Sufjan named one of "The 9 Biggest Wusses in Rock Today"

from cracked.com:

This man played a show wearing butterfly wings.* Butterfly wings? Sure, being sensitive can get you chicks but this is taking it too far. What’s next? Going on stage with lanyards and making key chains for grandma? Half-hour nappy time breaks midway through sets? If anyone needs to go for a ride with Denzel Washington in Training Day mode, it’s Sufjan.

I thought this was hilarious, especially that last part. I mean, come on: Part A is that, I mean, yeah, he volunteers at nursing homes teaching knitting. He dresses up like a cheerleader and a swan. He sucked his thumb until his age was double-digit (explains the chompers). He contributes to Martha Stewart Magazine, for chrissakes!

But part B here is that it takes some serious cajones to stand up and do all that with pride and passion and so well. It's part of that whole "real men wear pink" thing, however much you buy into that. But it is a pretty tough counter-cultural message to send, especially one from heartland America where most good ol' boys are busying themselves with barb-wire calf tattoos and scratching out Angry White Boy music that never makes it out of mom's garage. The fact that Sufjan is so successful at what he does is all the more argument that he's strong enough to have risen above all that machismo BS.

Other notables in the article are Corgan and Iha of the Smashing Pumpkins ("Embarrassed that his makeup was ruined, [Corgan] would scream “I’m going to start MY OWN band and it’s going to be called Zwan and we’re going to be the best!” and run off."), Belle & Sebastian ("These guys are so wimpy they make Bert and Ernie look like M.O.P.") and Conor Oberst ("This dude really wants to be Bob Dylan, but not only would Dylan destroy him in a battle of music, he’d also kick ass physically.")

TRUE AS ALL THAT MAY BE, it takes equal parts knowledge and respect to write about someone like that, so I think this is just an immature if genuine nod from the authors, who will now go back to punching each other in the face to show affection.

*By the way those were EAGLE wings. He made the rest of his orchestra dress up as the butterflies.