On Books & Writing Highlights from Image: Amazing Grace; Bono and Christian music This new Image blog? I'm loving it. Brave, thought-provoking, substantial new material every week. Check out A.G. Harmon's skepticism regarding the celebrated movie Amazing Grace. And Lukas Kwong's excellent consideration of church music and the Christian musician. Should Christian musicians be following Bono&
On Songs & Albums Sufjan Stevens Plays The Innocence Mission In this Pitchfork blog entry on Sufjan Stevens, there's a link to video of Sufjan Stevens (hooray!) performing a cover of The Innocence Mission's "The Lakes of Canada" (hooray!!!)
On Songs & Albums Have you heard? Sufjan Stevens has a new release. Someone asked me why I hadn't blogged yet about the new Sufjan Stevens release, and my answer is, um, well, I've been too busy listening to it. In fact, Sufjan doesn't just have one new volume of material... no, he has FIVE new volumes
On Movies & Media Byrne Wowed by Sufjan The great rock-and-roll pioneer David Byrne attended a Sufjan Stevens concert this month. What did he think? Here's his report. Thanks to Darren Hughes for the link.
On Songs & Albums Erlewine asks: Is Sufjan Stevens Vastly Overrated? Even as one AMG reviewer praises Sufjan Stevens' The Avalanche, another -- Stephen Thomas Erlewine, one of AMG's most prolific reviewers -- has posted a strikingly different assessment of Stevens' work. I know there are several Stevens listeners reading here. What do you think?
On Songs & Albums Sufan Stevens talks (or doesn't) to Busted Halo about his faith Thanks to Heather for pointing out this link. Sufjan Stevens: I think it’s an inherent problem in any kind of public discourse. When you have celebrities talking about their failed marriages or their infidelities or their drug problems, it’s just something that’s not the public’s business.
On Songs & Albums Sufjan Stevens is my new hero. I liked his Seven Swans album. Then I grew to love it. I liked his Illinois album. These days, I love it more than I can say. The two songs "John Wayne Gacy Jr." and "Casimir Pulaski Day" are better on their own than any other
Looking Elsewhere More specials: Serenity clip. Best album of '05? Smog video. Narnia pics. More specials: * A truly troubling clip that seems to be from Joss Whedon's Serenity. Viewer discretion ... no, make that listener discretion advised. * Josh Hurst just noticed that Sufjan Stevens' Illinois is no longer the "best-reviewed album of the year" ... at least for now. Who took
On Songs & Albums The Onion AV Guide Asks Sufjan Stevens About Faith from The Onion AV guide: SS: Um... Yeah, I think it's a little disconcerting. It can be a little frustrating. I think that certain terms that we use to describe a culture or religion are in some ways our way of isolating people, and I think sometimes these
Looking Elsewhere Specials: See Sufjan! Costello/Harris tour. Arcade Fire buys a church. Terry Teachout goes to a movie alone. More. Today's specials: * Now you can watch Sufjan Stevens play Morning Becomes Eclectic. He plays music from 2005's best album thus far... Illinois. * Get ready. Elvis Costello's gonna tour with Emmylou Harris. * First, The Arcade Fire release the best album by a rock band in
On Songs & Albums Is "Illinois" the best "Christian album" of the year? Sufjan Stevens' new album Illinois is very, very strange. And very, very good. And, judging by the critical response it's getting, it looks like the most highly praised album recorded by a Christian singer/songwriter in many years. (Am I forgetting any similarly celebrated titles?) Check it
