Chorus.fm Record of the Week Club • Page 58

I think I listened to this album once but I don't remember a thing.

 

For real, I have to admit that I've never sat down with A Sun Came but barring that I'm somewhere between "really enjoy" and "deeply love" on his whole mainline discography.

Someday I'll actually sit down with all the Christmas stuff haha

 

I should mention that the friend who did the orchestra arrangement was who I originally was gonna pick but her stuff has been off streaming for a while, so if you feel like having a bonus listen or two on YouTube:

This album was directly inspired by Illinois, it’s a songcycle about bicycles. The orchestra also premiered this (percussion folks like me got to play a bike as an instrument, it was great)

This is the album I was thinking of bringing, a delightful slice of baroque-tinged indie pop. “Love and Sadness” is one of my all time favorite songs and I don’t think that’s because of a friendship bias.

 

A Sun Came is so fun. A lot of cool loosies on that one featuring sounds he’d never try again lol.

 

Im alone in the office today, going to try and work out how to load this on the office account to blast everyone on Monday.

 

Still catching up.

This Is All We Ever Get by Spaced was a ton of fun. You can’t go wrong with a 15min hardcore record. It reminded me a ton of Turnstile, a band who it took me a while to get into, but when it finally clicked, it clicked. I can see myself revisiting this, especially if I’m going for a quick run or something like that.

Kaputt by Destroyer - This one is not for me. It started off promising, with some very intriguing and dreamy instrumentals, particularly the bass lines, but I was ready for it to be done by the end. The lyrics and vocal style are a combo that I just find kind of grating.

 

I’m not a Sufjan fan in the slightest so I think I’ll sit this week out

 

That is surprising to me actually

 

Did you ever check out his newer records by chance? I think Javelin is 100% his best, and The Ascension is underrated/different enough from his other stuff (as an electronic record) that I wonder if you might appreciate it more than the more orchestral stuff a lot of his fans love.

I'm also surprised considering your writing. I find so much of what he writes to be similarly gorgeous (and occasionally devastating).

 

well, I certainly appreciate the kind words but he’s just not for me, I’m afraid. believe me, I’ve tried

 

This Battles record is extremely my shit. Right off the bat, these are some of the best sounding drums I’ve ever heard.

 

Yea the Battles record is fantastic and unlike anything I’ve heard before. It has a jazz like quality, where many elements feel like they were created right there in the moment. There’s a manic energy to it, but not in an overwhelming way. I don’t know enough about the nitty gritty of production to talk too much about how things are mixed and recorded, but I know every instrument sounds here exactly how it should. It is maybe a little long, but that is the most minor of criticisms.

 

"Concerning the UFO Sighting..." is such a beautiful opener. I think I just tend to prefer his stripped down moments over the grandiose, orchestral stuff, even though that's undeniably great stuff as well

 

This is a fascinating album. As a lifelong Illinois resident, it's really cool to see a writer engaging with the state, especially the more rural areas (see also The Mountain Goats' Full Force Galesburg). I like the big orchestral moments the best on here, though I'm sure with more time to sit with the lyrics I would enjoy the quiet parts just as much.

 

I am, as a former resident, a little elated that Crystal Lake made the outtakes

 

This album's like waterskiing to me: it seems fun and impressive but it's for other people.

I like the small room feel of the chamber orchestral textures, I like the rhythms he finds, the little hooks in all their instrumental colours, the way the layers often gradually stack up — and then often evaporate into one base instrument at the end of a track — as well as the intimate placing of his voice in the mix. Everything's well played and balanced. At the end of every song I think, ‘That was nice’. But it just never excites me.

I've tried a couple of his albums over the years. I really liked Carrie & Lowell when it came out. I checked out The Ascension when that came out and thought it was good but that the sonic palette was so similar throughout that its 80 minute runtime was exhausting (not a criticism you can make for Illinois). Maybe I'll get round to Javelin sometime.

 

Definitely recommend Javelin. It's a great amalgamation of his sounds over the years paired with some of his strongest songwriting.

 

I never made an official list but Javelin was my #1 album last year

 

Michigan is my personal favorite but I also think you’d enjoy Seven Swans.

gonna take some time to listen to this tonight or tomorrow

 

Javelin
Carrie & Lowell
Seven Swans
Michigan
The Ascension
Illinois
The Age of Adz

I still need to check out his first two. Illinois is pretty much tied with The Ascension for me, and I bet if I spent more time with The Age of Adz, it would be higher for me. They're all good to great records though. He's a special artist.

 

No love for All Delighted People??

 

I like All Delighted People for sure, I was just doing the studio albums

 

So weird it’s not considered that when it’s an hour long

 

Yeah, Illinois is a gorgeous record and I love Sufjan but I rarely go back to his long albums because I'm just not in the mood for them tbh lol. Carrie & Lowell is my favorite