Hi folks, hope y'all have a good 'un. I'll leave you with this until after the Christmas period, but keep popping in for irregular updates!
Take it away, Sufjan Stevens:
Showing posts with label sufjan stevens. Show all posts
Showing posts with label sufjan stevens. Show all posts
Friday, 24 December 2010
Tuesday, 21 December 2010
Top 33 of the Year.....The Top Ten!
Here's numbers 6 and 5 in the most po-faced countdown on the web....
6. Sun Kil Moon - Admiral Fell Promises.
Thankfully, my Mark Kozelek retrospective from earlier this year wasn't wasted as the man behind Sun Kil Moon gave us a lovely record solely consisting of voice and nylon-strung classical guitar.
Very much an album about place, it opens with the flamenco sound of 'Alesund', a song about Kozelek getting fed up being asked if he's a musician when he takes his guitar on flights. "No this is not my guitar/I'm bringing it to a friend" go the opening lines. Kozelek has never been comfortable with being known, but it's a more playful nod to fame than the songs found on the sad and sombre April, his last record under the SKM moniker.
Kozelek's music has always been influenced by people and place, and the songs here continue to nod towards memories of things past and people lost. There's the gorgeous 'Third and Seneca', replete with about three different mood changes (in fact, most of the songs contain diversions at least once), 'Sam Wong Hotel' and the coastal hymnal of 'Half Moon Bay'. Many are situated in San Francisco, the place that contains the most memories of his lost muse, Katy.
However, there are always bright moments in SKM's music, and the playful 'You Are My Sun' is one of the finest moments on the record.
Admiral Fell Promises proves that even 20 years after starting to make records with Red House Painters, Mark Kozelek still has some creativity up his sleeve. Perfectly capable of plugging in and rocking when he needs to (and I fully expect the next record to be a rocker), this record shows that a deft touch on guitar and words sung with meaning and emotion are all that's needed sometimes. A powerful record.
5. Sufjan Stevens - The Age of Adz / All Delighted People EP.
The mercurial Mr Stevens surprised fans this year by releasing not one but two new records, and we all breathed a sigh of relief as both were proof that he's overcome his existential crisis and is back to producing quite wonderful music.
There can be no doubt of the prodigious talent of Sufjan Stevens, and he's the one artist from the US "indie" scene who really pushes the boundaries in terms of what can be held up as modern pop music. All Delighted People is record of the two that sounds most like the Sufjan Stevens of the recent 50 states project (something that was said in jest, it turns out). It seems to gather together a series of songs that closes the door on the Michigan / Illinoise days, and points the way to the songs found on The Age of Adz.
There's the gorgeous folk songs of 'Heirloom', 'Arnika' and 'The Owl and the Tanager', none of which would be out of place on Seven Swans, but the EP hangs on two versions of the title track. The original version begins the record, and almost collapses under the weight of its angelic choir, and the "classic rock" version calls to mind the various interpretations of 'Chicago' found on The Avalanche, and is probably Stevens' most straight ahead rock song to date.
The Age of Adz is something else entirely. It ditches a number of the usual Sufjan tropes - acoustic instrumentation, songs about people, place and history - and brings in electronics, programmed drums and - gasp! - autotune? Fear not, there's still angelic choirs and plenty of orchestration for those listeners who are a bit scared by digital equipment.
It's also the most personal record Stevens has given us, and it's easy to pick out the tough times he's been through recently. There's explicit references to God, to a loved one, and nods to whatever it was that he went through in the past twelve months. It's a dark record, but extremely enjoyable.
Highlights include the electropop of 'I Walked' and 'Too Much', the gentle pleading of 'Now That I'm Older' and 'Vesuvius', but The Age of Adz really excels itself with the 25min closer 'Impossible Soul'. It contains more ideas in that space of time than most artists have in their whole careers: veering from horns, heavy string orchestration, the aforementioned dreaded autotune, a bit of R&B, a dance interlude and ends on some gorgeous finger-picked folk.
If anything, this is a huge two-fingers up to the generally accepted ideas about how music should be made and released, and further evidence that Sufjan Stevens should be treasured.
6. Sun Kil Moon - Admiral Fell Promises.
Thankfully, my Mark Kozelek retrospective from earlier this year wasn't wasted as the man behind Sun Kil Moon gave us a lovely record solely consisting of voice and nylon-strung classical guitar.Very much an album about place, it opens with the flamenco sound of 'Alesund', a song about Kozelek getting fed up being asked if he's a musician when he takes his guitar on flights. "No this is not my guitar/I'm bringing it to a friend" go the opening lines. Kozelek has never been comfortable with being known, but it's a more playful nod to fame than the songs found on the sad and sombre April, his last record under the SKM moniker.
Kozelek's music has always been influenced by people and place, and the songs here continue to nod towards memories of things past and people lost. There's the gorgeous 'Third and Seneca', replete with about three different mood changes (in fact, most of the songs contain diversions at least once), 'Sam Wong Hotel' and the coastal hymnal of 'Half Moon Bay'. Many are situated in San Francisco, the place that contains the most memories of his lost muse, Katy.
However, there are always bright moments in SKM's music, and the playful 'You Are My Sun' is one of the finest moments on the record.
Admiral Fell Promises proves that even 20 years after starting to make records with Red House Painters, Mark Kozelek still has some creativity up his sleeve. Perfectly capable of plugging in and rocking when he needs to (and I fully expect the next record to be a rocker), this record shows that a deft touch on guitar and words sung with meaning and emotion are all that's needed sometimes. A powerful record.
5. Sufjan Stevens - The Age of Adz / All Delighted People EP.
The mercurial Mr Stevens surprised fans this year by releasing not one but two new records, and we all breathed a sigh of relief as both were proof that he's overcome his existential crisis and is back to producing quite wonderful music.There can be no doubt of the prodigious talent of Sufjan Stevens, and he's the one artist from the US "indie" scene who really pushes the boundaries in terms of what can be held up as modern pop music. All Delighted People is record of the two that sounds most like the Sufjan Stevens of the recent 50 states project (something that was said in jest, it turns out). It seems to gather together a series of songs that closes the door on the Michigan / Illinoise days, and points the way to the songs found on The Age of Adz.
There's the gorgeous folk songs of 'Heirloom', 'Arnika' and 'The Owl and the Tanager', none of which would be out of place on Seven Swans, but the EP hangs on two versions of the title track. The original version begins the record, and almost collapses under the weight of its angelic choir, and the "classic rock" version calls to mind the various interpretations of 'Chicago' found on The Avalanche, and is probably Stevens' most straight ahead rock song to date.
The Age of Adz is something else entirely. It ditches a number of the usual Sufjan tropes - acoustic instrumentation, songs about people, place and history - and brings in electronics, programmed drums and - gasp! - autotune? Fear not, there's still angelic choirs and plenty of orchestration for those listeners who are a bit scared by digital equipment.
It's also the most personal record Stevens has given us, and it's easy to pick out the tough times he's been through recently. There's explicit references to God, to a loved one, and nods to whatever it was that he went through in the past twelve months. It's a dark record, but extremely enjoyable.
Highlights include the electropop of 'I Walked' and 'Too Much', the gentle pleading of 'Now That I'm Older' and 'Vesuvius', but The Age of Adz really excels itself with the 25min closer 'Impossible Soul'. It contains more ideas in that space of time than most artists have in their whole careers: veering from horns, heavy string orchestration, the aforementioned dreaded autotune, a bit of R&B, a dance interlude and ends on some gorgeous finger-picked folk.
If anything, this is a huge two-fingers up to the generally accepted ideas about how music should be made and released, and further evidence that Sufjan Stevens should be treasured.
Wednesday, 1 December 2010
Season's Greetings!
It's that time of year when we all start putting together our lists for Santa, and some of us also start to compile a different sort of list......that's right, the best music of 2010 list!
Beginning later today, the countdown of 78s Don't Wobble's Top 33 Albums of the Year will commence, and then continue until the big - and perhaps inevitable - reveal...probably around Christmas Eve if all goes to plan.
Which album will be kicking us off at number 33? Oh you'll just have to wait a little bit longer!
I'll also be dropping in some classic Christmas tunes over the coming weeks, so expect plenty of Sufjan Stevens. Until later though, here's a righteous cut from Christmas by Low, the essential seasonal record. Sing along if you know the words...and cue the sleigh bells:
Beginning later today, the countdown of 78s Don't Wobble's Top 33 Albums of the Year will commence, and then continue until the big - and perhaps inevitable - reveal...probably around Christmas Eve if all goes to plan.
Which album will be kicking us off at number 33? Oh you'll just have to wait a little bit longer!
I'll also be dropping in some classic Christmas tunes over the coming weeks, so expect plenty of Sufjan Stevens. Until later though, here's a righteous cut from Christmas by Low, the essential seasonal record. Sing along if you know the words...and cue the sleigh bells:
Friday, 15 October 2010
Album Review: Sufjan Stevens - The Age of Adz
Sufjan Stevens is one of the most talent people working in music today. Fact. I'm not going to hide my admiration for the man and his work, and so this review may contain some extremely pro-Sufjan views......
On this, his sixth album proper, Stevens drops the concepts about US states, their historical figures and such, and concentrates on baring his soul - to a certain extent.
Also missing for the most part are the banjo and acoustic guitar, replaced by electronica and programmed beats. However, this is unmistakably a Sufjan Stevens record, despite Stevens's croon and whisper being replaced with a more pleading, close-to-breaking voice.....the beautiful melodies and harmony continue to shine through.
Ostensibly an album dedicated to the artist/prophet/sci-fi loon Royal Robertson, questions could be raised about the "I" in most of these songs - is it Sufjan as Royal, Sufjan as a character, or simply Sufjan as Sufjan finally spilling on what makes him tick?
Who knows, but as opening track "Futile Devices" tells us:
"It's been a long, long time since I memorized your face
It's been four hours now since I've wandered through your place
And when I sleep on your couch I feel very safe
And when you bring the blankets I cover up my face
I do love you
I do love you"
This is nakedly personal stuff from Stevens, and the tune is appropriately gorgeous. The title track "Age of Adz" embraces the glitchy electronica wholeheartedly, telling us of the end of the world, death and rotting in the ground - yet it ends with one of those triumphant choruses of voices that Sufjan does so well.
The two highlights for me, "I Walked" and "Vesuvius", best carry off the marriage of electronics to Sufjan's songwriting, and as such are the most affecting tracks on the record. On the latter, the vocal sounds like it's pleading thus:
"Sufjan, follow your heart
Follow the flame, or fall on the floor
Sufjan, the panic inside
The murdering ghost that you cannot ignore"
The album ends on the 25minute opus "Impossible Soul", a blend of the electronica, a bit of R&B, a touch of autotune, that triumphant chorus of voices, before fading out with some lovely finger-picking on the acoustic guitar - which in fact bookends the record with an acoustic intro/outtro.
The crescendo of voices that's found on a few of the songs seems to pull Sufjan out of the emotional introspection he finds himself in on the majority of songs, and points him towards hope.
This record seems like it was close to never being made during moments of existential crisis suffered by Sufjan Stevens over the past year, but it seems that his belief in his own talent, belief in his own higher power, and belief in the power of the long-playing record pulled him through - and gave us this record; a magnificent achievement and evidence once again that Sufjan Stevens is an immensely talented individual and we should treasure him greatly.
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