Colin Stetson | |
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 Stetson at Aarhus Festival, Denmark, 2017 | |
| Background information | |
| Born | March 3, 1975 Ann Arbor, Michigan, U.S. |
| Genres | |
| Instruments | |
| Labels |
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| Website | colinstetson |
Colin Stetson (born March 3, 1975)[1][2] is an American saxophonist, multireedist, and composer based in Montreal.[3][4] He is best known as a regular collaborator of the indie rock acts Arcade Fire, Bon Iver, Bell Orchestre, and Ex Eye. In addition to saxophone, he plays clarinet, bass clarinet, French horn, flute, and cornet.
Stetson has released various solo releases, including his debut and subsequent albums New History Warfare Vol. 1, 2, & 3, a collaborative studio album with violinist Sarah Neufeld entitled Never Were the Way She Was (2015), Sorrow: A Reimagining of Henryk Górecki's 3rd Symphony (2016),[5] and All This I Do for Glory (2017). Since 2013, Stetson has contributed the scores to several films and television series.
Background
Born in Ann Arbor, Michigan and currently based in Montreal, Quebec, Stetson started taking lessons at age 15.[2] He attended the University of Michigan School of Music with a full scholarship, where he joined Transmission Trio.[6] He also played with the groups Boostamonte and the People's Bizarre.[3]
Stetson has performed and recorded with dozens of artists, including Tom Waits, Arcade Fire, TV on the Radio, Feist, and Bon Iver.[7]
His extended saxophone techniques cover advanced circular breathing, multiphonics, altissimo, microtones, (reed) vocalizations, percussive valve-work, clicking keys, and growling.[8] The overall effect led The New Yorker film critic Anthony Lane to describe Stetson's score to the film Hereditary as having been seemingly "scored for violins, percussion, a humpback whale, and bats."[9]
Solo career
His first solo album, New History Warfare Vol. 1, was released in 2008. His second and third albums, New History Warfare Vol. 2: Judges and New History Warfare Vol. 3: To See More Light, were released by Constellation Records in early 2011. On June 16, the album was named as a longlisted nominee for the 2011 Polaris Music Prize,[10] and shortlisted on July 6.[4]
Stetson was chosen by Jeff Mangum of Neutral Milk Hotel to perform at the All Tomorrow's Parties festival that he curated in December 2011 in Minehead, England.[11] The final album of the trilogy, New History Warfare Vol. 3: To See More Light, was released by Constellation Records in April 2013, and was a longlist nominee for the 2013 Polaris Music Prize.[12]
April 2015 saw the release of Never Were the Way She Was, the first recording of Stetson's duo project with his then wife and long-time collaborator Sarah Neufeld.[13] Stetson's album All This I Do for Glory was released on April 28, 2017.[14] In 2022 he released the drone-inspired album Chimæra I.[15] It was followed a year later by the minimalist When We Were That What Wept for the Sea.[16] In September 2024, Stetson released The Love It Took to Leave You.[17]
Discography
Solo albums/As leader
- Tiny Beast (2003) with Transmission Trio
- Slow Descent (2003)
- New History Warfare Vol. 1 (2007)
- The Righteous Wrath of an Honorable Man 7" (2010)
- New History Warfare Vol. 2: Judges (2011)
- Those Who Didn't Run EP (2011)
- New History Warfare Vol. 3: To See More Light (2013)
- Sorrow: A Reimagining of Gorecki's 3rd Symphony (2016)
- All This I Do for Glory (2017)
- Chimæra I (2022)
- When We Were That What Wept for the Sea (2023)
- The Love It Took to Leave You (2024)
Soundtrack albums
- Blue Caprice (2013)
- La Peur (2015)
- Outlaws and Angels (2016)
- Hereditary (2018)[18]
- The First (2018)
- Color Out of Space (2020)
- Barkskins (2020)
- Deliver Us (2020)
- The War Show (2020)
- Mayday (2021)
- Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2022)
- Among the Stars (2022)
- The Menu (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) (2022)
- Uzumaki (2024)
- Martha (2024)
Collaborations with other artists
- Gringo Blaster (2002) with Michael Kowalski
- Stones (2012) with Mats Gustafsson[19]
- Never Were the Way She Was (2015) with Sarah Neufeld
- Ex Eye (2017) with Ex Eye (Greg Fox, Shahzad Ismaily, Toby Summerfield)
- Radiate (2015) with The Chemical Brothers
- Confessions Pt II (2016) with BadBadNotGood
- The Long Road North (2022) with Cult of Luna
- Void Patrol (2022) with Void Patrol (Elliott Sharp, Billy Martin, Payton MacDonald)
- No Highs (2023) with Tim Hecker[20]
- Carry Them with Us (2023) with Brìghde Chaimbeul
- Nethering (2026) with Greg Fox and Trevor Dunn
As sideman
|
With Tom Waits
With Arcade Fire
With TV on the Radio
With Jolie Holland
With Feist
With Esmerine
|
With Timber Timbre
With Bon Iver
With David Gilmour
With BadBadNotGood
With Animal Collective
With Sarah Neufeld
With Marcus Hamblett
|
Filmography
Film
| Year | Title | Director | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2007 | Greyhounds | Kelilyn Mohr McKeever | Short film |
| 2012 | Rust and Bone | Jacques Audiard | Composer, Musician: "All the Days I've Missed You (Ilaij I)" |
| 2013 | 12 Years a Slave | Steve McQueen | Composer, Musician: "Awake on Foreign Shores" |
| Blue Caprice | Alexandre Moors | ||
| 2014 | The Rover | David Michôd | Composer, Musician: "Time is Advancing with Fitful Irregularity", "As a Bird or Branch", "Groundswell", "Awake on Foreign Shores" |
| 2015 | La Peur | Damien Odul | |
| Vi ska bli rappare | David Danial | Composer, Musician: "Stand, Walk" | |
| Denis the Pirate | Sam Messer | Composed with Sarah Neufeld | |
| It's About Time | Ivo Briedis | Short film | |
| Closet Monster | Stephen Dunn | Composer, Musician: "The Stars In His Head (Dark Lights Remix)" | |
| 2016 | Lavender | Ed Gass-Donnelly | Composed with Sarah Neufeld |
| Outlaws and Angels | J. T. Mollner | ||
| The War Show | Andreas Møl Dalsgaard & Obaidah Zytoon | ||
| 2017 | Destierros | Hubert Caron-Guay | Partial score |
| 2018 | Age Out | A.J. Edwards | |
| Hereditary | Ari Aster | ||
| We | Rene Eller | ||
| 2019 | Color Out of Space | Richard Stanley | |
| 2021 | Mayday | Karen Cinorre | |
| 2022 | Texas Chainsaw Massacre | David Blue Garcia | |
| The Menu | Mark Mylod | ||
| 2024 | Hold Your Breath | Karrie Crouse and Will Joines | Composer |
| 2026 | Mayday | Jonathan Goldstein and John Francis Daley | Composer |
Documentary film
| Year | Title | Director | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2012 | Shut Up and Play the Hits | Will Lovelace and Dylan Southern | cast as himself |
| 2014 | A City Is an Island | Timothy George Kelly | cast as himself |
| 2015 | An American, Portrait of Raymond Luc Levasseur | Pierre Marier | |
| New York Never Sleeps | Alfonso Nogueroles | ||
| Scrum | Poppy Stockell | ||
| 2016 | The Devil's Horn | Larry Weinstein | cast as himself |
| Uncle Howard | Aaron Brookner | Composer, Musician: "In Mirrors" | |
| 2024 | Martha | R. J. Cutler |
Television
| Year | Title | Network | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | The Blacklist
The Alchemist (No. 101) |
NBC | performer: " Warm Shadow" - uncredited |
| 2017 | Philip K. Dick's Electric Dreams
Human Is |
Channel 4 | performer: "The rest of us" - uncredited |
| 2018 | The First | Hulu, Channel 4 | |
| 2020 | Barkskins | National Geographic | |
| 2021 | Among the Stars | Disney Plus | Composer for all 6 Episodes |
| 2023 | Hogan's Castle | Netflix | Composer for all 11 Episodes |
| 2024 | Uzumaki[23] | Adult Swim's Toonami |
Video game
| Year | Title | Studio |
|---|---|---|
| 2018 | Red Dead Redemption 2[24] | Rockstar Games |
References
- ^ "BIO". Colin Stetson. Retrieved April 27, 2023.
- ^ a b "Colin Stetson biography". matrix-music.com. Retrieved September 20, 2024.
- ^ a b Andrews, Jeff (May 5, 2017). "Colin Stetson Makes You Forget Everything You Knew About the Saxophone". Vice.com. Retrieved April 27, 2023.
- ^ a b Everett-Green, Robert (September 16, 2011). "Is Colin Stetson's music Canadian enough for the Polaris?". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved September 20, 2024.
- ^ "Colin Stetson Reimagined a 1976 Polish Symphony as an Electronic Black Metal Opus with Saxophones". Vice.com. April 18, 2016. Retrieved April 27, 2023.
- ^ Huey, Steve. "Transmission Biography". AllMusic. Rovi Corporation. Retrieved August 8, 2013.
- ^ Michaels, Sean (March 24, 2011). "Bon Iver announces details of second album". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved April 27, 2023.
- ^ Dennis, Zel (February 6, 2012). "Colin Stetson - The History of Warfare Volume 2 - Judges". modernbarisax.com. Archived from the original on May 12, 2016. Retrieved September 22, 2014.
- ^ Lane, Anthony (June 8, 2018). ""Hereditary" Delivers a New Kind of Horror". The New Yorker. ISSN 0028-792X. Retrieved June 4, 2018.
- ^ "2011 Polaris Music Prize Long List announced". AUX.TV. Archived from the original on October 2, 2015. Retrieved April 26, 2016.
- ^ Robb, John (August 30, 2011). "All Tomorrows Parties December line up announced". Louder Than War. Retrieved September 20, 2024.
- ^ "Polaris Music Prize Unveils 2013 Long List" Archived June 18, 2013, at the Wayback Machine. Exclaim!, June 13, 2012.
- ^ Mondalski, Mateusz (August 27, 2016). "Colin Stetson". Subbacultcha. Retrieved July 16, 2020.
- ^ Mejia, Paula (April 20, 2017). "Review: Colin Stetson, 'All This I Do for Glory'". NPR. Retrieved May 6, 2017.
- ^ Blackwell, Matthew. "Colin Stetson: Chimæra I". Pitchfork. Retrieved September 20, 2024.
- ^ Quietus, The (May 11, 2023). "Colin Stetson — When We Were That What Wept For The Sea". The Quietus. Retrieved September 20, 2024.
- ^ Cook, Paul (September 14, 2024). "Colin Stetson – The love it took to leave you - Joyzine". joyzine.org. Retrieved September 20, 2024.
- ^ "Hereditary review: The singularly most terrifying horror film in years". The Independent. June 19, 2018. Retrieved April 27, 2023.
- ^ Fordham, John (January 17, 2013). "Colin Stetson/Mats Gustafsson: Stones – review". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved April 27, 2023.
- ^ Monroe, Jazz (April 7, 2023). "Tim Hecker: No Highs review – ambient music that reflects our polluted world". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved April 27, 2023.
- ^ "CST080 ESMERINE: La Lechuza | Constellation Records". cstrecords.com. Retrieved April 26, 2016.
- ^ Empire, Kitty (February 14, 2016). "Animal Collective: Painting With review – dada pop to pogo to". The Observer. ISSN 0029-7712. Retrieved April 27, 2023.
- ^ Mateo, Alex (July 26, 2024). "Uzumaki Anime's Trailer Reveals September 28 Premiere on Toonami". Anime News Network. Retrieved July 27, 2024.
- ^ "All the artists set to appear on the Red Dead Redemption 2 soundtrack". The Independent. October 25, 2018. Retrieved April 27, 2023.
External links
- Colin Stetson website
- Embedded In The Skull: Colin Stetson's Favourite LPs - The Quietus (March 2017)
- Colin Stetson at IMDb
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Artists | |
| Other | |
- 1975 births
- American expatriates in Canada
- American saxophonists
- American male saxophonists
- Arcade Fire members
- Bon Iver members
- Constellation Records (Canada) artists
- Juno Award for Instrumental Album of the Year winners
- Living people
- Musicians from Ann Arbor, Michigan
- University of Michigan School of Music, Theatre & Dance alumni
- 21st-century American saxophonists
- Grammy Award winners
