SOOF-yan

I'm not much a fan of the indie scene, but Sufjan has caught my ear. Maybe it's the fact that much of his music is "faith-themed" without the didacticism. Perhaps it's that his home state is my home state and he's written an album about it. Possibly it's the sheer artistry. I don't know. But I love Sufjan Stevens. The complexity and audacity of his music - its melancholy, its joy, and its being all things in between - are entrapment.

To be honest, it took a few listens for me to first get into the music (It's that different). But three albums later and I haven't looked back. Curse iTunes for not having his Seven Swans album! Curse iTunes for making it so easy for me to spend the children's food and clothes money on music!

Sufjan is sheer artistry. So if you get a chance, give a listen. (Then again my dad has this illuminating simile concerning opinions and how everyone has one . . .)

. . . . .

Three of my favorite tracks from each of the two albums in his 50 States project:

Greetings from Michigan: The Great Lake State

• "The Upper Peninsula"
• "Romulus"
• "Vito's Ordination Song"

Illinois: Come On Feel the Illinoise

• "John Wayne Gacy, Jr."
• "Casimir Pulaski Day"
• "The Predatory Wasp of the Palisades Is Out to Get Us"

And there are so many others. Rock on, Sufjan! Indie on? Whatever.