I'm still waiting for sequels to this:



I really he decides to complete it. Some of that stuff is as good as the best TMBG has to offer.

Illinoise is still one of the best albums of the decade.

Jaboobinator: Illinoise is still one of the best albums of the decade.

I enjoyed it.

Asa Phelps: I'm not saying i don't like some of what he's released, I'm saying he's a crap artist and probably composes in FruityLoops.

Actually, no. TapeOp had a fascinating article on him recording on a harddisk recorder (and all the dumb mistakes he made because... well he just didn't know).


/I've never listened to any of his music, BTW.

Jaboobinator: Illinoise is still one of the best albums of the decade.

This is why life and people are so wonderful. I found that album unlistenable, yet you love it.

Cheers!

He's all over the board but hits the mark nicely now and again.

Anybody feeling let down because they were looking forward to 48 more similarly-themed albums is a funny notion.

When he began the project he was probably making fun of the RHCP for their California obsession.

Subby: if we ever meet at a Fark party, your drinks are on me.

/That was one searing, excoriating headline.

He's not that bad

Sufjan Stevens? Ooo...I love him! "Cats Cradle" is my favorite song of his.....

The "I knew it all along" crowd reminds me of the kids I knew in university who loved The White Stripes until they were popular enough for their albums to show up in Wal Mart.

//Sufjan Stevens makes boring, tedious music.
///There, I said it.

mercator_psi: I'm still waiting for sequels to this:



I really he decides to complete it. Some of that stuff is as good as the best TMBG has to offer.

How many songs does he owe? The project was to write songs for states that don't have state songs already and I thought most do...

South Carolina is indeed one of my favorite TMBG songs

I also get a chuckle out of Oregon - the same way I laugh at 1,000 years old.



Anyway. I loved Illinoise.

I like his remix: Link (new window)

Gangway Fathead: How many songs does he owe? The project was to write songs for states that don't have state songs already and I thought most do...

He did 15 state songs on that album, not including "The Songs of the 50 States", and "Montana" was even released as a picture disc single with a non-album track called "Louisiana" on the B-side (I have yet to hear it; I can't figure out this new-fangled Intrawebs thingie).

So that's 50 - 16 = 34. Easily doable, because let's face it, the other songs suck. I've heard a live version he and his quickly-assembled band did of "California Uber Alles" on the promotional toud for the State Songs album. It wasn't horrible.

South Carolina is indeed one of my favorite TMBG songs

Same here. In fact, I'm working on a cover of it. I want to punk it up a little. I'm sure JL would approve.

I also get a chuckle out of Oregon - the same way I laugh at 1,000 years old.

Yep, a fun song. I like how "Oregon" is basically just a 12-halftone chord-change ascension. Also, I really don't have negative feelings about Oregon in particular, but forever it will be linked with the image of some lumbering monstrance.

No offense, Oregonians, but you did kill my Utes this season.

Whereas a few years ago George Thoroughgood and the Delaware Destroyers did 50 concerts in 50 states in 50 days!

I couldn't imagine the same guy putting out 49 more albums worse than Illinoise. I doubt he'd save his best ideas for the sixteenth or thirty-forth go-round. And what if Puerto Rico and Guam were states by them? Excruciating! Unbearable! I'd like to see him put his efforts into a black popes series.

Saw him on Austin City Limits and he didn't suck.

But the article the quote was taken from?

What a load of crappy, crap, crap.

The writer was a complete jackazz. Said that the Illinois album give hope to the youth of America upset with the US being in Iraq.

Yeah, s/he actually wrote that.

Farking pretentious idiot.

Lando Lincoln: ModernLuddite: //Sufjan Stevens makes boring, tedious music.

Well, I really liked his music until you said that you don't like it, so now I do not, because you are really cool and I want to be just. like. you.

You fool! I didn't say simon says!

savage henry: Jaboobinator: Illinoise is still one of the best albums of the decade.

I enjoyed it.

I liked it, but far more importantly, it got me laid in college. There's a certain type of girl who'll soak her panties when looking at/listening to Sufjan Stevens. He is, himself, a pretty decent looking guy, and he has a pretty voice with just a hint of sadness to it. Put on Casimir Pulaski day and you yourself may just be able to come off as a deep guy with an ocean of melancholy hiding just below the surface.

The downside, of course, is that those same girls are f'ing nuts. The type of girl that gets off on sadness ALWAYS is.

I loved Illinoise, didn't care as much for Michigan or a lot of his other stuff. Overall he's decent though IMO.

Who the fark is this guy?

I first got exposed to Sufjan Stevens because of the songs featured in the Little Miss Sunshine soundtrack.

They're so ostinato-centered that they make good soundtrack material.
I tried hearing some other tracks, hoping he had a bit more depth abd consistency, but was disappointed.
He seems like someone who'd rather BE style over substance, and doesn't quite make the mark.

/I started self recording when I was 14
//call me jaded

My fave (new window)

I've never heard this guys music, but every pitchfork douchebag writer, and horrible indie band drop this guys name like he was the 2nd coming of the beatles or something.

dholway: Baldanders: Put on Casimir Pulaski day and you yourself may just be able to come off as a deep guy with an ocean of melancholy hiding just below the surface.

Put on "Casimir Pulaski Day" and get ready to make excuses for the tears in your eyes. I heard it on the way to work this morning and remain amazed that he can sing it without breaking down in sobs.


Agreed, fantastic song on a pretty solid album (people should also check out his song about John Wayne Gacy, he makes a serial killer sound sympathetic).

I find some of the stuff he has put out really annoying, but some is fantastic. And I never expected him to do all 50 states...

I love Illinoise, and Paste Magazine named it the #1 album of the 00's

dholway: Baldanders: Put on Casimir Pulaski day and you yourself may just be able to come off as a deep guy with an ocean of melancholy hiding just below the surface.

Put on "Casimir Pulaski Day" and get ready to make excuses for the tears in your eyes. I heard it on the way to work this morning and remain amazed that he can sing it without breaking down in sobs.

I happen to think that Sufjan Stevens is a incredibly talented songwriter and musician and that Illinois, Greetings from Michigan, and Seven Swans are three genuinely great albums. Some people disagree? Golly!

You got everything you need right here. Agreed!

Dear Jerk, I couldn't have said it better myself. His "music" is crap.

He can make a banjo sound pretty Link (new window)

He's usually not bad

Al Kader: Dear Jerk, I couldn't have said it better myself. His "music" is crap.

How did you know I submitted this!