Now that we’ve had a piece of Lil Wayne cake, grieved over his imminent prison sentence, and jammed out to the No Ceilings mixtape, I thought Weezy would perhaps take a day off from headlines, but it’s mo’ money mo’ problems for Mr. Carter this morning: BBC reports that Wayne and Birdman are being sued by Thomas Marasciullo over the alleged use of his “Italian-style spoken word recordings” without permission. Stugots! In a funny twist, Marasciullo claims he discovered the alleged copyright infringement after overhearing a ringtone of “Respect” that his daughter was trying to buy. For more details go here.

Rivers Cuomo’s blog bait machine has been running on all cylinders of late: a Lil Wayne collaboration, Rainn Wilson bromance, writing songs with Katy Perry, just to name a few. Well, here are today’s Weezer bits:

I made the mistake of listening to Sufjan Stevens’ new song “There’s Too Much Love” before John Mayer’s new single “Who Says” this morning and, though Mayer’s track isn’t as MOR as I implied on Twitter thereafter, I do suggest cleansing the palate between these two. Sufjan’s song, which was performed live at Castaways in Ithaca, NY the other night, combines the electronic elements of his Dark Was The Night contribution, “You Are The Blood,” with an acid jazz freakout and those instantly-catchy melodies we’ve come to expect from him. Check out “There’s Too Much Love” here or embedded below (via P4K):

Meanwhile, Shannon Stephens, a new member of the Asthmatic Kitty roster, chatted with Stevens on their official site and one question/comment might cause some concern among those hoping for the official follow-up to 2005’s Illinois anytime soon. Here’s the quote in full (via Stereogum):

I’m 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. Although I have great respect for the social dynamic of music—that it should be shared with others, that it brings people together—I now feel something personal is irrevocably lost in this process. Now, while I refuse to act wholly on this impulse (I refuse to take my audience for granted in spite of my mood), I’m still trying to find the value of the song in private.

How dare he drop one of the best songs I’ve heard all week on the same day he suggests a possible retreat from the music business? Either way, I think Sufjan is likely just adjusting to the inevitable hype over his future output. Becoming a star in the indie music scene practically overnight can be a lot of pressure. Just ask Jeff Mangum. Okay, now that doesn’t make me feel any better.

The Asthmatic Kitty Records site announced today (via The Music Slut, HT Matt Morrell) that Sufjan Stevens is releasing his Brooklyn-Queens Expressway project as a film, comic book, soundtrack, and stereoscopic image reel (those things you put in a View-Master) this fall. Apparently, Stevens recorded the music for The BQE immediately following its debut three-night run a while back, but shelved the project until now.

“The songwriter borrows from multiple theoretical sources to evoke how the vainglorious battle between the ‘Artist’ and the ‘Object of Inspiration’ ultimately leads to self-absorption, existential exhaustion, and morbid futility in the Finding The Right Metaphor,” reads a second description (written by Stevens?) on the AK site here.

Here’s The BQE soundtrack’s tracklist:

1. Prelude on the Esplanade (2:56)
2. Introductory Fanfare for the Hooper Heroes (1:07)
3. Movement I—In the Countenance of Kings (5:19)
4. Movement II—Sleeping Invader (4:34)
5. Interlude I—Dream Sequence in Subi Circumnavigation (3:33)
6. Movement III—Linear Tableau with Intersecting Surprise (4:09)
7. Movement IV—Traffic Shock (3:24)
8. Movement V—Self-Organizing Emergent Patterns (3:45)
9. Interlude II—Subi Power Waltz (0:28)
10. Interlude III—Invisible Accidents (0:54)
11. Movement VI—Isorhythmic Night Dance with Interchanges (3:17)
12. Movement VII (Finale)—The Emperor of Centrifuge (3:51)
13. Postlude—Critical Mass (2:59)

For a trailer for The BQE click here and for the more verbose project description click here.

We already knew Sufjan Stevens plays the oboe, sitar, banjo, flute, xylophone and English horn, but now you can add scissors, stapler, rotary fan and the Vermont state quarter to the list. On DM Stith’s new album Heavy Ghost, fellow Asthmatic Kitty artist Sufjan Stevens played piano and tambourine on the song “Pity Dance,” but the song needed a few overdubs:

“I was like, ‘Okay, we gotta try this sound and this sound.’” Stith told EW. “He grabbed a stapler, so there’s a stapler on there. I was like, ‘Oh, we need scissors,’ so he got a couple pairs of scissors. He plays a floor rotary fan with a Vermont state quarter — that’s that broooop sound in the beginning. That’s how I work. I hear a sound and I grab whatever is around me to make it. And he was totally into it.“

You can listen to Stith and Sufjan Stevens jam on everything and the kitchen sink at Stith’s Muxtape here.