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July 06, 2005
sufjan stevens :: illinois
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Illinois marks an important point in Sufjan Stevens' career: it's a 3rd brilliant record in a row, but it's both slightly too big for its britches and dangerously similar to its predecessors. If he is to complete his series based on the 50 states - no chance, given 2 done in 3 years - he'll need to stretch himself stylistically to hold our attention.
At this point, that's almost silly to say: Stevens is a ridiculously talented artist, and this record is full of bold ideas, complex arrangements, and awe-inspiring breadth of instrumentation, considering he plays nearly everything. This isn't a survey of the Illinois timeline; he wants to show us what the state means to him, and the combination of public and personal, concrete and mystical, facts and dreams has all of the characteristics of a great historical novel.
There's a Whitmanesque spiritual (and, frankly, Christian) exuberance to it all, which is only appropriate for a project of this nature. With song titles like "To The Workers of the Rock River Valley Region, I Have an Idea Concerning Your Predicament", he's letting it all hang out. You never new "Decatur" could be rhymed so many ways, and that they'd all work.
But, over the course of an exhausting 22 tracks (many of them short instrumentals), you realize that this disc sounds an awful lot like Greetings from Michigan (and no, the two states aren't as simliar as you'd think). It's a beautiful sound - one part contemplative Americana, one part ambient repetition, one part Belle and Sebastian chamber pop, one part odd-time-signature British Isles folk-prog-rock . . . but you can map these songs to their Michigan counterparts, by and large - including one pair of 5/4 rollicks per album.
The verdict? Taken on its own, for sheer ambition, scope, and accomplishmen, this is Stevens' best album, and you should start here if you've never heard him. But I hope it marks the culmination and close of a phase, and that new states bring new sounds.
Note: this album has largely been pulled from shelves what with the image of Superman on its cover irking certain DC Comics officials. HOWEVER, retailers who have copies in their posession are apparently allowed to sell out their stock, and the album is available from iTunes. Re-release date with is unclear. Look at the eBay vultures go!
Casimir Pulaski Day (mp3)
Decatur (mp3)
Posted by borrowed_tunes at July 6, 2005 09:11 PM
Comments
"John Wayne Gacy, Jr." is pure genius. I never knew I could so moved by a song about a serial killer...
Posted by: Kate at July 7, 2005 12:18 PM
I don't really agree with the "dangerously similar" part. I don't see anything dangerous about it at all. It's true that an artist who doesn't change sounds can start to sound stale. But this is what Sufjan Stevens does, this is the kind of music he makes. If you're into it for the sound, then you probably should bail out after this album, because I don't see him going in any new directions anytime soon.
Personally, I just think he's a brilliant songwriter who writes songs like "Chicago" and "...Illinoise" that stick in my head for hours. And I actually think he succeeds in *spite* of some of his sounds...he makes cutesy backing vocals and gimmicky albums sound beautiful. I hope he turns out another 4 or 5 albums just like the last three.
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