Sufjan Stevens - The Age of Adz
Rating
RIYL
Thom YorkeThe Album Leaf
Beirut
Release Date
10/12/2010
Tracklist
Futile DevicesToo Much
Age of Adz
I Walked
Now That I’m Older
Get Real Get Right
Bad Communication
Vesuvius
All For Myself
I Want to be Well
Impossible Soul
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“I won’t have you, of all people, cheapen what should be an endless pursuit of perfection just because you want the world to laugh with you tonight.” - Perry Cox
Using that quote isn’t a slight on anybody who has given five-star ratings in the past, but merely a justifier for my own actions. The Age of Adz has been on repeat from iPod to car to lounge to lecture theatre for just over a month now. Regardless of other albums that have come out since, I have kept coming back to this for fear and fantasy of finding something new, something brave, something unheard, and each time I am rewarded. I’ve been battling with the Scrubs quote; questioning whether this is the album I want to give that ever elusive five star rating to; is there anything this side of OK Computer that truly merits perfection? But what it comes down to is that this is the only album I have heard this year that since first hearing "I Want to be Well," I have not found fault with. For that, Sufjan Stevens deserves that extra half a star.
Stevens has been a musician who, over the last decade or so, has appeared to operate on a different frequency. While The Age of Adz is his first ‘album’ in five years, he has been nothing if not occupied. But that's where Stevens sidesteps convention, and without indulging too much in hyperbole, works in a way that few other musicians can touch. Along with his second volume of christmas tunes and a collection of music and noise whose concept lay in a New York freeway, Stevens has been known to create music inspired by astrology, power and the intricacies of his own environment. While such experimentation has not always translated across sonic boundaries (Sufjan’s first release was an instrumental album of the Chinese Zodiac) and ideas have been abandoned (Illinois and Michigan were the first of his 50 albums/50 states concept), the culmination of work has brought about The Age of Adz, and weird has never sounded better.
As the slow picking guitar and breathy vocals of "Futile Devices" opens the album, fans of "Chicago" and "That Dress Looks Nice On You" won’t be discomfited. As he closes with, “I think of you / as my brother / although that sounds dumb / and words are just futile devices,” he leaves behind his past of narrative and musical concepts. Kicking down the doors of "Too Much" with the drill synth guitar prevalent on the Sleighbells debut, however, the usual suspects might get a bit of a surprise. Going for an atmospheric and grandiose approach, The Age of Adz is all drum machines, MPCs and that post-sci fi mix of electro orchestra. With choral accompaniment and piano/harp vibe on "Now That I’m Older," Stevens continues the thread of evolving sounds and self-realisation but only allows sentiment to reign for the one track. His boyish tones tell of a “Saturday night / you sleep with a rifle at your side / delivering speeches / delivering speeches / left and right,” atop loops of Disney musical enchantment for "Get Real Get Right."
Despite the all encompassing beauty that is the first half of the album, The Age of Adz holds its best form for its final moments. "Vesuvius" might be a display of arrogance from our clean cut troubadour, but it is one well deserved. Talking himself through his own achievements and insecurities the song climaxes with a harmony of “Sufjan, the panic inside / the murdering ghost / that you cannot ignore. Vesuvius / fire of fire / follow me now / as I favor the host.” "All for Myself" once again relies on looping orchestral instruments and pre-packaged drum beats, and although these are common throughout the album, the arrangements leave a lot for the imagination and allow for effective repetition rather than annoying monotony. "I Want to Be Well" holds its own for the most climactic of any of the songs on the album, with Stevens first speaking, then singing, and finally bellowing, "I’m not fucking around," out across the landscape of sound surrounding him.
For its 11 tracks, The Age of Adz is an opus of sound clocking in at just over 75 minutes. But more than a third of this is found in the sprawling, rollicking and ever evolving 25 minutes of the finale "Impossible Soul." A concept album in its own right, the 25 minute tag would have most listeners expecting at least 15 of pure silence before listening, as many great albums have had in the past, teasing the listener before the ‘secret’ track is revealed. Stevens has opted for a different route: a constant barrage of electronic, symphonic, harmonic sonic serenity which will not let go of your attention, save momentarily in order to get a better hold. It is an autobiographical masterpiece that can hardly be contained within the confines of this review, but any prospective listener should know at least this; there is auto-tune.
I’m not sure how much of my time I have devoted to attempting to understand and revel in this album recently, but I’m relatively certain it has been time well spent. Although I was warned that giving this album a five star review would hardly be surprising, I feel that stands as testament to Stevens place within a fickle industry, rather than to my own ideals as a biased indie kid. The Age of Adz might not be perfection in everyone's mind, but to me at least, it is in hot pursuit.
--Sandy Powell
Comments
Spokane, Washington
nicely written, sandy. i like sufjan, and i very much dig this album, but i find myself liking his music best when it's him and his acoustic. his experimental work is definitely an acquired taste.
Current Listenings:
7 Horns 7 Eyes - "Throes of Absolution"
Horse Feathers - "Cynic's New Year"
Andrew Bird - "Break It Yourself"
Sigur Ros - "Valtari"
Rocky Votolato - "Television of Saints"
Janus - "Nox Aeris"
Blues Traveler - "25"
Washington, DC
Awesome review.
"Standing still is where we've gone wrong" - The dingees
www.twitter.com/stephenharris09
http://www.last.fm/user/tunemyheart
Baton Rouge
Like hell this album is perfect.
Boobs
http://thenicsperiment.blogspot.com/
Copperas Cove, TX
Fantastic review but I read it out of morbid curiousity, I am glad I haven't jumped on this guys bandwagon.
"Let no one know that God hasn’t any friends and if wilderness is found laid out across your heart, then child I do understand that you haven’t a clue of where to start." -Me.
Minnesota
Yeah, I'm not a Sufjan fan either. But it's probably because I'm not a huge fan of this style of music in general.
Find me EVERYWHERE:
Sunshine Coast, Australia
Yeah I can definitely see this album/style of music alienating a fuckload of people, but I just love it.
"If you want something done right, get a fucking Australian band to do it" - Chris Cheney
Copperas Cove, TX
I'm a fan of music like this, I'm just not a fan of him, at all, I don't even see the artistic merit in his music. It's bland and generic.
"Let no one know that God hasn’t any friends and if wilderness is found laid out across your heart, then child I do understand that you haven’t a clue of where to start." -Me.
Sunshine Coast, Australia
yeah, neither of us are gonna win this argument.
"If you want something done right, get a fucking Australian band to do it" - Chris Cheney
more often then not, I think the instant gut reaction of most on here, when we see a 5/5 rated album, is to assume fanboyism... it's honestly pretty true more often then not... but to be a real critic means rating based on what you FEEL, not what you think others want to hear... and Mr. Powell, I think you did just that right here... I, having read it, feel you put your heart into your rating and commend you on it. Good job.
"These are our lives, but did they ever even matter - are we worth remembering?"
- "Tip The Scales"
Rise Against
Senegal Africa
This album is like listening to sufan's back catalog on shrooms. I respect the experimentation and going in a different direction than most fans would expect but this album has been pretty hard for me to get my head around. I dont know if he has been touring with bands like MGMT or Animal Collective but it sounds like he has been inspired by them or other psychedelic pop bands. I wouldn't really call this album generic or bland but I could understand that critisicm with his more acoustic oriented music even though I'm a fan of it. Impossible soul is my favorite track so far mostly because its 25 minutes long and it kept my interest the whole time.
Listening to:
fuckin african mosques (Tang na bu baax)
Spokane, Washington
well said.
Current Listenings:
7 Horns 7 Eyes - "Throes of Absolution"
Horse Feathers - "Cynic's New Year"
Andrew Bird - "Break It Yourself"
Sigur Ros - "Valtari"
Rocky Votolato - "Television of Saints"
Janus - "Nox Aeris"
Blues Traveler - "25"
Copperas Cove, TX
As I said, it was a well written review and not once did I bring up any accusation of "fanboyism," there was no gut reaction, gut reactions don't read reviews.
"Let no one know that God hasn’t any friends and if wilderness is found laid out across your heart, then child I do understand that you haven’t a clue of where to start." -Me.
Lehigh Valley, PA
Well written review... hate the music.
actually adjective, wasn't addressing you at all... I kinda skipped your guys' banter, I just know that people usually get tons of flak for their 5/5 ratins.
"These are our lives, but did they ever even matter - are we worth remembering?"
- "Tip The Scales"
Rise Against
Boston, MA
Great review. This album is, in fact, brilliant. Seeing him perform most of these tracks live with 14 people gave a whole new meaning to them. "Impossible Soul" makes much more sense when watching it performed in all of it's theatrical glory as I assume it was meant to be seen and heard.
Stereo Typing
Tweet at me, bro
Sunshine Coast, Australia
yeh mate don't think there was a stab at you there at all, you were commenting on the music... not the review, appreciate the opinions man, it's all goood.
Cheers double driven, means a lot.
"If you want something done right, get a fucking Australian band to do it" - Chris Cheney
Baltimore, MD
I really didn't want to like it but, by golly, I do. Very solid collection of tunes on here. Much better than I expected.
Last.fm | RateYourMusic | 8tracks
I only liked Too Much, the rest... meh. Nice review though. Well written and not just a high rating for the sake of it.