I first encountered the weirdo-meets-troubadour genius that is Sufjan Stevens around 2005. After hearing his album, Seven Swans, I was immediately hooked and fell in love with his hipster folk-meets-navigation of the American landscape aesthetics. But, as my fan-ship of Stevens has progressed over the years, so has my reluctancy to continue being an interested party of his music catalog. I’m not saying that I’m disloyal by any means, but after he released The Age of Adz, which showcased his affinity for electronic dynamo with auto-tuned tendencies, it was lost on me. 
Cover art for Sufjan Stevens Christmas hip hop mixtape Chopped and Scrooged
But, Stevens is certainly someone who does whatever he feels like doing at any given moment, and that’s something I can respect. Having said that, Stevens (in his love-hate obsession with the Christmas spirit) recently released a Christmas box set of over two and a half hours of music. On top of that, he just released a holiday hip-hop mixtape titled Chopped and Scrooged. Yes, you read that correctly. Taking music and samples from his Silver and Gold box set and featuring hip-hop artists like Heems (of the late Das Racist), Busdriver, Nicky Da B, Electric iLL and more, the mixtape can be streamed on Soundcloud below or downloaded here.
Chopped and Scrooged
I turned a bit of a corner on Sufjan when I saw him on Austin City Limits with his whole enormous orchestra dressed as angels. It seemed a bit pretentious. Don't get me wrong, when he's good he's great - and there are even some tracks (or fleeting moments) on Age of Adz that I like - but I don't rush to see what he's up to next anymore.
