Stevens is “star struck,” but manages a Q&A with current tour/band-mate Nedelle Torrisi — “her exotic Italian pout, her ’80s housewife attire” — covering Judas Priest, Lebanon, pimped-out tour buses, ESL, and Joaquin Phoenix. It’s at Asthmatic Kitty.

Recently Sufjan revealed he’s “at a point where I no longer have a deep desire to share my music with anyone, having spent many years imparting my songs to the public.” Later that day, high-quality video of three mind-bending new Sufjan Stevens tunes took over all the websites you read. Add those to the pending release of his BQE boxset, a collab with Clogs, and the news he’s made an instrumental album with his stepdad (and Asthmatic Kitty co-founder) Lowell Brams and the National’s Bryce Dessner. For a man with such a way with them, sometimes it’s hard to take Sufjan at his word.

That brings us to last night’s show at MHOW (the last time we saw him he was tie-dyed; this time, just tie-d), the third of four NYC nights and his first at the Music Hall, a room he would say “really freaks me out, it’s like Bowery Ballroom on steroids.” It wasn’t the only time he confessed to be being freaked out, either; after opening with full band for the epic and expansive new torch song “Impossible Souls,” Sufjan sidled up to the upright piano for a solo “Concerning The UFO Sighting Near Highland, Illinois” and stopped it three lines in, unable to read his lyric sheets in the dim, scene-setting blue stage lighting. “I haven’t sung this song in like a year-and-a-half,” he said, offering a money back guarantee and later joking “the darkness freaks me out; I know we’re killing the mood, but high production is so passé now. It’s all about keeping it real.” It was an abrupt hiccup in a night that was surprisingly full of them:

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Scott tells me that when he lived in Ithaca the only live music there was ska. Well, now the live music includes expansive glitch-y songs by Sufjan Stevens. No sooner did we post the man’s interview with Shannon Stephens, then a live version of this new song “There’s Too Much Love” pops up and out. The 7-minute epic encore was captured on high-quality video from Soof’s visit to Castaways with Cryptacize. Note the heavy guitar riffing and noisy jazz breakdown, right before things head into some heady (and zany) Bitches Brew zone. (Hey, maybe the Polvo-esque rock vibe he nailed on “In The Words Of The Governor” wasn’t a one-off). Sufjan, the shape-shifter.

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There’s been some action in camp Sufjan lately, though much of it’s a retread/revisiting of past material. Good news, then, that the man’s hitting smaller east coast venues with Cryptacize (“refreshingly coherent!” -S. Stevens) this fall and, as Asthmatic Kitty lets us know, it “has nothing to do with” The BQE. Perhaps a new song or two? Tickets go on sale this Saturday, August 15. A caveat from AK:

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It’s unclear how long we can mention that Sufjan-approved Cryptacize’s Chris Cohen used to play in Deerhoof. Maybe when his new band eclipses the old? And, really, maybe we shouldn’t even say “Sufjan-approved,” considering the band’s on the man’s label. Regardless, we recently gave you “Tail & Mane” from the Oakland Asthmatic Kitty trio’s forthcoming Mythomania. It was a bit of a love song. As far as we can tell — considering frontwoman Nedelle Torrisi role in this video — “Blue Tears” is a bit of an escape-from-a-hospital song. Which is where you should be if you’re actually crying blue tears.

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Ex-Deerhoof guitarist Chris Cohen’s present project Cryptacize hit the Asthmatic Kitty roster last year, subsequently earning this gush from St. Sufjan:

They make music that is refreshingly coherent, stewed with deliberate melodies, a refinement of instrumentation, no excess, nothing wasted, nothing lost … These songs are not trifles, but rather cryptic haiku poems that expand toward a vast cosmic significance.

Dig. That was in reference to the weird-pop crew’s last work Dig That Treasure, and he didn’t leave much room to be further impressed, although the forthcoming Mythomania probably calls for it. The new record sees the trio refine their eccentricities just enough to make a “pop” label stick more closely, although the Nedelle Torrisi-fronted love song “Tail & Mane” is still alluring in its weirdness, a slew of electronic chirps skittering off of the track’s throwback, clopping gypsy pop.

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We’ve posted a couple of original tracks by Asthmatic Kitty trio Cryptacize, as well as their cover of Steely Dan’s “Peg” (for which, they were taken down a few pegs in the comments). That said, the smartest way for a young (or old) band to get their name out there is to have a band with a “bigger” name review you. Ask Daniel Johnston. Or, maybe ask the Meat Puppets (actually, we did) or Vaselines. Sufjan isn’t of Nirvana proportions, and we have to take into consideration that he’s writing about his label mates on his label site, but no doubt his positive thoughts on Crypaticize’s debut will do good things for Chris, Michael, and Nedelle. It’s also good writing. On top of that, he takes a swipe at Vampire Weekend. Yes, it’s got it all. The title: “Cryptacize is ALIVE! Decipher that code, yo!” The highlights:

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We don’t mean to dwell on Coachella, but when our plane touched down at LaGuardia late Monday night, they were playing Steely Dan’s “Hey Nineteen.” We notice things like this because we like Steely Dan … and that song could make a grown man cry. Looks like Cryptacize are fans as well. We’ve posted about the California trio previously, but for playing and singing along to their own Dig That Treasure tunes. Here, they take on the classic Dan track, “Peg.” Sacred! In case you can’t recall the original — for shame — here’s some history before you imbibe:

All caught up?

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We once said Asthmatic Kitty trio Cryptacize “remind us of a Renaissance Fair held on the moon,” but that was a long time ago, like, last year. We’ve changed our minds. After watching their video for “Cosmic Sing-A-Long,” we’ll say instead they remind us of a wholesome children’s show held on the moon. See the difference? You will, here, as Chris Cohen (ex-Deerhoof), drummer Michael Carreira, and Nedelle Torrisi take you still-by-still on a journey through the cosmos, making musical sing-a-longs, flashing those pearlies. It’s a new sort of space oddity. We dig that treasure.

Dig That Treasure is out 2/19 on Asthmatic Kitty. Maybe you missed this last time:

Cryptacize – “No Coins” (MP3)

Enjoy.

The new trio Cryptacize sorta reminds us of a Renaissance Fair held on the moon, so we were happy to see that their promo pic finds the California weird-pop crew perched together in outer space (ah, if only they were wearing armor). Cryptacize consists of Nedelle Torrisi, who was a Kill Rock Stars solo artist and recently put out a record on Tangram 7s, along with the Curtains’s Chris Cohen (ex-Deerhoof) and drummer Michael Carreira. “No Coins,” from their striking, pretty Asthmatic Kitty debut, is a patient, spacious duet about a barren garden, owing, loss: “No coins / we’ll never have any / but I was sure there’d be plenty.” Yeah, didn’t we all. The narrative shifts courses with last-second shakers, some Spanish guitar, and a blowing wind that spreads the seeds far and wide … Is this getting Biblical?

[Moon Pix by Kate Fruchey]

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