Music Lessons: Sufjan Stevens

Sufjan Stevens' music ranges from "blow my mind" to "killing my ears." He's a crazy talented musician who likes to experiment with instrumentation, style, and (lately) auto-tune. His last album (Age of Adz) appeared on all sorts of Album of the Year lists in 2010; I tried my best to like it, but man, it is some weird music. On the other hand, Michigan and Illinoise are two of my favorite albums of all time.

But where Sufjan Stevens really shines is at Christmas. His five-disc boxed set Songs for Christmas is the best collection of holiday music I've ever heard, and you can quote me on that. Thanksgiving is over, the holiday season has officially started, and I can break out the Sufjan Stevens' Christmas album without annoying certain other members of this household who don't appreciate Christmas music year round.

And now, as if five discs weren't enough, he just released a new boxed set of Christmas music with five more discs. Three more hours of Sufjan Stevens' Christmas music!

For the next week or so, you can stream the new album at NPR, and here's a taste of the songs from the old album:

SUFJAN STEVENS OFFICIAL

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