Sufjan Stevens has never been one to shy away from creating music with grandiose thematic concepts. His previous work have tackled the 50 states (Michigan, Illinois), the Chinese Zodiac signs (Enjoy Your Rabbit), and even the BQE (um, duuuuh, The BQE).

So when I first learned he was working on a new project that would serve as an anthem of the solar system, well, I can’t say I was surprised. It’s like being shocked by news of Snooki having genital herpes… or Hepatitis B… or full-blown AIDS — well, you get the picture.

Depending on where you stand on concept music and, more specifically, Sufjan’s concept music, you are either incredibly psyched about this new project or you are rolling your eyes so far back, someone has likely called for your immediate medical attention.

So far, there is no word of a proper album release. Instead, Sufjan is on the road with the National’s Bryce Dessner and multi-instrumentalist Nico Muhly doing a handful of European and Australian dates to preview the new material.

Joined onstage with the New Trombone Collective & Navarra String Quartet, Sufjan, Dessner and Muhly played Amsterdam’s Het Muziektheater on the weekend. After watching YouTube footage of the entire show (doesn’t anyone just watch shows without filming anymore?), I personally think it’s some of Sufjan’s most fascinating work.

The song video clip above, “Mercury”, is arguably my favourite of the 11 songs they performed. Sufjan’s vocals are gorgeous and the strings and percussion arrangements have the kind of epic, cinematic quality you would hear in a Hans Zimmer score.

Another thing I need to mention is Sufjan’s introduction to “Pluto”, where he endearingly explains—in a manner that only Sufjan can—the reasoning behind Pluto’s exclusion as a terrestrial planet.

Pluto is interesting because it’s fixed on its moon, and they rotate around each other staring at each other affectionately. Which is kind of a beautiful metaphor, but I think that was one of the reasons why it was demoted because I think now to be a “proper planet” you have to command the authority of others. And because the moon and Pluto are existentially attached as equals, then neither of them can be considered a planet. Sad but true.

It’s no surprise that Sufjan’s favourite musical genre of music is Christmas music.

A few years back he released a box set of five volumes packed full of original and traditional Christmas music.

Then as each Christmas would approach, subsequent volumes began popping up on the Interweb. However, Volume 6 was never previously available, let alone heard. Until now.

The good folks at rawkblog are currently streaming all seven songs on Volume 6 so now you’ll have a proper soundtrack for all your Christmas activities—whether you’re roasting chestnuts on an open fire, or secretly wishing the 36 people in front of you at the department store line (Readers Note: I don’t actually mean a real case filled with explosive diaherrea because that would be disgusting).

Sufjan Stevens - “Heirloom”, live at Massey Hall on October 13, 2010.

[Flash 9 is required to listen to audio.]

For the past month this blog has inadvertently transformed into some kind of gushing Sufjan Stevens fan site.

But I’m not about to apologize. It’s been five years since we’ve gotten a proper release from everyone’s favourite sensitive indie/folk singer-songwriter so this is a pretty big deal.

And now with his recently released EP, an upcoming North American tour, and a full-length album on the horizon, The Year of Sufjan is Finally Upon Us! Let Us Rejoice!

Well, for those of you who have been dying for October 12th — the release date of Sufjan’s Age of Adz — to come along, you won’t have to wait any longer (at least to hear the album).

The good folks at NPR are currently streaming all 11 tracks off the album. After more than 15 listens of the album I can honestly say that Age of Adz is one of the year’s most ambitious and ground-breaking albums.

Sufjan combines the glitchy future-pop of 2001’s Enjoy Your Rabbit with the lyrical imagery and soaring orchestral arrangements of previous albums, Michigan and Illinois.

This is not to say the album is an easy listen. Your ears and brain will have to do a little work here, especially when considering the length of the material (songs range from four minutes up to 25 minutes!).

But overall, Sufjan delivers another classic album with Age of Adz which more than makes up for the five years we had to wait for its release.

Barely a week ago, Sufjan Stevens fans were graced with a surprise announcement from Asthmatic Kitty of the sudden and unexpected arrival of his new EP, All Delighted People. I bought the album immediately and after a few listens I had fallen in love. But then again, Sufjan can record an hour of his bowel movement and it’ll sound like Handel’s f**king Messiah to me. So you can imagine how thrilled I was this morning when Asthmatic Kitty announced that on October 12th Sufjan will release The Age of Adz, his first song-based full-length follow-up to 2005’s Illinois. I’ve already ordered it on vinyl, which includes a free digital download of the album which will be available two weeks in advance of the October 12th. So you can expect another post about the album after I listen to it a couple of times. Sweet Moses, it is sickening how big of a fanboy I have become. Asthmatic Kitty writes: The Age of Adz (pronounced “odds”) differs from Stevens’ previous works in its lack of conceptual underpinnings. The album relinquishes the songwriter’s former story-telling techniques for more basic proclamations unhindered by concepts: there are few narrative conceits or character sketches, no historical panoramas, no civic gestures, no scene, setting, conflict, resolution or denouement. Rather, the themes developed here are neither historical nor polemical, but rather personal and primal: love, sex, death, disease, illness, anxiety and suicide all figure in the songwriting.The title The Age of Adz is a reference to the apocalyptic art of Royal Robertson (1930-1997), a Louisiana-based sign-maker (and self-proclaimed prophet) who suffered from schizophrenia. Robertson’s work depicts his vivid dreams and visions of space aliens, futuristic automobiles, eccentric monsters and signs of the Last Judgment. Portions of Stevens’ album use Robertson’s work as an idealistic springboard and a selection of Robertson’s drawings (his primary media were poster board, magic marker, and glitter) appear throughout the album art. Here’s the full tracklist for Age of Adz: 1. Futile Devices - 2:11 2. Too Much - 6:44 3. Age of Adz - 8:00 4. I Walked - 5:01 DOWNLOAD ME! 5. Now That I’m Older - 4:56 6. Get Real Get Right - 5:10 7. Bad Communication - 2:24 8. Vesuvius - 5:26 9. All for Myself - 2:55 10. I Want To Be Well - 6:27 11. Impossible Soul - 25:35

Barely a week ago, Sufjan Stevens fans were graced with a surprise announcement from Asthmatic Kitty of the sudden and unexpected arrival of his new EP, All Delighted People.

I bought the album immediately and after a few listens I had fallen in love. But then again, Sufjan can record an hour of his bowel movement and it’ll sound like Handel’s f**king Messiah to me.

So you can imagine how thrilled I was this morning when Asthmatic Kitty announced that on October 12th Sufjan will release The Age of Adz, his first song-based full-length follow-up to 2005’s Illinois.

I’ve already ordered it on vinyl, which includes a free digital download of the album which will be available two weeks in advance of the October 12th. So you can expect another post about the album after I listen to it a couple of times.

Sweet Moses, it is sickening how big of a fanboy I have become.

Asthmatic Kitty writes:

The Age of Adz (pronounced “odds”) differs from Stevens’ previous works in its lack of conceptual underpinnings. The album relinquishes the songwriter’s former story-telling techniques for more basic proclamations unhindered by concepts: there are few narrative conceits or character sketches, no historical panoramas, no civic gestures, no scene, setting, conflict, resolution or denouement. Rather, the themes developed here are neither historical nor polemical, but rather personal and primal: love, sex, death, disease, illness, anxiety and suicide all figure in the songwriting.

The title The Age of Adz is a reference to the apocalyptic art of Royal Robertson (1930-1997), a Louisiana-based sign-maker (and self-proclaimed prophet) who suffered from schizophrenia. Robertson’s work depicts his vivid dreams and visions of space aliens, futuristic automobiles, eccentric monsters and signs of the Last Judgment. Portions of Stevens’ album use Robertson’s work as an idealistic springboard and a selection of Robertson’s drawings (his primary media were poster board, magic marker, and glitter) appear throughout the album art.

Here’s the full tracklist for Age of Adz:

1. Futile Devices - 2:11
2. Too Much - 6:44
3. Age of Adz - 8:00
4. I Walked - 5:01 DOWNLOAD ME!
5. Now That I’m Older - 4:56
6. Get Real Get Right - 5:10
7. Bad Communication - 2:24
8. Vesuvius - 5:26
9. All for Myself - 2:55
10. I Want To Be Well - 6:27
11. Impossible Soul - 25:35

The unthinkable has happened. Without warning or promotion, Sufjan Stevens has released his brand new All Delighted People EP this morning on Asthmatic Kitty. I wasn’t even remotely prepared for this, but I’m delighted, to say the least. The album is available currently in digital format, with CD and vinyl formats to be released in December. You’ll also be able to download the album from iTunes and Amazon starting Monday. Here’s Asthmatic Kitty’s write-up: The EP, All Delighted People, is built around two different versions of Sufjan’s long-form epic ballad “All Delighted People,” a dramatic homage to the Apocalypse, existential ennui, and Paul Simon’s “Sounds of Silence.” Sounds delightful, yes! The song was originally workshopped (oh we hate making workshop a verb, but time is money!) on Sufjan’s previous tour in the fall of 2009. Other songs on the EP include the 17-minute guitar jam-for-single-mothers “Djohariah,” and the gothic piano ballad “The Owl and the Tanager,” a live-show mainstay (and Debbie Downer if you ask us; what’s it doing on a “Delighted” EP?). The full track list is available right here. It’s a measly $5 for the download, so I highly recommend you support Sufjan and Asthmatic Kitty instead of waiting a day for some sucka to leak it. I’m only three songs into the album’s 8 tracks I can say it’s definitely worth it. If you don’t believe me, feel free to sample all 8 songs on the website. I’m so excited about this album that it nearly trumped the news I received earlier this morning from my sister and brother-in-law regarding the arrival of their newborn daughter, Tristan. I know… it hasn’t even been 12 hours into the existence of my niece and I’m already a terrible uncle. But I’ll try to make up for it by buying her a copy of the EP when it comes out on vinyl in December. And as reported earlier this month, Sufjan will hit the road next month with a date at Toronto’s Massey Hall on October 13th.

The unthinkable has happened. Without warning or promotion, Sufjan Stevens has released his brand new All Delighted People EP this morning on Asthmatic Kitty.

I wasn’t even remotely prepared for this, but I’m delighted, to say the least. The album is available currently in digital format, with CD and vinyl formats to be released in December. You’ll also be able to download the album from iTunes and Amazon starting Monday.

Here’s Asthmatic Kitty’s write-up:

The EP, All Delighted People, is built around two different versions of Sufjan’s long-form epic ballad “All Delighted People,” a dramatic homage to the Apocalypse, existential ennui, and Paul Simon’s “Sounds of Silence.” Sounds delightful, yes! The song was originally workshopped (oh we hate making workshop a verb, but time is money!) on Sufjan’s previous tour in the fall of 2009. Other songs on the EP include the 17-minute guitar jam-for-single-mothers “Djohariah,” and the gothic piano ballad “The Owl and the Tanager,” a live-show mainstay (and Debbie Downer if you ask us; what’s it doing on a “Delighted” EP?). The full track list is available right here.

It’s a measly $5 for the download, so I highly recommend you support Sufjan and Asthmatic Kitty instead of waiting a day for some sucka to leak it.

I’m only three songs into the album’s 8 tracks I can say it’s definitely worth it. If you don’t believe me, feel free to sample all 8 songs on the website.

I’m so excited about this album that it nearly trumped the news I received earlier this morning from my sister and brother-in-law regarding the arrival of their newborn daughter, Tristan.

I know… it hasn’t even been 12 hours into the existence of my niece and I’m already a terrible uncle. But I’ll try to make up for it by buying her a copy of the EP when it comes out on vinyl in December.

And as reported earlier this month, Sufjan will hit the road next month with a date at Toronto’s Massey Hall on October 13th.

It’s not often you get goosebumps from watching a band or artist perform — it’s probably only happened a handful of times for me in the last five years (Bon Iver, Sigur Ros, and Owen Pallett are the first that come to mind).

But Stevens’ gentle earnestness coupled with his impressive musicianship packs a pretty strong emotional punch.

In fact, my friend Mimi told me yesterday that she can’t seem to listen to “Casimir Pulaski Day” anymore without sobbing.

And come to think of it, that song should probably have the same effect on me and millions of other people who can recall having learned the tragic news of a loved one’s impending death.

But I’ve realized that music does not make me cry, just bad movies. I once cried three times while watching I Am Sam, in theatres, no less, on a third date situation.

The age-old Hollywood formula of “Loveable Retard + Cute Kid = Waterworks” seemed to apply to me. By some inexplicable reason - a damn miracle, actually - there was a fourth date, despite my shameless display of sentimentality.

So when Asthmatic Kitty brought announced yesterday that Stevens will embark on a 24-date tour this October and November, you can almost hear the enthusiastic shouts of joy from myself and thousands of other Sufjan fans.

The tour kicks off on October 12th at Montreal’s Metropolis Theatre and closes with two dates at New York City’s Beacon Theatre on November 14th and 15th.

And yes, my dear fellow Torontonians, Sufjan will be making a stop in our city on October 13th at the legendary Massey Hall.

Pre-sale tickets for all 24 dates go on sale today at 1 pm via Asthmatic Kitty’s site, but if you’re reading this hours after the fact then you can try again when they go on sale to the general public at Ticketmaster this Friday at 12 pm.

According to Asthmatic Kitty, “the performances will feature fully realized versions of the songs initially debuted during a late 2009 tour of small clubs in which Stevens workshopped several works-in-progress,” while touring with “his large ensemble performing alongside a full production including projections.

Here’s some footage of what is, in my humble opinion, Sufjan’s strongest new song, “Impossible Soul”, which was taken by my friend Jeannie last October at the Music Hall of Williamsburg show in Brooklyn.

When Sufjan Stevens told Exclaim! last November that he “I don’t really have as much faith in my work as I used to,” fans began to lose hope of him releasing a proper follow-up to 2005’s masterpiece Illinois.

But in a recent interview with Exclaim!, National member and Sufjan BFF Bryce Dessner said that Sufjan is, in fact, currently working on an album at The National’s Brooklyn studio.

And if you can trust Dessner’s opinion (and I think we can), he says the album is “going to be incredible” and that it is “going to probably blow people’s minds.”

No word yet on when this so-called incredible album will be out in stores, but my guess is between this fall and 2020.

Here’s Sufjan backing The National on vocals last month on Letterman.

The National destroyed shit on Letterman the other night. I don’t mean that they literally destroyed shit because their mothers raised them to be better than that. No, I just mean that they put on a great performance of “Afraid of Everyone”, just one of the many highlights you’ll find off their new record, High Violet.

Accompanied by BFF Sufjan on background vocals, the guys gave us just a taste of what we can expect when they play back-to-back nights at Massey Hall, June 8th and 9th.

For those of you who weren’t quick enough on the draw to get tickets to one of those two shows, you obviously don’t have your priorities straight in life. But you can redeem yourself by watching the free live webcast of their BAM Howard Gilman Opera House show tonight on YouTube at 8 pm EST.

On a side note, I love it when Letterman engages in forced banter with the music guest every night. I love the guy, but there’s no way he’s never seen a harmonium. Isn’t he like 70 years old? He practically invented that shit.