Emotionalpunk.com
Media Review
Music Quality: 10.0
Production: 10.0
Originality: 10.0
Tracklisting
02 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, "I have fought the Big Knives and will continue to fight them until they are off our lands!"
03 Come on! Feel the Illinoise!
-Part I: The World's Columbian Exposition
-Part II: Carl Sandburg Visits Me in a Dream
04 John Wayne Gacy, Jr.
05 Jacksonville
06 A Short Reprise for Mary Todd, Who Went Insane, But for Very Good Reasons
07 Decatur, or, Round of Applause for Your Step Mother!
08 One Last "Woo-hoo!" for the Pullman
09 Chicago
10 Casimir Pulaski Day
11 To the Workers of the Rockford River Valley Region, I have an Idea Concerning Your Predicament, and it involves shoe string, a lavender garland, and twelve strong women
12 The Man of Metropolis Steals Our Hearts
13 Prairie Fire That Wanders About
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!! Ahhhhh!
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
19 The Seer's Tower
20 The Tallest Man, the Broadest Shoulders
-Part I: The Great Frontier
-Part II: Come to Me Only With Playthings Now
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
22 Out of Egypt, into the Great Laugh of Mankind, and I shake the dirt from my sandals as I run
Sufjan Stevens is a modern day David Brubeck. Brubeck, on his Hard Bop/Cool Jazz classic "Time Out," experimented by using odd time signatures on every tune. Everyone knows the classic "Take Five," (which was actually written by Paul Desmond) from the 1950s. Brubeck had an amazing knack for making these tunes with odd meters to flow as if they were played in a straight four time. I draw the comparison of Sufjan (that's SOOF-yan to you!) to Brubeck because he has equally as much skill for making the tunes which feature odd time signatures to flow as if one could dance to them. However, in Sufjan Stevens' "Illinois," (or "Come on, Feel the Illinoise!" depending on how you look at it) not every song is written to an un-danceable beat. And regardless of the meter of each song, nearly every single one is immediately accessible.
"Illinois" is album #2 in Sufjan's "The 50 States Project," which is more than self-explanatory. 2003 saw the release of another great album by the Detroit native, the appropriately titled "Greetings from Michigan: The Great Lakes State." Stevens' idea to do an LP for every state may seem needlessly ambitious, if you take a listen to Illinois, you will know that he is completely capable of doing so. The production is impeccable, and the instrumentation used is even more impressive.
The first two tracks work together as an introduction. Soaring and smooth, the harmonies on these two tracks set the harmonic precedent for the rest of the album. The first track, "Concerning the UFO Sighting Near Highland, IL" begins with only Stevens and his piano in a minor key, similarly to his 2003 album's introduction track, "Flint." However, this song ends on a Picardy Third chord, which is when the entire piece is in a minor key, yet ends on a major chord. It gives a feeling of completeness and provides a bit of optimism for the journey that is to be detailed throughout the album. The second track, "The Black Hawk War," is a flourishing harmony of back-and-forth major and minor chords. It, much like the track before it, builds a lot of anticipation for what is to come. After these two introduction tracks, we hop immediately into the 5/4 time, full band piece, "come on! Feel the Illinoise." This song is split up into two upbeat parts, Part I: The World's Columbian Exposition and Part II: Carl Sandburg Visits Me in a Dream. We hear a great collection of instruments here, as heard in nearly all of Sufjan's full band pieces. In addition to the drums, guitar, bass, piano setup, we hear a trumpet, a trombone, and later in the song, a small string section. I cannot stress enough just how accessible and catchy the tunes are, all the while being mind-blowingly complex.
After exploring some of the finer points of Illinois, we are now sent to the darker corners of the Prairie State in the albums fourth track, "John Wayne Gacy, Jr." It tells the tale of a serial killer from the 1970s who raped and killed young men, and would later bury them in the crawlspace in his basement. This song is performed only on acoustic guitar, acoustic bass and piano, and offers an introspective look into Sufjan's mind as he compares himself to the merciless serial killer. (Unrelated, there was a 2003 straight-to-DVD film about Gacy, featuring Francis Buxton from Pee-Wee's Big Adventure as the killer himself. Avoid this film at all costs.) After the harrowing tale of a serial killer, we're sent to Jacksonville. Another Sufjan staple, the banjo makes its return in this track. Again, the horns and strings work effectively together.
After a connecting instrumental track, "A Short Reprise for Mary Todd," we're told the brotherly tale of "Decatur." The banjo is the main instrument used here. The main melody works together with a harmony of another male voice with Sufjan's from the first person plural perspective. It works very effectively as they tell the tale of heading down to Decatur with their step-mother with whom they did not have the best relationship. "Our step-mom, we did everything to hate her/She took us down to the edge of Decatur." It makes the piece feel much more personal. After traveling through the town of Decatur, we're off to the Windy City.
"Chicago" begins with a xylophone introduction and shortly thereafter, it is interrupted by Stevens' full band. "Chicago" is about admitting your own problems and moving on with them.
"I fell in love again
all things go, all things go
drove to Chicago
all things know, all things know
we sold our clothes to the state
I don't mind, I don't mind
I made a lot of mistakes
in my mind, in my mind"
Later in the song, Sufjan, along with his female backers, harmonize "I made a lot of mistakes" repeatedly, but not in a self-loathing way; immediately afterwards, they are repeating "All things go, all things go," and "All things grow, all things grow."
Another personal tune predominantly featuring Sufjan and his acoustic guitar,"Casimir Pulaski Day" is told from the first person plural perspective again. This time, however, it is with a female, detailing the quarrells of young love and parents finding out. "In the morning, at the top of the stairs/When your father found out what we did that night/And you told me you were scared." The song ends with a growing harmony and additional trumpet, only to build to an melancholy minor chord finish. It leaves a bit of tension leading into the next instrumental track, "To the Workers of the Rockford," a song featuring a beautiful, pleasant guitar melody, backed by the trumpet, piano, and bells. It's a great segue between the saddening ending of "Casimir" and the jubilant track "The Man of Metropolis Steals Our Hearts." It is a song about none other than the Man of Steel himself, Superman. Metropolis, Illinois is the official home of Superman, and this tune sings the praises of how wonderful of a man Clark really is, and how we should all reflect such good doings of Superman. Sound a bit childish? Not in the least.
"Only a real man can be a lover
If he had hands to lend us all over
We celebrate our sense of each other
We have a lot to give one another"
Near the end of the song, it enters a drone of guitar noises, and then builds to a pleasant, singable melody that will definitely get stuck in your head. Next up is "Prairie Fire That Wanders About." It is about a Peoria specifically, and how great of a town it is. Never having been there myself, I cannot speak for it in such a context, but the song is great. At 1:30 in, it begins what is possibly my favorite part of the album. It enters a 5/4 time signature with an amazing harmony, though this section is a bit fleeting. The next track, "A Conjunction of Drones," is exactly what it says it is. Don't fret, it doesn't last long, clocking in at only 19 seconds.
"The Predatory Wasp of the Palisades is Out to Get Us!" is a back-and-forth tune which, at first is only Sufjan by himself with his acoustic. After the first section, a blossoming instrumental part is introduced, leading the listener to believe that it is building to something monumental until ... it returns to Sufjan and his guitar. Don't you worry though, after the acoustic section, it builds to the next instrumental flourish which ends with a new section featuring a great trumpet melody & beautiful vocal harmonies. Once this tune ends though, you're caught off-guard with the A minor chord that kicks off "They are Night Zombies!!" - possibly the best track on the album.
It starts with a driving bassline which is soon accompanied by one repeated note on the keyboard that pans from the right to left as it appears, almost as if it is a radar of sorts. It creates an amazing atmosphere for the sordid nature of zombies rising out of their graves, ready to attack the living. Next comes the string section, outlining the main melody of the refrain section of the song. Once the vocals are presented, it is clear what they are spelling out in a staccato nature. "I L L I N O I S." When the verse begins, it is only Sufjan and his guitar again, with a subtle chord heard underneath on the keyboard. The funky, driving bassline continues throughout the song, and the melody is incredibly infectious. After "Night Zombies" comes two short interlude tracks. The first, "Let's Hear That String Part Again" does exactly what it says, it reprises the string part from the previous track. The second interlude track, "In This Temple..." works as an introduction to the next downer of a track, "The Seer's Tower." It's not a downer in the way that it's a bad song, it's a great, haunting song with beautiful backing harmonies, and Sufjan doing his great falsetto at parts. It works as a great buildup to what is the most upbeat track on the album, my personal favorite: "The Tallest Man, The Broadest Shoulders."
"The Tallest Man" starts with a piano and handclaps, but be careful! The handclaps fall on some strange beats. The tune is in an alternating 5/8 and 6/8 time, which could be written as 11/8, but, if written would be kept separate as to ease the reading process. The fact that he is doing a song with such an odd meter is crazy enough, but the fact that it works, is catchy, and flows incredibly well is equally as astounding. It later changes to a 5/4 time signature and the song never lets up. It is split up into two parts, much like "Come On! Feel the Illinoise": Part I: The Great Frontier and Part II: Come to Me Only With Playthings Now. If you hear one song on this album (I don't know why this would happen) it would have to be this one. On the next song, "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," Sufjan makes all of the right nods to jazz artists from Illinois, as displayed in the title.
The epic LP ends on an instrumental track, "Out of Egypt," featuring a wind section, piano, xylophone and more. It evokes memories of tunes and themes previously heard on the album without directly copying and pasting those sections. A great way to end the album.
Sufjan Stevens' "Illinois" is one of the best albums I have ever heard in my entire life, and is easily my pick for best album of 2005. It is technically sound and accessible all the while. I reccomend it for musicians as well as the casual listener. Everyone can find something to love in Illinois.