One of our very most favourites. The Ascension is the eighth solo studio album from singer, songwriter and composer Sufjan Stevens.
It is the long awaited follow-up to Carrie & Lowell and is set for release September 25 on Asthmatic Kitty Records.

The Greatest Gift Mixtape — Outtakes, Remixes, & Demos from Carrie & Lowell is due out October 20 via Asthmatic Kitty. It includes unreleased songs from the album sessions, as well as iPhone recordings and remixes from Helado Negro, Doveman, and more.
The Greatest Gift will be released on cassette, LP, and digital formats.

Sufjan Stevens将他的第三张专辑《来自五大湖州的问候》献给他所热爱的养育他的家乡：密歇根。音乐中饱含了令人心痛的悲伤——第一首歌‘Flint (For the Unemployed and Underpaid)’就隐约的表达了他在弗林特城声名狼藉的工作市场所遭受的挫折；并记录了底特律正在经历的一场沉闷压抑的斗争，虽然不同于之前60年代末，失业者和低收入者为争取更好生存权益而发生的暴乱。同时他也为无家可归者、孤儿寡妇而歌（They Also Mourn Who Do Not Wear Black (For the Homeless in Muskegon)、For the Widows in Paradise, For the Fatherless in Ypsilanti）；还以‘All Good Naysayers, Speak Up! Or Forever Hold Your Peace!’这首歌来鼓励持不同观点的人发出自己的声音；尽管如此，音乐中也有光明快乐的一面：像‘Say Yes! To Michigan!’、‘Detroit, Lift Up Your Weary Head! (Rebuild! Restore! Reconsider!) ’和一些以密歇根山川湖泊命名的歌曲则既充满了对家乡重建的乐观期望，又表达了对和谐的自然生态环境的留恋和忧虑意识。
而音乐上，多才多艺的Stevens驾轻就熟的使用了各种乐器来丰富的他的音乐，键盘、木管乐器、吉它、班卓琴和打击乐器，无论是抑郁伤感还是轻快乐观的情绪都表达的淋漓尽致，整张专辑洋溢着北方民谣的淳美风格。总之，这是一张从音乐、歌词到精神上都值得你认真倾听的专辑，也难怪会收到如潮的好评。
关于Sufjan Stevens：
1975年的7月1日，密歇根州底特律城，Stevens夫妇在家门口发现了一个牛奶箱，里面装着一个用塑料纸包裹的婴儿，它的手腕上系着一张神秘的字条：‘I love you’，这个婴儿就是后来的Sufjan Stevens。虽然当时Stevens夫妇已经有了三个孩子：Jo-Jo、Zukey-Dukey和Jam-Jam，并且生活过得很清贫：Stevens太太靠编制毛毯在跳蚤市场贩卖贴补家用，而Stevens先生是一间医院的看守人，但夫妇俩心地却非常善良，他们决定把这个孩子留下来抚养，并给他起了个名字‘Sufjan Stevens’——来源于一个伟大的亚美尼亚苏非派武士‘Abu Sufjan Muhammad’，他曾为了解救‘仙女公主’英勇地杀死了万条火龙。虽然小Sufjan看起来一幅没精打采的模样，但却是一个乖孩子。夫妇俩尽了最大的能力来照顾他：喂胡萝卜给他吃，给他读《Bhagavad Gita》中的段落，（‘Bhagavad Gita’意为‘The Song of the Lord’，是印度教经典《摩阿婆罗多》（Mahabharata）里的一首长篇颂歌，它并不是一个空洞的哲学体系，而是通过描述一个人在矛盾选择面前的行为来反映印度教的种种世界观），给他梳理头发，他们还在房间里边唱边跳起踢踏舞来，一切都是那么美好。。。——译自

Illinois (styled Sufjan Stevens Invites You To: Come On Feel the Illinoise on the cover; sometimes written as Illinoise) is a 2005 concept album by American indie folk songwriter Sufjan Stevens. It is his fifth studio album, and features songs referencing places, events, and persons related to the U.S. state of Illinois. Illinois is Stevens' second based on a U.S. state—part of a planned series of fifty that began with the 2003 album Michigan that Stevens has since acknowledged was a gag.