Silver & Gold (Sufjan Stevens album)

'Silver & Gold: Songs for Christmas, Vols. 6–10' is a five-EP box set of Christmas-related songs and carols recorded by Sufjan Stevens between 2006 and 2012. It is a follow-up to Songs for Christmas, which was released six years prior. On October 2, 2012, it was announced that Stevens would release Silver & Gold on November 13, 2012 in digital format, CD and LP boxset. On October 24, 2012, a claymation music video, animated by Lee Hardcastle, was released for "Mr. Frosty Man".

Reception
The album has received mostly positive reviews from critics, with Pitchfork giving it a 7.8 out of 10. As Keelan H. of Sputnikmusic writes,"[T]he album exists on [a] plane where introspection meets with group sing-a-longs, depression meets with joyous outbursts, traditional meets with left-field kookiness." At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album has received an average score of 76, based on 13 reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews".

Track listing

 * Gloria: Songs for Christmas, Vol. VI
 * Recorded December 2006


 * 1) "Silent Night" - 2:26 (words by Joseph Mohr; melody by Franz Xaver Gruber; English translation by John Freeman Young)
 * 2) "Lumberjack Christmas / No One Can Save You from Christmases Past" - 3:22 (music by Aaron Dessner, Bryce Dessner, and Sufjan Stevens; words by Sufjan Stevens)
 * 3) "Coventry Carol" - 2:54 (featuring Marla Hansen) (16th-century English Carol)
 * 4) "The Midnight Clear" - 2:49 (music by Aaron Dessner, Bryce Dessner, and Sufjan Stevens; words by Sufjan Stevens)
 * 5) "Carol of St. Benjamin the Bearded One" - 3:32 (music by Aaron Dessner, Bryce Dessner, and Sufjan Stevens; words by Sufjan Stevens)
 * 6) "Go Nightly Cares" - 1:44 (music by John Dowland)
 * 7) "Barcarola (You Must Be a Christmas Tree)" - 7:03 (music by Aaron Dessner, Bryce Dessner, and Sufjan Stevens; words by Sufjan Stevens)
 * 8) "Auld Lang Syne" - 1:35 (words by Robert Burns; music: traditional Scots folk melody)


 * I Am Santa's Helper: Songs for Christmas, Vol. VII
 * Recorded December 2007


 * 1) "Christ the Lord Is Born" - 0:49 (music by Leoš Janáček)
 * 2) "Christmas Woman" - 5:33 (words & music by Sufjan Stevens)
 * 3) "Break Forth O Beauteous Heavenly Light" - 1:09 (music by Johann Schop; harmony by J.S. Bach)
 * 4) "Happy Family Christmas" - 1:23 (words & music by Sufjan Stevens)
 * 5) "Jingle Bells" - 1:19 (words & music by James Lord Pierpont)
 * 6) "Mysteries of the Christmas Mist" - 2:10 (music by Sufjan Stevens)
 * 7) "Lift Up Your Heads Ye Mighty Gates" - 1:20 (words by Georg Weissel; translated by Catherine Winkworth; music by Thomas Williams)
 * 8) "We Wish You a Merry Christmas" - 1:16 (16th-century English Carol)
 * 9) "Ah Holy Jesus" - 2:42 (words by Johann Heermann: music by Johann Crüger)
 * 10) "Behold! The Birth of Man, the Face of Glory" - 1:09 (music by Sufjan Stevens)
 * 11) "Ding-a-ling-a-ring-a-ling" - 1:50 (words & music by Sufjan Stevens)
 * 12) "How Shall I Fitly Meet Thee?" - 2:09 (music by J.S. Bach; adapted by J. Troutbeck)
 * 13) "Mr. Frosty Man" - 1:50 (words & music by Sufjan Stevens)
 * 14) "Make Haste to See the Baby" - 1:23 (music by Sufjan Stevens)
 * 15) "Ah Holy Jesus" - 1:29 (with reed organ)
 * 16) "Hark! The Herald Angels Sing" - 1:51 (words by Charles Wesley; music by Felix Mendelssohn)
 * 17) "Morning" - 2:28 (Sacred Harp) (music by Amos Pilsbury)
 * 18) "Idumea" - 3:50 (Sacred Harp) (words by Charles Wesley; music by Ananias Davisson)
 * 19) "Eternal Happiness or Woe" - 1:23 (music by Sufjan Stevens)
 * 20) "Ah Holy Jesus" - 1:00 (a capella)
 * 21) "I Am Santa's Helper" - 1:52 (words & music by Sufjan Stevens)
 * 22) "'Ma'oz Tzur' (Rock of Ages)" - 0:42 (traditional Jewish hymn)
 * 23) "Even the Earth Will Perish and the Universe Give Way" - 2:01 (music by Sufjan Stevens)


 * Christmas Infinity Voyage: Songs for Christmas, Vol. VIII
 * Originally recorded December 2008, as "Astral Inter Planet Space Captain Christmas Infinity Voyage: Songs for Christmas Vol. 8"; box set version re-recorded 2011–2012


 * 1) "Angels We Have Heard on High" - 4:04 (music & words by Sufjan Stevens [based on the original hymn])
 * 2) "Do You Hear What I Hear?" - 9:14 (words by Noël Regney; music by Gloria Shayne)
 * 3) "Christmas in the Room" - 4:23 (words & music by Sufjan Stevens)
 * 4) "It Came Upon the Midnight Clear" - 0:48 (words by Edmund Sears; music by Richard Storrs Willis)
 * 5) "Good King Wenceslas" - 4:18 (words by John Mason Neale; music: 13th Century carol)
 * 6) "Alphabet St." - 1:36 (words & music by Prince)
 * 7) "Particle Physics" - 1:04 (music by Sufjan Stevens)
 * 8) "Joy to the World" - 5:25 (words by Isaac Watts; music by Lowell Mason)
 * 9) "The Child with the Star on His Head" - 15:30 (words & music by Sufjan Stevens)


 * Let It Snow: Songs for Christmas, Vol. IX
 * Recorded December 2009


 * 1) "I'll Be Home for Christmas" - 3:22 (words & music by Walter Kent, Kim Gannon, Buck Ram)
 * 2) "Santa Claus Is Coming to Town" - 2:41 (words & music by J. Fred Coots and Haven Gillespie)
 * 3) "The Sleigh in the Moon" - 1:44 (featuring Cat Martino) (words & music by Cat Martino)
 * 4) "Sleigh Ride" - 2:28 (words & music by Leroy Anderson and Mitchell Parish)
 * 5) "Ave Maria" - 2:09 (featuring Cat Martino) (words by God Himself; music by Franz Schubert)
 * 6) "X-mas Spirit Catcher" - 3:31 (words & music by Sufjan Stevens)
 * 7) "Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!" - 2:17 (words & music by Jule Styne and Sammy Cahn)
 * 8) "A Holly Jolly Christmas" - 2:27 (words & music by Johnny Marks)
 * 9) "Christmas Face" - 0:40 (featuring Sebastian Krueger) (words & music by Sebastian Krueger)


 * Christmas Unicorn: Songs for Christmas, Vol. X
 * Recorded December 2010


 * 1) "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" - 3:42 (words & music by Hugh Martin and Ralph Blane)
 * 2) "It Came Upon a Midnight Clear" - 0:40 (words by Edmund Sears; music by Richard Storrs Willis)
 * 3) "Up on the Housetop" - 4:21 (featuring Vesper Stamper) (words & music by Benjamin Hanby; arr. by Sufjan Stevens)
 * 4) "Angels We Have Heard on High" - 0:52 (traditional French carol)
 * 5) "We Need a Little Christmas" - 2:03 (words & music by Jerry Herman)
 * 6) "Happy Karma Christmas" - 3:36 (words & music by Sufjan Stevens)
 * 7) "We Three Kings" - 0:52 (music by John Henry Hopkins Jr.)
 * 8) "Justice Delivers Its Death" - 3:16 (var. & arrangement by Sufjan Stevens; based on the song "Silver & Gold" by J. Marks)
 * 9) "Christmas Unicorn" - 12:28 (words & music by Sufjan Stevens; "Love Will Tear Us Apart" used by permission, written by Ian Curtis, Peter Hook, Stephen Morris, and Bernard Sumner)