Sufjan Stevens
Note: I usually do 3 music reviews in one post, but I'll be focusing on 1 artist per post for the next few music reviews, because they are mmm mmm good (and I am running out of money to buy music with)!
Sufjan Stevens is a musical genius. Genius! There is no scale that could measure the originality of Sufjan's music. The very nature of it defies categorization - I haven't heard anyone that sounds quite like Sufjan. I have heard people call Sufjan Stevens the modern Mozart. I don't think I would compare him with Mozart (who I love), but his albums are like grand compositions that are unheard of in modern music. If you can think of an instrument, there's a fair chance that Sufjan has used it in his music. He has guitars, pianos, trumpets, strings, glockenspiel, a chorus of voices, and that is only a small sampling. His 2005 album Illinois is the second in what will be a series of albums about states (the first was Michigan). It has 24 tracks, some very short (6 under 1 minute) and some very long (9 longer than 5 minutes). 7 tracks are instrumental (a couple have vocals with no words), and the rest have Sufjan's voice and often a chorus of women's and (sometimes) men's voices. Illinois is like a history of Illinois mixed with Sufjan's own personal history, and it is a masterfully woven story. There's a pretty good chance that, like me, you won't love Sufjan the first (or 2nd, or 3rd) time you listen to his music. It is really an acquired taste, but this music is brilliant and refreshing and I encourage you very highly to give listening to Sufjan a fair chance. You can listen to some of his music on purevolume or you can buy the whole album on iTunes. This is an album that really should be listened to as a whole, but in case you are impatient, here are some highlight tracks: "Casimir Pulaski Day", "The Predatory Wasp of the Palisades Is Out to Get Us", "They Are Night Zombies!! They Are Neighbors!! They Have Come Back From the Dead!! Ahhh!" (I love those strings!), "Decatur, or, Round of Applause for Your Step-Mother!", "The Man of Metropolis Steals Our Hearts"
Sufjan Stevens is a musical genius. Genius! There is no scale that could measure the originality of Sufjan's music. The very nature of it defies categorization - I haven't heard anyone that sounds quite like Sufjan. I have heard people call Sufjan Stevens the modern Mozart. I don't think I would compare him with Mozart (who I love), but his albums are like grand compositions that are unheard of in modern music. If you can think of an instrument, there's a fair chance that Sufjan has used it in his music. He has guitars, pianos, trumpets, strings, glockenspiel, a chorus of voices, and that is only a small sampling. His 2005 album Illinois is the second in what will be a series of albums about states (the first was Michigan). It has 24 tracks, some very short (6 under 1 minute) and some very long (9 longer than 5 minutes). 7 tracks are instrumental (a couple have vocals with no words), and the rest have Sufjan's voice and often a chorus of women's and (sometimes) men's voices. Illinois is like a history of Illinois mixed with Sufjan's own personal history, and it is a masterfully woven story. There's a pretty good chance that, like me, you won't love Sufjan the first (or 2nd, or 3rd) time you listen to his music. It is really an acquired taste, but this music is brilliant and refreshing and I encourage you very highly to give listening to Sufjan a fair chance. You can listen to some of his music on purevolume or you can buy the whole album on iTunes. This is an album that really should be listened to as a whole, but in case you are impatient, here are some highlight tracks: "Casimir Pulaski Day", "The Predatory Wasp of the Palisades Is Out to Get Us", "They Are Night Zombies!! They Are Neighbors!! They Have Come Back From the Dead!! Ahhh!" (I love those strings!), "Decatur, or, Round of Applause for Your Step-Mother!", "The Man of Metropolis Steals Our Hearts"
posted by Jill at 7:30 AM
2 Comments:
Actually, it is spelled Illinois, no e. Who ever said that the album cover had to put the real album title on the cover? If you look on Sufjan's site, you'll see that I spelled it correctly. And there are 24 songs on the album. I thought I kept it pretty short when I chose 5. Thankyou very much.
Wow, Liz you are tough. Now I have to go listen. Nighty night my girls! (This would include any of my girls who may be reading this, you know who you are!)
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