026 - Sufjan Stephens (The Age of Adz)

Sufjan Stevens's oeuvre is extraordinarily diverse. Enjoy Your Rabbit is predominantly bizarre electronica, Michigan and Illinois are close to traditional folk-based singer-songwriter albums, and The BQE is straight-up modern classical music - not to mention the style of the five other albums I haven't included. His latest seems to conflate elements from all of the aforementioned sounds. There's certainly a lot going on: trilling flutes and an array of classical instruments; mechanic and spacey electronic sounds, all alongside Sufjan's vocals. Combined, they create what can only be described as an experiment. That it is complicated makes for uneasy first listenings, yet it gradually makes sense thereafter : )

Sufjan Stephens - All for Myself

Sufjan Stephens - Age of Adz