I Know Ohio, The Back Roads
Ever heard of this man? His name is Sufjan Stevens. If he's not on your musical radar, it seems he soon will be.
Sufjan Stevens first entered my radar when we did Most Spun 2004 at cMusicWeb.com. A couple guest contributors for the feature mentioned Sufjan, and since these people are music industry professionals I respect highly, I knew I needed to check it out.
Then, of course, the folks at Paste Magazine have been hyping Sufjan as one of the best artists out there. So, to check it out, I picked up his Seven Swans album. Stevens is definitely well within the genre of folk, and at first it seemed a bit bland for even folk music. But after a couple listens, it started growing on me.
The biggest thing that Stevens is getting press for is his amazing work on his 50 States projects. A couple years ago he released Michigan, an album entirely about his home state. This year he released Illinois, an ode to the nearby state and Chicago.
I've found that his 50 States albums seem to bring a more diverse musicality and some amazing lyricism to Sufjan Stevens' repetoire. This man obviously does his homework. He incorporates man historical facts and stories of the state of Illinois into his latest project. It's also fun to think about driving through those cities the songs are named for and listening to them. And there's plenty of brief musical interludes where the track titles are longer than the tracks.
50 States are going to take a long time to do. Good thing he's young. Maybe hs can just count Over The Rhine's Ohio in the 50 albums.
Anyways, Sufjan Steven has been blowing up. I haven't seen his discs in Best Buy or Target yet, but he was featured in Relevant Magazine, on tons of websites, and even on MTV, I think. Like I said, if you haven't heard about him yet, you'll probably see him on the next soundtrack album for "The O.C.".
Speaking of TV, it's insane that my siblings and all the other stupid teens watch those trashy prime-time soap operas. I mean, seriously, the only good shows are "Seinfeld", "The Simpsons", "Hogan's Heroes", and "The Red Green Show". Ohh, most of the shows on TechTV in 2001.
Comments
I was at his concert last sunday.
Thanks for saying so much about it. I might have gone had I known about it and if I wasn't on a mostly self-inflicted budget.
if you were are real fan you WOULD know about it. and you would have also known it only cost 12 bucks.
Understood. I never said I was a real fan ...yet.
ALLLL TEENS eh? Well I happen to be nearing the end of my teens, but I still don't watch those terrible shows. And I never did either. In fact, when I move to Ottawa next year I'm not even going to own one. Books are good enough for me. Darn fooled kids.
grumble grumble... stereotyping... grr... generalizations... mumble.
hehe. Just kidding. And yes. I realize this post makes me sound like a keener.
Or an old man actually.
No, Canuks are smart and only watch "The Red-Green Show". I already knew that.
Heck no! I was sick of that show before my momma was a baby. I diiid enjoy the Apprentice though. I won't lie.
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