The BQE DVD, with an introduction by Stevens. At the screening, The Osso Quartet will perform selections from Run Rabbit Run. Tickets for this event go on sale July 23 via http://www.92y.org/92yTribeca/default.asp. Below the tracklisting are some various screenshots of the set.

The BQE:

01 - Prelude on the Esplanade (2:56)
02 - Introductory Fanfare for the Hooper Heroes (1:07)
03 - Movement I-In the Countenance of Kings (5:19)
04 - Movement II-Sleeping Invader (4:34)
05 - Interlude I-Dream Sequence in Subi Circumnavigation (3:33)
06 - Movement III-Linear Tableau with Intersecting Surprise (4:09)
07 - Movement IV-Traffic Shock (3:24)
08 - Movement V-Self-Organizing Emergent Patterns (3:45)
09 - Interlude II-Subi Power Waltz (0:28)
10 - Interlude III-Invisible Accidents (0:54)
11 - Movement VI-Isorhythmic Night Dance with Interchanges (3:17)
12 - Movement VII (Finale)-The Emperor of Centrifuge (3:51)
13 - Postlude-Critical Mass (2:59)

BQE Cover Art:

Super Teenage Hooper Heroes cover: