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	Illinois (album) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
		Illinois (pronounced [ˌɪ.lɨˈnɔɪ] or "ill-i-NOY") is a 2005 concept album by American songwriter Sufjan Stevens, with songs referencing places and people related to the U.S. state of Illinois.
		Illinois has also been noted for its religious overtones, which occur in greater frequency and explicitness than is typical for the indie rock genre.
		An album of outtakes and alternate versions, The Avalanche: Outtakes and Extras From the Illinois Album, was released July 11, 2006.
	en.wikipedia.org /wiki/Illinois_(album) (1727 words)

	Sufjan Stevens: Illinois (2005): Reviews
		So much of Illinois feels magical, however, in much the same way as a large State Fair: there is commotion and wonder as the population is continually enchanted by progress, but to unknown purpose.
		Illinois certainly isn't perfect, but it does do a couple important things: it proves that Sufjan has the skill and the talent to prove flexible and long-lasting, and that it's not much of a stretch to expect even better albums from him in the future.
		Illinois is not nearly as Schoolhouse Rock as it sounds, and the songs themselves are sincere, inventive and messily joyful.
	www.metacritic.com /music/artists/stevenssufjan/illinois (1058 words)

	Reveal Review: Illinois
		Illinois, I might have an easier time writing about it; indeed, Sufjan’s literate, geek-chic songwriting is packed with enough geographical and historical references to overwhelm even Illinois natives, and unpacking all twenty-two of these songs requires more than a little bit of homework.
		Likewise, the last album boasted impressively complex, musically literate compositions, but here the arrangements are even more intricate, with serpentine rhythms and structural curveballs weaving in and out of every track.
		Then, in one of the album’s most beautiful moments, Sufjan and the Illinoisemakers turn their grieving into an expression of trust and adoration, singing a sweet chorus of “alleluias” before silencing themselves for a spirited, elevating trumpet solo.
	www.revealarts.com /music/2005/illinois.htm (914 words)

	Slant Magazine - Music Review: Sufjan Stevens: The Avalanche
		he one common objection to Sufjan Stevens's Illinois that has gained some footing in hindsight—as opposed to the petty, "the song titles are jackass" complaints or the point-missing, "No one from Illinois would write those songs that way" arguments—is that it's an album in need of some selective editing.
		What's "epic" in scope to one listener is "bloated and overlong" to another, and the album's 22 tracks give plenty of discussion fodder as to which songs could've been cut to make for a tighter record.
		Stevens is entirely too meticulous and entirely too smart to release the album just for the sake of putting every last line or melody that ever popped into his head into the market—that's why we have Ryan Adams.
	www.slantmagazine.com /music/music_review.asp?ID=892 (314 words)

	Slant Magazine - Music Review: Sufjan Stevens: Illinois
		Illinois offers no shortage of immediate pleasures—the recorder flourish that opens "The Black Hawk War," the anthemic singalong chorus of "Chicago"—but it is ultimately the type of dense, challenging project that demands to be repeatedly, actively engaged.
		While Stevens has clearly done his requisite homework for Illinois, investigating the lore of the state's smaller towns and strengthening his fluency in the likes of Lincoln, Sandburg, and even Gacy Jr., the state proper is but a starting point both for his insightful self-analytical streak and his adventurous compositional gifts.
		The highlight of an album full of them is "Casimir Pulaski Day," in which Stevens mourns a girlfriend dying of bone cancer.
	www.slantmagazine.com /music/music_review.asp?ID=604 (459 words)

	Amazon.com: Illinois: Music: Sufjan Stevens (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-16)
		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.
		Illinois is a great album, almost certainly the best of the year so far.
		Illinois succeeds, but it does so as a glorious mess with a fl spot in the middle.
	www.amazon.com /Illinois-Sufjan-Stevens/dp/B0009R1T7M (2472 words)

	NME.COM - News - Sufjan Stevens to release album of 'Illinois' extras (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-16)
		Sufjan Stevens is due to release 'The Avalanche' - an album of material culled from the sessions for his 'Illinois' record.
		'Illinois' was originally conceived as a double album but, as the project developed, the album became a single.
		The title track was originally intended to feature as a central part of the 'Illinois' album but appeared only as an extra track on the vinyl version.
	www.nme.com /news/sufjan-stevens/23062 (173 words)

	The Avalanche: Outtakes & Extras from the Illinois Album - Sufjan Stevens - Song Listings
		Sufjan Stevens' Come on Feel the Illinoise was a long, gorgeous, and occasionally convoluted kaleidoscope of folk, pop, and orchestral rock fused with personal regional history that somehow managed to lure listeners of all ages and genre allegiances into its pompon-wielding arms.
		Supercomputer" and the nostalgic "Adlai Stevenson," while the elegiac "No Man's Land" echoes the sense of discovery that fueled Illinois' "Chicago," the latter of which appears three times in various disguises throughout the record.
		The Avalanche slows down considerably near the record's end, but so did Illinois, making an even better case for the "Super Director's Cut" that would fuse both albums into one mammoth slice of esoteric Americana pie.
	www.mp3.com /albums/20113396/summary.html (690 words)

	* Dusted Features [ National Anthems: An Interview with Sufjan Stevens ] *
		The album boasts a baroque complexity far exceeding that of its predecessor, Michigan, which is saying a lot indeed.
		MC: For the two 50 states albums, so far you’ve confined yourself to the Midwest, which is interesting since usually we hear from musicians who have backgrounds in either New York or California, or at least one of the two coasts.
		I chose Illinois because it wasn’t a great leap from Michigan, and I feel like there are similar themes, similar cultural idiosyncrasies and characteristics between the two, but to me Illinois seems more successful in some ways, more fully realized.
	www.dustedmagazine.com /features/383 (1749 words)

	the avalanche - sufjan stevens - forums
		Stevens is going to fulfill his promise of an album for every state, he probably shouldn't be putting out outtake albums.
		As for the 50 states/outtakes comment, apparently Illinois was originally conceived as a double album and the strength of the tracks that appear on The Avalanche suggests that it would have been an excellent double album at that.
		Still, the man's a great songwriter and I loved Illinois so I couldn't help but like this one, although the three different versions of "Chicago" was kinda lame considering none of them came close to the original which is probably my favorite song of the 00's decade so far.
	www.dirty.org /forums/showthread.php?t=3861 (954 words)

	The Avalanche: Outtakes and Extras from the Illinois Album, MP3 Album Music Download at eMusic
		The album's quaint mien, contrasted with its obsessive, digitally enabled sense of craft, harbors an uneasy ebb and flow between folksy Americana ("Saul Bellow") and the brainy chill of post-rock ("Dear Mr.
		Albums of "outtakes and extras" rarely bode well — if they didn't make the album, they're probably not worth listening to.
		But The Avalanche is more like an extended reprise of its mother album, an encore that, while perhaps not quite as strong as the main show, extends the joy farther and deeper than anyone could ever hope.
	www.emusic.com /album/10933/10933136.html (636 words)

	Amazon.com: The Avalanche: Outtakes & Extras from the Illinois Album: Music: Sufjan Stevens (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-16)
		Sufjan Stevens' "Illinois" seemed to come out of nowhere and capture the fancies of critics and listeners alike last year, even though the artist had been churning out albums from his tiny label for some time.
		Now, a year later, comes a collection of "shamelessly compiled" (in the artist's own words) leftover tracks from the "Illinois" sessions, which seem to be released for the benefit of avid fans who can't get enough of the guy and are eagerly awaiting the next full-blown album.
		It's appropriate to note that this album is, at its core, very similar to the album that preceded it.
	www.amazon.com /Avalanche-Outtakes-Extras-Illinois-Album/dp/B000FMGWKU (2098 words)

	Illinois Flies Again - Illinois Jacquet - Music Downloads
		The first seven tracks on this 13-track CD constitute what could be the best live album in the entire Chess Records library (and that's going some when one considers that Bo Diddley's Beach Party is part of that canon).
		Check the albums tab for other downloads from Illinois Jacquet.
		It's a hassle for consumers, but the flipside of the coin is that without it, record labels would only post a tiny fraction of what's available today on the Internet.
	www.mp3.com /albums/180607/downloads.html (831 words)

	DOA - Sufjan Stevens - The Avalanche (Outtakes & Extras from the Illinois Album)
		Since 2000, Sufjan Stevens has put the “pro” into prolific, with five albums (four of them being double-length affairs) teeming with ambitious arrangements, richly detailed songwriting, and weighty conceptualism.
		Moreover, Stevens has pledged himself to the unimaginable task of cutting an album in homage to each of the 50 American States.
		Ultimately, The Avalanche lacks the lasting impact of Illinois, as its songs don’t quite hold the same sense of gravitas, economy, and focus.
	www.adequacy.net /review.php?reviewID=6975 (487 words)

	Sufjan Stevens - The Avalanche: Outtakes and Extras from the Illinois Album
		He reached new heights in 2005 with Illinois, the most acclaimed album of that year and one of the most fanciful albums ever created by a man of faith.
		He allegedly had envisioned Illinois as a double album, but several tracks were cut when the proceedings reached staggering proportions.
		Illinois still boasted 22-tracks, but Stevens unearthed 21 more outtakes and alternate versions from the incomplete sessions, tweaked them, and reassembled them into this new project.
	www.christianitytoday.com /music/reviews/2006/theavalanche.html (563 words)

	Rohdesign Weblog \| Sufjan Stevens: Illinois
		Illinois is the kind of album I find myself coming back to, never tiring of another listen.
		The Michigan album, was the first in the "States" series.
		Most of the album is a lot more low-key and is closer in style to music by Iron and Wine than the other two.
	www.rohdesign.com /weblog/archives/001968.html (1428 words)

	Sufjan Stevens Illinois Album Review - SoundsXP
		Sufjan’s fifth album is the second of his ‘States’ series and, logically therefore it’s called ‘Illinois’, not “Illinoise” or “Come On Feel The Illinoise” as the punning cover has it and certain music papers can’t work out (GCSE English not being a requirement to work at NME).
		The album develops elements contained in ‘Michigan’ and ‘Seven Swans’, encompassing folk, country, orchestrated pop, Philadelphia soul, jazz, salsa and showtunes, lashed to themes that include Superman, UFOs, zombies, serial killers, presidents, poets, death and resurrection.
		The song of the serial killer, ‘John Wayne Gacy Jr’, is anything but sensationalist, capturing the well-liked boy and the charity worker with 30 terrible secrets under the house, and showing sympathy for the victims with a gasping, falsetto ‘oh my god’.
	www.soundsxp.com /2144.shtml (505 words)

	The Avalanche - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
		The Avalanche: Outtakes and Extras from the Illinois Album is an album by indie rock singer/songwriter Sufjan Stevens, consisting of outtakes and other recordings from the sessions for his album Illinois.
		The album cover jokingly makes reference to the partially commercial reasons for the album's release, declaring that its contents were "shamelessly compiled by Sufjan Stevens".
		As a pseudo-sequel to Illinois, this album follows the theme of Stevens' fifty states project: one album for each constituent state of the United States of America.
	en.wikipedia.org /wiki/The_Avalanche (890 words)

	Illinois by Sufjan Stevens CD
		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.
		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.
		Witty, audacious, and moving, ILLINOIS manages to be spiritual, entertaining, and educational all at once, resulting in an utterly unique conceptual and musical statement.
	www.cduniverse.com /search/xx/music/pid/6878178/a/Illinois.htm (607 words)

	Glide Magazine Reviews - Sufjan Stevens
		His second album in the series of fifty, 2005’s Illinois was number one on most critic’s year end picks for best album, with its ambitious run of chamber folk.
		Illinois was originally conceived as a double album, as it culminated in (surprise) – fifty songs.
		Through it all, Illinois is the real deal, while Avalanche is a strong sequel that can be enjoyed even if you haven't made it to the Windy City.
	www.glidemagazine.com /2/reviews1388.html (358 words)

	Douban: The Avalanche: Outtakes & Extras from the Illinois Album
		These are tracks not used on the "Illinois" album; some songs were finished, others weren't, requiring substantial editing, arrangements and/or vocals.
		The centerpiece of course, is the title track, "The Avalanche", a song intended for the leading role on "Illinois", but eventually cut and placed as a bonus track on the vinyl release.
		Almost every song on "Illinois" has a counterpart on this outtakes release.
	www.douban.net /subject/10012498 (142 words)

	Prefixblog.com: Sufjan Stevens 'The Avalance: Outtakes and Extras from the Illinois Album' out in July
		The little secret behind the Illinois record is that it was originally conceived as a double album, culminating in a musical collage of nearly 50 songs.
		The centerpiece, of course, was the title track—"The Avalanche"—a song intended for the leading role on the Illinois album but eventually cut and placed as a bonus track on the vinyl release (also on iTunes).
		In his rummaging through old musical memorabilia, Sufjan began to use this song as a meditation on the editorial process, returning to old forms, knee-deep in debris, sifting rocks and river water for an occasional glint of gold.
	www.prefixblog.com /prefixmag_blog/2006/04/sufjan_stevens_.html (795 words)

	Sufjan Stevens, The Avalance: Outtakes and Extras from the Illinois Album
		When Sufjan Stevens began working on his critically acclaimed Illinois release, he initially conceived of the project as a double album.
		And while a few of the songs are little more than demo working tracks, most were expanded upon after the fact—with the help of the Illinoisemakers—so that their realization and presentation for this package results in a body of songs that hold together on their own, and hold up to repeated listening.
		With the Illinois project now (finally?) out of his system, Stevens has only 48 more to go.
	harpmagazine.com /reviews/cd_reviews/detail.cfm?article_id=4467 (220 words)

	Boulder Weekly \| Buzz \| SoundCheck (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-16)
		Take a dash of Belle and Sebastian and a pinch of some classic Simon and Garfunkel, throw in some flutes ala Jethro Tull, toss in a marching band and some Episcopalian church organs for good measure, and smooth it all over with those breathy, melancholic, indie-rock vocals.
		All 21 tracks were originally intended for Illinois, the colorfully ambitious state-dedicated concept album that Stevens released last year.
		The folky focus of the album is sometimes campy and other times sincere, but no matter what, you can count on some superior songwriting, namely "The Mistress Witch From McClure" and the three different versions of "Chicago."
	www.boulderweekly.com /archive/082406/soundcheck.html (298 words)

	Asthmatic Kitty Records : Sufjan Stevens > Illinois
		An engrossing musical road trip, "Illinois" takes you through ghost towns, grain mills, hospital rooms, and the City of Broad Shoulders, with guest appearances by a poet, a president, a serial murderer, UFOs, Superman, the goat that cursed the Cubs, and Decatur's famous Chickenmobile.
		Sufjan weaves variegated musical styles (jazz, funk, pop, folk, and Rodgers and Hammerstein-like flourishes) and the textures of 25 instruments into a tapestry of persons and places famous, infamous, iconic and anonymous.
		Invoking the muse of poet Carl Sandburg, "Illinois" ushers in trumpets on parade, string quartets, female choruses and ambient piano scales arranged around Stevens' emerging falsetto.
	www.asthmatickitty.com /music.php?releaseID=16 (173 words)

	Sufjan Stevens : The Avalanche: Outtakes & Extras from the Illinois Album - Listen, Review and Buy at ARTISTdirect
		Of course The Avalanche will be compared to Illinois, but unlike whatever state album comes next, it isn't expected to match or surpass what has been, so far, his crowning achievement (although traditionalists and minimalists may give that honor to Seven Swans).
		Since Illinois had initially been conceived as a double-disc set, it's somewhat less astounding that these "outtakes and extras" often sound like they would fit smoothly into the "real" album's tracklist.
		Doing a final tally at the end, it turns out that there's about the same number of good songs on The Avalanche as on Illinois, although the very best of the batch was cherry-picked for the latter.
	www.artistdirect.com /nad/store/artist/album/0,,3681947,00.html (526 words)

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