what the heck is Sufjan Stevens up to these days?

oh, either way, j0rdan's right. i could use some sarcasm pills, actually.

that's awful satire

which state is this one?

miss the daze when my friend and i edited stuff like "and then cried for freedom in a van with his friends" into to sufjans wikipedia entry

into, not 'into to' obv

you have friends?

never claimed to have more than one

ha

i couldn't resist the zing attempt btw, sorry

lol np

Stevens' next album concept.

sufjan stevens is a pretty cool guy imo. he isn't afraid to tell you how he feels.

ah man I really thought this was a real poster for a moment there

hialeah would be brilliant, btw.

good potential for quality song-titles, too.

http://cdn.pitchfork.com/news/48540/62dd3cf6.jpg

wtf.

that aside, on some whim i listened to seven swans for the first time in several years, having v much lost interest in him since, and was surprised to find it still packed the punch it did back then.

yeah, unlike many artists whose post-peak wankery has a negative impact on their older stuff that hasn't happened to Sufjan.

i did a bit of a 180 on sufjan this year. i considered him precious since illinois, but i revisited age of adz and found sincerity (if questionable depth) to it. brought me back to seven swans, which indeed still packs a serious punch. he seems like the coolest guy, and i thought that before i saw that incredible album cover.

Cover looks good, but I'm getting really tired of post-millenial 80's-nostalgia (and I'm born in '84, mind you). I mean, it's a fucking transformer!

no way. thats gundam style. timeless aesthetic, albeit one that's been experiencing a minor revival lately. see: yen tech.

Hmm.. I stand corrected, then. Think the point still stands, though.

this is lovely
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p5vT6l-NDF4

this came up in my recommended videos. lmao

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=koOL_9ikfpQ

https://pitchfork.com/news/sufjan-stevens-announces-5-volume-album-shares-new-song-listen/

Sufjan Stevens has announced the release of his new five-volume collection Convocations with a new song called “Meditation V.” The first volume, Meditations, is out tomorrow (April 8) via Asthmatic Kitty; the whole project—which also includes Lamentations, Revelations, Celebrations and Incantations—will be out by May 6.

Stevens wrote and recorded the project as an homage to his biological father, who died in September 2020, two days after Stevens released The Ascension. Each volume is meant to reflect a different stage of mourning. The project’s 5xLP vinyl boxset is due out August 20.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c_GeokTnTkk

He’s now released four out of the five albums. They are all better than I expected them to be. Each one has its own distinct characteristics.

I'm enjoying A Beginner's Mind thus far - seems a bit slight perhaps.

it's better than the ascension but worse than pretty much every other major solo album of his from michigan onwards. not at all bad just very folk-sufjan-by-numbers, without any real points of interest.

like it's all very pleasant and tastefully arranged but i've been listening to it all day and none of the songs are really grabbing me like his best work does. not really sure what angelo de augustine brings to the table either, he's so stylistically similar to sufjan that he doesn't manage to carve out any sort of identity for himself here.

This is my favorite style of Sufjan, though it’s either missing some more upbeat/busy pieces that would help to contrast all these songs, or it’s just 4 songs too long. I like every song individually but it starts to feel like a slog by the final third.

the arrangements are almost too lush, the songs feel a little buried under them, unlike seven swans or carrie & lowell. it's less direct in its arrangements than those but isn't going for the maximalism of illinois either.

the best moments on the ascension are better than anything on this but that album really drags so this is still a better listen.

It does sound like Sufjan-by-numbers. Nothing really that gripping, very pleasant but unnecessary.
I did love how somebody somewhere (Twitter?) said that it was nice to have a Sufjan album which was nice to listen to without having to cry.

i think that side of his work is often overstated though, it's only carrie & lowell that really leans into it & before that the only thing that really comes to mind is "casimir pulaski day"

& the acension was the most detached and unemotional his lyrics have ever been

i like this one, plenty of hooks to my ears. agree that its nice to have a less heavy/fraught set of songs in the carrie&lowell style

I really like the first half of the album but after a while the sameness of it wears on me.

yikes!!

Sufjan Stevens has Guillian-Barre Syndrome. From his website: https://t.co/tirNbUMS31 pic.twitter.com/gxzhsyXvOh

— Parker Molloy (@ParkerMolloy) September 20, 2023

That’s the one you can sometimes get from a flu shot? Terrifying

Fuck. That sounds horrific and absolutely terrifying.

damn i am glad he's ok

xxp

https://academic.oup.com/cid/article/69/4/726/5316263?login=false

Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS) as a possible consequence of vaccination was first identified during the swine influenza vaccine program administered in the United States in 1976 [15]. At the time, the estimated risk of GBS following receipt of the swine flu vaccine was estimated to be about 1 per 100 000 recipients. Since then, the association between influenza vaccine and GBS has been closely monitored, and the findings have been variable; an increased risk has been detected in some seasons and not in others. A meta-analysis of studies published between 1981 and 2014 found that the receipt of any influenza vaccine carried a relative increased risk of GBS of 1.4 [16]. In the seasons when an increased risk has been found, the absolute increase has been 1 or 2 additional cases of GBS per million vaccinees. These studies, however, have accounted only for the short-term risk (usually within 42 days) following vaccination. Influenza infection is a stronger risk factor for GBS than is influenza vaccine; thus, during an entire influenza season, influenza vaccination has been shown to actually decrease the risk of GBS by protecting against influenza infection

My mother had it back in the 80s. Some of the worst months of her life, and of mine, and of the rest of the family's.

damn, guillain-barre is an incredibly rough time, hope his recovery is smooth

Sorry to hear about that jimbeux

Given the timing, I don't think a flu shot had anything to do with it, but IIRC respiratory illness is usually the cause when it happens. Glad he's on the road to recovery.

Yeah, this can be caused by vaccines, but is also known to be a consequence of covid infection since 2021.

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has been shown to be associated with a lot of neurological complications, of whom Guillain-Barre syndrome (GBS) is an important post-infectious consequentiality. More than 220 patients with GBS have been reported thus far.

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34170552/
https://casereports.bmj.com/content/14/1/e240178

Also west Nile, side effects of levofloxacin, other things. It's not understood very well afaik.

it's generally linked to some sort of immune system stress, whether that's an infection of some sort or more rarely vaccination. some particular infections have more well-established links but it's very rare

I sometimes feel like the 1976 mass vaccination push and its association with Guillain-Barre actually set in motion the modern anti-vax movement. There had been historic flu outbreaks before then, in the '50s, in the '60s, each with their own mass vaccination program, but the 1976 one was where things went sour and they were forced to stop vaccinations after about 25% of the US population got its shot. There have always been anti-vaxxers, but 1976 is one of the most high profile instances where a vaccine was actually withdrawn.

Regardless, I think Guillain–Barré can also be caused by lyme disease and other illnesses, autoimmune or otherwise.

Is there a thread on recent mysterious illnesses amongst musicians? Paul Simon suddenly lost hearing in one ear after a bad case of covid. I haven't seen anyone join the dots in the media, but I know two people who have severe hearing damage as a result of covid infections, and there is research suggesting that 8% of long covid sufferers have hearing loss, 17% with new onset tinnitus.

I know a couple of people that have had hearing issues post covid. In fact, I remember an interview with a classical musician that aired early on in the pandemic where she was complaining of tinnitus and was all but mocked for her theory it was connected to covid/vaccination.

IIRC, my mom came down with the flu, maybe strep throat. Rather than resting, she got on a flight from Denver to Phoenix for a business meeting. By the time she got back home, she had to go to the hospital. She spent at least two or three months in severe pain, paralyzed.

Vaccines did not enter into it.

In the early days of the covid vaccines, there was plenty of exploration around potential links btw reported hearing loss / tinnitus and (a) covid and/or (b) the vaccines. I remember the conclusions being that it seemed possibly more anecdotal than supported by evidence - but not sure if there were rigorous studies yet at that time, maybe more have been done since.

Yeah, there's been a few:

"In the March [2021] issue of the International Journal of Audiology, researchers reviewed published case studies & other reports of COVID-19 symptoms, & they estimate that hearing loss has occurred in about 8% of patients who had COVID, while about 15% developed tinnitus."

https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/article/how-covid-19-can-damage-all-five-senses

The most terrifying story I have is from someone I encountered professionally. Mid 30's, vaccinated. Suffered a mild covid infection in Nov 21 which developed into severe sinusitis and ear infection. The ear infection persisted after he tested negative and eventually developed into severe tinnitus, hyperacuity, migraines and 80% hearing loss in one ear, worsened after another infection in March 22. He was ineligible for a hearing aid as the doctors said "the infection is still eating away at your inner ear."

And this is one of the reasons I still wear a mask.

i have a friend who suffered hearing loss in one ear after his bout with Covid, which was not that severe, and he'd been vaccinated as well. the media isn't doing a very good job discussing aftereffects, unfortunately. people are desperate to get back to normal.

xp Well, this is the "Conclusion" of that Int'; Journal of Audiology report... just pointing it out:

Conclusion

There are multiple reports of audio-vestibular symptoms associated with COVID-19. However, there is a dearth of high-quality studies comparing COVID-19 cases and controls.

Yeah, thats an understatement. Neil Young knows the score.

Note the date

Kudos to @Neilyoung who requires a COVID test before his concert 👏🏻👏🏻 pic.twitter.com/8mIMzUDJsQ

— Dalia Hasan (@DaliaHasanMD) September 17, 2023

And KISS are using some kind of advanced UV based antiviral treatment before and after each show.

https://vancouversun.com/news/local-news/kiss-took-vancouver-firms-treatment-to-avoid-covid-and-cancelling-world-tour-manager

xp Well, this is the "Conclusion" of that Int'; Journal of Audiology report... just pointing it out

Ah, there's been a shit ton more research since then. Too much to link to, but this gives some indication.

https://www.google.com/search?q=covid+hearing+loss+tinnitus&oq=covid+hearing+loss+tinnitus