New Sufjan Stevens EP available now

[joyfulgirl]

cobl, thanks for that great review. I really hope he comes my way.

Joyful, did you see this?

The Uncool Connection Between Sufjan Stevens and Tori Amos | The Pitch | Pitchfork

How....strange.

 

[cobl04]

Thanks everyone Just bought Age of Adz, too.

Glad you enjoyed it, cobbler. Blue Bucket of Gold really was something else. Best moment of the show by far.

Shame you didn't get Sister, but Casimir Pulaski Day is a good replacement and fits, thematically, I guess.

I feel bad but I just don't quite love Casimir as much as everyone else seems to. It is amazing, and one of my most-listened-to Sufjan songs, but I guess I just can't relate to the lyrics that much. Perhaps I need to do more reading.

 

[cobl04]

Just in case you hadn't read enough of my shit A Melburnian Sufjan fan in Sydney

 

[gump]

That was a good read, cobbler.

You should be eating more ceviche. It's good for you.

 

[U2inUtah]

Nice write up Cobbler.

Sydney sounds way cooler than Melbourne.

Others have said Blue Buckets of Gold is just amazing live. Were you a little disappointed you didn't get John Wayne Gacy Jr? I think that would be the track i would want to hear most. Anyway, sounds like a killer show. Props for making it happen, regardless of the money, its the trips like these that will be memorable forever.

 

[cobl04]

It fucking isn't, I assume you are just taking the piss.

I was mildly disappointed. I love the song, but the four Chicago tracks we got were great.

 

[U2inUtah]

It fucking isn't, I assume you are just taking the piss.

Ha, yeah. just fucking around. I obviously don't know shit about either city, other than you talking up Melbourne.

Pretty much anything off Illinoise would be great live.

 

[cobl04]

I could have watched him play for four hours.

 

[GirlsAloudFan]

Just in case you hadn't read enough of my shit A Melburnian Sufjan fan in Sydney

Nicely done.

But you absolutely do not have the right to like Taylor now, you fuck.

 

[cobl04]

Nicely done.

But you absolutely do not have the right to like Taylor now, you fuck.

Let me in.

 

[GirlsAloudFan]

Fine. You can be in.

 

[cobl04]

His music is sooooooo good for when you are sad. God.

Sorry for the continued bumping people. It happens.

 

[U2inUtah]

Random U2inUtah facts that coincide with obscure towns in Sufjan song titles:

1. I lived it Romulus, MI during the summer of 2004

2. I have taken fencing lessons in Highland, Illinois from a former Romanian Olympic fencer (but did not see any UFOs)

 

[corianderstem]

Damn. It sounded like I was going to get a pass to see the show tonight, but we just got an email saying he didn't think it was going to happen, since their guest list is so tight. Daaaaaamn.

 

[cobl04]

you don't have tickets?

 

[corianderstem]

Nope.

 

[cobl04]

What is it about Fourth of July that makes it THAT good of a song? Because on the surface it should just be a pretty good song. Nothing especially to write home about. I mean when I start playing it I think of Coldplay's Midnight, which I really like. They both have a similar hushed, electronic background. But it destroys that song. And every time I hear it it's easily my favourite song of the year, by a fucking mile.

Is this man THAT good at crafting songs? I mean I can't remember the last time I got four albums of an artist in the space of a month or two and fucking loved every second of all of them. Jesus fucking christ.

 

[joyfulgirl]

My little Versailles.

 

[cobl04]

My hot take on Illinoise: probably my favourite of his, but The Tallest Man, The Broadest Shoulders is extremely tedious. Like if someone did a parody of the album's sound. After nearly an hour of it you're kinda like okay let's wrap this thing up in a neat little bow, which "Riffs and Variations on a Single Note for Jelly Roll" and Out of Egypt do beautifully well, but you have to sit through The Tallest Man first.

 

[iron yuppie]

So glad I got this opportunity to see him live, because it was transcendent. The C&L material was uniformly stunning, but he also mixed it up a bit with a Gary Numan-esque version of Chicago and an extended synth jam with a local brass band. One of the best shows I've seen in quite some time.

 

[cobl04]

It's a mind-blowing show. I would pay good money to see the same thing again.

 

[iron yuppie]

Blue bucket of gold was the highlight. It completely enraptured a festival crowd, which is no small achievement.

 

[gump]

His live show is sublime. And agreed, blue bucket of gold, and that wall of sound at the end, is brilliant.

 

[cobl04]

well, yeah

Then came what was undoubtedly the highlight of the night - Blue Bucket of Gold. I already liked the song but I just can't do justice with words about how fucking mindblowing this performance was. It extends out to about 10 minutes and just absolutely roars into a monstrous crescendo, and it was fucking spectacular with the lights - there were disco balls behind the long diamond screens and those combined with the stage lights combined with the amazing sounds coming from stage was just something else. The song absolutely destroyed me, in more ways than one, and has taken on a new meaning that really sucks and is strangely comforting at the same time. I know he's talking about his mum on this album, but the great thing about lyrics is you're kinda free to read into them whatever you like.

 

[iron yuppie]

I think that live show has elevated Carrie & Lowell to my #1 album of the year. It's a rare thing to have something so forlorn and nakedly fragile yet still so oddly life-affirming, and especially for such a muted studio album (in terms of instrumentation) to translate with such dynamism and energy live. Goes to show how well-constructed those songs are.

What sets C&L apart from the rest of his discography is its efficiency: there isn't a wasted note anywhere on the album, and every damn moment feels like it is pushing toward the bigger picture. Everything he has done to this point has had some excess amid the brilliant moments, but C&L is relevant all the way through.

 

[joyfulgirl]

So well said. I could not agree more, even without having seen the show.

 

[LemonMelon]

Yep, C&L is one determined record. He came back from Age of Adz with something to say and we're all better off for it.

 

[cobl04]

That reminds me, I really need to get that record.

Are his earliest (pre-Michigan) albums worth hearing? I heard one of his Christmas songs too and absolutely loved it. His discography is very confusing.

 

[joyfulgirl]

Yay, a show here was just announced! In a really shitty venue! And I don't care!

 

[elevated_u2_fan]

I am seriously regretting not going in April now.