Sufjan Stevens, Greetings From Michigan: The Great Lake State (Asthmatic Kitty) 9+
At first glance at the cheesy cover art and an initial listen to the first track, it seems like Sufjan Stevens is just another sad whitey playing mopey folk, like we need another one of those. But “Flint (For the Unemployed and Underpaid)” turns out to be quite a pretty little number, with piano and horns. It’s a simple protest ballad that Bruce Springsteen and Billy Bragg would admire.
Greetings From Michigan reveals more of its hidden talents on the percolating “All Good Naysayers, Speak Up! Or Forever Hold Your Peace!” which sounds like a folky Stereolab, with wonderful backing vocals from members of the Danielson Famile, Stevens’ regular tourmates. No mere folk multi-instrumentalist (including keyboards, banjo, glockenspiel, xylophone, vibraphone and wood flute), Stevens is a gifted arranger and even has a firm grasp on avant-garde experimental music and electronica, as demonstrated on his second album, 2001’s
Enjoy Your Rabbit. This combination makes for a truly special listening experience, fleshing out a seemingly spare, plaintive banjo-plucked ditty like “For the Widows in Paradise, For The Fatherless In Ypsilanti” into memorable art music with heart. On “Say Yes! To Michigan,” the odd marching band sound recalls Neutral Milk Hotel, but less willfully eccentric, while Stevens’ softer, subtler vocals still manage to pack nearly as much harrowing emotional punch. The fact that there is no tidy conclusion, trailing off with “I did everything for you,” makes it all the more realistic and compelling. “Tahquamenon Falls” and “Alanson, Crooked River” are sparkling, chiming instrumentals that evoke an icy beauty similar to Björk’s
Verspertine. “Holland” features intricate guitar playing worthy of prime Nick Drake. “Detroit, Lift Up Your Weary Head! (Rebuild! Restore! Reconsider!)”” is even more densely busy, brilliantly using rhythm to reflect the bustling and pulsing energy of the industrial city to a similar effect as Charles Mingus’ landmark “A Foggy Day (In San Francisco)." “They Also Mourn Who Do Not Wear Black (For The Homeless In Michigan)” uses similarly frenetic drum patterns, with cacophonous toyboxes of bells and whistles, incorporating enticing elements of the post-rock of Pram, Tortoise, The Sea And Cake and Jim O’Rourke. “Romulus” strips the sound back down to simple folk, handling a loss of a grandparent with the deft touch of heart-wrenching detail and naked honesty. As the energy winds down, Stevens stretches out with the languid, 9:23 “Oh God, Where Are You Now? (In Pickeral Lake? Pigeon? Marquette? Mackinaw?)" This might be a bit slow and long for some, but it rewards patience with blissful harmonies and a beautiful orchestral conclusion. Michigan is portrayed with complex, mixed emotions of affection, sadness and admonishment with such intimacy and passion as if it were family. Indeed, Brooklyn-based Stevens grew up there. And remarkably, he claims to have plans to record an album for all fifty states. It is doubtful that he could regularly match the heights reached here about states he may have only passed through. But whatever Stevens does in the future, his place is secure as one of the most vital artists of the 00s on the strength of
Greetings From Michigan.
-- A.S. Van Dorston
