I've been getting way into this Sufjan Stevens cat lately, and I'm really admiring his "Illinois" album. He kinda reminds me of a cross between Prince and Magnetic Fields - there's a very nerdish, musical-theater loving songwriter in there, but at the same time he seems to get bored with the same style of music for too long, so there are all kinds of sounds thrown into each song, each with its own energy and intensity. He's kinda geeky and bookish, but at the same time he's got a lot of youth and emotion in his music.

The "Illinois" album is definitely not a boring listen, and I think that the more attention he gets, the more he's going to get the "insane genius" one-man-band reputation, kinda like Prince or Beck or any of the other pop troubadours out there. I can't wait to see how he brings his music to the stage. It's very "big" in places. Very epic.

Anyway, I'm very excited that I'm getting to see him perform his album about Illinois here in Chicago next month.

Anyone else digging this guy's music?

i heard recently that he "left" his religion and was going back to just being Cat Stevens. true/false?

Chico319 said:

Anxiety said:

that hurt...a little.

but seriously it was a sincere question. i wanna know fine. i'll just ask a real fan.

Chico319 said:

You're serious? Ok, then - Sufjan Stevens has nothing to do with Cat Stevens, as far as I know, anyway. He's a scrappy little alternative music troubadour who just released an album all about the state of Illinois.

Anxiety said:

And his debut about "Michigan".

GangstaFam said:

i really wanna get that one soon.

i have another CD of his, i forget the title...when i bought "illinois" at the wrecka stow, they accidentally gave me the wrong CD so i took it home and copied it to my mp3 player real quick before i took it back. it's good stuff. i like his style.