Sufjan fans rejoice! Stereogum readers’ #1 indie rock hottie has more tunes from the #1 album of last year. The Avalanche: Outtakes And Extras From The Illinois Album is out 7/25 on Asthmatic Kitty. From the press release:
A careful listener may uncover the obvious trend on this record: almost every song on the Illinois album has a counterpart on the outtakes. Carl Sandburg arm-wrestles Saul Bellow. The aliens landing near Highland salute Clyde Tombaugh, the man who discovered Pluto. The loneliness of “Casimir Pulaski Day” deepens even further in the foreboding soundtrack to “Pittsfield.” At its best, The Avalanche is an exercise in form, revealing the working habits of one of the most productive songwriters today. As an illustration, the avalanche refers to the snow and rubble that falls off the side of a mountain, or, in this case, the musical debris generously chucked from an abundant epic. It’s unlikely you’ll find a mountain in the Prairie State so the metaphor will have to do. Also, Sufjan has still not made an official decision on the next state in his epic 50 States project, but we will keep you posted.
If there is a next state, that is.
Avalance Tracklist:
1. The Avalanche
2. Dear Mr Supercomputer
3. Adlai Stevenson
4. The Vivian Girls Are Visited In the Night by Saint Dargarius and his Squadron of Benevolent Butterflies
5. Chicago (acoustic version)
6. The Henney Buggy Band
7. Saul Bellow
8. Carlyle Lake
9. Springfield, or Bobby Got a Shadfly Caught in his Hair
10. The Mistress Witch from McClure (or, The Mind That Knows Itself)
11. Kaskaskia River (2:15)
12. Chicago (adult contemporary easy listening version)
13. Inaugural Pop Music for Jane Margaret Byrne
14. No Man’s Land
15. The Palm Sunday Tornado Hits Crystal Lake
16. The Pick-up
17. The Perpetual Self, or “What Would Saul Alinsky Do?”
18. For Clyde Tombaugh
19. Chicago (Multiple Personality Disorder version)
20. Pittsfield
21. The Undivided Self (for Eppie and Popo)
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AND more importantly (ok, almost) he is NOT having a baby with Rosie Thomas
yay more illinois!
weird, when i read the track listing i realized for the first time that i hate sufjan stevens.
Awesome! I’ll definitely have to pick this up. I recently discovered Sufjan (I know, where have I been), and the Illinois album is amazing.
I like how it says “adult contemporary easy listening version” and “multiple personality disorder version” next to Chicago…
holy shit more sufjan stevens life is complete again
Ken, Sufjan loves you all the same, for we are all His children.
Sufjan’s doing the most original work out there right now…even his outtakes are worth a look. If you need any proof of that, check out the one-off song he did for NPR. When I went to see him in Philly there were people in the crowd begging him to do that song, and it was just a free download.
How prolific is that guy?