Sun Came

 

 

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Sufjan Stevens is an indie legend now, with brilliant album after brilliant album, right up to the recent "Songs for Christmas." But he started with the sparkling indie-rock of "A Sun Came," a colourful collection of his relatively early songs -- it's rougher than his other stuff, but still overflows with talent and beauty.

It opens with the slightly medieval flavour of "We Are What You Say," with a stately flute-and-tambourine melody. Sufjan solemnly announces that "we are a servant/we have a song" and finishing up with the reverant "The Spirit is life/We are what You say," right before the music swirls off into a mad tangle of Renaissance acid-folk.

Things get indie-rockier with the catchy flute-and-guitar of "A Winner Needs a Wand," grimy "Demetrius," and the breathless, ghostly folk tune of "Rake." From there on, Stevens explores a half dozen different styles: fuzzy indiepop, more medievalish folk-rock, sparkling lo-fi stuff, glitchpop, shimmering rock, sweeping synth-folk, a sitar dance tune, and much more.

A lot of artists don't really know what they're doing when they first start out, or what kind of music they'll be most talented at. Given that Sufjan Stevens explores at least a dozen kinds of music in "A Sun Came," all completely different, it's pretty clear that he was exploring the styles.

And for the most part, he's successful -- there are some weird moments, like the awkward Beckesque "Super Sexy Woman," but far more like "Joy! Joy! Joy!", a mad squiggle of blips that rearrange into a shimmering, scratchy little pop tune. The different styles are tied together with Stevens' unique flourishes -- oddball synth, smooth acoustic guitar, and mellow piano, as well as some indie-rock grind, bells, keyboard, sweet flute and some odd scratches.

His lyrics are laced with religous references ("I would serve the Kingdom's will"), but Stevens doesn't make it in-your-face. It's a part of his music, because it's part of him. His songwriting skills are rather immature here (lots of very similar and/or repeated lines), but his beautifully smooth voice is almost enough to compensate.

Sufjan Stevens made a heartfelt, exquisite debut in "A Sun Came," full of shimmering indie-folk-pop and colourful instrumentation. A must-have, right before you get his other albums.

This album was originally recorded in 1998 with Sufjan at the helm of engineer, producer, composer, and performer. He wears all hats with great elegance and maturity. The album opens up with the song "We are what you say" which is this long, wonderous, eastern-tinged song that explores itself with long trance like passages, the very beginning of the tune feels like it should be the theme song to 'Medieval times'. Enters Sufjan's soft spoken voice and thus enters the soothsayer, or Merlin, or someone that is medieval'ish' with magic.

Some of the highlights of the album are the hilarious 'Godzuki' which is a recording of Sufjan's brother and sister doing a little improv, Sufjan's siblings Djohariah and Marzuki sound like they are 7 or 8, really innocent and having fun making up a little skit. The improv banter that goes on is like anyone would have done at that age just spitting off ideas, ideas about "boogers" and made up names with strange accents. "Super Sexy Woman" alone is worth getting this album, it is like the falsetto of Jeff Buckley meeting the more acoustic part of Beck's "Mellow Gold" mixed with about an undergraduate's worth of smarts and humour. "A Sun Came!" (as an album) is a varied beast with great displays of lyrical prowess and brilliant endevours into compositional and arranging technique. Sufjan, like on Michigan and Illinoise, knows how to hit an emotional core - check out the ending to "A Winner Needs a Wand", the last two minutes (because of the wonderful musical choices made) really hits some sort of center. Or, basically listen to "The Oracle Said Wander", it contains a galaxy of sounds and emotion.

There are free jazz elements as well as Simon and Garfunkle-esque acoustic ballads, there are dance grooves that will bring out the funk in even the worst dancer, there are some wierd chimuk-sounding parts:

"My sister had two b-babies at one time, they were Siamese twins, no they were actually, they were connected at the head, at the head, and the , uh, doctor cut 'em apart and my sister said "I have two kids now, look at me."

And there are parts that will make you want to pull up your shirt expose your navel and swirl those hips like some crazy belly dancer.

I can not explain this album well enough to properly describe it, this album is an experience that you will have to sit down and take in for yourself, come to your own conclusions and see whether you thank me for recommending it, or curse me...

you're welcome!

talking about this album for a long time in a couple of years. I say that because it will probably take a couple of years for people to realize that Sufjan has 2 other albums besides "Michigan" and "Seven Swans" and probably another couple of years for people to actually listen to A Sun Came (his 1st album). I would describe A Sun Came as a rock album by form, but Sufjan's material is more abstract than "Michigan" and "Seven Swans." Songs like "Super Sexy Woman," "The Oracle said wonder," and "Jason" sounds to have more of a sonic youth/pavement influence than anything else. With that, this album does show the initial signs of harmony and melody so cherished on "Michigan" and "Seven Swans." "Year of the Rabbit" Sufjan's 2nd album dives more into exploring harmonies and melodies through electronics, but I'll save that discussion for a rainy day. This album is a wonderful display of the talent that Sufjan has shown consistently through-out his career. So, I would HIGHLY RECOMMEND it!!! Get it, listen to it, and realize for yourself why Sufjan Stevens is a brilliant musician...

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2.0 out of 5 stars So close to liking it!!!
I love this music but I HATE THAT DOUBLE VOICE IN EACH EAR SOUND EFFECT!!!!!!!!!! Ok, there's not two of you ya know. Read more

Published on April 15 2004 by John

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