Sufjan Stevens

[Metaphizzle]

Anyone here listen to this guy? He's probably my favorite musician right now, tied with Sf59 (they're too different to really compare). For those who don't know, Sufjan's music is a mix of folk, orchestral pop, and progressive rock, with occasional forays into jazz and electronica. 

Discography:
A Sun Came!
Enjoy Your Rabbit
Michigan (aka Welcome to Michigan, the Great Lake State)
Seven Swans
Illinois (aka Come On, Feel the Illinoise!)
The Avalanche
Songs for Christmas

Linky linky:
Sufjan's bio on Asthmatic Kitty plus mp3's
His bio on Sounds Familyre with even more mp3's
Sufjan's purevolume page

[stshores24]

Hmm....DaAnswerRob, a.k.a. paranoidandroid and other names, turned me on to Sufjan. I was really getting into it when I heard a terribly depressing song and sort of tuned him out from that point. I have a hard time with depressing songs because I suffer from severe depression a goodly amount of the time, so I have to stay away from them.

[Zelönka 22]

This picture looks very familiar.. Also a lot like John Reuben's Boy vs. Cynic cover.

I've never heard of him though, will check out.

[Metaphizzle]

Hmm....DaAnswerRob, a.k.a. paranoidandroid and other names, turned me on to Sufjan. I was really getting into it when I heard a terribly depressing song and sort of tuned him out from that point. I have a hard time with depressing songs because I suffer from severe depression a goodly amount of the time, so I have to stay away from them.

I agree some of his songs are pretty depressing. Do you remember which song it was that turned you off?

I do think that Michigan and Seven Swans have some very dark material, but they both pass through the valley of the shadow and come out the other side, and end with meditations on Christ. Taken as a whole, I think they're both very uplifting.

The Avalanche on the other hand, had a real downer ending, mainly because the song "Pittsburg" took all the good vibes from the rest of the album and smashed them to the floor.

Illinois falls somewhere between those two poles.

And Enjoy Your Rabbit is unclassifiable. It's mostly-electronic music with no lyrics to distract from the layers upon layers of melody and chaos.

This picture looks very familiar.. Also a lot like John Reuben's Boy vs. Cynic cover.

Greenman, I know what you mean. But most of the other Illinois press photos look less like the John Reuben cover... especially the ones with him and his backing band dressed as University of Illinois cheerleaders. (The dude likes his costumes. Maybe he got it from playing with the Danielson Famile.)

[stshores24]

I agree some of his songs are pretty depressing. Do you remember which song it was that turned you off?

I do think that Michigan and Seven Swans have some very dark material, but they both pass through the valley of the shadow and come out the other side, and end with meditations on Christ. Taken as a whole, I think they're both very uplifting.

I don't know the name of the song, but part of it mentioned where a small group had been praying for a female member to be healed from cancer, and God didn't heal her. The whole thing left a bad taste in my mouth, because the wording made it seem pretty close to 'God makes people sick' theology, like God was to blame for the cancer or something.

I liked just about everything else, though. It may be for me the Sufjan equivalent of JE's 'Monosynth'...one song really turned me off to the catalogue, and if I took another listen I would probably like it and buy the entire discography.

Of course, do I need any more bands to catch up with? Nope...let's see, SF59, JE, Venus Hum, Architecture in Helsinki, the list goes on and on...

[Metaphizzle]

Ah, that's "Casimir Pulaski Day" from Illinois. If you're interested, the complete lyrics are here. I don't think Sufjan's really "blaming God for cancer" in this song. Rather, I think Sufjan's describing a young man who loses his girlfriend to cancer and who then tries to reconcile this with what he knows of God's goodness. Sufjan's acknowledging that the answer isn't easy.

[stshores24]

Ah. Well, yeah, that makes more sense. I was just reacting badly at the time--I do that every now and then, more often than I'd like.

I need more Sufjan preview tracks, then.

[monkeypants]

I am a big Sufjan fan. I saw him on his tour for Illinois. One of the best shows I've ever seen. Casimir Pulaski day is a great song but if you don't like the depressing songs I'd skip that one and John Wayne Gacy Jr. on Illinoise. They rest are pretty upbeat.

[stshores24]

I saw a live YouTube video and was surprised by all the instrumentation he uses, including a tuba! Very creative. Yes, I need to hook myself up with some Sufjan, one of these days...

[stshores24]

Need more Sufjan!

[Metaphizzle]

Then point your browser at this!

I threw that together. There's a sorta-kinda-representative track from each of his albums, plus a bunch of unreleased stuff I've found online from various places. And "Put the Lights on the Tree" is different from the version that ended up on the official release of Songs for Christmas; the final release had flutes and extra drum parts, but both versions are great.

[stshores24]

I love you Meta. Thank you. This is going to be great.

[stshores24]

It is great. Now you've made me into an addict. Thanks.

[Jono]

[levi]

Any word on his next album?  Stickin with the states thing?

My favorite is Seven Swans.  and i agree with whoever said earlier that overall its really positive and uplifting