Sufjan Stevens

When I was obsessed with Red Sox baseball in the 2000s, we had a player named Manny Ramirez who was talented as fuck and arguably the best pure hitter of his generation. He was a natural. BUT, it was almost as if he was so fricking good that just playing the game straight like everyone else bored him. He was so bloody talented that we gladly put up with his idiosyncrasies and quirks and would just shrug that it was just “Manny being Manny.” But you always knew that he could have been an all time great and sure-fire Hall of Famer. He was the type of ball player who gave fans a fatal case of the if onlys…

Well that’s sort of how I approach Sufjan. A glitch electronica vanity project as his second album? yup. Label a SIXTY minute album an “EP”? Sure! Why not! And forget concept albums. So plebeian. Let’s just go for the concept discography! And then release yet another vanity project, this time an entirely instrumental orchestral musical piece, while everyone is waiting with bated breath for the follow up to your first commercial success? Sounds like a great idea! God know he’s talented as fuck, but Sufjan has me searching for a word more extreme than megalomania.

When I drop the needle down on every “proper” Sufjan album, I always have the same response - “This is going to be the best fucking album EVER!” And then at some point a patch of tedium hits (length may vary). Because they all pretty much scream “genius is about to happen” before screaming “where the fuck is the editor, can somebody just find me a goddamn editor”.

Go ahead! Tell me that he didn’t start his own record label - Asthmatic Kitty - just so he could do whatever the hell he wanted. At least he’s self-aware enough that he knows he’s a prima donna who feels that every whim should be recorded and given the multimedia DVD package.

Blows any other singer songwriter effort of its or any other decade out of the water. Stevens has a knack for both poetic storytelling and composing. Simply wonderful.

Such poetry, powerful storytelling, amazing melodies. He might not be a technically great singer, but that soft tone he puts out works so well. His earlier work has quite strong Christian themes, and whilst not religious myself, I enjoy that sense of spirituality made in his lyrics.

What a guy. Pulling out these creative albums, playing all those instruments and composing it all himself. Not even just talented in playing instruments, but I mean in the quality of the albums too and the lyricism. Sufjan is a smart guy and he doesn't hold back on that in his lyrics.
What a beautiful voice he has too. Listen to him in a song then watch an interview, it's quite astonishing how different he sounds. Not the best discography but I can appreciate all the little pieces of work he's done to get to where he is now.

If you haven't listened to him yet, listen to Illinoise or Carrie & Lowell. Those are his best pieces of work I think, although I like Age of Adz a lot it's a bit harder to get into. He pushes in a different direction with each album and I fully appreciate that since if otherwise, it would just get bland.

I can understand why some people wouldn't like Sufjan. His music is on the softer side and delves into the human condition and its woes moreso than other artists. If you put that aside though, you will find a real musical genius who can make you feel strong emotions.

From slurpdurp 01/20/2017 17:59 | #183536

One of the best musicians and composers of our generation. He is extremely talented and has a beautiful voice. His ability to tell stories and narrate through poetic lyrics set him above most other songwriters. He's my favorite songwriter, and to me he is the 21st century Bob Dylan. (Edited)