When I'd find someone I liked I'd enter their name at places like Amazon where they'll say things like "People who listen to W also listen to X, Y and Z". A name that kept popping up was Sufjan Stevens. The name sounded wierd. I ignored the advice. Finally I checked him out a little deeper and concluded the albums sounded as wierd as the name. One was about the 12 signs of the zodiac. Another was about his home state of Michigan. I ignored him some more.Meanwhile in my MPR exploration there were a few haunting voices I had heard but couldn't make a connection. Checking the playlist one day on the internet I found the name of the musician of one of the songs - it was Sufjan (pronounced soo-fyan). When I listened to his songs I found there were another two or three that I had also been trying to find from my radio listening.
I listened to more stuff and really like it. I read more about him and found out he was a Christian. There are a lot of Christian and Biblical images in his songs though he doesn't write Christian music. He's won lot's of awards with big names like Billboard and Rolling Stone. Now I'll be grocery shopping and hear his songs playing throughout the store.
Here's a UTube video with his song "Casimir Pulaski Day" playing in the background. The song is remembering a girl he loved who was in his Bible study who died from leukemia. It's very sad, I think.
The end
1 comment:
well done uncle Dan, you just nailed two of my favorite artists with your last two posts. Sufjan also has his own record label that he and his step father run with equally strange acts. my personal favorite is a guy who goes by the name half-handed cloud. the label is called asthmatic kitty.
www.asthmatickitty.com
a couple of Sufjans good friends are definitely worth checking out, especially if you like aaron espe. Denison Witmer and Rosie Thomas are both wonderful.
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