Artists similar to Sufjan Stevens (specifically Illinois era)
Joanna Newsom
S.Carey
(a little different, but in the ball park)
Joanna Newsom-Closest thing you'll find, methinks
Andrew Bird. The Myseterious production of eggs is where I'd start.
Anais Mitchell- Hadestown, and Young Man in America. Hadestown is pretty ambitious(and one of my favorite albums), i'd give that one a try.
Beirut- Lot of folky horns. Kind of gypsy, Eastern european inspired.
Mother Falcon- More on the symphonic Folk side. You Knew is probably the best example.
Neutral Milk Hotel- I'm sure you've heard it by now.
Little Tybee- For Distant Viewing.
Kishi Bashi.151a is my favorite by him. Lots of harmonies and layered violins.
Elliott Smith. Not very much like Illinois era, but still pretty similar. Either/or is a great place to start.
Beck-Morning Phase
>>64333170
Kishi Bashi is the most similar to my ear
Owen Pallett for that orchestrial art pop
You probably want chamber pop
>Andrew Bird
>Kishi Bashi
>Scott Walker's earlier stuff
>St. Vincent's first two albums
>XTC from Skylarking on
>Owen Pallet
>Maybe Arthur Russell
>Jens Lekman
There's an album by Sivert Hoyem called Lioness that's also this kind of thing and I think is pretty good. There's plenty of other stuff too.
Bump for interest. For a long time, I wanted to find someone similar to Illinoise-era Sufjan. Eventually, I realized I just wanted more albums/projects from him.
>>64331035
Andrew Bird
Elliott Smith
The Decemberists
Damien Rice
DeVotchka
Iron & Wine
José Gonzalez
M. Ward
Nick Drake
Rogue Wave
I've been trying to get into him but all the female backing vocals really turn me off. So far Carrie & Lowell and Seven Swan Songs are the only albums I've really liked. Age of Adz has some good stuff on it but all the backing vocals are too overbearing at times. I couldn't get into Illinois at all its just way too bloated for my taste.
>>64334235
What do you mean bloated? It's the same length as Age of Adz. And do you dislike his layering in general? Or just all the backup vocals? I think he actually formed his own choirs for both Age of Adz (St. Vincent apparently sang in the one for that album) and Illinois.
>>64331127
>>64333170
>Joanna Newsom
I can't stand her voice. That thing she does with it just makes me uncomfortable. Also she doesn't sound anything like sufjan vocally or instrumentally...
Pet Sounds and SMiLe.
>two hats
For why
>>64334285
I mean bloated as in the production, there's way too much stuff going on in one song, and yeah I don't like all backing vocals, I really wish he had more songs with just him singing and not having a huge choir for the chorus.
>>64334400
>I mean bloated as in the production, there's way too much stuff going on in one song
Well then you probably wouldn't like chamber pop in general as heavy layering with lots of instruments is a staple of the genre. I personally love it. I think Michigan is more of the simpler and less layered stuff similar to Seven Swans and C&L if you haven't listened to it yet.
>>64334400
So you want to listen to indie folk.
>>64334422
I haven't heard that one yet but I'll give it a shot.
>>64334434
I guess, I did like the electronic stuff he did on Adz though.
>>64334478
the thing illinois is that, with all of the lush production, when it's all taken away, his voice is much more beautiful. It's more significant i guess, hard to explain
>>64334195
what would you say andrew bird's best album is? Where should i start?
>>64334580
Not him but the Mysterious Production of Eggs is usually thought to be his best. Armchair Apocrypha and Break It Yourself are also great.
>>64334580
(I'm not the same anon you asked)
The mysterious production of eggs is great. His other stuff wasn't bad, it was just more of the same, from what I remembered. Might not be the one most like Illinois, though, it's definitely more tame, as far as that album goes.
Miracles of Modern Science
The Punch Brothers
