While I was hurriedly chatting away with friends on AOL Instant Messanger® one , my sister's chat box popped up saying "listen to this!" I rolled my eyes as I saw the file she was trying to send. As much as my sister tried, all the songs she sent me didn't help me enjoy a modern artists. I grudgingly agreed to listening to it, and started to hear the violin harmonies on a song called "Jacksonville."
The beautifully harmonized violin bowing is met with a sudden stop to start the song, met with a lush piano riff. The piano riff is soon juxtaposed against warm guitars, solid drums and peciliur banjo arrangment, that strangely fits in. The whole song is powerfully moved with the vocals that procede it, and the song starts to have a snowball chaotic approach to it, that somehow sounds organized. Instruments are layered, until it approaches a big band-dense sound which suddenly drops out at the climax of the song. This is definitely the best song on the album, but there are so many other highlights.
All of the music on this album is intellegently put together. Musical instruments are harmonized and sound completely neccesary, have pure sounds, amazing counter-points in melody and rhythm, along with compelling and touching lyrics. Sufjan touches subjects that range from playful images to the humanized emotions due to a friend's chronic illness.
The best part of this album is its quirkiness and ability to personify ideas with musical phrasings equivalent to the subject matter. This album has been part of his project to compose a concept album based on the cultural and musical aspects of all fifty states. His composition on the subject of superman shows the agressive side of the character with the angrier sounding instruments, with plenty of distortion, as well as the sensitive side personifyed by the sudden drop into a soft, vocal harmony filled verse.
Although the album seems to be quite long, with 22 track, many of the tracks are short, few second clips which seem to be as important as all the other tracks. "One Last 'Woohoo'" is a great buffer between the acoustic, country-tinged song "Decatur" and the electric, synthesized textured song "Chicago." None of the material here ever appears to be filler, in any form.
Previously, I had yet to fall in love with an artist that had released an album after the year 2000. The lush textures and beautiful melodies will continue to play in my stereo, play after play. This is a must buy album.
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