Sufjan Stevens’ Carrie & Lowell

washed over me on first listen, but i was distracted. i suspect this is one of those albums where an attentiveness to the finer nuances pays off.

I dunno guys, the meticulous prettiness and the measured-twice quality of the lyrics kind of mutes the impact for me. It feels too worked-over to really devastate the way I gather it's meant to (and seems to for most)

that said it's a lovely record, my fave of his probably since Seven Swans

really not a fan of his singing, phrasing, and multi-tracked vocals on this so far

a lot of his stuff sounds like church music to me, but this multi-tracked style sounds like a congregation. it all works for me on most of this one.

Man, this album is devastating. I'm kinda shocked this isn't getting more discussion here. I'm not the biggest Sufjan fan - I typically like about 3 or 4 songs per album. But this album is different somehow. It's probably just that it has less of a twee feel to it, overall. I like him enough to give at least one listen to anything he releases, but this is by faaaaaarr my favorite album of his; my favorite album of the year, so far.

I feel the same way. I have too much to say which I can't really say right about this record which is why I haven't posted yet. I have a mother of a certain age who has perhaps not too long to live and I think about that day after day. This record has had a cathartic effect on me and really helped me to think about that in advance. I'd thank Sufjam Stevens for that if I could.

Excuse the typo.

Some part of me was lost in your sleeve
Where you hid your cigarettes.

Is my favourite line from the record.

Eugene is the key to the record, for me at a least.

and he called me subaru

I saw him live a few weeks ago and he played all of this; it was so heavy and moving. He played out blue bucket of gold for 10+ minutes

oh, be near me, tired old mare.

We're all gonna die

Ain't that some shit

this is definitely one of my favorite albums of the 2010s.

it's devastating but also quietly inspirational, just because it is so good/carefully assembled, which is itself inspiring to me. i never would have thought he was capable of something so cohesive and restrained

To me it's more of a lesson in dealing with something awful without avoiding the awfulness of it while also acknowledging the weird beauty of the details contained therein. It quite concretely says this bad thing and this bad thing happened and let's not move away from that but use it in order to heal. Does that make sense? I'm slightly drunk but it makes sense to me.

It's part of the obviousness of, for example, saying "we're all going to die" while appreciating that obvious thought stated so plainly.

"I should've wrote a letter"

(This is the only album of his ive heard from start to finish, fwiw, I haven't even heard individual songs from most of them)

imo, Michigan, Seven Swans and Illinois are all almost as good or better than C&L

i've probably said this upthread somewhere but dude's a genius

afaic the track Romulus beats anything on C&L. Easily.

Once when our mother called,
She had a voice of last year's cough.
We passed around the phone,
Sharing a word about Oregon.
When my turn came, I was ashamed.
When my turn came, I was ashamed.

(i like C&L just fine, but by no means Sufjan's best)

I should clarify my xpost: I think Carrie & Lowell is *incredible*. I just think those other three are, too, esp. Michigan.

this is very good, needed to wait til fall to listen to it

Fall, death, and a good latte to set the mood.

Nothing sets the mood for road suicide like deciduous fall colors and a visit to the dentist.

mmm, pumpkin spice

I actually meant because my depressive tendencies usually start to come out around this time of year

Haha <3

this album is great, I agree, and I did not seriously think you meant it that way.

no it's cool, I lol'd

did any of u see the current tour? considering buying tixxx

Heard only ecstatic reports from friends.

I actively hated/hate Illinois and haven't given this guy's music a chance since but goon tie told me "no seriously this new one" and I have to admit it's great

I saw him in April and it was absolutely wonderful, don't miss it!

It's interesting to me how he previously seemed to mostly make records that were dressed up in ironic kitsch but sad underneath and now he just made a sad record and it's better.

I saw this guy live back in 2003 or 2004. I remember it was kind of a peak time of being disillusioned with America, and this guy stood up there dressed like a boy scout and sang an absolutely gorgeous rendition of the Star Spangled Banner (or 'My Country Tis of Thee', or something ha). It was p compelling.

It's interesting to me how he previously seemed to mostly make records that were dressed up in ironic kitsch but sad underneath and now he just made a sad record and it's better.

― on entre O.K. on sort K.O. (man alive), Tuesday, October 27, 2015 8:33 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Good post. I've always failed to connect with his work because the prettiness of it got in the way, for me. Until now.

This is one of the artists that I think ILM always makes fun of since it gets thrown with the lol indie audience. I don't know how much Carrie & Lowell will change your perspective on him but he's been doing this sort of thing since he started. Michigan and Seven Swans are great records in this sad vein.
Illinois was probably a more popular album and that one is certainly more unsophisticated due to the amount of needless orchestration and maximalism, let alone the ridiculous costumes... I assume that's the record most people think about when they think of Sufjan and that's the reason why they throw so much shit at him, but even on that album there were some gems like 'John Wayne Gacy' and 'Casimir Pulaski Day'.

Also forgot 'Concerning the UFO Sighting Near Highland', that's a great piano riff.

^^ OTM imo

really strongly dislike that John Wayne Gacy song

ugh yes. the Illinois record is basically "chicago" and "casimir pulaski day"

oh man, "Jacksonville", "The Man From Metropolis Steals Our Hearts", and "The Tallest somethingorother" are all great too. I still think the album's great. y'all need to stop pickin on Sufjan.

sufjan, contrapuntal madness, 'BQE', 20+ minute long songs, and all, is on par with steven wilson in quality prog-outs. wilson hasn't come near pulling off something as emotionally devastating as 'carrie & lowell' though

really strongly dislike that John Wayne Gacy song

― tremendous crime wave and killing wave (Joan Crawford Loves Chachi), Wednesday, October 28, 2015 5:55 AM (5 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

this song really is absurd

I kinda love to hate read this, though: http://genius.com/Sufjan-stevens-john-wayne-gacy-jr-lyrics/

I can't really deal with the Gacy song, but man Seven Swans is so good, doesn't have the ornamentation that can make Illinoise a slog. It holds back on anything over-the-top until the climax of the title track, and then it totally works.

the one about the wasp is really great

^probably my favourite on Illinois

agree re Seven Swans. much stronger overall than the "state" records, tho "romulus," "chicago" and "casimir pulaski day" are my touchstone tracks.