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Music CD - Sufjan Stevens: Illinois
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Music CD: Illinois
Artist: Sufjan Stevens
List Price: $14.98
Our Price: $10.66
Your Save: $ 4.32 ( 29% )
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
Manufacturer: Asthmatic Kitty
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Average Customer Rating:  
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Tracks:
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1. Concerning The UFO Sighting Near Highland, Illinois
2. 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...
3. Come On! Feel The Illinoise!: Part I: The World's Columbian Exposition/Part II: Carl Sandburg Visits Me In A Dream
4. John Wayne Gacy, Jr.
5. Jacksonville
6. A Short Reprise For Mary Todd, Who Went Insane, But For Very Good Reasons
7. Decatur, Or, Round Of Applause For Your Stepmother!
8. One Last 'Whoo-Hoo!' For The Pullman
9. Chicago
10. Casimir Pulaski Day
11. To The Workers Of The Rock River Valley Region, I Have An Idea Concerning Your Predicament
12. The Man Of Metropolis Steals Our Hearts
13. Prairie Fire That Wanders About
14. A Conjunction Of Drones Simulating The Way In Which Sufjan Stevens Has An Existential Crisis In The Great Godfrey Maze
15. The Predatory Wasp Of The Palisades Is Out To Get Us!
16. They Are Night Zombies!! They Are Neighbors!! They Have Come Back From The Dead!! Ahhhh!
17. Let's Hear That String Part Again, Because I Don't Think They Heard It All The Way Out In Bushnell
18. In This Temple As In The Hearts Of Man For Whom He Saved The Earth
19. The Seer's Tower
20. The Tallest Man, The Broadest Shoulders: Part I: The Great Frontier/Part II: Come To Me Only With Playthings Now
21. Riffs And Variations On A Single Note For Jelly Roll, Earl Hines, Louis Armstrong, Baby Dodds, And The King Of Swing, To Name A Few
22. Out Of Egypt, Into The Great Laugh Of Mankind, And I Shake The Dirt From My Sandals As I Run
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Binding: Audio CD
EAN: 0656605892627
Label: Asthmatic Kitty
Manufacturer: Asthmatic Kitty
Number Of Discs: 1
Publisher: Asthmatic Kitty
Release Date: 2005-07-05
Studio: Asthmatic Kitty
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Spotlight customer reviews:
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Customer Rating:
Summary: Creative songwriting, good sound, I love it
Comment: As you may have heard, Sufjan Stevens wishes to come out with an album for each state and tailor the songs on each album to that particular state. I love the creativity of his songwriting, I love his voice and I love most of the songs on this album. "Chicago" has already gotten some play on the airwaves although the best track, in my opinion, is "Concerning a UFO Sighting Near Highland, IL".
Matt Zarnstorff
Customer Rating:
Summary: Great album; good for new and old fans
Comment: You won't take this out of your cd player for days. Good quality Sufjan at his best. This would be good for newer fans as well; it's a good album to get acquainted with his sound and discover why so many love his music. This has the famous "John Wayne Gacy" song that has gained popularity.
Customer Rating: 
Summary: very artistic very original but lacking ketch
Comment: This album was the first Sufjan I heard and it bored me. I had not yet perfected my present taste in tunes and his untraditional style totally threw me off.
Later however I began to recognize his artistic qualities that point out real musicians.Sufjan's use of a huge assortment of instuments adds to his artsy flavor. He is a quality musician. One thing Sufjan could profit from is some good hip funk, no matter how beautiful the album is it could do with some fun. Sufjan is definitely capable of this and has shown it in his remix "the avalanche" in numbers like "Henny buggy band" and "the perpetual self, or what would Saul Alinsky do?". Of course, if your a real Sufjan fan then this won't matter to you, and in that case Illinoise is a must.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Quirky, Brilliant, Easy on the Ears
Comment: A friend introduced me to Sufjan Stevens, and I'm so glad she did: from the very first track, this CD is quietly addictive. It's been a long time since I've found a CD I could enjoy from beginning to end, that is mellow enough to be background music yet not at all depressing (a la Nick Drake or Elliot Smith). Stevens has a pretty voice (yes, he's a guy, but you'll see what I mean) which he accompanies beautifully with harmonies and guitar. I'll look forward to many replays of this CD and to hearing not just the melodies, but the lyrical stories they each tell.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Poetic masterpiece
Comment:
Illinois contains a wealth of catchy melodies and gripping imagery, plus plenty of variety in theme, musical style and presentation. The music is an original blend of soulful folk-pop with orchestral infusions. There are some scattered bursts of electrical guitar here and there but the banjo is prominent throughout. Interspersed with colorfully titled brief instrumental snippets, the songs embrace a range of emotions from joy to melancholy. For all its dazzling variety, the album is surprisingly cohesive.
The following are my personal favorites:
The celebratory Come On Feel The Illinoise with its intricate arrangement, the buoyant Decatur with its witty rhyme scheme and lilting beat, the poignant and solemn Casimir Pulaski Day, the sensitive treatment of a horrible subject like John Wayne Gacy, the mix of sadness and elation in the rousing tune Chicago, Man Of Metropolis with its segments of hard rock guitar and the tender Tallest Man.
On these exquisite melodies, Sufjan's intimate voice is often framed by elegant backing vocals over a complex and stirring instrumental mix. Infused with an appealing sense of spirituality, Illinois offers an inspiring and uplifting listening experience.
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Editorial Reviews:
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Illinois sounds like The Sea and Cake collaborating with the high-school band from a Wes Anderson film on banjo-driven, pulsing meditations on Vince Guaraldi's music for Peanuts. Sufjan Stevens, the singer-songwriter behind the endeavor, is an earnest and whimsical young man who aims to record an album based on every state in the union, though this is just his second attempt since 2003's Michigan. Lavish praise has been heaped upon this precocious twenty-something, who weaves personal recollections, historical narratives, and strange facts together to create lush portraits of Midwestern life. It's not maudlin stuff, and the atypical instrumentation (strings, choirs, trumpets, vibes) is beyond gimmick. Halfway through "John Wayne Gacy, Jr.," when Stevens has you feeling true empathy for a serial killer, it's clear that he really is an artist of the highest order. These are weird and lovely middlebrow ditties; we eagerly await the Broadway adaptation. --Mike McGonigal
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