MUZ Muziek
Het forum voor 's werelds enige universele hobby! Snaren of toetsen, vinyl of cd, eendagsvlieg of rasartiest, op de radio of op een festival! Hier kun je al je ongebreideld enthousiasme, maar ook je weldoordachte kritische noten kwijt over muziek
Anders posten jullie nu even een positieve Sufjan review....
[ Bericht 0% gewijzigd door DaisyDuke op 01-02-2006 15:00:20 ]
[ Bericht 0% gewijzigd door DaisyDuke op 01-02-2006 15:00:20 ]
1,000,000 demons can't be wrong...
It's a sparkling blue spring morning in Chicago. I'm riding the Brown Line of the city's famous El transit system. Well, I shouldn't say riding. We're stuck between two stops behind a malfunctioning car up ahead. It's rush hour, but Midwesterners are so stoic that even their yuppies don't audibly sigh and complain, choosing instead to share their cell phones to call in late for work before returning to their paperbacks and Game Boys. I'm people watching, listening to an advance copy of Sufjan Steven's second release in his 50 States project, Illinois. My eyes threaten to well up during two successive songs, but I restrain myself from letting loose and betraying my non-Midwestern roots.
The songs in question are opposite in scope and mood, but they can both cause a public display of emotion without warning, a testament to Stevens' growing power as a writer and performer. Greetings from Michigan: The Great Lakes State was a paean to civics and geography with exquisitely detailed character studies, epic song titles, and kitchen sink folk orchestral arrangements. Illinois follows suit and even extends its ambitions further in each of those respects. The first song that put a lump in my throat this morning was "Come on! Feel the Illinoise! -- Part I: The World's Columbian Exposition -- Part II: Carl Sandburg Visits Me in a Dream". And that's one of the shorter titles. Such indulgences might strike some as a wee bit precious or pretentious, but I suspect Stevens is both winking good-naturedly at his audience, and trying to make his titles as ambitious as the songs they represent.
But back to the crying: "Come on!" overwhelms me with pride for all of its Chicago references, and not just because it's my surrogate home. There is a deep Walt Whitman vein in this project, an exultant cataloguing of humanity that inspires no matter where you're from. Shout-outs on "Come on!" include the Ferris wheel (which debuted at the 1893 World's Fair in the Windy City), Frank Lloyd Wright, and the poet Sandburg.
Musically, "Part I" rocks out in the tricky 5/4 time signature Stevens is so fond of, and then segues into "Part II" with a Cure reference that slips the song into 4/4. The instrumental selection is as all-encompassing as the popular nouns -- bells and whistles, a string quartet, a backing choir -- but the song requires nothing less than that grandeur. Stevens himself sings "I cried myself to sleep last night / And the ghost of Carl, he approached my window / ... I was asked to improvise / On the attitude, the regret of a thousand centuries of death". No other writer I can think of is working with this amount of simultaneous scale and vulnerability.
On the flipside of this US Mint issued 50 States coin is "John Wayne Gacy, Jr.", which focuses on one particular Illinois native, in this case the notorious serial killer. The challenge of writing and pulling off this song is monumental for wholly different reasons than the rest of Illinois. How does one create an affecting piece of art centered on a cultural figure so extreme and reviled without being obvious/trite, or (even worse) sounding sympathetic to his actions by the plain fact of writing a song about him? The answer is "John Wayne Gacy, Jr.": horrifying, tragic, and deeply sad without proselytizing. Who needs a song to tell them that murdering twenty-seven people is wrong? Instead, Stevens makes you feel it, describes the events in ways that strip away sensation and make you care, rather than numb, "Twenty-seven people, even more / They were boys / With their cars, summer jobs / Oh my God". His voice is broken up on the phrase, going up into falsetto, as the weight of the situation overcomes both singer and song. The clincher is the final verse which begins, "And in my best behavior / I am really just like him", echoing Mother Theresa when she was asked how and why she could devote her entire life's work to the poor -- because she was aware of her own potential for evil.
With the exceptions of the playfully brief interstitials that pop up here and there to reprise songs, "One last 'Whoo-hoo!' for the Pullman" for example, nearly every song holds power in its own right. The album opens with piano and flute on "Concerning the UFO Sighting Near Highland, Illinois". Background singers Katrina Kerns and Shara Worden enter the song at just the right moments, wrapping their voices around Stevens' croon. "The Man of Metropolis Steals Our Hearts" is strident and propulsive, with electric guitar solos and thudding drum work alternating with hushed verses. "They Are Night Zombies !! They Are Neighbors!! They Have Come Back From the Dead!! Run For Your Lives!! Ahhhhhh!" rides a funk/disco bassline, while "Decatur" utilizes Sufjan's inventive banjo playing and reversed melody/harmony vocal lines. And then there's "Casimir Pulaski Day" which bring us back around to the subject of tears. "Goldenrod and the 4-H stone / The things I brought you / When I found out you had cancer of the bone / Your father cried on the telephone..." Stevens sings, with a melody and cadence that belie the somberness of the memory. Later, he recalls, "... the living room, when you kissed my neck / And I almost touched your blouse", and finally, "In the morning when you finally go / And the nurse runs in with her head hung low / And the cardinal hits the window".
The bittersweet twists and turns of a lifetime eloquently described in a folk-pop song -- it really doesn't get much better than this; these songs that must be heard to be believed. Rumors abound about the future of Stevens's ambitions to record an album for the remaining 48 states -- but regardless of what happens, he's just made a big leap from the already high elevation of Michigan, and I can't wait for what's next.
http://www.popmatters.com(...)ufjan-illinois.shtml
The songs in question are opposite in scope and mood, but they can both cause a public display of emotion without warning, a testament to Stevens' growing power as a writer and performer. Greetings from Michigan: The Great Lakes State was a paean to civics and geography with exquisitely detailed character studies, epic song titles, and kitchen sink folk orchestral arrangements. Illinois follows suit and even extends its ambitions further in each of those respects. The first song that put a lump in my throat this morning was "Come on! Feel the Illinoise! -- Part I: The World's Columbian Exposition -- Part II: Carl Sandburg Visits Me in a Dream". And that's one of the shorter titles. Such indulgences might strike some as a wee bit precious or pretentious, but I suspect Stevens is both winking good-naturedly at his audience, and trying to make his titles as ambitious as the songs they represent.
But back to the crying: "Come on!" overwhelms me with pride for all of its Chicago references, and not just because it's my surrogate home. There is a deep Walt Whitman vein in this project, an exultant cataloguing of humanity that inspires no matter where you're from. Shout-outs on "Come on!" include the Ferris wheel (which debuted at the 1893 World's Fair in the Windy City), Frank Lloyd Wright, and the poet Sandburg.
Musically, "Part I" rocks out in the tricky 5/4 time signature Stevens is so fond of, and then segues into "Part II" with a Cure reference that slips the song into 4/4. The instrumental selection is as all-encompassing as the popular nouns -- bells and whistles, a string quartet, a backing choir -- but the song requires nothing less than that grandeur. Stevens himself sings "I cried myself to sleep last night / And the ghost of Carl, he approached my window / ... I was asked to improvise / On the attitude, the regret of a thousand centuries of death". No other writer I can think of is working with this amount of simultaneous scale and vulnerability.
On the flipside of this US Mint issued 50 States coin is "John Wayne Gacy, Jr.", which focuses on one particular Illinois native, in this case the notorious serial killer. The challenge of writing and pulling off this song is monumental for wholly different reasons than the rest of Illinois. How does one create an affecting piece of art centered on a cultural figure so extreme and reviled without being obvious/trite, or (even worse) sounding sympathetic to his actions by the plain fact of writing a song about him? The answer is "John Wayne Gacy, Jr.": horrifying, tragic, and deeply sad without proselytizing. Who needs a song to tell them that murdering twenty-seven people is wrong? Instead, Stevens makes you feel it, describes the events in ways that strip away sensation and make you care, rather than numb, "Twenty-seven people, even more / They were boys / With their cars, summer jobs / Oh my God". His voice is broken up on the phrase, going up into falsetto, as the weight of the situation overcomes both singer and song. The clincher is the final verse which begins, "And in my best behavior / I am really just like him", echoing Mother Theresa when she was asked how and why she could devote her entire life's work to the poor -- because she was aware of her own potential for evil.
With the exceptions of the playfully brief interstitials that pop up here and there to reprise songs, "One last 'Whoo-hoo!' for the Pullman" for example, nearly every song holds power in its own right. The album opens with piano and flute on "Concerning the UFO Sighting Near Highland, Illinois". Background singers Katrina Kerns and Shara Worden enter the song at just the right moments, wrapping their voices around Stevens' croon. "The Man of Metropolis Steals Our Hearts" is strident and propulsive, with electric guitar solos and thudding drum work alternating with hushed verses. "They Are Night Zombies !! They Are Neighbors!! They Have Come Back From the Dead!! Run For Your Lives!! Ahhhhhh!" rides a funk/disco bassline, while "Decatur" utilizes Sufjan's inventive banjo playing and reversed melody/harmony vocal lines. And then there's "Casimir Pulaski Day" which bring us back around to the subject of tears. "Goldenrod and the 4-H stone / The things I brought you / When I found out you had cancer of the bone / Your father cried on the telephone..." Stevens sings, with a melody and cadence that belie the somberness of the memory. Later, he recalls, "... the living room, when you kissed my neck / And I almost touched your blouse", and finally, "In the morning when you finally go / And the nurse runs in with her head hung low / And the cardinal hits the window".
The bittersweet twists and turns of a lifetime eloquently described in a folk-pop song -- it really doesn't get much better than this; these songs that must be heard to be believed. Rumors abound about the future of Stevens's ambitions to record an album for the remaining 48 states -- but regardless of what happens, he's just made a big leap from the already high elevation of Michigan, and I can't wait for what's next.
http://www.popmatters.com(...)ufjan-illinois.shtml
Even de review samengevat. Dat flauw op de man spelen (zowel op de artiest als op de fans) in een review is compleet onprofessioneel wat mij betreft, en bovenstaande is ook de enige gepaste reactie erop.quote:Op woensdag 1 februari 2006 13:15 schreef el_hombre het volgende:
"I'm-a-pretentious-twit-who-writes-overly-negative-reviews-just-for-the-sake-of-being-a-childish-snob"
[ Bericht 0% gewijzigd door Grobbel op 01-02-2006 15:57:13 ]
John Wayne Gacy Jr. is misschien wel een van de allermooiste liedjes ooit gemaakt.
I make it a thing, to glance in window panes and look pleased with myself.
Ik heb Illinois nu genoeg luisterbeurten gegeven om oprecht te zeggen dat het geen plaat voor mij is. Teveel koortjes enzo. Maar doordat nogal wat mensen helemaal weg waren van Sufjan heb ik maar wat andere albums van hem geluisterd en Seven Swans is prachtig.
Ik ga na Casimir Pulaski Day ook meestal over op een andere ceedee. Dan heb ik er even genoeg van.quote:Op woensdag 1 februari 2006 17:52 schreef Venugopalan het volgende:
Ik heb Illinois nu genoeg luisterbeurten gegeven om oprecht te zeggen dat het geen plaat voor mij is. Teveel koortjes enzo. Maar doordat nogal wat mensen helemaal weg waren van Sufjan heb ik maar wat andere albums van hem geluisterd en Seven Swans is prachtig.
I make it a thing, to glance in window panes and look pleased with myself.
Opvallend nieuws, en wellicht ligt er een nieuwe release in het verschiet. De samenwerking met Rosie Thomas zal hoe dan ook vruchten afwerpen, op meer dan 1 manier.
Sufjan Stevens + Rosie Thomas = New Album, Baby
Matthew Solarski reports:
Ah, springtime. It turns the world of indie into a freakin' love-fest, drawing artists to one another like bees to flowers. To make music, naturally. And sometimes...other things.
The latest salsa-hot collabo comes courtesy of lovable former Sub Pop songstress Rosie Thomas, who has recruited two fellow lovable, wholesome folkies to spruce up her latest batch of recordings. The boys in question: Sufjan Stevens and Philly singer-songwriter Denison Witmer.
The trio shacked up at Suf-jeezy's pad in New York City for three days, ate junk food, had pillow fights, and wound up recording some Thomas-penned songs on Witmer's laptop. According to Witmer's blog, Rosie played classical guitar, Sufjan plucked banjo, and Denison rocked the electric. All three sang.
In an email to Pitchfork, Thomas said, "[Sufjan and I] both decided that it would be refreshing and fun to just record some songs together on a whim and we did. The songs came out so good that we decided to finish the project this winter, and what I hoped would be an EP surprisingly turned into a full length." For the winter wrap-up, Rosie enlisted Witmer to add instrumentation and engineer.
"It was all a very organic process," mused Witmer via email. "The three of us have toured together a lot in the past, and I'm sure that had something to do with planting the idea in [Rosie's] mind. She (well, all of us) just wanted to have a fun, stress free, relaxing time recording with friends. As far as I know, that's our only real agenda at this point."
Rosie echoed his sentiments: "Somehow along the way the very thing I loved became more about touring and record labels and record deadlines and ordering tee shirts on time and press releases," she observed. "It was almost as if the business side of things took over the passion side, you know? And I desperately needed to work on something that brought me back to my core.
"Working with Sufjan reminded us both of how we used to love to write for our own sense of well being, not by any other expectation."
Since Thomas is no longer signed to Sub Pop, there's no word yet who will put out the joint recording or when the adoring masses can hear it. "Perhaps," suggested Rosie-- who also has plans to record with Iron and Wine's Sam Beam sometime soon-- "it will end up being a record we give to our families for Christmas."
And that's not all Rosie and Sufjan have been collaborating on, as the two lovesongbirds are having a baby together. Serious! For once, Pitchfork is not joking.
"Sufjan and I are also expecting and that is something we both are beaming about," wrote Rosie. "Life is good."
Awwwwwwwww-- I mean, congratulations! And somebody please phone the Guinness Book, as the world is about the embrace the Cutest Kid Ever.
http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/news/06-04/05.shtml
Sufjan Stevens + Rosie Thomas = New Album, Baby
Matthew Solarski reports:
Ah, springtime. It turns the world of indie into a freakin' love-fest, drawing artists to one another like bees to flowers. To make music, naturally. And sometimes...other things.
The latest salsa-hot collabo comes courtesy of lovable former Sub Pop songstress Rosie Thomas, who has recruited two fellow lovable, wholesome folkies to spruce up her latest batch of recordings. The boys in question: Sufjan Stevens and Philly singer-songwriter Denison Witmer.
The trio shacked up at Suf-jeezy's pad in New York City for three days, ate junk food, had pillow fights, and wound up recording some Thomas-penned songs on Witmer's laptop. According to Witmer's blog, Rosie played classical guitar, Sufjan plucked banjo, and Denison rocked the electric. All three sang.
In an email to Pitchfork, Thomas said, "[Sufjan and I] both decided that it would be refreshing and fun to just record some songs together on a whim and we did. The songs came out so good that we decided to finish the project this winter, and what I hoped would be an EP surprisingly turned into a full length." For the winter wrap-up, Rosie enlisted Witmer to add instrumentation and engineer.
"It was all a very organic process," mused Witmer via email. "The three of us have toured together a lot in the past, and I'm sure that had something to do with planting the idea in [Rosie's] mind. She (well, all of us) just wanted to have a fun, stress free, relaxing time recording with friends. As far as I know, that's our only real agenda at this point."
Rosie echoed his sentiments: "Somehow along the way the very thing I loved became more about touring and record labels and record deadlines and ordering tee shirts on time and press releases," she observed. "It was almost as if the business side of things took over the passion side, you know? And I desperately needed to work on something that brought me back to my core.
"Working with Sufjan reminded us both of how we used to love to write for our own sense of well being, not by any other expectation."
Since Thomas is no longer signed to Sub Pop, there's no word yet who will put out the joint recording or when the adoring masses can hear it. "Perhaps," suggested Rosie-- who also has plans to record with Iron and Wine's Sam Beam sometime soon-- "it will end up being a record we give to our families for Christmas."
And that's not all Rosie and Sufjan have been collaborating on, as the two lovesongbirds are having a baby together. Serious! For once, Pitchfork is not joking.
"Sufjan and I are also expecting and that is something we both are beaming about," wrote Rosie. "Life is good."
Awwwwwwwww-- I mean, congratulations! And somebody please phone the Guinness Book, as the world is about the embrace the Cutest Kid Ever.
http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/news/06-04/05.shtml
Rosie Thomas, die laatste plaat is best leuk. En nu dus met Sufjan een nestje gebouwd, dat verklaart veel teksten.
ASWH, de trots van de regio
www.thuisuiteten.nl
www.thuisuiteten.nl
Illinois blijft gewoon geweldig. Had wel gedacht dat ie weer met een andere staat op de proppen kwam.
Volgende concert in Nederland hoop ik toch echt te zien.
Volgende concert in Nederland hoop ik toch echt te zien.
Nee hoor, heeft volgens mij helemaal niks met Devendra van doen. Is ze ook iets te gewoon voor.
ASWH, de trots van de regio
www.thuisuiteten.nl
www.thuisuiteten.nl
Ik heb hem sufjan jezus gedoopt
Michigan was goed, seven swans was heel mooi, illinoise is een waanzinnige plaat. Het werk ervoor van Sufjan doe ik af als een soort van jeugdzonde
En samen met Rosie Thomas, we zullen het zien, vond haar laatste wel een aardige cd.
Michigan was goed, seven swans was heel mooi, illinoise is een waanzinnige plaat. Het werk ervoor van Sufjan doe ik af als een soort van jeugdzonde
En samen met Rosie Thomas, we zullen het zien, vond haar laatste wel een aardige cd.
Laatste Rosie was lekker relaxed. Zeker om met vrouwen te draaien.
ASWH, de trots van de regio
www.thuisuiteten.nl
www.thuisuiteten.nl
De productie van If Songs Could Be Held is alleen wel erg gelikt bij vlagen. Benieuwd of de samenwerking met Sufjan haar eigen muziek ook wat meer een eigen karakter meegeeft.quote:Op donderdag 6 april 2006 20:06 schreef methodmich het volgende:
Laatste Rosie was lekker relaxed. Zeker om met vrouwen te draaien.
Eigenlijk leren kennen op de VPRO luisterpaal met Seven Swans. Heel vaak gedraait daar. Heerlijk rustgevend.
Illinois vind ik zelf nét ietsjes minder
Illinois vind ik zelf nét ietsjes minder
Heil Sufjan, normaal niet mijn muziek maar dit is echt mooi.
Seven Swans dan, de rest heb ik nog niet gehoord moet ik eerlijk zeggen
Seven Swans dan, de rest heb ik nog niet gehoord moet ik eerlijk zeggen
zakelijk
Wat een debiele naam. En wordt daarom vast niet uitgesproken als suf-jan. Als in Suf-Jan Smit. .
Maar hoe dan wel? Suffjun o.i.d.?
.Maar hoe dan wel? Suffjun o.i.d.?
Soofjen (in het Engels, dus Soefjen in het Nederlands).quote:Op donderdag 6 april 2006 21:50 schreef Modus het volgende:
Wat een debiele naam. En wordt daarom vast niet uitgesproken als suf-jan. Als in Suf-Jan Smit. .
Maar hoe dan wel? Suffjun o.i.d.?
[ Bericht 1% gewijzigd door Grobbel op 06-04-2006 21:58:51 ]
Het is Armeens -geloof ik- voor "hij die een zwaard draagt". Ik zou maar oppassen dusquote:Op donderdag 6 april 2006 21:50 schreef Modus het volgende:
Wat een debiele naam. En wordt daarom vast niet uitgesproken als suf-jan. Als in Suf-Jan Smit. .
Maar hoe dan wel? Suffjun o.i.d.?
Yeah, well, you know, that's just, like, your opinion, man.
http://www.brooklynvegan.(...)fjan_stevens_19.htmlquote:Sufjan Stevens to release Illinois outtakes
"Asthmatic Kitty is pleased to announce that we will officially release most of the unused material from the ILLINOIS album, featuring 21 songs, instrumentals, interludes and demos, including three alternate versions of Chicago, as well as cameos from Clyde Tombaugh (the man who discovered Pluto), Adlai Stevenson, Henry Darger, and Ann Landers, to name a few. We thought of calling it ILLINOIS PART II, Saul Bellow Strikes Back, or RETURN OF THE KILLER OUTTAKE, but common sense weighed in, and we decided to use the title song--THE AVALANCHE--as the centerpiece for a collection that gathers all the musical debris from an album that keeps on giving. The album features the original Illinoisemaker players, showcasing James McAlister on drums, Craig Montoro on trumpet, singers Shara Worden (My Brightest Diamond) and Katrina Kerns, and several guest appearances by singer Rosie Thomas, who, contrary to popular rumor, is NOT carrying Sufjan's baby. The new baby is due in stores July 25, 2006."
Aldus.
Dit kan nog een aardige soap worden zo. Waarschijnlijk slecht voor Sufjans Christelijke imago, zo'n baby buiten het huwelijk om.quote:Op vrijdag 7 april 2006 10:17 schreef Z het volgende:
(...) Rosie Thomas, who, contrary to popular rumor, is NOT carrying Sufjan's baby.
Ik hoop dat hij binnenkort nog eens Nederland aandoet!
