T1B

My brother gave me a copy of this. I saw reviews and really didn't pay attention to this, but this is the second of a planned 50 albums about all 50 states, which would be quite an achievement if he makes it.

He kept bothering me and asking me if I'd heard it yet. Finally, I listened to it.

I keep popping it in while I work on the computer. It's the first thing I go to. I normally have to be in the mood to listen to a guy with this much of a whispery, whiny delivery, but all of the songs are melodic as can be. It's really amazing. You'll find yourself humming melodies and you'll wonder, "What in the hell song was that?"

With song titles like:


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 Gonna Have To Leave Now, Or, 'I Have Fought The Big Knives And Will Continue To Fight...
3. Come On! Feel The Illinoise!: Part I: The World's Columbian Exposition/Part II: Carl Sandburg Visits Me In A Dream
6. A Short Reprise For Mary Todd, Who Went Insane, But For Very Good Reasons
7. Decatur, Or, Round Of Applause For Your Stepmother!
8. One Last 'Whoo-Hoo!' For The Pullman
11. To The Workers Of The Rock River Valley Region, I Have An Idea Concerning Your Predicament
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!! Ahhhh!
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
20. The Tallest Man, The Broadest Shoulders: Part I: The Great Frontier/Part II: Come To Me Only With Playthings Now


it's no wonder I have a hard time keeping the song titles straight. Highly recommended, but be warned. It's very folky, show tuny, old timey and not at all rocking. But if you appreciate inventive songs with melody, this is for you.

wow. i'm going to see sufjan at calvin in GR tonight.

i like illinoise more for the music, but michigan will be great because fuck it's about michigan.

sufjan is phenominal but like you said it's not rockin at all and it requires a TON of patience to listen to the whole thing.

edit: this will probably be the weirdest concert i have ever attended. i wonder if he's just going to be playing by himself.

I love his music but can't imagine his show to be anything worth seeing. Let me know how it goes tonight.

just got back from GR. the show was excellent. he had a full band and they all came out dressed in cheerleading gear in UI orange and blue with a big orange I on the front. they did a few cheers (you could tell they practiced them barely) before a few of the songs, including the man from the metropolis steals our hearts. all of the guys including sufjan switched instruments from time to time, although sufjan mostly played piano and lead guitar/banjo.

as you can imagine, it was very low key. the combination of a very folksy sufjan with the 99% sober calvin college crowd meant that my friend and i were the only ones wasted for the show. there were a lot of douchebags in the crowd who would say "don't leave" or sufjan would try to crack a joke with teh crowd, but all he got was nervous laughter. it was hilarious. you could tell none of those kids had ever seen a show at st. andrews or metro. they would be out of their element.

but it was great. he played about 1 hr 15 min, perfect length. even with as slow and methodical his music can be, it was never once boring. i think if he would have played for like 2 hrs it would have been a different story. sufjan is a musician's musician. he did everything up right.

except for that he didn't play any songs off michigan. damn you hipster michigan native!

9/10. good times.

I listened a lot to his last album. Wasn't Illinois, it was another state. Forgot what it's called. Anyway, good stuff.

Patsy Stone wrote:I listened a lot to his last album. Wasn't Illinois, it was another state. Forgot what it's called. Anyway, good stuff.

greetings from michigan: the great lakes state.

illinoise is a very odd album...

kinda rythmetic or something..

peter dragon wrote:illinoise is a very odd album...

kinda rythmetic or something..

what I ment to say is your right, if you put this album in, you will spend the rest of the day fucking humming...