While he makes it clear he’s not retiring, Stevens does say he’s “sick of [his] conceptual ideas” and wondering what his songs mean in light of his “creative” and “existential” battle. One he feels he’s losing! Those new songs suggest otherwise, Sufjan. Read it.
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I liked that little clip I saw of the movie…It recreated the effect of early Speilberg….Gettting all those suburban details was part of the secret power they had as much as the other things…like the music…
Is it just me, or does Sufjan seem like this young band-nerd type, who thought it was a great, nerdy idea to make albums for all 50 states, then somewhere along the way around or after Illinois, smoked marijuana for the first time and realized the idea was, oh, just a bit contrived?
That may be true but as Steve Martin says in his book…
awesome comment
Sufjan sounds like he’s going to pull a Jeff Magnum on us and vanish into bouts of reclusiveness and rarely put out music, which I’m totally fine with because his work sounds like a bunch of indie kids who play in a college marching band jacking off together.
You sound a little bitter. Does Sufjan’s music give you flashbacks? Did a marching band rape you ? I’m sure that would be terrifying, but you can’t blame Sufjan. You will be ok.
ha…that’s about right.
Don’t get me wrong, I love some of the songs but when you hear the whole catalog, it’s like “enough already with the high school band meets paul simon with trite arrangements, forced biblical references, really pretentious song titles, and the laven and the goil, and oh the pain and the kashnippets.”
all things go, all things go
That pretty much sums up why he’s having a creative crisis: The guy’s been making the same songs forever and now he’s finally realizing it.
Is an indie kid jerking off in a marching band categorically different from a regular kid jerking off in a marching band?
And if a tree falls on a hyperbole in the woods does it make the loudest sound ever?
He clearly never planned on making a record for each of the 50 states. He announced the project in an attempt to get attention at the time. This is his way of backing out of it.
Sufjan, we totally understand. We also feel you’ve lost all creativity.
That man-boy needs to sit down for a few days and sketch out how he’s going to approach the whole 50 states project and work on it. At 2 albums a year, it would take 24 years. At 3 albums a year, it would take 16 years. At 4 albums a year (every season), it would take only 12 years.
First off, why are you guys bitching about him? The records he has released have been great, and the new material he is playing at shows is amazing as well. What is there to bitch about? Him being an average musician? The stuff he is doing is way better than most of “Pitchfork Approved” shit that is out there now. Have you heard the Girls record? That is about the most overrated shit I have heard in a while, along with Wavves. All of you sound like a bunch of pretentious turds if you ask me.
Just read this at the interview:
?For myself, I?m starting to fear that music is far too selfish, self-absorbed, and self-interested for the ordinary life. When I?m entrenched in a project, for instance, the dishes are left undone, the bills left unpaid, the house is a mess…Although I have great respect for the social dynamic of music?that it should be shared with others, that it brings people together?I now feel something personal is irrevocably lost in this process.?
Really, dude? Uhh, that sucks…but it kinda sounds like you may just be hitting a bit of the ol’ writer’s block…I think it’s safe to say there have been thousands of artists with more albums released than you that still found a way to get the household chores done. One may reply “well, they didn’t put as much thought/heart/whatever into it”…I’d reply to that “good luck quantifying that, take the blinders off, kid.”
I NOW feel something personal is irrevocably lost in this process.
LEAVE SUFJAN ALOOOONE!
also, crisis is singular, crises is plural, so the correct headline would be either Sufjan is Having a Creative Crisis or Sufjan is Having Creative Crises.
I hope this isn’t the end, but I’m grateful that he has given us what he has, and his own needs certainly come before his listeners as far as the creative process is concerned.
Why do you people still care about the 50 states project? Was the fact that Illinois was based on a state a HUGE factor of your enjoyment of the album? Or did you just like the way it sounded?
I mean, sheesh, who cares if it’s still happening or if he should still do it. I can’t believe how some people can even hold it against him if he chooses not to do it anymore. It’s not an attention grab. It’s not a mandatory mission. It’s just something he thought of and then probably won’t do anymore.
As long as he’s making albums, who cares if it’s about a state?
I too will never understand why people care so much about the 50 states idea. I love Michigan and Illinois but I also love that his new songs have nothing to do with it.
The 50 states would be ambitious and his fans are rooting for him.
But maybe he’s given up on it since Jesus will be returning to slay infidels 2012. Why finish when the world will burn.
Sure but he’s said many times it’s not really true. I guess people just like to gloss over that though.
I never thought this guy was very creative at all. The 50 states idea seemed like a dumb gimmick to me. Another Pitchfork approved, average at best musician.
Well, he’ll have to spend the next 20 years of his life if he is serious about completing the 50 state project…
Make that about 70.
…after that maybe I could buy a moonpie somewhere!…you the “ram on” to my “well well well Tina Fey!
Wait–which part’s not true: the 50 states or the 2012 thing? Because I know John Cusak would never lie to me.
Sufjan Stevens is not god
“And I?m wondering, what?s the value of my work once these forms are obsolete and everyone?s just downloading music? ”
CLEARLY we can blame Alec Duffy for this.
sufjan, you do not have a beachy tropical side project! they’re turning on you! one guy actually called you a nerd!
way to kick him while he’s down guys.
those new songs of his are incredible! he’s developed such an amazing sound. he is surprisingly progressive and (in my opinion) way more important than anyone is giving him credit for. i would way rather listen to his new stuff than whatever it is that thom yorke is doing… (insert 30 rock quote here)
SUFJAN: “I’m sorry everybody, I just feel I’m lost in what I want to express to you all with my music but here are some new songs you might want to.. I don’t know.. listen to and see what you think…”
Sufjan, STOP THIS! You write good stuff man, quit making us feel bad for you just because of the way things are today. I know, I know.. thing’s aren’t the same as they were back in the day when you said you would make an album for every state in the union, remember? You set the bar way too-high for yourself. If you want to back out on that commitment at this point, believe me, it is ok with all of us who have enjoyed your music, it was all just a silly idea and we can all laugh about it now right? ha-ha-ha! Anyways, hey, maybe your next album could be about the difficulties of coming to terms with what’s been on your mind lately.
he’s overrated in the first place and now he’s vying for attention because he’s hit a snag in his creative process? gimme a fucking break! this dude has been getting over on people since the very first minute. maybe this is just desserts.
its great
We don’t need any more updates on his existential crises!
the guy is a brilliant songwriter and a master at creating really compelling melodies…i had the opportunity to see him on his recent two-week tour…the new material is an amalgam of the dissonance of earlier works and the grandeur of Illinois works…he performed Majesty Snowbird, which he considers, as do i, his greatest achievement – “i want this melody played at my funeral – on bagpipes” – Sufjan Stevens
Sounds like he needs a vacation.
Just listened to Illinois this weekend. Fuckin’ brilliant. Sufjan, don’t pursue the 50 States project because it’ll CHEAPEN your music. If perfection is your standard, then go by your own rate.
obliviously most of you have been listening, following him, and spending some little time (hours probably) listening, and playing his music in your room where you sit at the computer and waste time all day …then blame the economy for you hopeless blog critique addiction.
… so give it up, at least theres someone like him making music besides the jonas brothers..
What was the Sufjan song that was in front of the trailer about babies before Where the Wild Things Are? I’m pretty sure it’s new… Apparently he’s confident about his new material enough to put it as the soundtrack to a movie trailer.
Robert Pollard is the only person I could see finishing a project like the 50 states project in anything resembling a decent amount of time (at his rate it would probably take only 10-15 years). For Sufjan or any artist who has a similar attention to detail, it would take about 100 years to cover all 50 states (Supposing they could keep up the one-album-every-other-year pace)
I’ve always thought Sufjan should’ve included other artists in the 50 states project. That way, in addition to sharing the work and finishing the project faster (or even at all), the other artists could make their albums in their own style, which might suit their state better.
“When I?m entrenched in a project, for instance, the dishes are left undone, the bills left unpaid, the house is a mess. I become sub-human. I begin to despise all my bad habits.? Then later, you say, ?I?m at a point where I no longer have a deep desire to share my music with anyone, having spent many years imparting my songs to the public”"-Sufjan
So basically he needs a cleaning lady.
the song is “the perpetual self, or ‘what would saul alinsky do?’”, and it is off of the avalanche
Wow…no one will turn on you faster than a Stereogum reader. A couple years back you were all the same people calling Sufjan the savior of indie rock. Now you all talk trash because it’s suddenly “cool” to hate everything. Totally lame. You’re all sheep.
Agreed! why does everyone hate Sufjan because he’s looking for something new? He messed up on the whole 50 states thing I’ll admit it but can you honestly hate him for that? he still has some amazing music! Those who can’t do, diss
Sufjan is in the unenviable position whereby his ambition far exceeds his ability to collaborate and assemble his projects in all their pompous grandiosity. (This is the same guy who declared Rock and Roll dead two years ago.)
Pitchfork/Stalin Music doesn’t hold a candle to how hard this guy is on himself critically.
I vote Sufjan for the first cloned human being. His music really is awesome and I would love it if there were 48 Sufjan Stevens in each state he hasnt written an album about. All 48 Sufjan’s taking in all the inspiration he/they need to finish his 50 states project.
Maybe he should adapt the project into a movie with computer generated Sufjans. I mean, the guy is in a rut. Lets help him out!
In reality, someone should just kick him in his liliputian indie rock ass. Maybe he should embark on a 50 state prisons project or an album about Satan. How do we make him mad? (I kid I kid! But an album about Nevada would rule!)
I love how people on this website bitch about Pitchfork so much. The exact same bands are covered on this website. Truthfully, this website is far more pretentious in its current iteration than Pitchfork is.
Do you also agree, Dude, that blogs and music criticism in general is intrinsicly pretentious?
Do you feel somehow slighted because someone has deemed something that you really enjoy utterly worthless?
I think my testosterone levels go down when I read a lousy review about a band I enjoy. I feel retarded when I think about making pretentious comments about the precieved pretense of pretentious websites that specialize in criticism.
Enjoy more live shows, read less. I find thats the key.