The Authoritative List Casey Dorrell

Ah, list season is finally coming to an end. We are left with only one question: how many times can people praise Sufjan Stevens before any praise thrown his way becomes inherently redundant? On an individual basis, he warrants making it to the top of a 2005 Best of list. Yet combine the several thousand Best Of lists he sits atop, and he suddenly seems over hyped. The cumulative hype and inherent redundancy of most list contenders is why I chose not to bother doing a list. That and if Mocking Music were to do an official best of list, it would completely alter the music landscape. Whoever made it on the list would see their record sales spike to such a level that they'd simply stop creating music and retire, content that they'd already created the greatest music possible. It's a lot of responsibility being us. There is someone else almost as big us though and He, perhaps lacking our good judgment did make a list. It turns out that, while Jesus may love all us sinners, he still picks favourites. And his favourite is the same as everyone else's: Sufjan. That's right. It went mostly unnoticed, but late last year Sufjan's love for God was returned. By topping Jesus's best of list of 2005, Sufjan has officially become so popular that we must all hate him. In other news, it's OK to like Bright Eyes again . . . (Also look for Jesus's opinion on Antony and the Johnsons where He offers, "Tell Me you can't hear Me in that voice.") Download: Sufjan Stevens - What Goes On (Beatles Cover) Sufjan Stevens - Variation On . . . (Tim Buckley Cover) Buy: This Bird Has Flown: A 40th Anniversary Tribute to the Beatles' Rubber Soul Not only includes Ted Leo and Sufjan Stevens, but also Low, Fiery Furnaces, and Ben Kweller Dream Brother: The Songs of Jeff and Tim Buckley It Tastes awful but it Works! - This Cd comes out on January 31st in North America and includes a cover by the Engineers and the Magic Numbers.