Illinois (2005)

Artist: Sufjan Stevens
Price: $10.64
Shipping: $2.25

                Total Price: $12.89
Format:  CD
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Product Summary
Label: Allegro Corporation
UPC: 00656605892627
Release Date: 7/5/2005
Buy.com Sku: 63989421
Item#: M2EVQ2
Buy.com Sales Rank: 49459
Format:  CD

Song Listing

Disc 1
Song TitleSample
1. Concerning The UFO Sighting ~ Sufjan Stevens
2. Black Hawk War, The ~ Sufjan Stevens
3. Come On! Feel The Illinoise! ~ Sufjan Stevens
4. John Wayne Gacy, Jr. ~ Sufjan Stevens
5. Jacksonville ~ Sufjan Stevens
6. Short Reprise For Mary Todd, A ~ Sufjan Stevens
7. Decatur ~ Sufjan Stevens
8. One Last 'Woo-hoo' For The Pullman ~ Sufjan Stevens
9. chicago ~ Sufjan Stevens
10. Casimir Pulaski Day ~ Sufjan Stevens
11. To The Workers Of The Rockford River Valley Region ~ Sufjan Stevens
12. Man Of Metropolis, The ~ Sufjan Stevens
13. Prarie Fire That Wanders About ~ Sufjan Stevens
14. Conjunction Of Drones, A ~ Sufjan Stevens
15. Predatory Wasp, The ~ Sufjan Stevens
16. They Are Night Zombies!! They Are Neighbors!! ~ Sufjan Stevens
17. Let's Hear That String Part Again... ~ Sufjan Stevens
18. In This Temple ~ Sufjan Stevens
19. Seer's Tower, The ~ Sufjan Stevens
20. Tallest Man, The Broadest Shoulders, The ~ Sufjan Stevens
21. Riffs And Variations On A Single Note ~ Sufjan Stevens
22. Out Of Egypt ~ Sufjan Stevens



 
Album Notes and Credits

Notes & Personnel Info
Personnel: Sufjan Stevens (vocals, various instruments); Craig Montoro (vocals, trumpet); James McAlister (drums); Daniel Smith, Elin Smith (hand claps, background vocals); Matt Morgan, Shara Worden, Katrina Kerns (background vocals).
The second entry from sui generis singer/songwriter Sufjan Stevens in his absurdly ambitious project to make a record for every state in America outdistances even 2003's superb GREETINGS FROM MICHIGAN in scope and beauty. A sweeping paean to the Lincoln state, ILLINOIS weaves together history, personal confession, and detail-filled scenarios with chamber folk, expansive orchestral pop, and back-porch pastoral settings for a stunningly progressive indie gem that sound like Brian Wilson, Stereolab, and Neil Young holding hands in heaven.
Remarkably, in its intricate, gorgeously crafted surfaces, ILLINOIS lives up to its aims. In addition to its symphonic grandeur, the album also showcases Stevens's heartland folk, and some of the album's most shimmering moments are its most spare. "John Wayne Gacy, Jr.," for instance, is an absorbing narrative that features Stevens's sweet tenor couched by guitar, piano, and backing vocals. "Casimir Pulaski Day," similarly, rides a rootsy banjo and guitar groove while Stevens unfurls image-rich lyrics over a lilting melody. Witty, audacious, and moving, ILLINOIS manages to be spiritual, entertaining, and educational all at once, resulting in an utterly unique conceptual and musical statement.

 
Artist Overview
Seemingly every year since 1963, a singer-songwriter is heralded as "the next Dylan." It's a tough title to live up to, but since his 2000 debut, singer/songerwriter Sufjan Stevens has certainly traveled the musical highways of Dylan's Old Weird America. The Michigan-born Stevens plays a style of folk music that captures the full scope of Americana sounds, not just those based on traditional forms. Stevens is an intriguing figure: his 50 States project (an attempt to record an album for each state in the nation) includes 2003's GREETINGS FROM MICHIGAN and 2005's lauded COME ON FEEL THE ILLINOISE.

Artist Influences
Beat Happening | Bob Dylan | Daniel Johnston | Elliott Smith | Emitt Rhodes | John Fahey | Randy Newman | The Beach Boys | The Coctails | The Left Banke | The Zombies | Van Dyke Parks

Artist Contemporaries
Belle & Sebastian | Bright Eyes | Castanets | Danielson Famile | Devendra Banhart | Jens Lekman | Joanna Newsom | My Morning Jacket | Rilo Kiley | The Shins


 

Compilation Appearances
To Spirit Back The Mews
Sun Came (Bonus Tracks)
Music From The O.C. Mix 4
This Bird Has Flown: A 40th Anniversary Tribute to the Beatles' Rubber Soul
Weeds:music From The 0905
Weeds:music From The 0905
I Am the Resurrection: A Tribute to John Fahey
METAPHYSICS FOR BEGINNERS
Dream Brother:songs Of Tim & Jeff Buc
SLEEPER CELL / TV O.S.T.
Mews Too:asthmatic Kitty Compilation
See You On The Moon:songs For Kids Of
Sound The Hare Heard
Music From The O.C. Mix 4 (Bonus Tracks)
Little Miss Sunshine
Weeds
A Tribute To Joni Mitchell
Rockabye Baby Lullaby Renditions Of C
Noise In You
I'm Not There (Soundtrack)

 
Associated Artists and Works
Antony & The Johnsons
Architecture In Helsinki
Badly Drawn Boy
Banhart, Devendra
Boy, Badly Drawn
Bright Eyes
Camera Obscura (UK)
Hidden Cameras (The)
Iron & Wine
Kings Of Convenience
Newsom, Joanna
Shins (The)
Turin Brakes
Ward, M.

 
Technical Info
Release Date : 10/01/2005
Original Release Date : 2005
Catalog ID : 14ki
Label : Asthmatic Kitty Records
Number of Discs : 1
Studio/Live : Studio
Mono/Stereo : Stereo
SPAR Code : n/a
UPC : 00656605892627

 
Professional Reviews
Spin (p.64)
- Ranked #8 in Spin's "40 Best Albums Of 2005" - "[A] Chicago World's Fair of the ear -- a rebirth of wonder, discovery, and progress..."

Spin (p.105)
- "[The album] sounds as informed by middle-American community theater, church choirs, and John Adams' American operas as any canonical 'folk rock' it may resemble." - Grade: A-

Entertainment Weekly (No. 829, p.71)
- "...[F]inespun songs variously inspired by Carl Sandburg, John Wayne Gacy, Jr., and the 'Seer's' tower....ILLINOIS sounds quaint and even magical." - Grade: B

Uncut (p.86)
- 5 stars out of 5 - "ILLINOIS is an extraordinary achievement, all the more so as Stevens played most of the parts himself."

Magnet (p.52)
- Ranked #5 in Magnet's "The 20 Best Albums Of 2005" - "[The album] continues his brave/insane quest to document the whole of our great nation's quilt of quirks..."

The Wire (p.41)
- Included in The Wire's "2005 Rewind: 50 Records Of The Year."

Mojo (Publisher)
(p.60)
- Ranked #24 in Mojo's "The 50 Best Albums Of 2005" - "A boundless cornucopia utilising choir, woodwind and Vince Guaraldi-like piano..."

Mojo (Publisher)
(p.98)
- 3 stars out of 5 - "[W]hen focusing on life's minute joys or its mundane horror, Stevens' voice is as true and profound as an angel."

 
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