Customer Reviews

Enjoy Your Rabbit

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

If you listen to "Michigan", "Seven Swans", or even "A Sun Came", "Enjoy Your Rabbit" may come as a shock. "EYR" is an instrumental electronica album that completely shows off a different side of Steven's broad talent. The songwriting, perhaps, isn't too much different, but the execution is the difference between a stocking full of coal and a stocking full of candy.

The best comparrison I can think of is the classical compositions of Phillip Glass and Steve Reich having an accident with the electronica/industrial world. Stevens utilizes repitition reminicent of Glass' (and for that matter, Reich's) work, as well as some pulsating at points ala Reich's "Music for 18 Musicians" or "Desert Music".

A few places take on some weird sonic twists which remind me of The Residents, though I'd be surprised if they were the actual inspiration.

Definately reccomended, but don't expect his indie folk of his other projects.

This would be a five star effort, however, I think that it would be better with some vocals. That's just me, though.

(edit: after several years of hindsight, I would give this five stars and call this Sufjan Stevens' best album... not just his best album, but one of the greatest albums of the past ten years.)

Sufjan Stevens may be the all-time indie king of concept albums, as he's currently doing the United States, and has managed two of the states so far.

But before that, he created another one: "Enjoy Your Rabbit," a whimsical, enchanting little album based on the Chinese zodiac. In other words, it has songs named after the dog, asthmatic cat (little pun there), rat, rooster, tiger, horse, dragon, monkey, ox, boar, snake, sheep... and the rabbit.

It opens with "Year of the Asthmatic Cat," which sounds a lot like a UFO landing... except creepier. It's followed by the sputtering glitchpop of "Year of the Monkey," which explodes into a seething mass of horns, synth, static, and stately gothic organ. By this point, you will probably be mesmerized.

From there, Sufjan Stevens tries out all kinds of glitchy, airy, noisy pop music -- dancey little pop that twirls around on itself, robotic dance, bubbly twittery stuff, breathless dancepop littered with weird noises, and even "Year of the Sheep," which is best described as electro space-folk. It finishes off with the sparkling epic "Year of The Horse," and ending with the spiritual, stately "Year Of Our Lord."

Stevens mashes together different sounds and styles, and not one song on "Enjoy Your Rabbit" can be described in fewer than three words. This is probably the least accessable of all of his work, but it's also perhaps the most charming and innocent. Anything that uses wind chimes as an instrument has to be.

Musically, it sounds like ordinary indiepop filtered through a broken music box. There are fragments of horn, bits of electronica both jagged and symphonic, stately organ, flutes, delicate chimes, clocks, and who knows what else. The title track even employs some punky guitar riffs alongside the chimes and electronic blips -- what more could you ask for?

There is one downside: Sufjan's voice. Yes, he does sing in this album, but not in many of the songs. And when he does sing, it's very low-key -- yes, even that choirlike singing at the very end. There aren't really any lyrics either.

It's radically different from all his other work, but Sufjan Stevens's quirky, scattered melodies make sure you will "Enjoy Your Rabbit." Clever and charming.

One of my favorite things about Sufjan Stevens is his voice, and his superior ability to convey emotion with his voice. Sadly, Enjoy Your Rabbit is not an album that captures this aspect of Stevens' talent. What it does do, however, is introduce Sufjan fans to another side to the artist and proves that he his not just some crazy, banjo-playing, state-loving, hippie. This album makes it undeniably clear that Sufjan Stevens is an amazing, well-rounded musician. Comprised mostly of electronic instrumentation ("programmatic songs", as he would say), Enjoy Your Rabbit has a song for every animal on the Chinese Zodiac calendar. Sure, it sounds like a boring concept for an album, but so does a CD about Illinois. If we've learned anything in the last year, it's that Sufjan sees the beauty and unrecognized joy in seemingly menial things and makes them exciting to the listener. Don't believe me? Check out "Enjoy Your Rabbit" and "Year of the Ox" and you will be convinced that Sufjan knows what he is doing and we, the skeptical public, need to just calm down and let him do his thing.

With the folky acoustic sounds of his debut A Sun Came, no one expected Sufjan Stevens to release something like this. Without a decipherable vocal in sight, Stevens' Enjoy Your Rabbit is one heck of an instrumental concept album, relying on mostly electronic sounds, but also a few other instruments for good measure.

Yes, it is heavily electronic, but Enjoy Your Rabbit is no Joy Electric. There's a certain amount of chaos in the album that would make Ronnie Martin shudder, yet Sufjan controls it beautifully to the point of creating cosmos within the noise. Stevens knows when the noise can get too disorientating, and mixes in several lighter numbers. Some of the songs, like track three, are simply great, orchestrated melodies, with the one in mention being something Danny Elfman would be proud of.

If anything, purchase this because of the courage Stevens had to take a 360 degree turn in his artistic career and create this strange, yet ultimately brilliant, masterpiece. It has nice artwork, too.

Just bought this album after thoroughly enjoying Sufjan's Brian Wilson -like Illinios album. This album could not be more different!
Enjoy Your Rabbit sounds like Aphex Twin attempting to perform Tubular Bells. Perhaps a meeting of Brian Wilson, Mike Oldfield, Philip Glass and Aphex Twin. OUTSTANDING!!! If I could make an album this phenominal I could die a happy man. I was completely blown away by all of the minute detail that he has put into Rabbit.
Can't wait to listen to it again when I get up tomorrow. You just have to hear it to believe it.
Best of luck to you in the future Sufjan!

Interesting early release gamble of highly experimental, non-vocal electronic sketches didn't exactly pay off, but after huge success that followed, EYR is even more appreciated than perhaps its actual worth. Littered with frazzled lo-fi glitch-ery, much of the album lacks cohesion, but a good amount of "wow" moments, followed by a continuously solid final stretch makes this oddity worth pursuing.

Sufjan Stevens is probably the most talented kid on the block. This album is before the greatness of Illinois and The Great Lakes State, and it shows where sufjans melodies come from. He is a not a lyric driven folk musician like 99.9% before him, he is a melody driven musician much like any ambient music(ie air, zero 7, even radiohead). Granted this is a much larger pill to swallow, but dont give up on the rabbit, he will impress you more with each listen, and after the pill makes it down, Illinois and Michigan sound even more genious.

Don't call this a "noise record." About ENJOY YOUR RABBIT, nothing could be half further from the truth. The first 20 seconds of the record are composed of some quiet, simmering noise, reminiscent of a tea kettle with a computer virus; the next track begins with some electronic widgetry by a thrift store toy bandit... yet it is just over a minute into the record when the metallic mallet instruments come in, foreshadowing a complex sonic cityscape where Gotham city chamber rock is often augmented by Kid606 sampling the digital crunch of Florian Hecker. Sufjan has said that this record was borne out of a desire to bring interesting music to IDM, and for that it begs not to be titled a "noise record." "Year of the Ox" brings the funk about as well as the most danceably innovative of Bjork, and with post-rock counter-melodies to rival the best of 'em; who would call that noise? The live percussion dances on the feet of the electronic rhythms; alarm clocks keep time (at least in "Year of the Rat"); electric guitars blaze alongside delicate arrangements of Reichian chimes and organs, and for all this, there's quite a bit of quiet respect here as well. Here's something you won't understand until you listen: This is the music you hear in your dream, the music that tells you to wake up and try to remember the sounds that never existed.

I would best describe the "music" on this disk as noise. There were a few moments when there was music, but mostly it was just a non-harmonic mess. He's done much better work before and since, I'd stick to those.

So I don't have any real problems with this album. It just isn't my cup of tea. It is an instrumental album that is a branch off of the usual Stevens. I would suggest this album if you really enjoy high intensity electronic drone music. I wouldn't call it noise because there was is intention in there, but it is kind of hard to listen to unless this is your thing. I am all about experimentation but buyer beware if you are looking for the normal Sufjan Stevens album move past this one.