Sufjan Stevens - Illinois

I'll take evil. LaBute is sometimes crudely effective, but mostly smug, obvious, and obtuse.

jmeister, if you scroll down past the jokey stuff I think this was kicked around a bit here: Someone YSI the leaked Sufjan from Oink Please

consensus seemed to be that "Casimir Pulaski Day" pwned

if you need the population's point of view, see:

thomas kinkade
arnold friberg
james dobson

imagine a strange amalgam of new/orange county cultural conservatism + old/rural conservatism + zombie movie + nazi aesthetic sensibility + other wacky shit and you've got Utah mormon culture.

lynch and cronenberg are some kind of genius and this helps a lot if you are gonna tackle morality, good, evil, etc, in your films. plus, their ideas about good and evil and their depictions of it are often mythical and grander in scope than the miserablism of Labute and Solondz who attempt to stylize a more mundane depiction of the banality of evil and, in effect, give great lines to assholes and creeps who in real life are never so eloquent or self-aware. their morality plays (and Labute's and Solondz's stuff reminds me more of theatre than good cinema) seem to be based on contempt and they go too far in stacking the decks in favor of ickiness and a general feeling that original sin is the bulding block of character, whereas Lynch and Cronenberg for all their fear of the body are also fascinated by them (bodies-sometimes in the clinical sense, but also in their inherent beauty) which in turn fascinates ME when i watch their movies. but movies like happiness and in the company of men don't make me think about much at all. they are more like car crashes that you pass on the road. they make me wince and give me a desire to keep moving. they are like comic book versions of reality/realism with all the good stuff that a comic book fabulism can engender taken out. their creators seem to want to elevate pettiness to the level of grand opera, but they(the creators) usually just end up looking nearly as petty and mean for being so myopic and rigid. then again, maybe i just don't think they are talented enough to make me care about their visions.i never feel like their shock tactics have anything behind them. they feel empty. ugly for ugly's sake. that's not enough for me. all those movies you mentioned make for good discussion though, so maybe i'm wrong and they are towering film giants. i'll let history decide.given the choice, though, i'll take Candyman every time.

-- scott seward (skotro...), May 21st, 2003.

Does anyone like the last track as much as me?!? (A lot)

Josh OTM re: Sufjan needs to self-edit but I kind of like his enthusiasm for putting out all he has. I think a few more tracks along the lines of John Wayne Gacy, UFO or Casimir.. subbed for the longer almost orchestrated songs might have helped the flow and "digestability". It might just create too much up and down in the track list too and that could be just as exhausting.

http://www.chattablogs.com/quintus/archives/019666.html

I liked Michigan well enough but there's really not a bad song to be had this time around. Especially Seers (sic) Tower, John Wayne Gacy, and of course the rollicking good title track.

And I'm really curious what Pitchfork's going to think of this one -- they loved "Michigan," saying something to the tune of "no album has evoked the spirit of a state as accurately". But this time, the subject matter happens to be Pitchfork's home state, so they'll probably be a lot more discerning.

But I will venture a guess. My Pitchfork rating prediction for Illinois is: 8.0

i can usually take the tender parts - but sometimes it does seem very precious i guess.

SKOT U STILL HAVE NOT HEARD THE SUNLANDIC TWINZ, HAVE U?

That seems like an odd comment. Amanda Petrusich reviewed it, and I think she lives in Portland or somewhere. Not in Chicago, at any rate.

Last, the second half of the song "Come on feel the Illinoise" ("I cried myself to sleep last night . . .") is better than anything on Michigan.

http://www.villagevoice.com/music/0532,sylvester,66665,22.html

What is the deal with the fixation on his Christianity? Only among godless music writers?

I think you are right. I've had these albums for years, and I always forget to listen to them. Too much NPR / mom-and-dad approval almost ruined them for me. But each time I listen to them I regret not listening more.

I think the songwriting is much better than you think it is on first listen. I enjoy the pastiche and the research that went into it.

OK - but what (things, plural?) is it a pastiche of, musically?

It's been a while since I've listened to it, but some of the longer tracks seem inspired by other pop songs. I couldn't specifically place the references.

Pastiche of ... Steve Reich/minimalist composition? and... midwestern folki-ness?

I don't think of it as a pastiche at all. I mean, I hear echoes of this song or this approach here and there, but listening to Illinois isn't a referential trip down memory lane. It comes across as a distinct, individual work with its own musical ideas and aesthetic vision, and while the endlessly reiterated comparisons to Steve Reich are valid in a ballpark sense, they're not of much use beyond that. I hear at least as much influence from Vince Guaraldi's Charlie Brown Christmas score, and from the music of educational films/exhibits of the 50s and 60s.

With Hoos in my long-run reaction to the record. Went through a period of intense fascination with the record when it came out, quickly falling in and out of love with almost every song, but I find I no longer have any interest in it. I'm not sure why this should be, but it actively annoys and even repels me at this point. Christmas records and the Avalanche didn't help.

yeah a friend of mine loaned me the xmas box set to rip and i can't stomach any of it

the christmas box really works best on the first short disc for me. (I thought the Avalanche was pretty good though, a true b-side record though)

Congratulations!

http://www.pastemagazine.com/blogs/lists/2009/11/the-best-albums-of-the-decade.html?p=5

5. Bright Eyes: I’m Wide Awake, It’s Morning

I'm okay with Illinois being No. 1, but WTF Paste Magazine?

but WTF Paste Magazine

I say this all the time, list or no list.

wtf is paste magazine

Now in its eighth year of publication, Paste magazine has become the most celebrated entertainment magazine in the U.S.

By whose account?

god too many available jokes

xpost:

http://www.pastemagazine.com/paste/2008/10/about-paste.html

Well, that settles that. I guess The Avett Brothers' I and Love and You is the ninth best disc of the decade.

5. Bright Eyes: I’m Wide Awake, It’s Morning

Oh man, ILX hasn't even mentioned I’m Wide Awake, It’s Morning since 2005! I bought that album at the recommendation of a free alternative weekly and sold it back in shame the next day.

is that the electron one or the alt-country one? oh wait, doesn't fucking matter.

Sadly, no-one will buy it from me.

And I've tried.

(xp)

It's the one with this memorable spoken intro:

So there was this woman and she was on an airplane, and she was flying to meet her fiancé seaming high above the largest ocean on planet earth. She was seated next to this man she had tried to start conversations, but the only thing she had really heard him say was to order his Bloody Mary. She was sitting there and she was reading this really arduous magazine article about a third world country that she couldn’t even pronounce the name of. And she was feeling very bored and despondent. And then suddenly there was this huge mechanical failure and one of the engines gave out, and they started just falling thirty-thousand feet, and the pilots on the microphone and he’s saying “I’m sorry, I’m sorry, oh my god... I'm sorry” and apologizing. And she looks at the man and says “Where are we going?” and he looks at her and he says “We’re going to a party. It’s a birthday party. It’s your birthday party. Happy birthday darling. We love you very, very, very, very, very, very, very much.” And then he starts humming this little tune, it kind of goes like this: 1, 2, 1, 2, 3, 4

I hate that spoken-word intro so much.

i really dig that record still! i think? haven't played it in 4 years.

i actually do like the one w/ emmylou singing backup vox.

I was actually mad at both Emmylou and Arab Strap for even associating themselves with the guy.

I haven't been much in the mood for alt country/folky/America stuff for much of the decade, but it's nice to have a reference for some things I've missed, even if they wouldn't even make my top 1,000. People complain too much.

Name: I Love Music
Description: People Complain Too Much

I hate that spoken-word intro so much.

― Daniel, Esq., Tuesday, November 3, 2009 10:41 AM (28 minutes ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

I've never heard it, but I'm suddenly imagining it being read by Laurie Anderson.

All of the Bright Eyes spoken word intros are horrible. The best part of him ditching that moniker is that he seems to have left those behind as well.

After the cover with Superman on it got recalled, I ordered a copy through a local store as a collectible. I told the girl behind the counter that it said "Come On Feel the Illinoise" on said cover, and she said, "It's pronounced Ill-in-NOY." (In her defense, I do look retarded.)

Yeah, the spoken word intro to I'm Wide Awake is fucking annoying. But I think the record contains all of his best songs. The shit I heard from Cassadaga and most of the first s/t aren't nearly as good.

I really, really like Digital Ash too, especially "Easy/Lucky/Free."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RozuwUlX7MI

Anyway, going to see this dude & co in a few hours. Will report back later.

is it connor oberst & the foggy beard mountain band or w/e the fuck they're called?

Best thing Conor Oberst ever did is his self-titled solo record. That's far better than I'm Wide Awake It's Morning, at least in my humble opinion.

HOOS: I'm seeing the Monsters of Folk.

From P4k: Sufjan Stevens Calls the 50 States Album Project "Such a Joke"

http://pitchfork.com/news/37026-sufjan-stevens-calls-the-50-states-album-project-such-a-joke/

Stevens told Paste, "The whole premise was such a joke, and I think maybe I took it too seriously. I started to feel like I was becoming a cliché of myself."

. . .and. . .

Elsewhere in the interview, Stevens expresses what sounds like a total lack of interest in the album as an art form: "I'm wondering, why do people make albums anymore when we just download? Why are songs like three or four minutes, and why are records 40 minutes long? They're based on the record, vinyl, the CD, and these forms are antiquated now. So can't an album be eternity, or can't it be five minutes? ... I no longer really have faith in the album anymore. I no longer have faith in the song."

Album's dead y'all.

Sounds like Sufy is working on a concept album ABOUT THE CONCEPT OF THE ALBUM.
Srsly tho, of all the people to be moaning about the death of the album, he seems like the least likely -- I mean, all of the attention Illinois got was because it was, like, an album, right?

http://www.deanjackson.dj/nameanagram/index.php?n=sufjan+stevens

Just Seven Fans.

I don't understand how he makes the leap from noting that it's easy to release music of any length with the internet to saying "I no longer have faith in the song."

Maybe he listened to "Chicago" again.

Well somebody oughta finish.the 50 States project, even if this bedpan doesn't.

it could be like the indie WPA

http://www.flickr.com/photos/joeparker/6004383186/in/photostream

it was for freedom

i made a lot of mistakes iirc

in my best behavior
i am really just like him

10th anniversary edition. feels weird it's been almost *11 years* since this record came out. i liked carrie & lowell but find it too fucking depressing to revisit. even though i have a copy of the vinyl with a balloon sticker covering Superman, i feel tempted to cop this reissue with the new cover and the colored vinyl... oii

http://cdn4.pitchfork.com/news/62231/4be585a7.jpg

http://pitchfork-cdn.s3.amazonaws.com/content/SufjanBM1_new.jpg

i hadn't thought about this album in quite a long time until i saw it's snuck into the all-time top 100 on RYM now, seems like there's an effort out there to canonize it. i'm ok with this

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YfT-Zj-cZv8