An Introduction To The Magical World Of Sufjan Stevens 

Hey thanks for watching this video! I know I touched a lot of what Sufjan sounds like here in this video but don't let that fool you. Sufjan's music is very lyrically dense and cover a wide range of themes. Definitely look into the lyrics if you're into it! Please let me know how you started listening to Sufjan and as always, join our awesome discord community :) - discord.gg/Mspd8fHFeZ

Me: *has listened to most of Sufjan’s albums and claims him as my favorite musician of all time* Also me: *watches a whole video meant to people to be introduced to him because I just need more Sufjan content*

Carrie and Lowell is totally a states album. I will stand by this take forever. This is the Oregon album.

it’s embarassing but i found him thru the cmbyn soundtrack and honest to god i’m in love with his music it’s just so luscious yk ! 🥚

The first Sufjan Stevens song I heard was the acoustic version of Chicago in my dad’s van on our way to a camping trip in 2007. My dad discovered Sufjan while doing research in Antarctica and one of the other scientists shared some of his songs on the collective playlist there. After that me and my dad became obsessed with his music and lyricism and used to burn CDs of his music back before he made any hard copies himself. The topics Sufjan has approached have deeply impacted a unique modern discussion about the contemporary religious experience without sugarcoating its hardships and doubts. From a philosophical perspective, his writing have bridged the gap between religious faith and the modern experience in a way that transcends time and space to speak to everyone.

i hadn’t listened to the greatest gift until last year, and i really regret not listening to it sooner. it’s super good, and some of the outtakes have melodies that are as catchy as his released songs

He’s actually bi. And it kinda important to some songs. Such as futile devices and predatory wasp. Also I fully credit the call me by your name movie for getting me into sufjan. And also the 80s.

This video had me grinning from ear to ear it's a great introduction to sufjans work.

I remember “discovering” The Fourth of July during my high school years but I didn’t directly dive into Sufjan Stevens. I then rediscovered him through cmbyn like many of us, and spent the whole summer listening to Carrie and Lowell and The Greatest Gift on repeat. Only later I decided to actually take a look at his whole musical universe and not only stick at those two kinda similar albums. I’ve been listening to him for more than 4 years now and there’s still so many albums I haven’t actually listened to, but I absolutely love the idea of getting into different projects of his over the years. Like I know that I’ll never get over my “Sufjan Stevens phase” because I’ll always have an album to dive into, songs to learn to appreciate, lyrics to try to elucidate…

I super appreciate this video, and the thing I like most about Sufjan is that his musical “essence” is present in every single project he puts out, so it really doesn’t matter which album you listen to first - he is highly consistent with his sound. I grew up playing cello, ie classical music, so it is usually VERY hard for me to get into electronic music, but Age of Adz almost immediately became one of my favorite albums because he approaches all music from the lense of essentially a folk singer songwriter. So timeless, and his music has been with me throughout nearly every stage of my life. Great video and can’t wait to see what else you put out there!!

"A Beginner's Mind" - Back to his acoustic folk sound and amazingly he continues to get better and better.

my current sufjan journey started carrie and lowell -> a beginner's mind -> illinois -> michigan -> age of adz, and now i'm going to listen to seven swans. all of them are stellar albums and age of adz absolutely blew my mind

Oh I have been a fan of Sufjan's since the early 2000s! My sister showed him to me when I was a pre-teen and we've enjoyed his music together ever since. His music will always stay with me. Thank you for mentioning Seven Swans because it is highly underrated imo!

"Pretty freaking old" the shade of it all. But his face is on point, the skin care must be part of the daily regime.

i love this concept for videos so much! i’ve just listened to carrie and lowell, and the cmbyn soundtrack but now i know how to go about his discography, thanks!

wow... this seems so helpful really. i gave up the second i've looked up his entire discography on spotify but today i decided to give it another try with a guidance. even though i know i'll end up listening to only like 2 albums. thanks for the video i appreciate it!!

amazing video and genuinely an underrated RU-vid. Phenomenal editing!

this is such a perfect encapsulation of sufjan's discography omg!! i personally started off listening to carrie & lowell, illinoise, michigan, and seven swans back in 2012 (my partner at the time initially introduced me to him, so he's always had a special place in my heart) and have since gradually branched out to his other albums like age of ads, planetarium, greatest gift, all delighted people, avalanche etc... and even after 10ish years, im still slowly listening through other ones that i haven't heard before like the ascension (and of course a beginner's mind!!)

this fantastic video is exactly what i was looking for, i cant believe it exists!! just subscribed, you're awesome

i really like your videos and energy! thanks so much for posting, you have great taste :)

I got into Sufjan Stevens through the movie Call Me By Your Name. Beautiful book, movie, & beautiful soundtrack, his songs were so different than the music I listened to at the time, and they completely took my breath away.

Very comprehensive guide ngl! Underrated channel m8 ☺🔥🤪

Cool video my friend. Thank you for sharing. I got into Sufjan by watching a live version of "Eugene" from "Carrie and Lowell" and then went through the album, also, rigth after, I went through the "Illinois" journey and loved them both. I loved it more and more, but I never thought that after many years I could get into "Age od adz" just recently and find it my personal favorite! The poetry in "Age of adz" and "Now that I'm older" with the music is just absolutely beautiful. Cheers, to great music!

Haha, great video! Loved the humor, the hot takes and the helpful hints. First time I heard Sufjan was when a stranger's mixtape CD I got through an exchange on an internet message board included "Dress Looks Nice...". Then found and enjoyed Illinoise. Age of Adz sealed the deal, because electronic indie sounds were even more my jam. Gotta love it when an artist you already love happens to move even closer to your personal musical preferences! Finally caught him live on the Carrie & Lowell tour - stunning show in every regard. He's my #3 most listened to artist over the last 17 years (shit, I'm old; and also a statistics nerd). Ascension recently overtook Adz in number of plays - a masterpiece in my eyes. Never listened to Vito's..., curious now. Gonna check out some more of your stuff after that.

Awesome video and production as usual! I liked how you categorized his discography. Not sure if you’ve looked into Sufjan’s influences but the band Danielson helped make him into the artist that he is. Their album Ships is amazing and I highly recommend that you check it out!

Great video! I love your style!

Not many people mention the avalanche but I think its great! In the same vain as the greatest gift, its a bunch of leftovers from illinois and it is fantastic, some songs there are just as good as anything off illinois

Thank you for your great & endlessly funny video, accurate! I got into Sufjan Stevens by listening to the piano part of All Delighted People. Then I wandered to Carrie & Lowell & kinda stopped at The Ascension... I def will check out his Ambient stuff, i didn't know this existed! Be encouraged to make further videos from relevant artists!

Found this video a bit late but I’m really excited to get into Sufjan. Found him with Javelin which quickly became an all-time favorite, and what I’ve heard of Illinois makes me think it’ll be even better

Bro this needs more views

Currently obsessed with "The greatest gift" ❤ i love "the hidden river of my life" ❤ thanks for the video!

The fact that you found several images with 7 swans is brilliant👏👏

Great video! Igot into Sufjan by reading a “songs about Superman” list that included The Man of Metropolis Steals our Hearts; after that, I became a fan inmediately

First time I heard Sufjan was 2011. Some favorite Sufjan Stevens moments through the years have been: Listening to "From the mouth of Gabriel" on loop Illinois the entire album Carrie and Lowell the live concert version The most underrated song is probably the Wollowa lake monster. Also he did a collab with the welcome wagon that's super good.

thank u king i needed this

happy to see this in my recommended so early

I don't remember how I stumbled upon Sufjan. I just know I didn't seek him out. He's one of my favorite artists, even though his style is far, far from what I normally listen to. My taste is fairly eclectic but I listen to more metal and hard rock than anything else. I just like the ethereal ambience of Sufjan's music and his voice.

this is the youtube channel ever

i was just starting to really get into music when a friend recommended me age of adz and absolutely blew me away i'm still waiting for age of adz 2 he's never released anything like it since and i don't even think anyone has. also all delighted people is amazing i initially thought of it as kind of a less cool prequel to age of adz but over time it's really grown on me i still listen to some of the songs sometimes, can't really say the same for age of adz

Im from S. Korea. I didnt know him before 2013. I listended 'Chicago' for the first time my friend's car on the way home from hiking in north east of Korea. I was into 'Netural milk hotel' at that time. So i thought Sufjan's music is a bit simliar to them. It was such a magical time.

I remember listening to Sufjan few years back. Seeing Illinois a few times. I listened to it and I remember liking it. Especially Jogn Wayne Gacy, Jr. But it is only recently I started listening to his other work when I was on vacation. It was quite beautiful. Especially seeing the country side and hearing Seven Swans. I still have alot of albums to liten to. The Avalanche. The christmas stuff. And more of his electronic stuff. But I'm getting there. And I'm enjoying it alot.

I bought the album Michigan back in 2015 at a record store in San Luis Obispo while on vacation with my family. That was right before college and I got so into it, plus that was the summer Carrie and Lowell came out. Michigan & Illinois are very special to me as I spent lots of time in both states. Always thought that the instrumental tracks were like the Vince Gauraldi trio. Also really enjoy Age of Adz. Planetarium is my favorite of the newer albums as well, I find it relaxing but listen to it in a playlist that orders the bodies chronologically haha.

I listened to Illinois when it came out years ago and really enjoyed it. Literally listened to nothing else until this weekend when my local record shop had copies of Javelin. I was interested and grabbed a copy... That album LITERALLY DESTROYED ME. Now I gotta dive into his catalogue.

I fully got into Sufjan Stevens in Summer of 2020, but first heard him in 2018 or 2019. I think the first song I ever heard was Fourth of July, Death with Dignity, or Impossible Soul, all from my sister. For that last one, you may be asking how the hell that happened, but basically my sister was showing me the song, and at the time, I was like "meh, a 25 MINUTE SONG??! Nah I'll pass" and I never listened to it in full until 2020 like I said, and after that moment, I was invested in Sufjan. I know, I was naive 💀💀💀 Correction, the first song I heard was Mystery of Love. The second that I heard, well not really cause I didn't finish it, was Impossible Soul.

Been a fan since 2003 or 4. There used to be a book store called Borders that also sold CDs, and they had these listening stations where you could put on headphones and listen to selections from whatever albums they were promoting. I saw that there was an album called "Michigan," and being from Michigan I had to check it out. Gave it a listen and fell in love immediately.

oh the lyrics on the age of adz are wonderful!! take another listen through and read along or look out for them. obviously the huge crazy sound on the age of adz took me in on my first listen but so did the lyrics, they’re great

I just once listened to John my beloved on the radio and immediately start crying lol that's the beginning of this long love story between me and my idealistic and almost divine figure of Sufjan

How are you doing, Kyle? Kyle Reid always makes great review videos, so this was no exception! Your ideas are all pretty cool. Sufjan Stevens is an artist who is sometimes recommended alongside other artists with whom I am neither familiar, either. This leads me to partially conclude that Stevens is a tasteful indie artist. I liked, specifically, some of the many times that you elaborated on the idea of pop. Do you keep a Wikipedia list of variations of names of styles of pop music (kind of joking)? I really do like ideas like that, I know very discerning people elaborate on pop music in a fashion like that. Keep up the good work, because you are the best critic of everything in the independent world that you have found (that is a mystical idea you should repeat very carefully). Last but not least, you might want to grab the expanded Pavement set, which is set for one of the music releases this month. It will probably be talked about, favourably, in indie music circles. Thanks, Kyle, you helped make my world better. Okay, ladies, good night...

I've started to listening this guy's stuffs because of a video that matched Sufjan stevens and Julien baker discography, now i am obssessed with this guy, and probably listening all the albums and having a Carrie and lowell moment everydy. (especially day time) i am not fine.

new kyle reid dropped

I got into Sufjan through Seven Swans then my next album I checked out was Enjoy Your Rabbit, and I was VERY confused. I later listened to the string quartet covers of some of the tracks from EYR and it made the original electronics make more sense. From there I went on to Illinois, Michigan and Carrie and Lowell, since C&L came out right when I was discovering him. I had listened to Age of Adz before but after finding out what it was all about and Bad Communication specifically, it somehow struck accord and became probably my Fav. I feel like he is just so eclectic there's something for anyone to love and I am one of those, I love it all.

4:12 I appreciate those are actually seven swans

I got into Sufjan thanks to my crush having a few songs on her many many many playlists. Now I have CDs of my top three albums, Seven Swans, Illinois and A Beginner’s Mind. I pretty much listen to those every day, but I love all the others as well.

As an old person myself (though not as decrepit as the soof) I'm so happy to see that the babes are appreciating his majesty. But mainly I'm here to defend Video Game cause it sounds good and it is good. That's my argument. But no really it made an impression on me cause it touches on thoughts/feelings that are really different from what Sufjan normally dwells on and because I was very very high the first time I heard it. Like who can say what any of his songs actually "mean" I guess, but to me Video Game is about frustration with the limited script we're all given by the structure of society, and the way the meaning of our actions is restricted by human-created artifice that can be difficult or impossible to see beyond/outside of. To me it's got kind of nihilistic table-flip energy (but in a hopeful way). Coming from a different artist I might not have been impressed but from Sufjan it felt confessional in an interesting way. But that interpretation is also informed by stuff he said in an interview somewhere. Also it's just a song so I should probably calm down but I am calm, don't worry, there's no problem thanks for listening

I'm just now getting into Sufjan and he's remarkable. For me it started with the "Call Me By Your Name" tracks. I like that we can call him an "Academy Award nominated songwriter."

I first time i listened to sufjan was christmas unicorn, it still has one of my favorite builds of all time

God I was talking about my friend about him rn... And u posted this video like 60 seconds ago

I found Sufjan with a movie called Call me by your name and i watched it when it just came out and Sufjan was making it's soundtrack which is totally mesmerizing, i was curious about his music and decided to check him out. Literally the best decision of my life. Now 'The Ascension' is my favorite song and 'Carrie&Lowell' is my favorite album of him. I also listen to Marzuki(the band Sufjan started to do music with) it has the best songs and you should definitely check out. By the way the video was really great, it was amusing to watch even if i do know all the things you say!

love age of adz! all for myself was my most played track in 2020. great video, thank you kyle for organizing his insane discography lmao

Sooo, in other words, I have like, three years worth of walking music to listen to, while exploring Sufjan.. got it. Looking forward to this.

That thumbnail is killer btw

Not the story of my first listening of Sufjan Stevens but... I knew his albums Michigan and Come on feel the Illinoise and had the chance to get tickets for a show. Actually, it was the age of adz tour (which I didn't know exists at this time)... I was a bit... surprised 😮 but .. best music show ever !!! 🤩🤩🤩

I think that if a movie were made about him some time back, I think that Matthew MacFadyen would have been a great choice to play him.

Heard his 'Michigan' album once back in the day, I thought to myself "this guy is good! Total Hipster Hippy but I like it". Then lived my life for the next 15 years without thinking about him. I watch 'Call Me By Your Name' last year (2022) and the movie captures me so much that I get back in S.S.'s music.

Believe it or not, Carrie & Lowell is full of allusions to the state of Oregon and is widely considered by fans to be apart of the “fifty states project”

I first heard sufjan from call me by your name probably like a lot of people my age

You should listen to sweet trip. Escapially velocity:design:comfort. Blew my mind

First off I gotta say that I appreciate that you say you haven't listened to everything, some Suf fans can be a little... pretentious about that lol. Also I wish I had seen this video a few years ago when I was first getting into him, I didn't know where to start initially and still haven't listened to everything!

i believe Enjoy your Rabbit was his 1st,no?

The only song i found that I really liked so far is his cover of "you are the blood" by the castanets. Does he have other stuff that sounds similar?

I’ve wanted to do like a carry over/continuations of the state albums…I’m a big Sufjan fan too, my buddy who goes by yako Mai I’m wanting to do Florida while I do Georgia and we’d do Tennessee together cause we met in Chattanooga and lived together in Nashville…the age of adz is my favorite album of his though. I want to be well is my favorite song of his

I got into Sufjan Stevens when someone sent me a 'Is This Song Gay or About Jesus' playlist of his songs. 10/10 introduction to his discography.

I’ve “met” Sufjan Stevens in Call me by your name. His 3 soundtracks in this movie are great (just like the movie) and I love Carrie and Lowell because all the songs are same good things

Illinois is one of the greatest albums ever, it grows on you HEAVILY

I found Sufjan Stevens after watching The Politician. I’m pretty sure I watched that series just to hear the opening sequence over and over again.

if you like illinois, listen to the avalanche - so good

Never been a huge fan of his electronic section stuff, but everything else is incredible. Age of Adz overstimulates me and makes me freak out

I discovered Sufjan Stevens through the Little Miss Sunshine soundtrack… does that make me old

Answer me as to why he won’t play live anymore

He was so overwhelmed by Sufjan and so was I 🤣

When you discover a video which is 100k underrated

a lot of good stuff is unreleased though.. it's here on youtbube, i have a playlist for it

Age of Adz is my favforite.

I got into his music thanks to Little Miss Sunshine.

Talking about Illinois but has Norway in the background

i found sufjan when googling for high iq music. been a fan since 2016

Why is everyone so wrong about The Ascension? it’s perfect.

You can make an argument that he did carry on the 50 states project and Carrie and Lowell is about Oregon.

i got into him through the mcdj(aka childish Gambino)remix about of Illinois lol

You've heard of Nakey Jakey, but have you heard of Clothed Kyle?

I met sufjan is 2013 thru tumblr when ppl would make Drake/Sufjan fanfics

Born in 1975 makes him "pretty frikkin old"?? Do you think that because you're 14? 😜 Great video thanks, I'll be referring!

Csh flowchart when

you legit left out the Avalanche, which is 100% the one to go to after Illinoise

funny enough when i was 17 i was discussing my drug addiction with my therapist. he told me about how sufjans album carrie and lowell dealt with grief and loss as thats what it stemmed from. so i found out about sufjan from my old therapist. ha ha. wacky stuff

Illinoise was #1 on metacritic for 2005

Kyle I beg you do some Elliott Smith content

I found Sufjan Stevens from a video essay that about parasocial relationships lmao

Very glad u mentioned him being gay right off the bat

Vie-Toe?