Sufjan Stevens - Seven Swans

I first heard of Sufjan Stevens through an interview with Sam Beam(Iron & wine). He said that he loved Sufjan's music, so I decided to check out his website to see if he had any free songs for download before I go out and buy the CD. Well his website has weird navagation(although it looks cool), and I ended up downloading some really weird awful song(mabey not even by him). After this dissapointing download I decided to not take sam beams recomendations as gospel.

Foward about two months; I was browsing around on amazon and they suggested I check out Sufjan as well. So I streamed the album, and I was really amazed by his songwriting and the overall sound of the CD. The CD is banjo-driven, slow paced, and uses alot of religious imagery....not exactly the best sales pitch, but it's actaully very creative and is much closer to nick drake than earle scruggs. The Cd  has some rough edges and interesting textures that bring to mind the music of tom waits. Check it out, and pick up a copy of "greetings from michigan(the great lake state)"....which shares similarites with "roger & me".

Songs to check out on Seven Swans:

Dress Looks Nice on You

Seven Swans

To Be Alone With You