Oh yeah, dude's a Christian too. He went to my alma mater Calvin College's rival, Hope College in Holland, Michigan. Surprisingly, I don't think he's Dutch.I've been sitting on this post for awhile, but now seems as good a time as any since I'm discussing the Album of the Year already...
By winning my annual contest of the year's best lyrical couplet crafted to rhyme with “Decatur”, (Steven A. Douglas was a great debater/But Abraham Lincoln was the great emancipator) Sufjan Stevens cemented a high-ranking place in my Album of the Year list. Maybe I love his album "Illinois" because I’m usually a sucker for things that are clever for cleverness sake. (“Decatur...” is essentially a lyrical test to find things to rhyme with Decatur.) Maybe I love it because I’ve been reading about Abraham Lincoln lately. Maybe I love it because he has super long song titles like, "A Short Reprise For Mary Todd, Who Went Insane, But For Very Good Reasons". I don’t know. Whatever the case, Sufjan Stevens has crafted another state album (after “Michigan”) and this one knocked me outta my socks. A musically and lyrically diverse album, it’s also a well-executed and well-conceived concept album. See, it’s an album of songs all about Illinois, hence the Steven A. Douglas and Lincoln references. Exceedingly clever. And tender. It’s an album of tender songs by a tender man. In the vein of Bob Dylan’s “Only a Pawn In Their Game”, Stevens included a song about John Wayne Gacy, the psychopathic clown. I dare say it’s about as tender a song about a psychopathic clown as can be written. Usually, I don’t go for albums with overly emotional/tender themes (see: anything Conor Oberst has done), but this album broke right through that and blew my mind. There’s so much depth to each song, and it’s such a beautifully arranged album. I think it’s something that Brian Wilson would be proud of musically, and lyrically it’s much more grounded and real than anything Wilson ever wrote. It’s ultimately a studio album and would require a decent-sized orchestra to do the songs proper justice in a concert format. That would be a fine concert, though. Fine, indeed…Check out his interview in The Onion.
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3 comments:
Adrian - I'm already intrigued by the cool blog title you chose, "adminsupervisor". You're clearly well on your way to the cutting edge blog that you desire. I've got a few suggestions about stuff I'd like to read about:
1) Dogs who have learned to cut people's hair. Or other dog's hair.
2) How can I train a cat to meow when I have a new email in my inbox? Otherwise, I don't see any logical reason for owning a cat.
3) How did only humans evolve the complex experience/feeling of Love when the animals we ascended from don't experience it?
I'm expecting great things from you, Adrian. Don't disappoint and ruin a cooler than cool blog title like "adminsupervisor".
tender indeed.
take it easy on connor.
if you so much like decatur/don't be an oberst hater
and yes i realize i won't be winning any annual awards or third grade poetry contests.
Conor Oberst is one of those few musicians who I just cannot get into. It's as much what he represents, as his music. I'm an Oberst-hater, I have to admit.
Maybe I'll do a post on why...hmmm...
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