Sufjan Stevens - The Age of Adz (Asthmatic Kitty)

At last Sufjan Stevens releases a LP that isn't a studio outtake, EP, soundtrack or box set. It has been five years since the release of the very successful indie masterpiece Illinois. Now Sufjan comes with a more average way of an artist with The Age of Adz. Instead of 35 word long song titles and seven second songs, or focusing on a state like Michigan or Illinois. No, Sufjan makes his most traditional album yet.

The indie folk/pop that has dominated Sufjan's sound has been transformed into a chaotic, huge mass electronic orchestra including flutes, strings, choirs, horns, samples, and so much more. The sound can take a few spins of the album to really start sinking in. The instrumentation is constantly changing that you never truly know what's going to happen next. The crescendos and decrescendos move with perfection and deliver tremendous structured, complex songs.

All above Sufjan's soaring vocals, the instrumentation is having a hay-day. When Sufjan is uttering female names like "Gloria" and "Victoria" in a beautiful voice over electronic glitchy beats on the title track, The Age of Adz truly comes together. Those "wow" moments appear a lot on the album, like the tear-jerking choir on "Now That I'm Older" and the horn and flute work on "Get Real Get Right".

Probably the biggest example of Sufjan's insanity is showcased on 25 minute epic "Impossible Soul". "Impossible Soul" starts out with a moderate ballad with beautiful vocals from Sufjan and then explodes into an epic and heavily distorted guitar solo. Sufjan's chaotic, glitchy electronic orchestra weaves and floats through many changes through Sufjan's line of "Don't be distracted" and then moves into the most bizarre moment on The Age of Adz. Sufjan takes the mic with auto-tune in effect and it makes him sound like every other mediocre hit on the radio. This may be off the topic of this review, but I utterly despise auto-tune. It makes people that have no vocal talent and makes them sound robotic and synthetic. Sufjan can sings just beautifully, the idea of using auto-tune was horrible. After the painful six minutes of auto-tune, "Impossible Soul" transforms into a dancy, fist-pumping jam that is backed my Sufjan's yells of "It's not so impossible!".

"Impossible Soul" is probably the breaking point of whether or not your going to like The Age of Adz. Part one of the song is solid, part two is mediocre, and part three is spot on. What I love about part three of "Impossible Soul" is the soul Sufjan sings in. The same way he controversially sings "I'm not f***ing around" on the climatic "I Want to Be Well". This soul transends The Age of Adz into an excellent, mature album that will have you going back for seconds, thirds and even fourths.

I didn't think that Sufjan's strongest work of Illinois could possibly be beat, but here it is. The Age of Adz is Sufjan's best effort by far. Sufjan's mature, polished approach was spot on. Leading in from a solid EP, All Delighted People, The Age of Adz is a very good effort. The chaotic, glitchy electronic orchestra that Sufjan crafted is just so entertaining to listen to. Face it, he's not f***ing around.

Overall: 8.4/10

Track Listing:

1. Futile Devices - 8.0
2. Too Much - 9.0
3. Age of Adz - 9.0
4. I Walked - 8.5
5. Now That I'm Older - 8.0
6. Get Real Get Right - 8.5
7. Bad Communication - 8.0
8. Vesuvius - 8.5
9. All For Myself - 8.0
10. I Want To Be Well - 9.0
11. Impossible Soul - 8.5

Sample:

Gonjasufi - A Sufi and a Killer (Warp)

I downloaded Gonjasufi's A Sufi and a Killer months and months ago but really never got around to listening to it. I listened to bits of it and really didn't like it. Now, seven months late, I started to really listen to it. Gonjasufi is a rapper/singer, disc jockey and yoga teacher from San Diego who has been making underground rap since the '90s. His big break happened on Flying Lotus's second LP Los Angeles where he had a guest appearance on a track. Now, Gonjasufi was signed to Warp Records and hit off with his debut A Sufi and a Killer.

A Sufi and a Killer is by far one of the most enticing and bizarre listens of the year. Gonjasufi creates a kind of '60s psychedelic rap with his rusty, Tom Waits-like voice. Going from track to track on A Sufi and a Killer you won't really find a definitive theme to the LP. Instead you'll find an assorted mess of lo-fi songs that Gonjasufi truly has put his heart into. The bizarre choice of styles that Gonjasufi will put out really span to many genres, it's hard to really pinpoint a definitive style for him. You have the heavy screamo-like metal song "SuzieQ", the R&B beauty "Sheep" and the disco-electro styled "Candylane".

One thing that Gonjasufi does keep constant on A Sufi and a Killer is the heavy voice-clipped vocals that have a Middle Eastern influence throughout. It sounds as though Gonjasufi recorded his vocals with his hands clapped over his mouth then recorded that with a computer's recording capabilities. It can drag the sound down, but it also can lift it up. If you're a lo-fi junkie with a heart towards a rough and jagged vocal with a deep, piercing instrumental that really make you groove backward.

Gonjasufi's honest and heart-filled lyricism is truly worthy to note. "Oh how I wish I was/One of your gentle sheep/Only made out of love/Like a bird in retreat," croons Gonjasufi on one of the strongest tracks "Sheep". Love is a major theme of his lyrics, weather it's lost, found or searching; love is there in his lyrics, "so deep in love/Covered with sheets of past/And candy canes".

A Sufi and a Killer is one of the most intriguing and enticing listens you will have for 2010 so far. Songs like "Duet", "Sheep", and "DedNd" are fun and create Gonjasufi's psychedelic-like rap/soul style to a definitive lock. If you're looking for a very bizarre and tripped out trip of music, take a plunge into A Sufi and a Killer.

Overall - 8.0/10

Track Listing:

1. Untitled - 7.0
2. Kobwebz - 8.0
3. Ancestors - 8.5
4. Sheep - 9.0
5. She Gone - 7.5
6. SuzieQ - 6.5
7. Stardustin' - 7.0
8. Kowboyz&Indians - 8.0
9. Change - 8.0
10. Duet - 9.0
11. Candylane - 8.5
12. Holidays - 8.0
13. Love of Reign - 8.0
14. Advice - 8.5
15. Klowds - 7.0
16. Ageing - 7.5
17. DedNd - 9.0
18. I've Given - 8.5
19. Made - 9.0

Sample:

Deerhunter - Halcyon Digest (4AD)

When Deerhunter's frontman Bradford Cox was asked what the album's title meant, he replied, "the album's title is a reference to a collection of fond memories and even invented ones, like my friendship with Ricky Wilson or the fact that I live in an abandoned Victorian autoharp factory. The way that we write and rewrite and edit our memories to be a digest version of what we want to remember, and how that's kind of sad." Interesting concept for Deerhunter's fourth studio album.

Since 2001 Bradford Cox and Deerhunter have been crafting slightly dark, plastered shoegaze indie rock that blends itself with spot-on songwriting. 2008's double LP Microcastle/Weird Era Cont. was the height of Deerhunter's power. Now comes 2010's follow up Halcyon Digest. One thought that came across my mind from first impressions of Halcyon Digest is the sound that seems to blend Deerhunter's traditional dark shoegazy progression with Cox's solo work (Atlas Sound) art pop feel. From the hazy lo-fi "Basement Scene" to fist pumping jam "Coronado", Halcyon Digest is the most consistent and ironically, diverse.

Starting off with the sounds of electronic drum machines on opener "Earthquake" but is immediately filled in with oceanic, relaxing guitar lines that back Cox's opening line "do you recall waking up on a dirty couch in the gray fog?". With this combination, of a drum machine chilling guitar lines and surreal lyrics signifies Deerhunter's ability to make different elements combine into a beautiful and coherent sound. On leading single "Revival", Deerhunter puts together a fast-paced, pop-like song that completely contradicts the next up song "Sailing". "Sailing" might be the most emotionally driving track on Halcyon Digest with it's distant, shaky guitar line with Cox's heart-filled lyrics.

Halcyon Digest is full of interesting songs and intricate melodies. One of the most intricate of these is "Helicopter". "Helicopter" is one of the most beautifully crafted tracks on Halcyon Digest with some of the best song-writing around. "Take my hand and pray with me/My final days in company," Cox sings out on the opening lines of "Helicopter". Deerhunter's use of different, assorted instruments like the saxophone, harp and others is very interesting and makes for one of the most fun listens of 2010.

Overall, Halcyon Digest is a combination of Atlas Sound and Deerhunter's past to create a crafty, intricate album that is booming with influence from all the right sources. Hits like "Helicopter" and "Desire Lines" make Halcyon Digest a album of the year contender.

Overall: 8.6/10

Track Listing:

1. Earthquake - 9.0
2. Don't Cry - 8.0
3. Revival - 8.5
4. Sailing - 8.5
5. Memory Boy - 8.0
6. Desire Lines - 9.0
7. Basement Scene - 9.0
8. Helicopter - 9.0
9. Fountain Stairs - 8.5
10. Coronado - 8.5
11. He Would Have Laughed - 8.5

Sample: