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Utopian Turtletop. Monsieur Croche's BĂȘte Noire. Contact: turtletop [at] hotmail [dot] com

Saturday, December 10, 2005

My friend Jake brought over the recent Sufjan Stevens album about Illinois and we listened to it tonight. I'd never heard Stevens. First, rough, half-distracted impressions:

Virtuoso composing technique, including the densely layered, un-messy arrangements. Influence from Steve Reich and Vince Guaraldi and put through the finger-busting meter changes of 1970s "progressive" rock, but without Prog's pomp; the rhythmic shiftiness redeemed by continual melodic fetchingness; the masterful musicianship in juxtaposition with the soft-spoken detached yet sensitivo voice/persona. What little of the lyrics I caught either didn't sink in or they actively bugged me; with music this fresh and interesting, unappealing lyrics can be more easily forgiven.
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