SUFJAN STEVENS
by Lauren Piper

Who is Sufjan Stevens? He seems like such an interestingly quirky person, I kind of want him to be my best friend. His bio in the Asthmatic Kitty Records (his personal label started by him and his step-Dad) website, describes him so whimsically and mentions the most minute details such as “He collects stamps and wheat pennies,” that you can understand how off the wall his music is. I think he would be the type of person who would come up with extremely ridiculous ideas but you would go along with him because he just seems so confident in doing it. Ideas like writing a concept album on every single state or a completely instrumental album dedicated to the animals of the Chinese Zodiac mixing electronic glitches, techno beeps and feedback with dark sounding orchestral pieces.

In listening to Sufjan Stevens you may be overwhelmed by the plethora of instruments you are bombarded with. It's hard to comprehend the mix of progressive Folk guitar with Indie-rock riffs, Indie-pop vocals, jazzy undertones, and orchestral arrangements with strings, wind instruments, and horns. When you listen closely and get past the layers you can hear the beauty and depth in Stevens’ music, the genius with which he combines sounds and paints pictures in the air. Then you hear the album A Sun Came in which he puts in little vocal clips of the oddest things and you think “This man is completely insane.” He also throws out some completely absurd songs that make no sense, but its all in the name of art right? Strangeness aside, his vocals are soothing and sweet but have a yearning passion to them that is very compelling to listen to. His use of background vocals, sometimes one person and sometimes an entire chorus, is extremely effective in making the music feel as though its all around you.

The best part about Sufjan Stevens is how he takes on this Fifty States Project, showing just how outrageous he is. So far he has mastered his native state Michigan in the album Greetings from Michigan: The Great Lakes State and recently released album Illinois. He seems to notice small details build them into stories and that is what he does with this project. Listening to these albums is like a warped history lesson as well as a glimpse into Stevens’ past. He tells of camping trips and memories of occurrences while in different cities. He also sings about Chicago serial killer John Wayne Gacy Jr., and landmarks like Decatur and the Upper Peninsula. He also dedicates a reprise to Mary Todd Lincoln. Some of his songs are completely instrumental but others are very vocally descriptive and weave a story for the listener full of description and imagery. Through these albums you can see the colors of the states and the different aspects of his experiences. The beauty that he is able to create is simply amazing because of how personal he is in the music as well as the lyrics. Stevens truly does use his sense of fiction to draw the listener into the music with imagery not only lyrically but also musically.

What I love is how different every song is. He is able to create songs that range from sounding like world music all the way to sounding like progressive folk/Indie-rock. No matter how awkward the arrangement is, Stevens manages to create a sense of warmth and openness in his sound. Sometimes the songs sound hurried and full of angst with heavy drumming and fast guitar, other times they sound welcoming and upbeat with sweet keyboard and booming horns and electronic drumbeats.

So I think its time to look out for Sufjan Stevens. If not for the fact that he is an incredible musician and composer, or for his unique States project, at least for how completely strange and awesome he is in that no one knows what on earth he will do next.

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