Kid is special
― Mule, Monday, 25 December 2017 23:16 (six years ago) link
This song rules
― timellison, Monday, 25 December 2017 23:45 (six years ago) link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zAcn32Usjy0
the two new songs are nice, but this one's especially great. i'd really love a whole album that sounds like this, it's basically exactly where i wanted him to go after the last two albums.
― ufo, Wednesday, 29 May 2019 14:36 (four years ago) link
like i'm absolutely here for chill synthpop sufjan with kinda sophisti-vibes and extended guitar solos
― ufo, Wednesday, 29 May 2019 14:40 (four years ago) link
I've preordered this so it better not suck
https://theascension.sufjan.com/
― k*r*n koltrane (Simon H.), Tuesday, 30 June 2020 14:08 (three years ago) link
so is this gonna be his Wisconsin album or.....
― frogbs, Tuesday, 30 June 2020 14:17 (three years ago) link
btw kinda funny to see this guy have a little resurgence thanks to "The Politician" which uses "Chicago" as its opening theme, I've watched only one episode but you can't pick a more perfect opening song than that. I'm guessing that's not gonna make anyone watch it though
― frogbs, Tuesday, 30 June 2020 14:18 (three years ago) link
the first single is "America" so presumably that will cover all remaining states xp
― k*r*n koltrane (Simon H.), Tuesday, 30 June 2020 14:18 (three years ago) link
"America" drops July 3... cute!
― wet pockets (flamboyant goon tie included), Tuesday, 30 June 2020 14:20 (three years ago) link
I guess nobody was talking about "Aporia" earlier this year but it's really nice
― wet pockets (flamboyant goon tie included), Tuesday, 30 June 2020 14:21 (three years ago) link
general vibe i get from the art & tracklist makes me hopeful it's going to be more of an adz-style proggy synth freakout than folk album
interestingly "america" comes with b-side "my rajneesh"
― ufo, Wednesday, 1 July 2020 10:20 (three years ago) link
Not a chance.
― Heavy Messages (jed_), Wednesday, 1 July 2020 10:29 (three years ago) link
huh "my rajneesh" is 10 minutes! excited for more sufjan epics
― ufo, Wednesday, 1 July 2020 10:52 (three years ago) link
and the a side is 12:30
― assert (MatthewK), Wednesday, 1 July 2020 11:03 (three years ago) link
just lookin at the cues here this feels like it's gonna be a follow up to Age of Adz
― frogbs, Wednesday, 1 July 2020 14:14 (three years ago) link
Hope so...easily my favourite of his albums.
― yugi ex, Wednesday, 1 July 2020 14:48 (three years ago) link
yea I think all his albums are great, but great in the Radiohead sense of the word, where I respect them a lot but don't really want to listen to them often...but if I do reach for one it's usually that one
― frogbs, Wednesday, 1 July 2020 15:06 (three years ago) link
i didn't really get age of adz when it came out but it's since become easily my favourite of his. second favourite is carrie & lowell but the live album from that tour is even better. that tour was one of the best shows i've ever seen
― ufo, Wednesday, 1 July 2020 22:46 (three years ago) link
I really hope the title is a deliberate reference to Glenn Branca :)
― handsome boy modelling software (bernard snowy), Wednesday, 1 July 2020 23:27 (three years ago) link
I kind of assumed as much and it would be amazing if he incorporated some Branca-isms into this one
― k*r*n koltrane (Simon H.), Thursday, 2 July 2020 03:02 (three years ago) link
I didn't like The Age of Adz. Carrie and Lowell was ok
his previous albums - Michigan, Seven Swans, Illinois - were his best imo
― Dan S, Thursday, 2 July 2020 03:19 (three years ago) link
I didn't like AoA at the time but it's gown on me a lot over time
― k*r*n koltrane (Simon H.), Thursday, 2 July 2020 03:22 (three years ago) link
Age of Adz is easily my favorite album of his -- art imitates life after all! Carrie and Lowell comes at a close second
― winters (josh), Thursday, 2 July 2020 04:06 (three years ago) link
I agree with Dan except that Carrie and Lowell is a masterpiece. I would like to join the crew who love AoA, I've tried quite a few times indeed, but I will keep at it.
― assert (MatthewK), Thursday, 2 July 2020 06:19 (three years ago) link
Apparently the new one is inspired by Ariana Grande, Janet Jackson, “eighties and early nineties jams” and features “Prophet synthesizers and Tempest drum machines,” according to a press release that was put up by mistake (and almost immediately taken down).
― ˈʌglɪɪst preɪ, Thursday, 2 July 2020 18:11 (three years ago) link
i mean, you're speaking my language there
― Fuck the NRA (ulysses), Thursday, 2 July 2020 18:41 (three years ago) link
I feel like "fantastic" or "terrible" are really the two possible outcomes on this one
― k*r*n koltrane (Simon H.), Thursday, 2 July 2020 18:51 (three years ago) link
that pretty much confirms it's closer to adz than anything else he's done before and i couldn't be more excited
― ufo, Thursday, 2 July 2020 21:43 (three years ago) link
I saw the Adz tour here, and the place was very sold out with people that pretty clearly only knew him from Illinois. I'm not even sure the Adz album had come out yet! Anyway, people were generally patient but I could tell they were not really having it. He did a couple Illinois songs for the encore and they all went nuts, then went home.
― Josh in Chicago, Thursday, 2 July 2020 21:57 (three years ago) link
someone listen to "america" and tell me if it's any good, I have a weird hangup about not wanting to hear closing tracks in advance
― k*r*n koltrane (Simon H.), Friday, 3 July 2020 16:32 (three years ago) link
hearing reports that it's great and very adz-y
― mellon collie and the infinite bradness (BradNelson), Friday, 3 July 2020 18:13 (three years ago) link
(i have a similar hangup simon but i may check it anyway)
― mellon collie and the infinite bradness (BradNelson), Friday, 3 July 2020 18:14 (three years ago) link
it's adz-y but even more so it's a continuation of the synth-y arrangements from the C&L tour (the live version of "all of me wants all of you" etc.) and it's great
the song is only about 7 minutes long, the rest is an ambient outro so don't expect a mini "impossible soul" or anything
― ufo, Friday, 3 July 2020 21:19 (three years ago) link
"my rajneesh" has leaked a week early too and it's way adz-ier than "america" and it's even better!
― ufo, Friday, 3 July 2020 22:15 (three years ago) link
"my rajneesh" is just immense, would have been one of the best tracks on adz
― ufo, Saturday, 4 July 2020 03:13 (three years ago) link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jn7_JpmhZP0
― ufo, Friday, 10 July 2020 04:47 (three years ago) link
I love him
― winters (josh), Friday, 10 July 2020 04:53 (three years ago) link
okay if that's an outtake then this might be the greatest album ever made
― frogbs, Friday, 10 July 2020 14:34 (three years ago) link
Fantastic song
― Scampidocio (Le Bateau Ivre), Friday, 10 July 2020 14:36 (three years ago) link
Both these songs are a triumph of production/mixing... somehow Sufjan/his mixing engineer managed to find the sweet spot where super-saturated arrangements become pastel instead of intrusive/annoying. All his finicky tendencies are rendered gorgeous, these are already my favourite songs of his. The build at 7:00 on "My Rajneesh" with the backwards drums, trombone solo, dive-bomb synths, goddammit, the intensely beautiful ending, I am shaken
― wet pockets (flamboyant goon tie included), Friday, 10 July 2020 15:12 (three years ago) link
i've played 'rajneesh' four times already this morning, it's quite something.
― ACABincalifornia (voodoo chili), Friday, 10 July 2020 16:22 (three years ago) link
Love both tracks but I understand why he left "My Rajneesh" off the new record since it's so Adz-like and heavily based on "Vesuvius".
― ˈʌglɪɪst preɪ, Friday, 10 July 2020 21:10 (three years ago) link
i'm guessing it also just didn't fit thematically with whatever he's going for on this album, since it was written during the C&L sessions and fits in with the originally planned Oregon theme for that album.
it's certainly one of the best things he's ever done, probably a top 5 sufjan track for me. it's fascinating how it manages to seamlessly transition from the acoustic first section to the Adz-y synth bombast
― ufo, Saturday, 11 July 2020 02:35 (three years ago) link
My Rajneesh is extraordinary
― treeship., Saturday, 11 July 2020 03:06 (three years ago) link
it really is. i wish it was 10 minutes longer
― frogbs, Saturday, 11 July 2020 04:32 (three years ago) link
I'm more excited about America as an album teaser than I would have been with My Rajneesh. I have no idea what the rest of an album featuring America sounds like.
― lukas, Sunday, 12 July 2020 21:02 (three years ago) link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3fCdZzsP4U0
this one's a little more underwhelming, very much what i'd expect from sufjan making a synthpop track but nothing to really elevate it to the standard of his best work
― ufo, Friday, 14 August 2020 11:28 (three years ago) link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EOstc1ZfDN4
this one's much better than "video game". the same style just executed far far better (also with a long instrumental intro)
― ufo, Wednesday, 16 September 2020 12:49 (three years ago) link
new album is fine but i don't think it's a masterpiece on the level of his last two. it's a bit too samey for how long it is but i do really like "make me an offer i cannot refuse" and "tell me you love me"
it's very clear why "my rajneesh" wouldn't have fit on the album but it's significantly better than anything on it. even "with my whole heart" from last year is very similar in sound to the album but much stronger and has a little more going on than most of the album
― ufo, Friday, 25 September 2020 02:47 (three years ago) link
First impression on the new album is that there’s a dissonance between the intended scope and the sound of it. It’s an album of big musical ideas but meager sound palette and production... and I don’t feel it’s an aesthetic choice. It sounds outdated but not on purpose.
― ✖✖✖ (Moka), Friday, 25 September 2020 05:14 (three years ago) link