Illinois

by Sufjan Stevens

Illinois cover art
  • Type: Album
  • Released: July 4, 2005
  • Label: Asthmatic Kitty, Secretly Canadian, Rough Trade, Sounds Familyre
  • Country: United States
  • Length: 1:13:59
  • Community rating: 4.44/5 from 55 ratings

Album Notes & Community Reviews

'Illinois' merges chamber folk with maximalist orchestral arrangements, characterized by shifting time signatures and a vast instrumental palette largely performed and layered by Stevens himself. The album's ambitious songwriting explores the history, culture, and geography of its titular state, juxtaposing meticulously researched topics like the World's Columbian Exposition and John Wayne Gacy, Jr. with intimate, personal narratives. Self-produced using primarily lo-fi recording techniques, the resulting work is a sonically intricate and textured album that earned widespread critical acclaim and marked Stevens' commercial breakthrough.

Genres

Descriptors: orchestral, chamber, storytelling, literary, history, folk, ambitious

Tracklist

  1. Concerning the UFO sighting near Highland, Illinois (2:08)
  2. 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...
  3. Come On! Feel the Illinoise! Part I: The World's Columbian Exposition Part II: Carl Sandburg Visits Me In A Dream (6:45)
  4. John Wayne Gacy, Jr. (3:19)
  5. Jacksonville (5:24)
  6. A short reprise for Mary Todd, who went insane, but for very good reasons (0:47)
  7. Decatur, or, Round of Applause for Your Step-Mother! (3:03)
  8. One last "Whoo-hoo!" for the Pullman (0:06)
  9. Chicago (6:04)
  10. Casimir Pulaski Day (5:53)
  11. To The Workers of The Rock River Valley Region, I have an idea concerning your predicament, and it involves an inner tube, bath mats, and 21 able-bodied men
  12. The Man of Metropolis Steals Our Hearts (6:17)
  13. Prairie Fire That Wanders About (2:11)
  14. A conjunction of drones simulating the way in which Sufjan Stevens has an existential crisis in the Great Godfrey Maze (0:19)
  15. The Predatory Wasp of the Palisades Is Out to Get Us! (5:23)
  16. They Are Night Zombies!! They Are Neighbors!! They Have Come Back From the Dead!! Ahhhh! (5:09)
  17. Let's hear that string part again, because I don't think they heard it all the way out in Bushnell (0:40)
  18. In This Temple As in The Hearts of Man For Whom He Saved The Earth (0:35)
  19. The Seer's Tower (3:53)
  20. The Tallest Man, the Broadest Shoulders Part I: The Great Frontier Part II: Come to Me Only With Playthings Now (7:02)
  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 (0:46)
  22. Out of Egypt, into the Great Laugh of Mankind, and I shake the dirt from my sandals as I run (4:21)

Credits

  • Sufjan Stevens - acoustic guitar, piano, electric piano [wurlitzer], bass, drums, electric guitar, oboe, saxophone [alto], flute, banjo, glockenspiel, accordion, vibraphone, recorder, keyboards, percussion, organ [baldwin], written-by, recorded by, engineer, producer, arranged by, vocals
  • Katrina Kerns - backing vocals
  • Matt Morgan - backing vocals
  • Shara Worden - backing vocals
  • Daniel Smith - backing vocals, handclaps
  • Elin Smith - backing vocals, handclaps
  • Maria Bella Jeffers - cello
  • Julianne Carney - violin
  • Marla Hansen - viola
  • Rob Moose - violin
  • James McAlister - drums [sophisticated drum parts], engineer [drum mics]
  • Divya Srinivasan - artwork

More from Sufjan Stevens: full discography