Day 45: Sufjan Stevens

This week's artist spotlight is modern-day songsmith Sufjan Stevens. In my opinion he is one of the best musicians/songwriters around these days (even though he hasn't released a legitimate album in about 4 years).

His brand of baroque pop deals with the history and struggles of America. Whether conflicts of tribes and settlers or personal conflicts of faith and family, his music illuminates both what we see outside and what we see when we look inward.

I've compiled my list of favorite tracks here. He may not have a lot of albums, but he certainly has a lot of great songs. (imeem came through pretty surprisingly; a few of these songs are really rare. The only one it didn't have was "Ring Them Bells," a Bob Dylan cover done for the film I'm Not There. The imeem list includes "You Are The Blood," a Castanets cover off of Dark Was The Night instead.)

YouTube:
(All Songs By Sufjan Stevens, Unless Otherwise Noted)
01. The Star-Spangled Banner (Francis Scott Key) and Amazing Grace (By John Newton)
02. Say Yes! To Michigan
03. That Dress Looks Nice On You
04. Happy Birthday
05. Casimir Pulaski Day
06. Opie's Funeral Song
07. Decatur, Or, Round Of Applause For Your Step-Mother!
08. The Mistress Witch from McClure (or, The Mind That Knows Itself) (Sufjan starts at around 6:20)
09. In the Devil's Territory
10. Adlai Stevenson
11. Come On! Feel The Illinoise!: Part I: The World's Columbian Exposition/Part II: Carl Sandburg Visits Me In A Dream
12. We're Goin' to the Country! (Cover only...)
13. To Be Alone With You
14. John Wayne Gacy, Jr. (Most disturbing song ever? It could be argued.)
15. Majesty Snowbird
16. For the Widows in Paradise, For the Fatherless in Ypsilanti
17. No Man's Land
18. Romulus
19. Woman at the Well
20. Ring Them Bells (By Bob Dylan)

imeem: External:

Day 45: Sufjan Stevens

God'll Ne'er Let You Down,
Erik

Bonus Vids!

#50.2 - Sufjan Stevens - The Lakes of Canada
by lablogotheque

And


(Image by Joe Lencioni, Licensed Under Creative Commons)