2010 has been a great year. New releases from Arcade Fire, The National, The Tallest Man On Earth, Josh Ritter, Band Of Horses, New Pornographers and Jimmy Eat World have all hit the shelves (or virtual shelves) this year. However, the artist that I've longed for new material from the most might just be Sufjan Stevens.
I won't go into the utter brilliance of 2005's Come On Feel the Illinoise! here, as I could write all day on that very subject. Let's just say that it made a fan out of me. And then, low and behold, Sufjan releases an EP (an hour long EP at that) and a full-length in 2010. Pure joy.
The All Delighted People EP had a little bit to love for every Sufjan fan. Long, sweeping epics bookend the more traditional examples of acoustic balladry that originally drew me to the man from Michigan. Needless to say, this EP delivered the goods and had me even more excited for the soon to be released full-length The Age of Adz.
This is where this entry might get confusing, as I haven't quite wrapped my head around this work after just one measly listen. No banjo? Where are the organic ballads? What's with all of this electronic glitchery? There aren't even any geographical landmarks being discussed here. Well, maybe one.
Wow. Well let me tell you what I do hear. I hear some Kid A in here. I hear my friends making fun of me for liking that there's some Kid A in here. I hear some Flaming Lips. I hear some stuff that sounds like it jumped out of an 8-bit NES cartridge. I hear the Sufjan standard orchestral trills. I hear some Prince-worthy guitar work. I hear an album that is often beautiful and never boring.
I thought it took me a while to embrace the intricacies of Illinoise. Adz will probably take longer. I will say, however, that getting past the fact that the folksy balladeer has traded in his weathered acoustic for cold dials, switches and keys is going to be easier than I anticipated. Be sure to check back for the "Ten Spins Later" feature on this album.
No comments:
Post a Comment