I discovered this guy on Sirius Left of Center last summer and have gotten 3 of his albums since then; Illinois, Michigan, and Seven Swans.
They’re all great but Illinois is by far my favorite. Very wide range emotionally and musically. I like to listen to it when I’m running at night. It captivates me such that I can go much farther without even feeling like I’m exerting effort.
I’m starting to feel about him the way I felt about Sublime 10 years ago. Except I’m more mature now and this music is too.
I love Illinois. I also have several of his Christmas stories. He reminds me of Cat Stevens (no relation) and several of my other favorite 60s/70s singers but with a sorta kinda New Age slant. There are lots of vids of him on YouTube.
I have Illinoise as well - overall, I find much of it quite beautiful, but I find that I lose patience with some of the interludes. He gets an amazingly big sound without actually using very many pieces.
I have wondered who else one ought to listen to if one enjoys Sufjan Stevens. Neither Pandora nor Music Map seem to come up with good suggestions. Does this mean there aren’t any?
Last.fm has several suggestions for related artists… some are quite similar (like Cat Power) and some are actually not all that similar at all (like The Decemberists). All very solid recommendations, though.
I hear a lot of similarities in this,Andrew Bird & The Mysterious Production of Eggs. (I haven’t heard his new one yet.) It’s literate, mostly gentle, orchestral, odd.
I like Illinois a lot, but never really warmed up to Michigan. Some of his love songs on other records seem a little precious to me. And he needs an editor, especially if he hopes to get to the other 47 states. (Bon Jovi, of course, has already taken care of New Jersey.)
I love Sufjan! I saw him a few weeks ago in Sydney in a concert that can only be described as magical. For some in the audience it seemed to be an overpowering experience - people around me were crying, there were standing ovations and 3 encores (a practice which annoys me no end, but I appreciated the sentiment on this occasion - it’s quite an amazing to be surrounded by that kind of outpouring of passion and love!!)
A few days ago I picked up an album by St. Vincent, who is the guitarist in Sufjan’s live band. It’s outstanding. She’s also in the Polyphonic Spree (and uses several of them on the record), and the album starts of sounding like a fusion of them and Sufjan before moving wider into all sorts of strange territory, like a pop/folk/jazz/rock fusion. I can’t recommend it enough.
Sufjan Stevens is openly an Evangelical Christian, who started out as the keyboardist for the Christian band Danielson Famile. Maybe that’s what you mean by “New Age Slant?”
You should probably start with Stephens’ record label, Asthmatic Kitty, which is mostly populated by Sufjan soundalikes and the solo projects of members of his band, such as “My Brightest Diamond,” which is the girl that does most of the singing in his group.
I saw him live in Brooklyn and I think it was about the best live show I’ve ever seen. Please, I beg you, see him live! I was one of the dorks who was crying. It was a combination of things–an emotional time for me, plus the material hit close to home a few times.
The show I saw was called “The BQE” (Brooklyn-Queens Expressway, for the uninitiated). When I lived in Brooklyn and saw this concert, just a few months ago, I lived right next to the BQE. The central piece (which was the first act) was an orchestration accompanying a film involving all kinds of images of my neighborhood and environs. Very wistful, as I knew I was leaving town to return to Chicago soon. Sufjan even managed to film my very block! The second act was “Sufjan plays the hits,” where we got to hear all kinds of stuff from his albums. The last song of the show was…Chicago. It was just too much for me. That song gets me every time anyway, because I started my adulthood in Chicago, moved to New York (yes, in a van, with my friend, well…husband), and at that time, was yearning to come back. So yes, that’s how I ended up crying at a concert, looking like a total dweeb amongst all the disaffected hipsters.
Yeah, but he’s not a “mainstream” evangelical Christian, as far as I know. From what I’ve read, his family is more hippie-dippy than that, some sort of spinoff sect. I don’t know, I could be wrong.
Anyway, I’m not a big fan of evangelical Christianity by a long shot (most of us forced into it during adolescence against our will aren’t), but it doesn’t detract from my enjoyment of his music. The Biblical references are often done quite well, and I can appreciate their beauty even though I’m not really on board with that whole…thing.
I’m referring to his sound- there is such a thing as “New Age Music”. Sufjan Stevens, imo, has songs that are reminiscent of certain New Age artists (Enya, McKennitt, etc.). I couldn’t care less what his religion beliefs are and wasn’t referring to them, so be thee not so touchy (or misinformed).
I don’t like him at all. I once heard his cover of “Free Man In Paris” and it was so fucked-up that I wanted to find him and strangle him. His instrumental orchestrations, while admittedly unique, lack nuance to my ears. I find his voice to be saccharine and grating, as well.
As for St. Vincent, I really like her song Now Now.