Praisedown 53 | Vinnie the Horse: Sufjan Stevens feat. Michael Martin

Welcome back to the Praisedown! This week, we’re sitting down with the producer of the Public Access open mic and boy genius Michael Martin! Listen in and experience…

Jill leading us through religion in the Mass Effect games!
Alex trying to have emotions despite being hot off of a wisdom tooth extraction!
A new very good character: Vinnie the Horse!

Survive the nonsense tornado and be rewarded with a deep dive and review into Sufjan Stevens and his 2015 release, Carrie & Lowell!

Sufjan Stevens: Are his Feelings Nuanced or does he Struggle to Communicate Them?

In case you haven’t already heard of Sufjan Stevens, please do yourself a favor and listen to him. It’s important.

Since his debut in 1999, Sufjan Stevens has tackled lo-fi folk rock, electronic music, elaborate symphonic arrangements, and some of the best Christmas music we’ve seen this century. Born in Detroit, Michigan, Stevens writes with a sharp affinity for the Great Lakes region, as seen in his early work. A vast multi-instrumentalist, Stevens also records the majority of his lush instrumentation himself, despite not learning the guitar until his late college career.

After releasing Carrie & Lowell in 2015, Stevens had this to say:

“I was recording songs as a means of grieving, making sense of it, but the writing and recording wasn’t the salve I expected. I fell deeper and deeper into doubt and misery. It was a year of real darkness. In the past my work had a real reciprocity of resources—I would put something in and get something from it. But not this time.”

A lot of issues we have trying to engage with this album is due perhaps to assumptions we made about the emotions we expected for Stevens to express within. These songs are written about someone who, even in death, denies Stevens the emotional release he was hoping to achieve when he set out to make it.

For complete thoughts on the record, please enjoy the episode below!

The Praisedown with Heath and Alex – Vinnie the Horse: Sufjan Stevens with Michael Martin

Fellowship with the Praisedown:

Hey! Thanks for enjoying this episode! Here’s what you can do now:

Rate us and review us on iTunes! Please be kind!
Connect with us on social media!
- Like The Praisedown with Heath and Alex on Facebook
- Follow us on Twitter @thepraisedown
Become a donor at the GoodTrash media Patreon and gain access to bonus Praisedown content!
Send us a message at thepraisedown@gmail.com! We might read your message at the top of the next episode!

Heath Huffman

GoodTrash Media