The four years since Sufjan Stevens released his breathtakingly beautiful Illinois has seemed more like an eternity. Sure we’ve had the collection of discarded tracks from the Illinois session compiled together and put out as the 2006 The Avalanche release, but there have only been a trickle of new material since. After releasing “You Are the Blood”, a ten minute masterfully crafted electronic folk track which served as the most stellar song on the dense Dark Was the Night compilation, the fervor for a new LP from Mr. Stevens has reached critical mass.
At his current pace of output, Stevens is set to complete the “Fifty States” project at the rip age of 175, which if you’re Methuselah is OK, but if you’re a normal human being it’s another story. I’m not implying that he should rush material out that he’s not satisfied with, but after hearing “You Are the Blood” you can’t help but think he’s sitting on a gold mind of talent that the public deserves to get to listen to a little more regularly.
In the hunt to fill my Stevens addition, I’ve come across some oddball recordings he has made within the past nine years. “Lakes of Canada” is a live solo acoustic performance at Judson College made in 2003 – a couple of months after the release of Michigan. “I Can’t Even Lift My Head” and “Woman at the Well” are both from label compilations (a 2001 Asthmatic Kitty and a 2000 Blue Bunny Records release respectively). Rounding out some of Steven’s older stuff I was able to find is a cover of R.E.M.’s “This One I Love” recorded at a SXSW appearance in 2004. Enjoy!
Sufjan Stevens // Lakes of Canada
Sufjan Stevens // I Can’t Even Lift My Head
Sufjan Stevens // Woman at the Well