Sometimes more-of-the-same isn’t a bad thing. True, Sufjan Stevens & The Michigan Militia have moved to Illinois (dubbing themselves the Illinoisemakers) but this new album is the same Sufjan we know and love. Fingerpicked ballads of delicate twang, tasteful orchestration, and titles that are murder on the ID3 tags:
01 “Concerning The UFO Sighting Near Highland, IL”
02 “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 Going To Have To Leave Now, Or, ‘I Have Fought The Big Knives And Will Continue To Fight Them Until They Are Off Our Lands!’”
03 “Come On! Feel The Illinoise!”
Part I: The World’s Columbian Exposition
Part II: Carl Sandburg Visits Me In A Dream
04 “John Wayne Gacy, Jr.”
05 “Jacksonville”
06 “A Short Reprise For Mary Todd, Who Went Insane, But For Very Good Reasons”
07 “Decatur, Or, Round Of Applause For Your Step Mother!”
08 “One Last ‘Woo-hoo!’ For The Pullman”
09 “Chicago”
10 “Casimir Pulaski Day”
11 “To The Workers Of The Rockford River Valley Region, I Have An Idea Concerning Your Predicament, And It Involves Shoe String, A Lavender Garland, And Twelve Strong Women”
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!! Ahhhhh!”
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”
I too was dubious about Sufjan’s project to record tribute albums for all fifty states. I loved Michigan but had issues with the gimmick. Then, project sidetracked after one album, Sufjan delivered a bibical folk masterpiece so I was in for the long haul.
No. 2 of 50 leaked last week. It’s a paean to Illinois and already a likely entry in Stereogum’s Top Ten Of 2005.
Illinois opens with a contemporary jazz meditation on the “alien thing” spotted in the sky by Highland residents a few years back … then a fluttering instrumental march for the Black Hawk War of 1832 … and we’re onto the punchy “Come On! Feel The Illinoise!” (how can you not love that title?). Part I (about the 1893 World’s Fair) finds Sufjan’s band channeling its inner Brubeck with an angelic chorus spitting rhymes in 5/4 time. A little prog break segues into Part II, which recalls recent Lambchop. The disc’s a history lesson, but you won’t mind.
“The Predatory Wasp” drifts in and out of the breathless chamber pop Andy Partridge played with in the late ’90s.
My iTunes’ most played track (DISCLOSURE: been DVRing a lot of Forensics Files lately) is the twisted eulogy “John Wayne Gacy, Jr.” Our narrator sympathizes with the clown-loving serial killer in the last verse.
Decatur and Chicago also get shout outs — the former an upbeat banjo ditty, the latter a cousin of some Polyphonic Spree song. “Chicago” sounds familiar — 93% sure he broke it out at Southpaw in November.
So Illinois is a luscious, epic poem. My only gripe is the lack of surprise. Sufjan is clearly as gifted as he is ambitious. I’d be curious to hear a Neil Youngy dirge like “Casimir Pulaski Day” without the exquisitely arranged horns and twee choir. At least “The Man Of Metropolis” introduces — brace yourself — dissonant electric guitar and sleepy disco “They Are Night Zombies!” is downright groovy (by Danielson Famile standards). On Illinois Sufjan’s 30-strong posse includes Craig Montoro (Volcano, I’m Still Excited!), James McAlister (Ester Drang), and Shara Worden (AwRY).
I love this album. Keep an eye out.
Sufjan Stevens – “Concerning The UFO Sighting Near Highland, IL” (MP3 removed)
Sufjan Stevens – “John Wayne Gacy, Jr.” (MP3 removed)
What do the Illinois readers think? Does Sufjan do justice?
Did I mention his super-cute xylo player?
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hey! those mp3 link are dead!
stereo, did you forget to upload them?
hey! those sufjan mp3 links are dead!
stereo, did you forget to upload them?
i like sufjan’s song titles a lot more than his music. but thats ok, because i really like his song titles.
and wow, that xylo player is cute. she and the bassist chick from stellastarr should form a band. and maybe one of them corrs girls could sing or something.
you are right, scott, this album is great and it might be my #1 of 2005 so far. My only gripe with it is the fact that it surpassed michigan, and that’s because I’m from michigan. and I’m still dubious about him doing all 50 states, I mean he’s bound to run out of material by the time he reaches ohio. If not, by the time he finishes, he may have to create an album for iraq, along with numerous other new states added to the union, which brings me to my next question, what do you and the readers think the next state will be? I’m going with New York.
p.s. track 2 title is the best, especially “how to demolish an entire civilization and still feel good about yourself in the morning” simply amazing on so many levels!
This is the most exciting thing to happen to Illinois since last month’s opening of the historically inaccurate Abraham Lincoln Presidential Museum. Thanks Stereogum!
http://www.alplm.org/home.html
how amazing it all is, and on so very many levels!!!!
From what I can tell, Chicagoans love Sufjan. I think the shows at Schubas last November sold out.
omg my college crush was from highland, il! that is crazy!
i hope he gets to california before the next milennium—i’m curious what that would sound like.
yeah… i’m a block from schuba’s and didn’t buy advance tickets and they were all sold out. boo.
and, i’ve only been in chicago for a year, so i’m not all up on IL history, and this CD doesn’t seem like a good place to start – while i have gone out to the ‘burbs and western IL, i still have no idea where Jacksonville is.
being from Ohio, i’m excited for him to make a whole album on my state…
I’m from Michigan and live in Chicago, so clearly Sufjan is secretly in love with me and wants to have my babies. Aw.
Going by titles alone, “Casmir Pulaski Day” is the big winner here. A song about an obscure Revolutionary war hero and an inside joke for the Chicago peeps, all rolled into one. Sweet!
i love this album already too. although I find the song titles to be a bit much…also as a friend noted, the song “chicago” sounds EXACTLY like “Romulus”…not cool. but all in all, if you can look past the overtly religious lyrics, or sometimes painfully cheesy lyrics “his father was a drinker, and his mother cried in bed”–”John Wayne Gacy JR”
yikes
, it’s still musically a very pretty album.
I know this is totally cheesy … but I think it would be cool if on future albums Sufjan had legendary musicians from each state make cameos.
kasimir s. pulaski day is a song by big black too. off songs about fucking. is it a cover?
I can’t believe he name checked Carl Sandburg. The dorm I live in at UW-Milwaukee is named after Sandburg.
Personally, I hope Sufjan’s album concept doesn’t stray beyond the midwest into places like New York or California. A lot of the fun of the songs revolves around the fact that they are full of inside jokes about obscure locations. (I say this being from an obscure Illinois location myself). I saw Sufjan play at Schubas in Chicago and the show blew me away. Afterwards, I got to chat up the xylo player and buy her a drink while fawning drunkenly over the music. Yummy.
I liked SS until I found out that they were Christians and singing about Christianity. Sorry; uninspiring to me.
p.s. when I alleged that I spoke to the above stated girl, I was with my wife and another friend who also enjoyed the show and also drunkely fawned over the music.
I’m not nearly as keen on this record as you are – I find it surprisingly dull (pretty, but dull). “Casimir Pulaski Day”, however, is astoundingly wonderful. I put it up on Gramophone earlier this week:
http://www.saidthegramophone.com/archives/cancer_of_the_liver.php
hey stereogum . why dont u post this .
9 new oasis songs from the new album – dont believe the truth
( i already posted the other 3 songs last week )
http://s39.yousendit.com/e.aspx?id=0BJ8SVJEJBIQK1325TCBPR7MC6
ilept
On behalf of all Wisconsinites, I call dibs on Sufjan’s next album.
Yea, I’ve been listening to the album non-stop since last week when i was able to snag it. Having recently moved out of Chicago for the West Coast, this got me all verklempt. Sufty (as his friends call him) is quickly replacing Iron and Wine and The Mountain Goats in my most-played rotation.
Thanks so much for this post!
I too have heard the disk, I have reason to believe that ” The Man Of Metropolis Steals Our Hearts” may be the best song I’ve heard in a long long time.
Not as good as Nugent but one of your better recommendations Gummer, Anyone wanting to listen before purchasing can get Sufjan Stevens Ill by downloading these rar files on the following links
pw for all rar files: GTA
They have all been tested using the above pw and were successfully opened.
Tracks 1 to 4
http://rapidshare.de/files/1466587/SS-I.rar.html
Tracks 5 to 9
http://rapidshare.de/files/1466600/S-SI.rar.html
Tracks 10 to 12
http://rapidshare.de/files/1466496/SSI-.rar.html
Tracks 13 to 17
http://rapidshare.de/files/1466497/SSI.rar.html
Tracks 18 to 22
http://rapidshare.de/files/1460507/SS-I3.rar.html
Here’s a link to newer info re: Illinois, including an album cover, list of instruments and recording technologies, and lots of pictures.
http://www.fanaticpromotion.com/current/sufjan_illinois.html
And they are no longer the Michigan Militian, but the “Illinoisemakers.”
I could go either way with SS’s music (although I really like both parts of “Come on, Feel the Illinoise!”), but DAMN, he is a pretty, pretty, pretty man. Thank you for the pics, elliott!
OH NO! Not Illinoise! As an Illinoisan, the first thing that came to my mind when I saw that is “THE ‘S’ IS SILENT.. THE ‘S’ IS SILENT.”
can non-americans enjoy sufjan’s music too?
that xylophonist certainly is a looker.
how is “his father was a drinker, his mother cried in bed folding john wayne’s t-shirts when the swinset hit his head” a cheesy line??? one great emotional sentence to sum up a child gone horribly wrong. i haven’t read any books on gacy, but knowing SS, it’s probably a reference to a point in gacy’s life. and it’s chilling as all fuck as it quickly escalates from there “oh my god oh my god.” one of the best songs of the year so far.
kristin, then you realized it’s intentional right??? illinoise? of course… i hate the internet.
ahaha. im so glad i found this. my grandma claims to have seen the very ufo they’re referring to in this song and has talked about it for years. she said that it looked like a giant purple cigar.
anyone care to post the lyrics to track 1?
what does he say? the lebanon or something?
A Conjunction Of Drones Simulating The Way In Which Sufjan Stevens Has An Existential Crisis In The Great Godfrey Maze… excellent. I live about 10 min away from Godfrey, IL. Nice to see my little part of Illinois represented.
yeah, i realize it’s intentional. it’s a reflex reaction i have when someone (even intentionally/jokingly) mispronounces (well, in this case, the spelling implies the mispronunciation) illinois.
I just listened to “John Wayne Gacy, Jr.” It sounds like such a lovely song, but then you pay attention to the lyrics… Born and raised in Ill., I must say that I’m intrigued and disturbed. I think I need more.
The lyric about the swingset refers to claims that head trauma in Gacy’s childhood (and the subsequent blackouts he experienced) are what caused him to do what he did.
I’ve heard that there is a pattern that seems to relate head trauma to serial murder, but I’ve never seen it substantiated.
Is that really the album cover? God, that’s fucking hideous.
That looks like a single, not the album.
I hereby decree that no one else post Oasis mp3′s just wherever the fricken’ hell they like. The new oasis SUCKS. Noel and Liam should go back to getting sloshed and having fights that prevent them from wanting to be in any sort of a room together. Thus, they would never make another album and I can die a happy girl.
oh, and Sufjan is a music industry saviour. Bloody amazing I tell you, I shelled out harsh amounts of dollars for his other albums…80 bucks on cds in one day, loveanddeath no likey, but it’s all outstandingly wonderful.
john fuller: there are obscure places in California. Last time I checked, California is bigger than just SF and LA.
oh, and there are obscure places in New York too.
sheesh.
this is the best thing i’ve heard all year, a year already filled with amazing music. but this is just… incredible.
i don’t know why everybody is so quick to jump on that scan as the album cover. the album isn’t called that, one of the songs is.
Re: SS’s graphic design: sorry for the mistake (perhaps the David Foster Wallace-esque 27-word song titles were distracting me) but whether it’s the single art or the album art it’s still completely terrible.
that super-cute xylo player is one of the danielson sisters.
I can’ wait til he gets to Arizona and writes the song “How Sufjan Stevens had to crash on Fred’s couch in Tempe OR the Xylophone player was amazing in bed according to Fred” !!
I got so excited I forgot the T on can’t, so I guess I can wait after all…:P
This is his best album yet! I can’t stop listening. Between this, the new Of Montreal and the new Architecture in Helsinki, I may just be set for the year.
timothy are you crazy? those are the the most melodramtic lyrics ever. I find it’s maudlin and ridiculous. cheese to the max, like steven spielberg movies. I WILL MAKE YOU CRY!
wow. this record is just so amazing. when he drops the big swirling phillip glass riffs in the predatory wasp, it is over. I really like the things he does the same between michigan and illinois. man oh man.
concerning the “cheesy” lyrics. they are pretty much just a statement of fact, so hard to be melodramatic on that. read the wikipedia entry for info or research gacy.
I can’t wait for Illinoise to come out.
And those would be Steve Reich riffs, not Phillip Glass riffs.
Sufjan is a huge Reich fan. http://www.somewherecold.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=Sections&file=index&req=viewarticle&artid=89&page=1
See his response to what musicians he admires. He mentions Reich in several other interviews.
Damn, Scott! Thanks for sharing the “John Wayne Gacy, Jr.” track from the latest Sufjan Stevens’ release, “Illinois.” Truly the most gorgeous song about a mass murderer I have ever heard. I just hope the next state is Ohio. The first song had better be “Bob Pollard.” The second needs to be about the Brother’s Wright. The third ought to be about Larry Flynt. There is a whole hell of a lot of fertile ground in Ohio. Just leave Florida (my home state) alone.
Lyrics (the best I can muster):
When the revenant came down,
We couldn’t imagine what it was . . .
In the spirit of three stars,
The alien thing that took its form . . .
Then to Lebanon,
Oh God . . .
The flashing at night, the sirens grow and grow.
Oh [history invite?] itself,
Mysterious shape that took its form . . .
Or what it was?
Incarnation, three stars . . .
Delivering signs and dusting from their eyes.
Correction: “History involved itself” and “Mysterious shade[?] or shape that took its form . . .”
I love your song about my hometown, Highland, IL.
I’m crying. At times, it’s so riduclous being from there, but you put it on such an extraterrestrial level.
I can’t believe it! THANK YOU!
I must say, I am in love with the album, but I am completely dissapointed with his leaving out Peoria. The album can’t “play in Peoria” without mentioning us. *Sigh*
Carl, “Prairie Fire That Wanders About” opens with a great big, “PEORIAAAAAAA!” Consider yourself mentioned.
I did a little more research on the UFO sighting in Highland. It occured on Jan 5, 2000, and was a military stealth plane (hence the weird mention of a shape) that had three lights on the bottom. It was probably heading towards Scott Air Force Base, but the Highland police called the nearby Lebanon, IL, police…
dude. the homoerotic undertones in songs like “john wayne gacy” and “the predatory wasp” are too much for me. gonna get me all overheated and shit. sufjan stevens is just a gospel banjo cock tease, for serious. sure he “almost touched her blouse,” but he’s all wrestling and kissing on his childhood best friend. nuh-uh.
crypto-homo is the new ironic misogyny, and i, for one, am glad for it.
i just can’t believe that champaign-urbana isn’t mentioned anywhere! maybe it is?? i mean, this is where HAL 9000 (think 2001: a space odyssey) was born!! ;)
+s
Can someone say whether that is the cover for the album or the single for sure?
Personally, I think Sufjan should do Oklahoma (I’ll admit-I’m biased, but who really knows anything about that state?)
i heard that oregon is next. color me a sad wisconsinite.
I lived in Chicago for six years. I cannot wait to get back…until then, I am in Texas – you know “you all can go to hell, I will go to Texas.” Yeah. All I’ve heard is “Chicago” and I LOVE IT because I love Chicago. I hope when I die, heaven looks like Chicago with a choir of Sufjans singing.
I was at the Southpaw show, they most certainly did play Chicago. xylo player is an amazon. and the opener chik who also manned the merch table would not talk to me.
Oh my gosh!! I hadn’t even realised the title of that song… WOO WOO WOO! Sufjan is the best ever. “Praire fire that wanders about” is the literal translation of Peoria. Oh Sufjan, you’re my hero!
As someone who lives in upstate New York, there are many obscure towns, all with fascinating histories, for Mr. Stevens to write songs about.
And I think “John Wayne Gacy, Jr” is an amazing song. Very lovely.
according to interviews with Sufjan, the next album that will come out is Rhode Island, THIS YEAR, which will double as a christmas album.
http://www.emmiemagazine.com/articles/101.html
Oregon is next, a Christmas album. I live in Oregon, was born in Michigan, and parents and grandparents grew up in Illinois. Sufjan knows this, and acquiesces, professionally, for my sake.
Anyone notice the quick nod to a Cure song in the segue between parts 1 and 2 of Come on!…Illinoise?
Sufjan has made me a huge fan of Carl Sandburg and i am currently taking on the task of his 800 page, monster 1 volume biography of Abraham Lincoln. Thankyou Sufjan!
how do you pronounce “sufjan”
I heard a few songs off the new album last night driving home with a friend of a friend’s brother, but I have no idea which ones they are.
I really liked the song about cancer. Which one is it?
His name is pronounced soo-fyan.
zoe–it’s Casimir Pulaski Day, i downloaded the album tonight!!
In response to a question here, yes, non-Americans can enjoy SS’s music too. I’ve not yet fully sampled his new album yet, but given the admirable track-record of his previous records, I’ve no doubt this one will mkae a great listen too. I’m from Holland, and on hearing Seven Swans, I was a bit perturbed by the Christian overtones. I was brought up as a Catholic, but since then have decided to steer away from organised religions. However, unlike most Christian music, which I will not suffer to listen to, SS’s music I like in spite of it, although I hardly think that was his intention. So, I guess that’s one of the biggest compliments I can give, that his music has, in my case, bridged a religious gap, something which seems harder and harder to do these days.
I tried the website to download the files… I got the password, but isn’t there supposed to be a username, too? I heard the track Chicago, and I NEED to hear it again!
yeah, have you heard of national city, CA?
was a big navy town until they built the bay. now we survive on our one high school and a 57 year old parade that was discontinued
Hey! So I’m born and raised in Illinois and I LOVE this album! Its great that its not all about Chicago (although I’m actually from Chi-town), it covers the big bustle of the city and the quiet peacefulness of the small towns. Although its a different state, it’s definitely the same Sufjan. COME ON, FEEL THE ILLINOISE!!!!!!
Don’t like him ’cause he’s pretty- or the xylophone player either. Don’t dislike the music because he’s “Christian”. Listen to Sufjan with open ears and heart and the personal rewards will far outweigh the finicky critic’s negativity. It’s not a scene or a contest of wit- it’s songs and music, remember???
Whats the rapidshare password please
GTA
suggestion: but the actual cd (preferably directly from the artist or label or local reckid store). get lyrics and album art. get cozy. get real.
It is the real cover. I got it in the mail today. You can order for $12 shipped from Asthmatic Kitty’s website. It came in two days. It is not due for a month. How did everyone hear the album? Warez type site? You really should buy this album to support an artist as good as this.
The album is amazing. My only complaint is that there are 3 or songs that are completely the same as older songs (No. 3, No. 9 and I think No. 10).
The person who said s/he like SS until s/he found out he is a Christian. How incredibly stupid is that? Music is music and this music is great.
There are few artists out today that deserve respect – he is one. Buy the album instead of downloading it. And yes, that is the cover.
There’s an excellent live performance on Just Concerts from Toronto in 2004. If you are thinking about seeing him live this will give you a taste of a live performance. Their performance of the song “seven swans” is beautiful! I can’t wait to see the band in SF (two nights too!) and maybe Santa Cruz. I’m completely obsessed. Thanks for the link on the new cd. I’m gonna buy it tomorrow. I’d rather have the real thing and support the artist, of course.
the link:
http://www.justconcerts.com/concerts/concert.cfm?Concert_Id=355&Concert_IsLive=True
ridin’ the ss train,
-dob
Man, I can’t believe nobody has mentioned Jacksonville yet, I can’t stop playing it.
Wow….thank god he is coming to Cleveland, and the day before the Stripes…..mmmmmm.
that is the actual cover… BUT… DC Comics might be suing about Superman being on the cover…. so the cd stopped shipping yesterday… so it may not be in stores on this Tuesday after all…
Hey — regarding Reich vs. Glass riffing, well the Steve Reich is very strong and clear (last track) but the Philip Glass resemblances are significant. I wish I could find the track where my girlfriend (big Glass nut) remarked “Sufjan Glass”. Anyways there’s a hint of it in Come on! Feel the Illinois. Definitely had to do with the staccato(?) horn melodies. But yeah Out of Egypt is deliciously Reichy, also sorta goes out in a Terry Riley “In C” style (a song which likely influenced Reich).
Yeah, I can’t believe Champaign-Urbana isn’t name-checked, either. It has its share of contributions to both pop-culture and the rest of the world… HAL 9000, Roger Ebert’s hometown, Hugh Hefner’s college town, home of REO Speedwagon, home of the FUCKING INTERNET!!!! Come on. The name Champaign alone is enough food for the song mill.
Just discovered Sufjan while surfing The Onion archives. I’m from a teeny, tiny speck of dirt town in IL called Westville. Not too far from Urbana-Champaign. My sister lives near Peoria. And, of course, I will always love Chi-town.
I remember my halcyon days of no school on Kasimir Pulaski Day. Once babysat for a neighbor whose bro-in-law from Jacksonville (we’ll call him SuperHick)watched me sleep. Freaky.
REO Speedwagon was my first all-time fave band. Love bragging about UofI being home of the creation of the Internet as we know it today. Do any of the Champaign-centered songs mention Rocky Rococo pizza? Founded by some Illini alumns. (Say that 10 times fast!)
If Sufjan does an Indiana album, maybe there’d be some live Illini-Hoosier song-dueling. Hmm? Would really enjoy that – I’ve been in IN all my adult life. Quite a bit to say about Indy…..
Oh well, whatever he does I am sure will be great. Oh and for those who have decided not to like Sufjan due to his Christian beliefs – if he’s not physically shoving it down your throat, then he isn’t “forcing” it upon you, therefore, you’ve no reason to feel disconcerted by it. Broaden your horizons!
Wow, I was driving along the Kwinana Freeway on a pristine Perth winters afternoon. They were playing poxy dance music on JJJ. I was just about to turn it off and the opening notes of Casmir Pulinski Day came across. Five minutes later I’m sitting in the emergency lane crying my eyes out. It’s the best song I’ve heard in years!
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