Sufjan is famously attemptingto make an album forevery state in the union,but has slowed down oflate; this is his first releasein over three years. TheBQE is the Brooklyn Queens Expressway,but it is unclear if this is his New Yorkalbum. Commissioned by the BrooklynAcademy of Music, the resulting albummight be best described as a grand creativefranchise – incorporating movie, symphony,comic book, dissertation, photography,graphic design and a 3-D Viewmaster reel –in which a songwriter’s interrogation of oneof New York’s ugliest landmarks expandsathletically to forums and formulas outsideof the song itself. In fact, the BQE iseverything but a song.