Sufjan Stevens - Illinoise
Product Information
Track List: Illinoise
Click on or song title to hear an audio clip. Windows Media player is required.
- Concerning The UFO Sighting Near Highland, IllinoisDownload & Buy
- The Black Hawk War, Or, How To Demolish An Entire Civilization And Still Feel Good About Yourself In The Morning, Or, We Apologize For The Inconvenience But You're Gonna Have To Leave Now, Or, 'I Have Fought The Big Knives And Will Continue To Fight...Download & Buy
- Come On! Feel The Illinoise!: Part I: The World's Columbian Exposition/Part II: Carl Sandburg Visits Me In A DreamDownload & Buy
- John Wayne Gacy, Jr.Download & Buy
- JacksonvilleDownload & Buy
- A Short Reprise For Mary Todd, Who Went Insane, But For Very Good Reasons
- Decatur, Or, Round Of Applause For Your Stepmother!Download & Buy
- One Last 'Whoo-Hoo!' For The PullmanDownload & Buy
- ChicagoDownload & Buy
- Casimir Pulaski DayDownload & Buy
- To The Workers Of The Rock River Valley Region, I Have An Idea Concerning Your PredicamentDownload & Buy
- The Man Of Metropolis Steals Our HeartsDownload & Buy
- Prairie Fire That Wanders AboutDownload & Buy
- A Conjunction Of Drones Simulating The Way In Which Sufjan Stevens Has An Existential Crisis In The Great Godfrey Maze
- The Predatory Wasp Of The Palisades Is Out To Get Us!Download & Buy
- They Are Night Zombies!! They Are Neighbors!! They Have Come Back From The Dead!! Ahhhh!Download & Buy
- Let's Hear That String Part Again, Because I Don't Think They Heard It All The Way Out In BushnellDownload & Buy
- In This Temple As In The Hearts Of Man For Whom He Saved The EarthDownload & Buy
- The Seer's TowerDownload & Buy
- The Tallest Man, The Broadest Shoulders: Part I: The Great Frontier/Part II: Come To Me Only With Playthings NowDownload & Buy
- Riffs And Variations On A Single Note For Jelly Roll, Earl Hines, Louis Armstrong, Baby Dodds, And The King Of Swing, To Name A FewDownload & Buy
- Out Of Egypt, Into The Great Laugh Of Mankind, And I Shake The Dirt From My Sandals As I RunDownload & Buy
More Sufjan Stevens CDs and Albums
Album Details: Illinoise
- Release Date:
- 07/05/2005
- Label:
- Asthmatic Kitty
- UPC:
- 656605892627
User Reviews: Illinoise
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Quite Possibly the Perfect Album
, March 15, 2006Reviewer: Ross - See all Ross's reviews -
Sufjan Knows His Stuff
, February 6, 2006Reviewer: fifs16 - See all fifs16's reviewsPros: Awesome instrumental and vocal sound
Cons: I found none
Like a Walt Whitman or Robert Frost of music, Sufjan's cd "Come on Feel the ILLINOISE" is incredible. Like no other music i've heard, he has his own distinct sound and song lyrics. Absolutley WONDERFUL, I definitely recommend it.
read all (2) user reviews for Illinoise
Pro Reviews: Illinoise
| EXPERT RATING: From AMG Reviews With two states down and only 48 to go, Sufjan Stevens' ambitious musical map of the Unites States of America should be completed if he puts out one a year sometime around 2053. It's a daunting task (and not an entirely original one at that), but if each subsequent record is as good as Illinois, fans who live long enough to witness the project's completion will no doubt find themselves to be scholars of both state history and its narrator's shapeshifting soul. Stevens' soulful folk epics, as played by his signature miniorchestra, have changed little since his 2003 foray into Michigan a charge that may cause some grumbling among that album's detractors but there's a newfound optimism that runs through much of Illinois that echoes the state's "Gateway to the West" pioneering spirit. Glorious road tripready cuts like "The Man of Metropolis Steals Our Hearts," "Come On Feel the Illinoise," and "Chicago" have an expansiveness that radiates with the ballast of history and the promise of new beginnings. Stevens has done his research, with references to everyone from Abe Lincoln, Frank Lloyd Wright, and the ghost of Carl Sandburg to John Wayne Gacy the latter provides one the song cycle's most affecting moments. The lush (yet still distinctly lofi) indie pop melodies draw as much from classic rock as they do progressive folk. "Jacksonville," with its fourchord banjo lurch, mines "Old Man"era Neil Young, disco strings dance around "They Are Night Zombies They Are Neighbors They Have Come Back from the Dead Ahhhh," while the rousing prefinale "The Tallest Man, the Broadest Shoulders" is pure Peanutsinfused Vince Guaraldi as filtered through the ambiguous kaleidoscope of Danielson Famile spiritualism. There's a distinct community theater vibe to the whole affair that may or may not be the result of numerous photo shoots in which the players are dressed in adultstyle Boy Scout uniforms it brings to mind the Blaine Players from Christopher Guest's smalltown theater parody Waiting for Guffman but the majority of Illinois is alarmingly earnest. Stevens may be a snakeoil salesman, but he's got pretty good stuff, and like many of history's most untrustworthy wordsmiths, he somehow manages to switch the opportunist off and turn on the human being each time the listener gets suspicious of his intentions. - James Christopher Monger, All Music Guide |
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Sufjan Stevens Biography
A singer/songwriter and multi-instrumentalist, Sufjan Stevens started his venture in the music world as a member of Marzuki, a folk-rock band based in Holland, MI. Following the release of two full-length albums with the group, Stevens decided to go ...Full Sufjan Stevens Biography
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-- ©2008 All Media Guide, LLC
Pros: Genius lyrics...Genius music
Cons: none
Leave it to Paul, this guy I work with at Hastings. He's an oddball like me, and every now and then he'll show me something I "have to check out." "Illinoise" by Sufjan Stevens was one such thing, and I'm very glad he did.
When I first heard this album I didn't know what to think of it. Of course, when you work in retail you don't fully appreciate the music you hear. As with all things you have to experience them personally. So I picked it up and found out how much genius went into the album.
From the first track, "Concerning the UFO Sighting Near Highland, IL," this album grabs you and takes you on a abstract conceptual journey full of unique harmonies and subtle orchestrations. Stevens plays with jazz rhythms, blending them with classical polyphonic melodies. The songs are movements, one giving birth to the other.
Lyrically it's fantasic as well. My two favorite songs from a lyrical standpoint would have to be "John Wayne Gacy, Jr." and "The Predatory Wasp of the Pallisades is Out to Get Us!" (aren't these titles awesome?). The Gacy tune is a chilling soft folk melody about the serial killer that can only be described as creepy when it's over. The acoustic guitar and piano of the song marry well with the traditional folk harmonies of the voices, painting a very moving piece. The Wasp song is also very good, containing a bouncier lyrical phrasing, and borrowing more in the way of orchestrations. Both songs are lyrically beautiful, and compliment the album quite well.
In all, I believe this album rates very high, and would recommend it to anyone who likes a good, mellow album. ...