Sufjan Stevens

Greetings all - nice to see you again.

Inasmuch as I thought anything about him at all, I used to assume that Sufjan Stevens was one of those ten-a-penny folk revivalist droners. Either that or a Shakin' Stevens tribute act. So imagine my surprise when I downloaded this tune from a rival blog - and found it to be stunningly beautiful -

Sufjan Stevens - Vito's Ordination Song

So I downloaded a few more, and then on hearing tunes like this -

Sufjan Stevens - Detroit, Lift Up Your Weary Head! (Rebuild! Restore! Reconsider!)
[most of his tunes have irritating names]

was even more surprised to realise that Mr Stevens had obviously been listening to a lot of this guy -

Steve Reich - Music for 18 Musicians Part 5

Here's a couple more beauties. All these tracks are from the album "Greetings from Michigan - The Great Lake State" - the first in what we are supposed to believe will be a series of 50 albums, one for each US state. He's done Illinois too but I think that's it so far.

Sufjan Stevens - All Good Naysayers, Speak Up! Or Forever Hold Your Peace!
Sufjan Stevens - Holland