Come On! Read My Sufjan-Related Blog Post!

There's been a hell of a brouhaha regarding Sufjan Stevens in the last week. Last Friday the genius behind the 2005 masterpiece, Illinois, came out of nowhere and nailed us with a free stream of the single "All Delighted People (Original Version)" as well as the digital release of his latest EP, All Delighted People, the hard copy of which will hopefully be released by December.

I was pretty excited by all this, though somewhat bummed that I didn't have the moolah or good conscious to buy the mp3 of All Delighted People, but my spirits were lifted when I hastily jumped on my laptop after classes today to find out that Sufjan's also set a date and title for his FIRST NEW FULL-LENGTH ALBUM POST-ILLINOIS (October 12). I'm over the proverbial hill about this; Sufjan Stevens is a personal musical hero of mine. There's a lot of history between the two of us, so why don't I supplement this joyous news with the gripping Tale of Sufjan and Brendan?

Way back in my quiet and somewhat-introverted days of 2006, I found one day on the Harry Potter message boards of IMDb that my favorite actor of the Harry Potter film series, who also happened to be one of the most woefully underrepresented, cartoonized and diluted from the actual character, Rupert Grint, had wrapped up filming a small, independent movie called Driving Lessons. Of course, I had to see this movie- for one thing, that guy has a lot of talent that goes unused in the Harry Potter movies, and a title role in Driving Lessons was the perfect antidote for me. Also, the fact that it was described as a coming-of-age film really got me going, as I love relating my experiences to those of my favorite film and book characters. Unfortunately, it wouldn't be available in U.S. theaters until some time after its European release, and there was no chance the shitty theaters in Springfield were going to pick it up. So I reluctantly came to terms with the fact that I'd probably never see this movie, big deal, whatever. Then one summer day in 2007 I found a used DVD section at Hollywood Video, and in it were Hot Fuzz (an excellent follow-up to my favorite movie, Shaun of the Dead) and Driving Lessons!

I immediately went home and watched it three times in a row (excluding the time I used to sleep), and thankfully, it's now one of my favorite movies. But among the many highlights of the movie, two things stood out: Rupert Grint saying "Fuck Off" to some bitch who tries to tell him what's up (who hasn't wanted to see that?) and the soundtrack. Often, throughout the movie, the instrumental from Sufjan Stevens' epic "The Tallest Man, The Broadest Shoulders" as well as the full version of "All the Trees of the Field Will Clap Their Hands" would play and it would really set the tone for each scene it was featured in. I had to find the artist behind this music. I went back to IMDb, skimmed through some HP-related arguments and looked up the soundtrack to Driving Lessons (an excellent one, it has Nick Drake and stuff). After discovering Sufjan's songs listed there, I downloaded them and fell in love at first listen.

I asked for the Illinois album on a whim for my 16th birthday, not because I felt bad for illegally downloading Sufjan's music, but because I needed to experience more more more. And it changed my life. I came to realize how much of a genius this guy is. He can do so many different types of songs. Some, like those of Seven Swans (the "All the Trees..." album) are folkier, softer, easier listening-type songs. Others, like a few on A Sun Came, are bizarre, experimental, less listenable than others. But on Illinois, the follow-up to Michigan in a series of conceptualized LPs devoted to each state (a gimmick which has proven to be impossible, and a bit of a joke), Sufjan really delivers. What makes it different from his other albums is that he's able to construct these symphonic, orchestral masterpieces that tell a story, yet somehow brilliantly weave in allusions and references to countless, culturally-rich people, places and things of the state of Illinois.

Alas, I began to listen to Illinois quite heavily during the nadir of my teenage years, the six months I worked at Cold Stone Creamery. Laugh all you will, but it was the most depressing, tasking and wearisome job in the world. It's tough to explain to anyone who hasn't worked there, but ask any of us ex-crew members (and almost everyone quits at some point) and we'll generally blame it on the tyrannical management of the boss and his wife. The point is, in the months, and now years, after my time served at Cold Stone, I came to associate Illinois with the time of year it first started making sense to me, which is about March-April of 2008. So, while I loved every square inch of that CD, I was simultaneously reminded of some of the harsh times at the store and forced to be nostalgic about the past. Again, tough to explain, but I was feeling really conflicted- I kept thinking about how great it was when I discovered Sufjan, but subsequently realizing that was a shitty time of the year.

Anyway, since then I've grown out of those feelings, occasionally getting sentimental rather than depressed (as most college freshmen do at this time of the year). In that time since, Sufjan Stevens has grown to be one of my favorite musicians of all time, a brilliant auteur and experimenter, someone I look up to for his talents. I love that he's a musician I didn't hear about through my parents or a peer, he's somebody I discovered all on my own. So now that I know he's got another album heading this way, I'm ecstatic. I so badly want to download his EP, but I don't like buying stuff online. I mean, yeah, I could use my iTunes gift card, but I know I'm going to buy a hard copy anyway, so what's the point? I'll just hold off and create suspense and heightened anticipation in the meantime. I also feel super guilty these days whenever I want to get some new music. I used to download stuff illegally ("file sharing"), but I don't know, I guess I feel like I should do my part to keep the record industry from dying. And I also like having physical manifestations of and artist's work in my hands, a palpable CD or vinyl LP with artwork and grooves and all that jazz.

So basically, Sufjan Stevens is the preeminent contemporary musician of our time. And I owe my appreciation of him to Rupert Grint!