Sufjan Stevens "Silver & Gold"

Sufjan Stevens released his second collection of 5 Xmas EP's, "Silver & Gold" and I cannot recommend this highly enough. Ok, let's get my bias out of the way, he's one of my favorite artists so I was pretty excited to hear it. I have been a total music geek for a long long time, heck maybe 40+ years. I've got a massive collection that spans every genre you could imagine and for me Sufjan Stevens is easily among the greats, no matter the era. I could write volumes on his brilliance...as a writer, composer, ability to express and transcend...there has never been anyone like him.

Silver & Gold is a massive output. There are traditional Christmas songs (presented in nontraditional ways!) and original compositions. There are Choral arrangements, orchestral works, electronica, folk, 30 second songs to epic 20 minute explorations. Because this was recorded over many years and over those years his style has had so many very different faces, the project moves all over the genre map. Some sounds like Seven Swans, some like Michigan, Illinoise, Age of Adz and some like nothing I've heard before. It's a massive volume too so not all is going to be easily digestible, this is going to take several plays.

Another interesting point for me is the subject matter. I don't celebrate Christmas and yet I still find this to be a very soulful, emotional record. I will probably not play some of the more traditional songs as much or the cartoonnish, playful tracks but I am still able to connect with the album.

As an audiophile I can also recommend this as well as all of his work. He has always put out exceptional recordings, many of which I use as reference. There are harmonies, complicated orchestral passages, acoustic instruments, excellent use of space/staging and many listening cues so I've found his music to make for a fine tool when working on my rig or auditioning gear.

Anyway, enough of my ramble. I just wanted to give this epic it's own thread and share my enthusiasm for it.