the listening project that must not end; or, how i tried to put down my ipod but sufjan stevens stopped me

after listening to sufjan's entire discography multiple times, i have to say that it will be hard to move on to the next listening project. there is something really incredible about putting on one of sufjan's albums and heading into that universe for a while. i'm going to have to suf out often, even after i pick a new listening project.

whatever you think of sufjan - and there are plenty of critics and controversies - you have to respect his talent. he is a multi-instrumentalist who plays more than twenty instruments on his albums. one critic's use of the word "overachiever" to describe sufjan is not far wrong - as the more than forty songs about illinois on illinoise and the avalanche attest to - but it's the attitude in that statement that bugs me. suf has big ideas - like the fifty states project - but i think that rocks. why not dream up a massive project?

the suf listening has gotten me thinking about religion. i think i might do the spiritualized discography next.