The Avalanche: Outtakes and Extras from the Illinois Album!

Description

The little secret behind the ‘Illinois’ record is that it was originally conceived as a double album, culminating in a musical collage of nearly 50 songs. But as the project began to develop into an unwieldy epic, common sense weighed in – as did the opinions of others – and the project was cut in half. But as 2005 came to a close, Sufjan returned to the old, forsaken songs on his 8-track like a grandfather remembering his youth, indulging in old journals and newspaper clippings. What he uncovered went beyond the merits of nostalgia; it was more like an ensemble of capricious friends and old acquaintances wearing party outfits, waiting to be let in at the front door, for warm drinks and interesting conversation. Among them were Saul Bellow, Ann Landers, Adlai Stevenson, and a brief cameo from Henry Darger’s Vivian Girls. The gathering that followed would become the setting for the songs on ‘The Avalanche: Outtakes and Extras from the Illinois Album!’. Sufjan gleaned 21 useable tracks from the abandoned material, including three alternate versions of ‘Chicago’. Some songs were in finished form, others were merely outlines, gesture drawings, or musical scribbles mumbled on a hand-held tape recorder. Most of the material required substantial editing, new arrangements or vocals. Much of the work was done at the end of 2005 or in January the following year. Sufjan invited many of the original Illinoisemakers to fill in the edges: drums, trumpet, a choir of singers. The centrepiece, of course, was the title track – ‘The Avalanche’ – a song intended for the leading role on the ‘Illinois’ album but eventually cut and placed as a bonus track on the vinyl release.

Tracklisting

Disc 1
1. The Avalanche – Sufjan Stevens (3.14)
2. Dear Mr. Supercomputer – Sufjan Stevens (4.20)
3. Adlai Stevenson – Sufjan Stevens (2.34)
4. The Vivian Girls Are Visited in the Night By Saint Dargarius and His Squadron of Benevolent Butterflies – Sufjan Stevens (1.49)
5. Chicago (Acoustic Version) – Sufjan Stevens (4.40)
6. The Henney Buggy Band – Sufjan Stevens (3.16)
7. Saul Bellow – Sufjan Stevens (2.53)
8. Carlyle Lake – Sufjan Stevens (3.15)
9. Springfield, Or Bobby Got a Shadfly Caught in His Hair – Sufjan Stevens (4.17)
10. The Mistress Witch from McClure (Or, the Mind That Knows Itself) – Sufjan Stevens (3.24)
11. Kaskaskia River – Sufjan Stevens (2.15)
12. Chicago (Adult Contemporary Easy Listening Version) – Sufjan Stevens (6.06)
13. Inaugural Pop Music for Jane Margaret Byrne – Sufjan Stevens (1.25)
14. No Man’s Land – Sufjan Stevens (4.45)
15. The Palm Sunday Tornado Hits Crystal Lake – Sufjan Stevens (1.38)
16. The Pick-up – Sufjan Stevens (3.23)
17. The Perpetual Self, Or ‘What Would Saul Alinsky Do?’ – Sufjan Stevens (2.24)
18. Pluto – Sufjan Stevens (3.43)
19. Chicago (Multiple Personality Disorder Version) – Sufjan Stevens (4.35)
20. Pittsfield – Sufjan Stevens (6.51)
21. The Undivided Self (For Eppie and Popo) – Sufjan Stevens (4.59)