Sufjan Stevens: The Age of Adz (Asthmatic Kitty, 10/12/10)
Sufjan Stevens: “Too Much”
[audio:http://alarm-magazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/10/Sufjan_Stevens_Too_Much.mp3|titles=Sufjan Stevens: “Too Much”]n 2005, singer/songwriter Sufjan Stevens scored a major hit with Come On Feel the Illinoise, his most detailed album and the second installment in his “50-state project.” Last year he released The BQE, an instrumental soundtrack to his film of the same name, and it was even more elaborate and orchestrated than Illinois.
The Age of Adz (pronounced odds) is his first vocal-based release since Illinois, and longstanding fans should appreciate this more for being a great cross-section of Stevens’ career, mixing the electronic embellishments of his earlier material with the sophisticated folk of his latter. It’s well balanced, with enough pop nuggets and layered complexities to attain a happy medium.