Sufjan Stevens "Illinois" 2xLP

Standard Black Vinyl Double LP Pressing.

Following the 2003 collection of songs for his home state, Michigan, Stevens presents an emphatic answer to the question: Can a songwriter express the spirit of a state he's never called home? With his most enterprising project to date - the result of extensive research, travel, meditation, and countless days and nights in the studio - admirers of his previous work and first time listeners will agree that the answer is yes.On this second state tour, Sufjan weaves variegated musical styles (jazz, funk, pop) and instrumental textures (from oboe to church organ) into a tapestry of persons famous, infamous, and anonymous, and places iconic, obscure, and ghostly.The musical road trip takes you through ghost towns, grain mills, hospital rooms, and the City of Broad Shoulders, with guest appearances by a poet, a president, and a serial murderer, to name a few.

Tracklist

A1        Concerning The UFO Sighting Near Highland, Illinois
A2        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!"
A3        Come On! Feel The Illinoise! Part I: The World's Columbian Exposition Part II: Carl Sandburg Visits Me In A Dream
A4        John Wayne Gacy, Jr.
A5        Jacksonville
A6        A Short Reprise For Mary Todd, Who Went Insane, But For Very Good Reasons
B1        Decatur, Or, Round Of Applause For Your Stepmother!
B2        One Last "Whoo-Hoo!" For The Pullman
B3        Chicago
B4        Casimir Pulaski Day
B5        To The Workers Of The Rock River Valley Region, I Have An Idea Concerning Your Predicament
C1        The Man Of Metropolis Steals Our Hearts
C2        Prairie Fire That Wanders About
C3        A Conjunction Of Drones Simulating The Way In Which Sufjan Stevens Has An Existential Crisis In The Great Godfrey Maze
C4        The Predatory Wasp Of The Palisades Is Out To Get Us!
C5        They Are Night Zombies!! They Are Neighbors!! They Have Come Back From The Dead!! Ahhhh!
C6        Let's Hear That String Part Again, Because I Don't Think They Heard It All The Way Out In Bushnell
C7        In This Temple As In The Hearts Of Man For Whom He Saved The Earth
D1        The Seer's Tower
D2        The Tallest Man, The Broadest Shoulders Part I: The Great Frontier Part II: Come To Me Only With Playthings Now
D3        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
D4        Out Of Egypt, Into The Great Laugh Of Mankind, And I Shake The Dirt From My Sandals As I Run
D5        The Avalanche