Sufjan Stevens-- Illinois

[Josh]

Man oh man... check out this report from Pitchfork:

When it comes to Sufjan Stevens' proposed 50 States project, incredulous smirks seem to be commonplace. Seriously, how could any one man release an album dedicated to each state in the union? That remains to be seen, but for now word is trickling in about Stevens' next 50 States record. Stevens' record label, Asthmatic Kitty, has announced that he will release an as yet untitled collection of songs about Illinois on July 5. The album isn't quite finished, so a tracklist would be premature, but there will be one song entitled "Chicago" and, in total, the record will feature 15 to 20 songs touching on such subjects as the Lincoln/Douglass debates, the Chicago Fire, the World's Columbian Exposition, and Wrigley's chewing gum. A few historical figures/characters that may end up being thrown into the blender of Stevens' imagination include poet Carl Sandburg, Black Hawk, Superman, and John Wayne Gacy.

Described as Sufjan's most ambitious record yet, the album implements more than 30 instruments and musicians, from the usual guitar and banjo to horns, string quartets, and a small choir. The album will feature several guests, such as James McAlister of Ester Drang, Shara Worden of AwRY and My Brightest Diamond, Craig Monturo of Volcano, I'm Still Excited!, and some production help from old cohort Daniel Smith of the Danielson Famile. However, the record was mostly self-produced in a Queens, N.Y. studio. Stevens will also more than likely continue his string of quality visual design by enlisting the assistance of Waking Life illustrator Divya Srinivasan.

As for the sound of the album, PR man Daniel Gill reports that, "One person I've talked to said, 'It's like the music at the Hall of Presidents at Disneyland, like really big and kind of patriotic sounding.' Sufjan really wanted to make it sound a little bit more polished and professional, but it's definitely more in the vein of Michigan than anything else."

Stevens will apparently mirror this folkish complexity by including two sets of tracklistings (which, again, we don't have on hand): The first will be included on the back of the album, while the second will be listed on the inside and will contain track titles stretching as far as three sentences long.

After the Illinois album, Sufjan will hit the road with labelmate Liz Janes in late July. And Gill predicts the Illinois record will not be the sum of Steven's recorded 2005 output, claiming that "by the end of this year" there will "probably" be another state album that will double as a christmas album. Seemingly relentless, Stevens is also bouncing around the idea of recording an EP for a smaller state. His PR went on to say they think the state records will continue to be produced for the indefinite future.

[dgp11776]

SWEET!  Sounds fantastic to me.  And, good grief, possibly two more discs in 2005??????

[oneafroboy]

*DIES*

(There really needs to be a smiley for this.)

If I recall correctly, in a previous interview, Stevens said that Vermont would probably double as a Christmas album and, as stated in the article, that smaller states, e.g. Rhode Island, would be put out on EPs or singles. He said that each state will have "equal representation", much like the House of Representatives, except in album form. (All I have to say is that Maryland better not be put out as an EP.) So perhaps by the end of 2005, we'll see Illinois, Vermont, and perhaps a state like Rhode Island added to the 50 states project.

The stakes are pretty high. And he can't screw any of these albums up or he'll have a bunch of fans from that state really pissed off.  But if anyone could do such a project, it would Sufjan Stevens.

Anyway...

I am very, very excited about this. Illinois sounds like it will be simply grandiose. I simply cannot wait.

[murlough23]

I don't think I've ever been this excited about a Midwest state in my life.

NP: "Savior", Skillet

[Josh]

Holy crap.

Pitchfork posted the tracklisting for Illinois today, and man oh man... if you thought some of the song titles on Michigan were long...

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

The album will be available in both CD and vinyl formats. The vinyl will be a 2xLP set with a triple gatefold sleeve and an additional track, "The Avalanche". The CD will have a running time of 74 minutes and the LP will be 80 minutes. Epic indeed.

[dgp11776]

Imagine making a copy of it and trying to write out the song titles on that little insert thingee.

[Brenden]

Some of those titles are hilarious. I'm looking forward to this album.

[oneafroboy]

Wow. Intriguing track list. He's got at least one sale...

I am definitely looking forward to this album. I think that what we hear on this album will be something quite extraordinary.
 

[murlough23]

That's even funnier than the fake song titles I came up with for this album. Is this for real? I say that only because it looks very much like a parody of Sufjan's song titling style. Props to Sufjan if he's actually parodying himself here.

[Brenden]

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

That's my favorite.

It sounds like it might be fake, but whatever.

[murlough23]

I think my favorite is:

They Are Night Zombies!! They Are Neighbors!! They Have Come Back From the Dead!! Ahhhhh!

NP: "Devil's Broom", Joseph Arthur

[Josh]

My fave:

06 A Short Reprise for Mary Todd, Who Went Insane, But for Very Good Reasons
 

[danny316]

Wow, that was a funny read. Who needs comics when we have Sufjan?

Am I the only one who's been having a hard time finding Sufjan Stevens stuff at a good price? I still haven't gotten my hands on Michigan or Seven Swans yet, and I want to check out this one too.  

[murlough23]

Am I the only one who's been having a hard time finding Sufjan Stevens stuff at a good price? I still haven't gotten my hands on Michigan or Seven Swans yet, and I want to check out this one too.

Same here. I keep hoping I'll find me some Sufjan used at a good price, but music buyers in America apparently either have too little taste, or too much. (i.e. They're not buying Sufjan's records in the first place, or they're not getting rid of them.)

NP: "Same Side of the Moon", Corrinne May (live from Kulak's Woodshed)

[ajyouthguy]

You guys got me into Sufjan around the turn of the year...I got Michigan for my birthday in February, and had gotten Seven Swans for Christmas before that.  We got both off of his website, I think.  I thought the pricing was decent there.

[Tom]

if those song titles are any indication, then this is going to be a great album. so far "Seven Swans" is by far my favorite of his though.

[Josh]

if those song titles are any indication, then this is going to be a great album. so far "Seven Swans" is by far my favorite of his though.

My appreciation or that album has gone down since I heard Michigan; after all, much of Seven Swans is simply a continuation of the sound he created on Michigan.

I also love Michigan for its ambition, its scope, and its eclecticism, and for the fact that, unlike Seven Swans, it doesn't have any songs on it that I dislike.

[murlough23]

Seven Swans does seem to me to be a bunch of stripped-down odds-and-ends ("Sister" excluded; that one's just out of left-field altogether) that are interesting on their own, but don't really cohere into a full album that flows well. It's a good intro to Sufjan, since Michigan and his older stuff can be a bit overwhelming. I don't dislike any songs on it, but a few are just kind of "there" for me. I think it's strongest at the beginning and end and weakest in the middle.

Michigan is one of my Top 10 albums of all time at this point (I haven't made the definitive list, but I'd definitely put it up there somewhere). I can't get enough of the CD, even if there are a few moments that lag a bit near the end ("O God, Where Are You Now?", "Vito's Ordination Song").

NP: "That's What Love Is For", Amy Grant

[bloop]

I think Michigan is the greater of the two as well, but Seven Swans seems very coherent to me in it's basic themes.  Even the pitchfork reviewer caught onto them (and, surprisingly, didn't really fault the album for that).

[Josh]

I think Michigan is the greater of the two as well, but Seven Swans seems very coherent to me in it's basic themes.  Even the pitchfork reviewer caught onto them (and, surprisingly, didn't really fault the album for that).

Seven Swans is certainly more focused, I'll grant you that, but then, it's also got a much narrower, less ambitious scope, so greater focus is easier to achieve. In that sense, one could make the analogy:

Seven Swans:Michigan::Drunkard's Prayer:Ohio

[bloop]

Yeah, ok, that analogy works for me.  I just didn't think "uncohesive" is a good way to describe the record.

[murlough23]

Maybe it's not so much "uncohesive" as it is a collection of songs that do interesting things, trail off, and then jump to something different - or not even necessarily always that different, but sometimes it feels like here's one thought, then it trails off, then here's another independent thing, and if you look at Michigan, the whole things flows so seamlessly it's amazing. I don't get that feel with Swans.

[Tom]

i won't argue that "Michigan" is fantastic. all i'm saying is that "Seven Swans" moves me more, and i find it to be the more cohesive of the two. Sufjan did an excellent job of creating a mood with 7Swans, some of the songs give me shivers. at first there were about 3 songs i didn't quite get. such as "Sister." but now even those have grown on me.

now one Sufjan album that has yet to grow on me is "Enjoy Your Rabbit." that one is very ambitious, and there are moments i downright enjoy. but on the whole, i find it tedious.

what do you guys think of "Enjoy Your Rabbit?"

[dgp11776]

I see where Tom is coming from.  Lyrically, I suppose Seven Swans is more inspirational in the religious sense.  However, I must agree that Michigan is superior - in fact, quite a bit superior in my opinion.  I see this as comparing an A+ album to a B album.  

[bloop]

I'm thinking it's more like comparing an A+ to A-, but B is in the acceptable range for Swans.  I personally relate to Seven Swans more, but it isn't as good I don't think.

[Josh]

I'm thinking it's more like comparing an A+ to A-, but B is in the acceptable range for Swans.  I personally relate to Seven Swans more, but it isn't as good I don't think.

Indeed, Swans is an album of very intimate spiritual meditations and reflections, whereas Michigan is a tour de force of storytelling, so it's certainly easy to see why one might relate to Swans more and be more moved by it on a personal level. In fact, I confess that "To Be Alone With You" is, lyrically, my favorite song in Sufjan's canon.

[murlough23]

I'll weigh in on Enjoy Your Rabbit. It's freakin' bizarre. Definitely ambitious for an electronica album (and for a folk artist to even do an electronica album is ambitious in the first place), so I'll give him an A for effort. But I don't know if the music necessarily creates the mental pictures he wants it to create. Sometimes I can picture the animal; sometimes I'm just hearing a computer throwing up.

A Sun Came is also strange. There are some beautiful ethnic influences here and there, but then there are some gnarly indie rock tracks that don't really do anything for me, and some of the lyrics are really idiotic or even disturbing. It's a very unfocused album.

My favorite Sufjan songs so far:

1. They Also Mourn Who Do Not Wear Black (For the Homeless in Muskegon)
2. Holland
3. Detroit, Lift Up Your Weary Head! (Rebuild, Restore, Reconsider!)
4. The Dress Looks Nice on You
5. Say Yes! To Michigan!
6. Seven Swans
7. A Good Man Is Hard to Find
8. All Good Naysayers, Speak Up! (Or Forever Hold Your Peace!)
9. He Woke Me Up Again
10. For the Widows in Paradise, for the Fatherless in Ypsilanti
 

[ajyouthguy]

I prefer Seven Swans, although I probably couldn't articulate exactly why...I just have had a harder time getting into Michigan for some reason.

[Brenden]

I've preffered the songs I've heard from Seven Swans, but that might be due to me having heard more from Seven Swans, and only three songs from Michigan.

While it's in my mind, has anyone else here heard the song Niagara Falls that was unreleased?

[murlough23]

While it's in my mind, has anyone else here heard the song Niagara Falls that was unreleased?

I have 4 bootleg songs from the Michigan sessions that I downloaded, and I think that's one of them. I'll have to go back and listen to them again. You want me to Pub that one?

NP: "Scratch", Kendall Payne

[Brenden]

I have that one from Ashmatic Kitty records website actually, what are the other ones you have?

[murlough23]

I'm listening to the album now. Man, Sufjan really did his research on this one. Or, at least he knew what to name things after so that I would go do my research in order to know what the hell he's talking about.

NP: "A Short Reprise for Mary Todd, Who Went Insane, but for Very Good Reasons", Sufjan Stevens

[Brenden]

I wish I had the lyrics in front of me, I can only find lyrics for a couple of the songs online. There are times the words are clear and sometimes when I can't make out anything, most annoyingly on the chorus of "they are night zombies".

[DvChWi]

Haven't had a chance to listen through all of them yet, but one thing is bothering me.  Doesn't "Come On, Feel the Illnoise" sort of sound like some sort inverted version of "Detroit"?  

[murlough23]

I wish I had the lyrics in front of me, I can only find lyrics for a couple of the songs online. There are times the words are clear and sometimes when I can't make out anything, most annoyingly on the chorus of "they are night zombies".

Can you even find lyrics online for his older albums? I coldn't find any lyrics anywhere when I was reviewing Michigan and Seven Swans.

NP: "Bless the Lord", Shaun Groves

[murlough23]

Haven't had a chance to listen through all of them yet, but one thing is bothering me.  Doesn't "Come On, Feel the Illnoise" sort of sound like some sort inverted version of "Detroit"?

You will notice that, and other similarities to the style of Michigan. I'm going to refrain from commenting on whether I think that's a good or bad thing for the time being.

[Brenden]

Can you even find lyrics online for his older albums? I coldn't find any lyrics anywhere when I was reviewing Michigan and Seven Swans.

NP: "Bless the Lord", Shaun Groves

www.songmeanings.net has quite a few. The liner notes for Seven Swans have the lyrics in them.

[Brenden]

The site I mentioned was two songs from this album so far.

Casimir Pulaski Day

Goldenrod and the 4H doll,
the things I brought you,
when I found out you had cancer of the bone

Your father cried on the telephone,
and he drove his car into the navy yard,
just to prove that he was sorry

In the morning, through the window shade,
when the light pressed up against your shoulderblade,
I could see what you were reading.

All the glory that the Lord has made,
and the complications you could do without,
when I kissed you on the mouth.

Tuesday night at the Bible study,
we lift our hands and pray over your body,
but nothing ever happens.

I remember at Michael's house,
in the living room when you kissed my mouth,
and I almost touched your blouse.

In the morning at the top of the stairs,
when your father found out what we did that night,
and you told me you were scared.

All the glory when you ran outside,
with your shirt tucked in and your shoes untied,
and you told me not to follow you.

Sunday night when I cleaned the house,
I find the card where you wrote it out,
with the pictures of you mother.

On the floor at the great divide,
with my shirt tucked in and my shoes untied,
I am crying in the bathroom.

In the morning when you finally go,
and the nurse runs in with her head hung low,
and the cardinal hits the window.

In the morning in the winter shade,
on the 1st of March on the holiday,
I thought I saw you breathing.

All the glory that the Lord has made,
and the complications when I see His face,
in the morning in the window.

All the glory when he took our place,
but he took my shoulders and he shook my face,
and he takes and he takes and he takes.


Chicago

I fell in love again
all things go, all things go
drove to Chicago
all things know, all things know
we sold our clothes to the state
I don't mind, I don't mind
we made alot of mistakes
in my mind, in my mind

and I drove to New York
in the van, with my friend
we slept in parking lots
I don't mind, I don't mind
I was in love with the place
in my mind, in my mind
I made alot of mistakes
in my mind, in my mind

you came to take us
all things go, all things go
to recreate us
all things grow, all things grow
we had our mindset
all things know, all things know
you had to find it
all things go, all things go
all things go

and if I was crying
in the van, with my friend
it was for freedom
from myself, and from the land
I made alot of mistakes
I made alot of mistakes
I made alot of mistakes
I made alot of mistakes

you came to take us
all things go, all things go
to recreate us
all things grow, all things grow
we had our mindset
all things know, all things know
you had to find it
all things go, all things go
all things go

[Tom]

those lyrics are beautiful. Sufjan has such a way with words.
i'm looking forward to hearing this album even more now.

[Brenden]

The lyrics to John Wayne Gacy, Jr are quite interesting. It is a song about a serial killer after all.