| The BQE | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
&sq=Envato&lang=en&file=File:BQEalbum.jpeg) | ||||
| Soundtrack album by | ||||
| Released | October 20, 2009 | |||
| Genre | ||||
| Length | 40:16 | |||
| Label | Asthmatic Kitty | |||
| Producer | Sufjan Stevens | |||
| Sufjan Stevens chronology | ||||
| ||||
| Aggregate scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AnyDecentMusic? | 6.9/10[2] |
| Metacritic | 73/100[3] |
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |    [4] |
| Drowned in Sound | 7/10[5] |
| NME | 9/10[6] |
| Pitchfork | 7.4/10[7] |
| Slant Magazine | [8] |
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.
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]
- ^ "Sufjan Stevens All Delighted People". AllMusic. Retrieved August 5, 2016.
- ^ "Sufjan Stevens: the BQE". Anydecentmusic.com. AnyDecentMusic?. Retrieved May 29, 2018.
- ^ "The BQE by Sufjan Stevens". Metacritic. Retrieved April 29, 2019.
- ^ AllMusic review, AllMusic
- ^ "Drowned in Sound review". Archived from the original on October 20, 2009. Retrieved October 19, 2009.
- ^ "Album review: Sufjan Stevens - 'The BQE'". Nme.com. October 16, 2009. Retrieved October 20, 2024.
- ^ Greene, Jayson. "Sufjan Stevens: The BQE". Pitchfork.com. Retrieved October 20, 2024.
- ^ "Music Archives". Slant Magazine. October 18, 2024. Retrieved October 20, 2024.
- ^ Bell, Sean (October 19, 2009). "Sufjan Stevens: American 21st-century Renaissance man". Herald Scotland. Retrieved November 26, 2009.