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Monday, January 05, 2009

Concerning the UFO Sighting Near Highland, Illinois

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Yesterday a good friend suggested I check out Sufjan Stevens. So I did. On Zune. I’m totally loving me some subscription music and pray it doesn’t go the way of the dodo. This is what DRM was intended for.

Back to Sufjan. I’m listening to his CD called “Illinoise” right now. It looks like this CD, when released, was heralded as the real deal by the indie press. Anyway, it’s is. The title of this post is the title of the first tune on the CD. If I were better at defining musical tropes, I’d try to describe Sufjan’s schtick. But alas, I can’t. My friend told me he was similar to Andrew Bird. And in a way, he is, but at the same time, very different. I’d never mistake a Sufjan for a Bird. Not really. This is getting tricky.

Seek this one out if you’re looking for something interesting, different, melodic, and just plain engaging. The tune I’m listening to right now, as I write this, is called: “Come on! Feel the Illinoise! Part 1: The World’s Columbian Exposition. Part 2: Carl Sandburg Visits Me in a Dream”. Yes, that’s the name of a single song. Don’t be put off…it’s a great tune. Okay, it just ended and the next song is a somber lullaby called "John Wayne Gacy, Jr.”

He has another state-based CD called “Michigan”, and it appears he’s planning to create a CD for each of the 50 states. Heh. Fat chance that. But it will be fun watching him try.

4 comments:

syzygy13 said...

Yeah, I like me some sufjan. I find that I can't listen to him for too long and do anything else besides stop, listen, and probably weep.

I think he's a kind of a genius - who else could turn what is essentially high school concert band licks into really fine, deeply affecting music?

Clifford said...

lol! Okay, I would have NEVER in a million years come up with that description for his stuff. There's something vaguely unsettling about it. But then, high school wasn't exactly the time of my life. Heh.

Really digging it...glad I was put on to him!

Sidney said...

Sounds interesting, and that title is interesting, like something from Wayne Sallee's back yard.

Clifford said...

Sid,

I was definitely thinking of Wayne as I listened. I think he might like it quite a bit...

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This is me and one of my two cats. His name is Cougar, and he’s an F1 Chausie. A chausie is a new breed of cat under development. Chausies are the result of a cross between a domestic cat (in Cougar’s case, a Bengal) and a jungle cat (Felis Chaus). Cougar’s mom is 8 pounds and his father is a 30-pound jungle cat. He’s about 16 pounds, super intelligent, spirited, and toilet trained. A writer without a cat (or two) is not to be trusted.