New Albums from Belle & Sebastian and Sufjan Stevens

I agree, Write About Love is nice, but it's certainly not the adventurous side of previous B&S albums. That Norah Jones track is probably the best. 

I LOVE "The Age of Adz".  I'm eargasming to it right now.  I think it's my favorite album this year. 

I didn't like "Write About Love" very much.  It's pleasant, but it hasn't grown on me.

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Originally Posted by pennylane 

I LOVE "The Age of Adz".  I'm eargasming to it right now.  I think it's my favorite album this year. 

 

 

+1 Sufjan is one of my favorite indie artists and "Age of Adz" doesn't disappoint.  It's a great mix of pop, electronic and the usual Sufjan.  It's also awesome on headphones due to all the crazy sound imaging and effects.  I still have to pick up the Belle and Sebastian album
 

Quote:

Originally Posted by Calexico 

On The Age of Adz I like I Walked and I Want To Be Well at this point.  I'm sort of surprised by how well all of his recent stuff has been received.  I'm definitely not getting as much out of his recent work as I did Illinoise.

Interesting.  All Delighted People has had relatively mixed reviews (well, not "universal acclaim" level reviews).  I feel that Adz is about as good as Illinois (ie, really freaking good), so when comparing metacritic scores, Adz seems underrated to me.  It's a departure, but less so if you've heard Sufjan's earlier stuff like Run Rabbit Run.

While the lyrics aren't the affecting vignettes of Illinois or Michigan, I find the frankness and sincerity works very well in a similar way to, say, Plastic Ono Band.  They are the kind of lyrics that I think you have to be able to relate to/surrender yourself to, to enjoy better.  The arrangements on Adz are still great, rich without being overly dense or distracting, even if they're as electronic as they are orchestral/big band-ish.  I think the aggressiveness and tone of the electronics really complements the lyrics and feel of the album.

Anyway, I'm in love with the album.  The more I listen to it, the more I think it might be my favorite album of the last few years.

Belle and Sebastian - more of Dear Catastrophe Waitress, but not quite as fresh sounding.  It's certainly enjoyable enough, but not up there with the last two.

Sufjan Stevens - still not sure about this one.  The trend to overblown repetitiveness doesn't really attract me, his use of electronics is nowhere near as good as other mainstreamers Radiohead, and yet I am still enjoying it. A grower - maybe, but I think more likely one which initial interest gradually subsides to indifference. It is better than the recent EP.

I think that Sufjan's new album is absolutely fantastic, and possibly the best album that he has released in his career.  The blend of electronic from his early days and "illinoise"-like instrumentals come together to make it seem like the sound he's been trying for all along. 

In addition, I think that the longer songs, and to a certain extent the extreme length of the album, are really a statement against the download/singles culture which is dominating music right now.  Sufjan has had some very negative quotes about the fall of the album and the rise of the single-based music economy in the last year or two, and it seems like this is his strike against it.  Fortunately, I think that it ends up working really well.

Interesting.  While a lot of the songs are long, I don't find Adz to be repetitive at all.  At least not repetitive in a boring way.  I think the repetition (like in "Impossible Soul") is used for a mantra-like effect, which I think works really well.  Like, the impact would not be the same without the repetition.  I mean, it's not like it's 25 minutes of the exact same thing.  There are 5 distinct sections in it.  But different strokes, I guess.

Also, if you like the album even a little bit and have a chance to see Sufjan live on this tour, do it.  The show is AMAZING.

I thought that "Impossible Soul" was overblown and repetitive when I first heard it, but it's rapidly grown into one of my favourites from the album, and for some reason seems to fly by now. Overall, I don't Like Adz as much as I do Seven Swans, which remains my favourite Sufjan album, or Illinois. Still, I'd probably have to re-buy it if I lost it, which is always a good sign.

I tuned out on Belle and Sebastian a few years back; loved their early albums but felt that they lost their way a bit. May give this new album a shot.

I'm not sure how I feel about the Age of Adz, meaning that I really haven't listened to it enough to have formed a solid opinion. I definitely find it to be a departure from typical Sufjan; even his recent albums like the BQE sound nothing like this. It kind of sounds he merged with Radiohead during the Kid A / Amnesiac era.

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Originally Posted by LeChuck 

I'm not sure how I feel about the Age of Adz, meaning that I really haven't listened to it enough to have formed a solid opinion. I definitely find it to be a departure from typical Sufjan; even his recent albums like the BQE sound nothing like this. It kind of sounds he merged with Radiohead during the Kid A / Amnesiac era.

That's a good observation, it does sound more like Kid A than the usual banjo, acoustic folk in just about every other Sufjan album.  I've listened to this album at least 5 or 6 times and I really like it now.  I like how Sufjan is willing to change his sound and experiment and do what ever the heck he wants on an album.  Probably my favorite album of 2010.