What do you do when your favorite artist pulls a 180?

So I've decided that I can't find the words to adequately describe my experience at the Sufjan Stevens concert I went to in November.  Suffice to say, it was a life-completing experience, and I can pretty much die now and be satisfied. But something I ran across on Pitchfork reminded me about how I wasn't sure how the concert would go in the days leading up to it. 


This was primarily because Sufjan's latest album, Age of Adz, was a complete reversal from his recent work.  To be fair, the electronic, eclectic sound wasn't completely out of left field-You Are the Blood off of the Dark Was the Night compilation now sounds more in line with Sujfan-but it certainly felt like a jolt after his All Delighted People EP, released just a bit before the full album (The Owl and the Tanager is pretty representative).  


Despite some nervousness going in, the concert itself not only was amazing, but it also sold me on Adz.  I know that there were people that still haven't come to terms with the directional shift *cough*J*cough*, and apparently Sufjan does too--this interview basically has Sufjan acknowledging that the album was more an experiment in noise than a project in songwriting.  One of the best (and I use best lightly...probably more like "most representative") answers was probably in response to those that were thrown off by Adz: 


"I can't apologize for the direction I'm going because it feels necessary and obvious. I know it's confusing because I'm something of an aesthetic nightmare, and I kind of suffer from multiple personality disorder. But that's part of me and my character. So, I guess I don't care. It's a big shift, and it may not be for some people. They should stay home. [laughs] Don't listen to the record; don't buy it."


So what does one do when their favorite artist says they're not going to continue with the music that made you love them?  Hang on for the ride.  

Freelance Whales

So the album of the week, as evidenced by both mine and Monica's GChat statuses (and really, what better way to decide the album of the week?) is most definitely Weathervanes by Freelance Whales.  Those of you keeping track will notice that once again, the instrumentation is replete with banjos and leaning towards the folksy side, while the lyrics have been a treasure trove of quotables.  These are obviously two of the most serious criteria I use when evaluating music.  While the banjo initially led me to a vague connection with a slightly poppier Sufjan, Jared has led me to revise that initial thought after comparing them to Owl City (this made me sad).  So let's go with something on the level of Death Cab in terms of tone, with slightly more complex arrangements.  

For some easy listens, check out Location (slightly shorter than the album, but you get the idea) or Kilojoules (they were all live versions, I couldn't find one I was happy with!); Generator ^ First Floor is also one of my favorites.  To slow things down, try The Great Estates or Broken Horses.

In unrelated news, Sufjan released details for his first completely new album-length CD, The Age of Adz! This comes on the heels of his new LP, All Delighted People, released last week and streaming here. On top of this, I finally have tickets to see Sufjan on Nov. 14th in NYC! My excitement cannot be contained in words.

In any case, that's it for now! Back to the stress of apartment hunting...

Concerts à Emporter

This post isn't about an artist; it's about another blog site.  But it's probably my favorite blog site ever: Concerts à Emporter.  The site is known as Take Away Shows in English, and is a dual language French/English site.  Now here's the even cooler part:  the guys that run the site record great artists giving mini-concerts all over the world, with a large portion of them being taped in Paris.  Each show comes with an explanation of where it was shot, what event it was at, and something about the artist. 

 Over the years that they've been doing it (the numbering system has lost me a bit, as not all clips are numbered anymore--I think that means that the clips weren't part of a "Take Away Show" specifically for them--but they're about to hit 100 shows!), they've managed to hit up some of my favorite artists.  Most of the videos are rough, hand-camera recordings, leading to the occasional bit that is harder to watch if you're not great with shaky visuals.  The music more than makes up for this, in my opinion.  The shows are usually shot in public, leading to great acoustic versions of songs and intimate performances.  The Arcade Fire show comes to mind immediately as one that wasn't exactly a small show; it's amazing what these people can get all of these artists to agree to do.  In short, I wish I thought of this and had that kind of access to so many great groups.

If you're looking for new music, I'd suggest you head over and click around a bit.  There are a few must-sees in my opinion, so here they are: 

The National 

Sufjan Stevens-The second song on the roof is actually an Innocence Mission cover. 

Bon Iver -Great versions of all of the songs, but the video of For Emma, Forever Ago gives you a good idea of how these shows come together (they end up singing an a cappella version of a great song in a stairwell for an apt building, dogs and confused residents included-then do it all again outside!)

José Gonzalés-who is actually Swedish.  Another great song of his to check out is Heartbeats. Monica and Emily may recognize it as The Song I Play On My Phone At 2 AM. 

Beirut-Zach Condon may be a bit crazy (see Nantes), but entertaining. 

Yeasayer-Beer bottle/floor slapping rendition of Tightrope? Priceless. 

There are other names you'd all recognize as well...I definitely can't recommend les Concerts à Emporter enough!

So now that I have officially started to be Very Busy, I doubt I'm going to get to a post a day/every other day/what I've managed so far.  This is inevitable with three classes going on, but oh well.  Hopefully I/you won't be deterred!

That's pronounced "Soof-yahn"

When I sat down to figure out what I'd write about in my inaugural post, it didn't really take long to settle on my favorite artist of all time, Sufjan Stevens.  My love affair with Sufjan's music started in summer of 2005, when a friend from home gave me his album Seven Swans as a graduation gift.  It took some time for Seven Swans to grow on me, though, so I'll start off with the one that immediately caught my attention: Come On, Feel the Illinoise.  This album epitomizes the complex, multi-instrumental arrangements that characterize Sufjan's music (fun fact: he plays most of the instruments heard on his albums, including the oboe and banjo), which can range in character from light and lackadaisical (Come on Feel the Illinoise! Pt. 1: The World's Columbian Exposition/Carl Sandburg Visits Me In A Dream) to heart-wrenching (John Wayne Gacy, Jr.; after a(n in)famous serial killer) to symphonic (better examples on other albums, but for now, check out Chicago, one of his most widely-known songs, for some seriously orchestral arrangements).  

Scanning through the list of tracks for Illinoise, it's also pretty obvious that there is a serious level of creativity being put into the song titles, from A Conjunction Of Drones Simulating The Way In Which Sufjan Stevens Has An Existential Crisis In The Great Godfrey Maze, which takes longer to scroll through on iTunes than the entire length of the song, to one of my personal favorites, A Short Reprise For Mary Todd, Who Went Insane, But For Very Good Reasons. Fun fact number 2: Sufjan enrolled in a writing program at The New School for Social Research, which might explain both the long titles, and the stories contained within songs.  

Sufjan tends to be a master of the concept album, and there's no greater proof of that than the (possibly exaggerated?) 50 States project.  Sufjan's stated goal is to make an album for each state, although to date only two exist: Greetings from Michigan, and Come on Feel the Illinoise.  Sufjan also released a collection of outtakes/B-sides for Illinoise called The Avalanche, but as I can't do every single album justice in one post, I'll save that one for later.  It's been quite a few years since an album for a new state has come out, although Sufjan did premiere the BQE, an audio/visual monument to the Brooklyn Queens Expressway, in November 2007 (just another demonstration of the symphonic quality of his music).  I've given up following the guesses on the next state, as I've heard NY, OR, RI, and New Jersey! The Musical! all as potential next subjects.  I'll believe it when I hear it, so to speak.  

Luckily, unreleased Sufjan tracks show up moderately frequently, either on compilation discs for his record label (that he co-founded with his stepfather), Asthmatic Kitty, or through internet links to performances (thanks, YouTube!).  Some of these non-album tracks are my favorites, so I'll leave you with a couple more before signing off on the inaugural post.

Damascus-Showcase of one of the more frequently used instruments in Sufjan's music, the banjo.  Don't let it dissuade you; the song is calming, full of complex, broken chord progressions (one of the surefire ways to ensure I like a song), and one of the favorites of almost every Sufjan fan I know.  

Opie's Funeral Song-mellow, heartbreaking storytelling.  Acoustic guitar and piano. 

Jupiter Bad June-if you guessed that I'm biased towards this one because of the string quartet it contains, you are correct! Beautiful, beautiful song.  Lost the file for it when my laptop was stolen; this makes me sad.  

So there you have it--my inaugural post, an homage to a small part of the prolific songwriting of Sufjan Stevens (he's adorable, too!).  While this would definitely fall under my definition of indie music, fret not, other people! This will eventually degenerate into whatever random songs I happen to be listening to on repeat at work (as in...there will be an ode to Led Zeppelin at some point, I assume, plus a couple Euroclubbing playlists).  Hope this is interesting to someone besides me, and catch you on the next post.  Still deciding who to use; could segue into The National (Sufjan played piano on their album Boxer, and they have a new album coming out in a few months...but that's a while away), or some of the Scottish bands I've been obsessing over lately (e.g. The Fratellis, or Frightened Rabbit, c/o Helen). 

じゃ、またね〜！