So I was introduced to Sufjan Stevens music recently. A few weeks back, when I had some free song downloaded from iTunes, I asked for recommendations. Someone recommend Sufjan, and I listened to the sample. My response to it was to laugh. I thought it was a joke.

Then I saw people saying good things about him. I listened to some more samples. My reaction was to say they were crazy, and it was was kiddy playtime music. But lots of respectable folk kept saying he was good, and I saw a link to two free mp3s on amazon.com, so I downloaded them.

And after a few listens, my mouth was full of foot. The music is still a bit weird, but it is very visceral. There’s no denying it gets right into your heart. Very emotional.

I ordered his latest cd, Come on Feel the Illinoise yesterday. It’s the second album in his 50 states project. He’s going to write a record about each of the fifty states. The first one is on his home state, Michigan.

Check him out.