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Illinoise

~ Sufjan Stevens (Artist)

5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (5 customer reviews)

Price:	CDN$ 14.99 & eligible for FREE Super Saver Shipping on orders over CDN$ 39. Details
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Michigan ~ Sufjan Stevens
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Product Details

Audio CD (Nov 26 2007)
Original Release Date: Jul 5 2005
Number of Discs: 1
Label: Sonic Unyon Records
ASIN: B0009R1T7M
In-Print Editions: LP Record

Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (5 customer reviews)

Amazon.ca Sales Rank: #359 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)
Popular in these categories:
#10 in Music > Country > Alt-Country
#10 in Music > Alternative Rock > Alternative Styles > Alt-Country & Americana
#16 in Music > Alternative Rock > Indie & Lo-Fi > Indie Rock

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1. Concerning the UFO Sighting Near Highland, Illinois
2. Black Hawk War, Or, How to Demolish an Entire Civilization and ...
3. Come on! Feel the Illinoise!: Pt. 1: The World's Columbian Exposition
4. John Wayne Gacy, Jr.
5. Jacksonville
6. Short Reprise for Mary Todd, Who Went Insane, But for Very Good ...
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 ...
12. Man of Metropolis Steals Our Hearts
13. Prairie Fire That Wanders About
14. Conjunction of Drones Simulating the Way in Which Sufjan Stevens ...
15. Predatory Wasp of the Palisades Is out to Get Us!
16. They Are Night Zombies!! They Are Neighbors!! They Have Come Back from
17. Let's Hear That String Part Again, Because I Don't Think They Heard It
18. In This Temple as in the Hearts of Man for Whom He Saved the Earth
19. Seer's Tower
20. Tallest Man, The Broadest Shoulders: Pt. 1: The Great Frontier/Pt. ...
See all 22 tracks on this disc

Product Description

From Amazon.com

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

Album Description

Subtitled Come On Feel The..., 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. While this album unmistakably owes its inspiration to the sound of Michigan, Sufjan has managed to take his orchestra-like folk template and expand on it, tapping into unexpected genres and bringing unexpected instruments like strings and woodwinds to the forefront, all while relating tales of the state's history as well as possibly fictional stories about its residents. To sweeten the deal, Sufjan's vocals have also improved some: he's managed to make his thin, meek vocal presence a little more noticeable, and while that doesn't stop him from using members of the quirky Danielson Famile as his own personal choir, it's nice to hear him sound more assured on some of this album's mellower moments. Rough Trade. 2005.

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What do customers ultimately buy after viewing this item?

	82% buy the item featured on this page: Illinoise 5.0 out of 5 stars (5) CDN$ 14.99
	7% buy Songs for Christmas 5.0 out of 5 stars (4) CDN$ 26.99
	5% buy In The Aeroplane Over The Sea 4.5 out of 5 stars (278) CDN$ 17.99
	5% buy Seven Swans 4.6 out of 5 stars (14) CDN$ 14.99

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Customer Reviews

5 Reviews

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4 star:		(0)
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Average Customer Review

5.0 out of 5 stars (5 customer reviews)

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Most helpful customer reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Incomparable masterpiece, Feb 9 2008

By	Pieter "Toypom" (Johannesburg) - See all my reviews (TOP 10 REVIEWER)

This inspired concept album is incredibly rich and varied in its themes, musical styles and presentation. The lyrics are poetic whilst the music may be characterized as soulful folk-pop with orchestral infusions. The banjo plays a leading role but there are some scattered bursts of electrical guitar here and there.

The songs encompass emotions from joy to melancholy, and are interspersed with colorfully titled brief instrumental snippets like A Short Reprise for Mary Todd or vocal ones like One Last Woohoo for the Pullman. For all its dazzling variety, the album is surprisingly cohesive and 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 and catchy tune Chicago, Man Of Metropolis with its segments of hard rock guitar and the tender Tallest Man.

Wow what a listening experience Illinois proved to be. On these exquisite melodies, Sufjan's intimate voice is often framed by the most elegant backing vocals over a rich and graceful instrumental mix. The music is infused with a stirring sense of spirituality. Illinois is the most inspiring and uplifting album I have heard in a long long time.

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5.0 out of 5 stars illinoise - pitchforkmedia, Jan 18 2008

By	T. Bigney (Nova Scotia, canada) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER) (REAL NAME)

Two years after his breakthrough album Greeting From Michigan: The Great Lakes State, Sufjan Stevens offers the second installment of his absurdly ambitious "50 States" project, the 74-minute spectacular Illinois. In the wake of last year's quieter Seven Swans, this album finds the baroque, full arrangements of Michigan reaching new stunning, nuanced heights, with the help of a small army of backers (including a choir and string quartet). The result is Sufjan's most inspired album to date: Illinois is strange and lush, as excessive and challenging as its giant, gushing song titles, and as beautiful as the Chicago skyline and lakefront.

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5.0 out of 5 stars Mr. Stevens' Opus, Mar 25 2007

By	momo_adachi (Alberta, Canada) - See all my reviews (TOP 100 REVIEWER)

Sufjan Stevens' ode to the state of Illinois is probably his best album yet. It is rich in sounds, it is quirky and strange without distancing its listener, and always engaging. The marching band aesthetic gives the album an etheral, innocent, complex sound that carries the album from the odd introductory "Concerning The UFO Sighting Near Highland, Illinois" right through to "Out Of Egypt, Into The Great Laugh Of Mankind, And I Shake The Dirt From My Sandals As I Run".

Just by seeing this album on store shelves, you know it's no ordinary album. Even the cover art, depicting a fantastic bricolage of Illinois figures and symbols, even the wildly thought-out track titles and the strange way they are arranged, with outros and intros all over the place indicates that this is not for a passive listener. And yet anyone who is remotely interested in something even a LITTLE different than top 40 radio could extract something out of "Come on Feel the Illinoise"... there are just that many layers.

One comment about the album (and I am unsure as to whether this is a criticism or a praise) is that it is difficult for the disc to be broken apart. If one of the songs is separated from the others, it just doesn't sound the same. Folks with ipods: when you're in the mood for Stevens' 'Illinoise' turn off shuffle and pick the album. As a whole, the album is much like a soundtrack to a ridiculously good musical spectacular about Illinois that never was (or will be, for that matter).

Stevens is publically a very spiritual artist, but the album not only refuses to alienate, but actually ATTRACTS secular listeners. Stevens' spiritual sensability lends to a sweeet, calming, intricate listen.

Overall, "Come on Feel the Illinoise" is a triumphant album with not a single bad track. It is clever and fun and strangely inclusive, even though it is full of inaccessible stylistic elements and in-jokes for the typical Chicago resident. Uplifting, pretty, adventurous and just very, very cool, you can't skip this album!

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Most recent customer reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Illinoisy
Only time will tell if Sufjan Stevens manages to churn out enough albums for all fifty states. Since 2003, he's covered only two of the states. Read more

Published on Feb 23 2007 by E. A Solinas

5.0 out of 5 stars Wow.
I absolutely loved "Greetings from Michigan" but I must admit, I thought the whole "50 albums for 50 states" was a pretty thin premise and that he'd have quite... Read more

Published on Aug 2 2005 by Ellegee