A Beginner's Mind

I love love love love love Sufjan, but this album has never really sunk into me or stayed with me. It's fine, but it's no Michigan, Chicago, or Carrie and Lowell (or BQE, for that matter)

Good collaboration album of Sufjan Stevens with Angelo De Augustine with beautiful songs. The result is more a Sufjan album (compositions), but it certainly has a Angelo vibe also. It fits and the guys give each other the space they need. It seems like they've had a good time creating it. And no.. it won't mention the album cover.

Big Sufjan fan going way back, especially after seeing him live at one of Justin Vernon's short-lived Eaux Claires music festivals. This doesn't top any my list of his work and collaborations but is still great.

Prefer the more instrumental-backed Sufjan of 'Illinoise' than the ambient wash here. There are some absolutely beautiful chord progressions and synths going on here (a complement to Steven's light, airy delivery), but 45-odd minutes of minimal drums or any other grounding instrumentals means this LP feels /too/ ethereal and ambient without much to grab onto. Giving this a 3 instead of a 2 as it's technically well-done and has some great songwriting, but again just feels too nebulous a listening experience to leave an overwhelming impact.

Beautifully sad

Another really great album from Sufjan Stevens. Really enjoyed it!

Sufjan Stevens continues to find ways to haunt us with his sad boy tunes.

Rating: 8/10 Best songs: Lady Macbeth in chains, Reach out, Back to Oz, You give death a bad name

I think this is my favorite sufjan album now. The other person he made it with really seemed to turn his sound into something I personally enjoy even more than his normal stuff. More Elliott smith and slightly less folk.

A lot more stripped back than some Sufjan, but very beautiful. Not peak, but still great.

Lovely and life-affirming from the first note, this is beautifully/gently vibesy and cerebrally dreamy in the extreme and an epic sort of statement by a major, major talent. The lilting, sneaky-intense “Back to Oz” is top cut. One’s reminded of the need to go both deeper and wider in the extensive discography, though it’s safe to say that it might be a little samey, having heard a good bit of it already. Overall, this is a great add — thanks for sharing/nominating. Would be a strong add to list proper.

Well, isn't this lovely. Breezy but melancholy chamber pop that is highly listenable, with an intriguing concept. The slow moving pace wore thin with me somewhere on the back half and I had to roll my eyes at some of those lyrics, but overall this was still a really nice listen. Thanks for sharing it. Fave Songs: Back to Oz, Reach Out, The Pillar of Souls, Murder and Crime, Cimmerian Shade, Fictional California

Sufjan is on my list with Springsteen and Radiohead where every one of their albums is going to end up on this list and I don’t quite care about any of them. Breathy chamber folk doesn’t do it for me, congrats if it does it for you

Kinda thought this would be here all-ready. Allright album, don't know why he had to whisper the whole thing tho 3

This was pretty nice, though it sort of blended into the background for me. 3 stars.

As a concept this album is really cool. Making songs about movies instead of making songs for movies. However as far as sufjan albums go this one is pretty much middle of the road. It’s not as melancholy as his other work due to the collaboration with Augustine. I’d say that makes the album still very enjoyable in its own sense but it impacts Sufjan’s overall typical sound in albums. Still a good album that I’d listen to again. 6.7/10

OK, it's pretty. But we already had Sufjan on the main list and also on the user suggested list. Nothing here struck me as different enough or exceptional enough to merit yet another entry.

Very camping and relaxing music, but after a while it's pretty much all of the same

Sufjan is my dad

Pretty standard Sufjan. His writing is great but it all starts blending together. A couple tracks usually stand out but this record didn't hit it for me like some of his others.

A bit too mellow for me

Interesting to see a co-production (literally) between two good artists, who sound like they had a blast making the album. However, some of the tracks were probably more fun to write and record than to listen to, and a few others don't live long in the memory. A good nomination, which is maybe not quite as good as Illinois, and (in my opinion) not worthy of taking its spot in the book.

I don't really know Angelo but Sufjan is one of my faves.... You can hear it's a collaboration- a mish mash of different things, some familiar and others new. It's more Sufjan I feel and listening again it's beginning to stick in my mind.

Indie folk, chamber folk. Aburrido. Un 2.

nice, not for me

Gah fuck this guy. Pretentious wank. 2/5.

Twee overload

OK, so Sufjan Stevens is in the main list, and has 2 (to my knowledge) recommendations in the user list. I think he's perfectly adequately represented in the main list. The two user recommendations are significantly worse than the main entry, and neither of them do anything sufficiently different to justify inclusion. Soz.

A Beginner's Mind is more evidence I don't get on with Sufjan Stevens. He's too sad, too dreamy and mellow, undeniably pretty music to listen to but it doesn't move me in the slightest. A twee 2/5 is all I can offer, I don't need to listen to any more of his work. I won't ignore Angelo De Augustine either, we had a user submitted album of his in April and I said "it's a bit dreary and while I can appreciate some of the musicality, he sings in such a high register that it grates a lot really early on, just not for me", which totally fits the bill here too.