Hendel in D.C.
I live in Washington, D.C., where I first came to work as a writer and producer for The Atlantic in 2010. Now I cover transportation for local news site TBD at its On Foot blog.
Twitter
Facebook
E-mail
I live in Washington, D.C., where I first came to work as a writer and producer for The Atlantic in 2010. Now I cover transportation for local news site TBD at its On Foot blog.
Twitter
Facebook
E-mail
At the height of the Iraq war, college graduates poured into cities and took internships at magazines, nonprofits, and internet startup firms. They found themselves drawn, for some reason, to adorable music that openly celebrated our national heritage. They dressed like stylish lumberjacks and watched Sufjan perform dressed as a Boy Scout, and they remembered a disappeared world of the small and the tangible.
This 32-year-old Alexandria man is writing a song for every D.C. Metro station and has just released his first album dedicated to the Blue Line (Volume One: Mostly Blue). Think Sufjan Stevens but with trains. Read a Q&A with the musician and hear one of the songs here.
Sufjan Stevens—“Futile Devices”
My last hour or so has been pure writing, for the most part, and I’ve listened to some new albums while doing it…and Sufjan! Jesus. What happened? This first song resembles the Sufjan I’m familiar with, but much of the album veers into what’s generally new territory. Hah, I think I like the new sound of the Age of Adz album overall. More distortion, more noise, more angst. Any good artist needs be at least a little damaged, right? These tracks reflect something of that, and I’ll definitely give this album a few more listens, I’m sure. What a bizarre (and delightful? Maybe?) turn to his style.
