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.  

New Cut Copy Album: Zonoscope

Another quick note to pass on my suggestion that you check out Cut Copy's new album, Zonoscope.  A reviewer (for Pitchfork, I think) described it as "sex without the orgasm", which I think personally sends mixed messages about the overall quality of the album and doesn't actually give you a sense of what he thinks about it, but I quite like it.  Blink and You'll Miss a Revolution is probably my favorite so far. 

For your listening pleasure:

Playlist catchup

I've fallen into a pattern in which I make a playlist, but don't transfer it over in widget form here.  To rectify this slightly, I give you a bajillion playlists all at once:

Matt and Kim x 2!

So this is going up WAY late, and will probably soon be followed by the Sufjan review.  Guess I got carried away with other things! Sorry guys...


October was quite the whirlwind, what with the whole running a marathon thing.  But it was also quite the Matt-and-Kim-heavy, too.  Monica, Emily and I caught their concert at Webster Hall on October 27th, and their new album Sidewalks came out on November 2nd, which means that a post devoted entirely to them is completely appropriate.  


The concert itself lived up to everything I'd hoped it would be--Matt and Kim play energetic music, and definitely ramped it up a few notches for their live show.  Before the show started, they played the entirety of Sidewalks, and because of that, they didn't play any material from the new album.  But, it turned into a good way to brush up on some of their older songs, including 5K, Silver Tiles (ok, so they redid this on Sidewalks, so I guess that counts?), Good Ol Fashioned Nightmare, and of course, Daylight (for a CRACKED OUT version from my camera, try this. Good idea of how the concert went in general. Except add some circle pits). 


Looking at the differences between their last album, Grand, and their latest, Sidewalks, you can tell almost immediately that Sidewalks is more polished--while Grand seems raw and sometimes disjointed in the characteristics of the songs (and is therefore personally the album that's harder to get behind), Sidewalks just feels more cohesive and provides a smoother full-album listen.  


The album's first single, Cameras, moves closer to hip hop and gives a bit of a preview of the feel of the album, but I think a few more tracks are necessary to fully appreciate it.  Well, technically listening to the entire album is required to fully appreciate it, but I do that so you don't have to (unless you want to!). After Cameras, head to Block After Block, Good for Great, and wrap it up with the new version of Silver Tiles.  I love that they redid this song--it helps show their development excellently.  The live edition is also excellent because as they explained to the NYC crowd, it's their song for their fans.  Although when I went to double check that, Matt apparently also said it's about knocking his brother's teeth out.  Same difference.  (I also like "Where You're Coming From", but unfortunately YouTube has failed me on that one.)


Anyhow-tons of Matt and Kim made it onto my running playlist because all of their music is so high-energy.  So next time you need a pick-me-up, pop on something from Sidewalks or Grand, and just let the music work its magic.  

It's been a while...

Contrary to what it seems like, I've been pretty prolific in playlist making over on GS lately.  I've got a post on Matt and Kim in the works for both the concert we went to (awesome) and their new album (also awesome?).  For now, figured I'd throw this one up for consideration:

Concert Reviews: Tallest Man on Earth

So, one of my goals upon moving to this lovely city was to go to as many concerts as possible given multiple opportunities and a whole lot of people to drag along with me. The first concert that I went to ended up being The Tallest Man on Earth at Webster Hall, along with Christina, Jared, and Jared's friend Betsy. 

The Tallest Man on Earth is actually Kristian Matsson, of Dalarna, Sweden (he wore a shirt from there which sparked a very long conversation about where he's from and he got really excited about it).  You wouldn't be able to tell that English is his second language from his voice, though; if anything, it's got a bit of a twang to it.  

The concert opened with S. Carey, of Bon Iver fame, and from what I've heard and what Jared and Betsy told me, their live set was much more energetic than than the album.  The highlight of their set was definitely "Action" in the middle of the set, which morphed from a 2ish minute song on the album to an 8-9 minute breakdown including building percussion parts which could have made the night worth it by themselves.  

TMOE's set was also wonderful--the set was minimal, with just a chair, multiple guitars, and a background full of lights meant to look like stars.  He's just as enthusiastic as I've heard, throwing himself completely into everything.  I came away with the impression that he might be slightly crazy, but it's all the right types of crazy for someone who performs for a living.  I took a video of The Gardner to have something I could share.  Unfortunately, I took it sideways and couldn't figure out how to fix that, so you might have to turn your head sideways? 

In any case, next concert on the horizon is Matt and Kim at the end of the month.  I'll try to have that writeup a bit earlier than this one.  

Florence and the Machine

So thanks to a friend from high school, I've stumbled on the album that is currently getting me through hours of credit analysis training-Lungs, by Florence and the Machine.  Give it a listen when you get a chance; the driving beats are good for mid-morning motivation, and a lot of these will definitely be transitioning onto my marathon playlist.