Andrew's #10 - "Impossible Soul" by Sufjan Stevens

Impossible Soul (Part I) by Sufjan Stevens 
Impossible Soul (Part II) by Sufjan Stevens 

Andrew

My number ten spot is serving as a neither-here-nor-there-honorable-mention type spot. Because I know I love this song but I have no idea where to put it.

In my butt.

Modern mad-scientist/folk singer/orchestral composer, Sufjan Stevens, was famous(ish)ly quoted in a 2009 Paste Magazine article as no longer having any faith in the song as a method of conveying music. To Sufjan fans, like myself, this sounded like a terrifying admission of artistic confusion. Fortunately, Stevens handled the career roadblock brilliantly: with a ten-minute epic on the compilation "Dark Was The Night", a sprawling multi-media experience about a stretch of highway, and now this 25-minute beast.

There are forgettable sections, undoubtedly, but as Ryan Dombal of Pitchfork aptly points out, the track "bulges with more engaging ideas than most artists could muster in a career." The track speaks for itself in its own way, even if it is a bit verbose, but I would like to specifically point listeners to the dead center of the song (minutes 9 to 18), where Stevens segues from a heartbreaking (and genuine!) auto-tuned ballad into one of the foot-stompingest, most life-affirming sections of any song released this year.

Seth

Wow. I'll confess that I broke up with Sufjan after Illinoise. I'm happy he's still making music, but I don't find myself reaching for his records all that often anymore. Both Seven Swans and Michigan were pretty big parts of my life in my freshman and sophomore years of college but something about Illinoise just didn't move me like it did almost everyone else. I prefer Stevens when he's less bombastic and more direct (cf. "To Be Alone With You" from Seven Swans). In the spirit of fairness, however, I gave "Impossible Soul" a spin and I have to say...wow.

After hearing this song (all 25 minutes of it), I think that I was wrong to jump the Sufjan ship. There are some sections where he loses me--notably the sub-of Montreal falsetto computerized "don't be distracted" swirliness before the best use of autotune since the Gregory brothers started making the news sing. Ultimately, the whole thing is a testament to Stevens' versatility and his unique ability to incorporate electronics (though I'd still advise the readers to skip Enjoy Your Rabbit) and traditional folk music styles into something nobody else would ever think to do. While I may not be a true believer anymore, I think Sufjan Stevens is among the most creative voices working in pop music today. Listen to this song for proof.