Project 2010: Indie Crush: Sufjan Stevens

My last song for today was "Decatur" by Sufjan Stevens. I am in love with Sufjan. For those who are not familiar, Sufjan sings beautiful songs about love, loss, adventures, history, and places. I was able to see him last year at All Tomorrow's Parties New York, and it was one of the most amazing shows I've ever been to. He played his album, Seven Swans, from beginning to end, and the thousand people in the room were so quiet that if anyone spoke at a normal voice almost the entire room was able to hear them. His performance was hypnotic. This is "To Be Alone With You" which is on Seven Swans



Sufjan followed up Seven Swans with Michigan- an album about Michigan and then Illinois. Illinois is one of my favorite albums of all time. The stories he tells in his songs are so beautiful, sad, happy, and interesting. "Decatur" is one of my favorites- "Stephen A Douglas is the great debater Abraham Lincoln is the great emancipator." No one else in the world would fit that into a song about a trip with their stepmother:



Finally, this is Casmir Pulaski Day. Every time I hear this song I get really sad and happy at the same time.



So, there is my little salute to Sufjan Stevens. He deserves a lot more- but this is what I've got.

Project 2010: Day 13 - Indie Crush

Today I'm going to talk about one of my indie crushes: Bright Eyes. I absolutely love listening to Bright Eyes' Conor Oberst. I know he's not for everyone, but his lyrics and his melodies just get stuck in my head. He sings about life as many of us live and experience it. He sings about war, love, lust, being drunk, being loved, being caught, being scared, and just plan being young in America right now and the weirdness that all of that means.

With that said, here are a few of my favorites (First Day Of My Life might be one of my favorite music videos ever- did I mention I've been in a really sappy mood, lately?):








Some other observations for today:
Brian Setzer had the first song so far where I just wanted it to end. It couldn't finish soon enough. At all.

I love Dashboard Confessional a little too much. When "As Lovers Go" came on I wanted to belt it out in my cubicle. And I have a terrible voice. It would have been good for no one.

Here's my list for today:
Are We The Waiting - Green Day
Are You A Hypnotist? - The Flaming Lips
Are You Devo - Shelby Sifers
Are You Going To Be My Girl - JET
Are You In? - Incubus
Are You Sad? - Our Lady Peace
Argue - Matchbox Twenty
Ari Are We - Capgun Coup
Arienette - Bright Eyes
Arizona - Kings Of Lean
Armchairs - Andrew Bird
Armies Walk - Nada Surf
Armistace - Phoenix
Arms Of A Thief - Iron & Wine
Army - Ben Folds Five
Army Of One - Phish
Arnold Layne - Pink Floyd
Around The Block - Company Of Thieves
Around The Sun - R.E.M.
Artistic License - The Starting Line
As For Now - Lindsay Rae Spurlock
As Long As I'm Singin' - THe Brian Setzer Orchestra
As Long As You Follow - Fleetwood Mac
As Lovers Go - Dashboard Confessional

Off to listen to more music....