Hoi Polloi’s Sufjan Stevens Winter Song Exclusive Listening Sessions..

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• 1. brando  |  February 6th, 2009 at 2:09 am

  I think that guy is a bastard. I mean, he can freaking sell the song and make some money off of it if he doesn’t want to let people outside of four at a time hear it for free.

• 2. Steven  |  February 6th, 2009 at 8:35 am

  I think he’s trying something he feels is new, but isn’t aware that he’s just being an arrogant douche. People want to hear the song, but not everyone who does wants to spend the evening at his home.

  So, he’s a douche. Props to Sufjan, though. I still think the idea was a fantastic one.

• 3. POSTY MCPOSTERTON  |  February 6th, 2009 at 9:18 am

  yeah, I agree with the douche comments. I mean, come on… release it already… you won a contest, isn’t that good enough? now people just think you’re a hoarding jackass.

  ~Dan

• 4. Justin  |  February 6th, 2009 at 9:44 am

  I actually think it is a cool idea. And the fact that it precludes some vindictive whiners with outrageous feelings of entitlement (see above) from listening only makes me like it more.

• 5. Thom  |  February 6th, 2009 at 11:11 am

  Its a genius idea. Get over yourself if you think he is a ‘hoarding jackass’, he won the right to do what he likes with the Sufjan song. I think its a cool concept.

• 6. zain  |  February 6th, 2009 at 11:19 am

  He may have won the right to do what he wants. But what sort of douchebaggery is it when he knows how obsessed we are, how desperate we are for any hint of new Sufjan, that he still plans to keep it pretty much to himself.

  How am i meant to get to NYC its 3000 miles away. I wasnt able to see BQE live but at least i got to hear it online!

• 7. Justin McCammon  |  February 6th, 2009 at 12:19 pm

  It’s a cool idea, the little listening parties, but still, it’d be great to spread the love around.

  Find an indie film maker and get it in a film, driving all of us fans to seek out that film that will hopefully be available on a wider scale.

  Or maybe start a “chain-CD” where he sends a copy of the song to a few people who promise only to share it with a few people and so on until lots of people have heard it, but it is still shared amongst friends in his “tea-party” style.

  Take a road trip across the country connecting with other Sufjan fans who are willing to let you couch-surf in exchange for having a listening party in their home.

  Offer the track as a download in exchange to your favorite charity.

  Are you listening, Alec Duffy? These are a few ideas for you.

• 8. eric  |  February 6th, 2009 at 12:55 pm

  it’s his song, he can do whatever he wants to do with it. if you don’t like it, get over it.

• 9. katie  |  February 6th, 2009 at 1:12 pm

  Honestly, I like the idea behind what he’s doing. He could have released it over the internet and we’d all have it by now and probably have forgotten about it, but instead this song has reached almost mythic proportions. I like the idea of meeting face-to-face with fellow Sufjan fans to socialize and experience the music together, rather than just sitting at your computer and downloading it. The communal aspect is really attractive to me in part because I don’t know that many Sufjan fans in real life.

  That said, I don’t live in Brooklyn, and I realize the vast majority of Sufjan fans don’t, either. Therein lies the problem to this otherwise wonderful idea. I’ve heard some cool alternatives – use the song to raise money for a charity and release it once a certain amount has been reached, for instance. I’d happily contribute to that.

  Alec Duffy took on a lot more than he probably initially thought he did when he won that contest two Christmases ago…

• 10. Alspaugh  |  February 6th, 2009 at 1:38 pm

  So a fancy little gent named Duffy enjoys sharing his precious song and la-di-da tea with Brooklynites bearing headphones.

  While I find His Lordship and comrade Malloy’s petite soirées and refined predilections for myth-making and “flames of rarity” to be all truly interesting and fuzzy, and all that … did anyone else notice that actress-cum-blogger Annie Scott (in the picture, of course, in the middle with the earrings) is a total hottie?

• 11. admin  |  February 6th, 2009 at 1:40 pm

  I like the charity idea. Everyone wins in that scenario.

  It would be interesting if everyone that comments would also include their location. You don’t have to be too specific if you don’t want. But it would be more helpful to know if those in favor of the tea parties are all NYers and, therefore, able to attend.

• 12. Pegram  |  February 6th, 2009 at 3:10 pm

  Never mind this douchebag’s unfortunate combination of a lack of business acumen along with a lack of generosity.

  Given the economic woes and geopolitical instabilities of the day, is now really the time to hold effete little tea parties with pretentious alterna-hipsters waxing poetic and cooing over Mr. Duffy’s selfishness? Please.

  This douchebag probably didn’t even vote. He’s another self-interested, self-absorbed, attention-starved, narcissistic poser claiming to serve some higher artistic truth. Enough of the back-slapping bonhomie!

  But the girl in the earrings is hot. And Sufjan is a genius, a rare gift to the world.

• 13. Ruth  |  February 6th, 2009 at 6:55 pm

  It is a neat idea, and I don’t want to question his motives or character, but it is a little impractical for most people. I guess we don’t REALLY need to hear it in the first place, but a lot of people would LIKE to. The conditions he has set are pretty exhausting. I’m in the middle of my senior semester at college, I’m in Chicago, I’m lacking funds and time to buy a plane ticket and fly out there just to hear a song. I’m sure it’s a beautiful, wonderful song, and I do want to hear it, and I do believe in the integrity of community and grassroots musical efforts, but in the end, only those that a.) are oriented in a convenient location or b.) are really, scarily obsessed Sufjan fans will be able to hear it.

  I guess that’s all I’ve got to say. Hopefully he releases it soon.

• 14. OSideshow  |  February 6th, 2009 at 9:58 pm

  If I were him, i’d'a kept it to myself. If he wants to throw little asshat teaparties that’s his business, but dont get your panties in a bunch because the guy won’t upload and give YOU something that belongs to HIM… Its not like its the last Sufjan Stevens song in the world. -_-

• 15. Bill McCrery  |  February 7th, 2009 at 1:21 am

  It’s just a song. It’s probably very impressive, as Sufjan’s music tends towards, but life goes on, let him have his song.

• 16. Brendan  |  February 7th, 2009 at 4:43 pm

  Hoi Polloi Musical Director Dave Malloy waxes nostalgic for the days when obsessive/completist fans of a pop music artist would have to spend inordinate amounts of time, money, and effort to get their hands on ultra-rare B-sides.

  I had a very similar experience as an early to mid-90s Tori Amos fan. There was indeed a real thrill to finding new Limited Edition UK CD-singles containing two songs you already owned, plus HEY! LOOK! one new song you’d never even new existed before. But where I differ strongly from Mr. Mallory (and I assume Mr. Duffy) is that the thrill for me did not come from the idea that I was now part of some secret society of uber-fans who knew about this new song and had access to it. The thrill for me was simply in discovering that there existed in the world one more recorded song by this artist. I and the world seemed richer for it.

  Of course, there was no guarantee that these sorts of hard-to-track down (and often expensive) B-sides would be any good. This was the risk that I , as the obsessive/completist fan was willing to take. But when I did come across a real “hidden gem”, my reaction was never to say to myself “this song should remain rarely heard in order to retain its specialness”. On the contrary, my reaction was “It’s a shame it’s so hard to track down this wonderful song. I’m sure there are thousands of others out there whose life would be the richer if they knew about this song and had a copy.”

  Nowadays when I find out about a new B-side, I get the same thrill of knowing that one more song by an artist I adore exists in the world. Personally, I consider it a much, much better thing that nobody needs to take a bus trip three towns over and plunk down an exorbitant price just to find out if it’s any good, and it also pleases me that other fans who might fall in love with this new song will also be able to hear it.

  A good song stands on its own merits. I do not see who it benefits when a song takes on “mythic proportions” simply by remaining artificially rare.

  I do not fault Mr. Duffy for wanting to do something unique and special with his contest winnings, but I do take strong issue with the supposed justifications provided by Mr. Mallory on his blog.

  I share a similar history of B-side collecting with Mr. Mallory, but our motivations seem markedly and almost diametrically opposed to one another. While no doubt some of the hostile words leveled against Mr. Duffy and Mr. Malloy go overboard, it really should not come as a surprise to them that their conscious decision to deny thousands of Sufjan Stevens fans the chance to hear and possess a copy of this reputedly “lovely” song makes them seem like douchebags.

  -Brendan

• 17. katie  |  February 8th, 2009 at 7:00 pm

  Good points, Brendan. Also, now that I think about it, it would be really REALLY painful to be able to listen to that song only once and never have access to it ever again.

• 18. stijn  |  February 9th, 2009 at 1:51 pm

  This is really great !

• 19. Tareq  |  February 9th, 2009 at 2:14 pm

  duffy has to die at some point…
  when that day comes, i will approach his unknowing grandchildren for the rights to the mp3.

• 20. Edward  |  February 9th, 2009 at 3:18 pm

  Although I suppose this is a way to protect the artistic qualities of Sufjan’s music, I have trouble seeing what, exactly, is the evil that Duffy sees in the internet as a means for sharing/debuting/distributing music. Sufjan fans are certainly a type all of their own, who defy easy classification — the “artistic theft” argument fails to apply here. I for one, after finding “You Are The Blood” on an mp3 blog, went out and preordered Dark Was the Night immediately. I’d like to think that most fans are of the same sort — music for free just makes them more ravenous for all other music, leading them to go out and buy “Seven Swans” on vinyl, too, just to get the bonus 7″, etc.

  Maybe what I’m missing is the point of who benefits from this. Does this do anything for Alec Duffy, really? The Holiday Show idea would at least get his theater company a good deal of publicity. Yes, someone probably would have youtubed it or ripped it or something, but it would still get some cheeks in the seats. This solution, however, feels like a lose-lose. I think Duffy should either share indiscriminately or use the song to benefit his own means. He’s entitled to either. It’s the in-between business that frustrates me.

• 21. googlefritz  |  February 9th, 2009 at 4:18 pm

  we live in Brooklyn and are going to cover the song in a upcoming radio spot. keep those cards & letters coming in, folks.

• 22. Walt  |  February 9th, 2009 at 5:32 pm

  It seems to me the point is a totally artistic (and totally cool) one. The people who are benefiting are the people who go and hear and the song, and have a really unusual, special experience. I mean who listens to music like that? It’s unprecedented, and that in and of itself is noteworthy. And I think the fact that Duffy isn’t charging for these sessions is totally in keeping with the Xmas spirit.

  Furthermore, it’s creating a conversation about all this stuff, music distribution and sharing and rareness. I don’t get the sense that Duffy finds the internet evil at all, or that he’s taking a stand on music pirating or that he’s trying to protect the song or make the song itself artificially better; it’s about the experience, not the song. He just thinks that he’s got a chance to do something different with this song, to curate a piece of art in a unique way. To actually do something artistic with the song rather than toss it into the soup of the web. What the hell is wrong with that?

  And the charges of elitism seem way off the mark to me…he’s not excluding anyone for any kind of class reason, in fact he’s inviting people, anyone, INTO HIS FREAKING HOME. So the idea that he’s selfish or hoarding…that’s some undouched thinking. People just have some serious instant gratification issues, because of the internet; people are pissed because they can’t hear the song RIGHT NOW. NYC isn’t exactly the middle of nowhere, and on the Sufjanfans forum site Mallory said they both travel and would be willing to set up listening sessions for people in other towns. So I’m guessing if some diehard find themselves in NYC in 2015, they’ll get to hear the song.

  And yeah, if they never get to NYC, so what? It ’s just a song. It’s not the freaking Torah.

  So yeah, you can’t hear it right now. Neither can I. I can’t see the Taj Mahal right now either. But someday I will, and someday I might just hear “The Lonely Man of Winter” over some gingersnaps and tea, and it’ll be a hell of a lot more interesting than another downloaded file in my 300G ITunes folder.

• 23. LMS  |  February 9th, 2009 at 8:26 pm

  Why not create a bit more magic and mystery in the world?

• 24. Eric  |  February 19th, 2009 at 4:10 pm

  I’m a public radio reporter in New York City. I’m producing a story for a program called Studio 360 about Alec Duffy and his listening sessions for “Lonely Man of Winter.” I’d like to interview a few fans outside of New York — or outside the United States — to include this point of view in the piece. I think this story touches on a number of issues about music distribution in the digital age. If you’re interested, please email me at emolinsky@wnyc.org. We can conduct the interview over the phone.

• 25. Andy Glover  |  June 1st, 2009 at 6:59 am

  I think it’s a great idea. Now I want to go visit new york just to hear it.

• 26. Tommy Gardner  |  June 26th, 2009 at 3:21 pm

  I just read the timely Wall Street Journal piece about the listening parties; first I’d heard of them. And I think it’s a spectacular idea. Hopefully the new big-media spotlight won’t intimidate Duffy into selling out on his idea.

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