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Album Reviews
Album Review: Osso & Sufjan Stevens – Run Rabbit Run (Asthmatic Kitty Records)
By CMU Editorial | Published on Friday 23 October 2009
Sufjan Stevens’ 2001 album ‘Enjoy Your Rabbit’ was, to the casual Stevens fan, a little jarring. Rife with plinky-plonky electronics and other oddities, it kind of faded into the background in light of his contemporary, more accessible albums. Eight years after its release, it’s been rehashed, cut-up, made-over and re-named – and all for the better.
Now laced with strings and orchestral richness provided by string ensemble Osso (who have also worked with the likes of My Brightest Diamond, The Polyphonic Spree and The New Pornographers) and a whole host of extremely talented composers from Nico Muhly (Bjork) to Maxim Moston (Joan As Police Woman), ‘Run Rabbit Run’ is a breathtaking journey of symphonic grandeur.
Final Fantasy-esque in its almost crude approach to the contemporary-classical genre, it doesn’t quite bow a head to the likes of Mike Oldfield, but in its own quirky way, its content is just as extravagant. Inspired entirely by and named after the animals of the Chinese Zodiac, the album’s concept is organic and not at all contrived; ‘Year Of The Dragon’ and ‘Year Of The Rooster’ are stand-out stellar songs, but are tied so tightly to the rest of the album that it’s really hard to chose what track is the best.
‘Run Rabbit Run’ is an intense album that may be a little too left-field for some singer-songwriter fans, but is sure to be a cult classic. TW
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