a cardinal hits the window

I don't claim that this is original in the least, but I have been really into Sufjan Stevens of late. Come On And Feel The Illinoise is quite possibly the best record of the year. In fact, according to Pitchfork it is.



As you might know, Sufjan has begun an ambitious project to record an album for each and every state of the union of states known, incidentally, as The United States (of America being optional). Being a Texan, and also a person, I found what Sufjan said in a recent interview to be fairly hilarious:

"I've been working on songs for Oregon and Rhode Island and New Jersey lately, just based on information I've read about their histories. And I'm solicited all the time by people who are proud of where they're from. Texas seems to be a favorite. Everyone's always asking, 'What are you going to do about Texas?' Like it's a big problem or something. People are like, 'What are you going to do, Sufjan? Someone's got to do something about Texas.' Like I'm suddenly responsible for that whole new empire down there."

[MTV care of stereogum]

Oh Texas. In other (Austin) Texas news, The Real World: Austin is positively terrible. Not that I'm watching... MTV is murdering souls.

Speaking of murdering souls, here's a lyric that excites me about the new Ryan Adams album coming out in September: "Oh Jacksonville how you muder my soul / How you hold my dreams ransom / Jacksonville how you play with my mind / Oh my heart goes back suffocating on the pines."

Sufjan's Illinoise has a great song entitled Jacksonville, which brings this post full circle. It's kind of like the circle of life.