Illinois part II, otherwise known as The Avalanche: Outtakes and Extras from the Illinois Album is finally out. As much as I have been annoyed, or occasionally bored, with Pitchfork recently, I thought their review of it was pretty accurate. A 7.2 is pretty much what I would give it, too. It’s defininitely a good album, and will probably make my year-end list, but you can also tell why these songs got cut.
The very best ones certainly wouldn’t have felt out of place on the first albums, but neither would any of them stood out. My favorite is still “The Henney Buggy Band” which I talked about a few months ago, but there are a number of others that I’ve been enjoying a lot:
The Mistress Witch From McClure (or, The Mind That Knows Itself)No Man’s LandThe Perpetual Self, or “What Would Saul Alinsky Do?”
These three appeal to me partly because they’re more bouncy, more playful than most of Illinois was. The last album had it’s faster moments, it’s anthemic moments, and it’s rocking moments, but these songs go a slightly different direction. Sufjan’s voice remains stunning–hushed and then soaring–and the arrangements are as beautiful as ever, but each of these songs has a feel that wasn’t quite there the last time around. The closest I can come to describing it is that it’s a little bit more like running home on a beautiful summer night when you’re 10 years old.
Plus, I love Saul Alinsky.
Anyway, listen for yourself, and then buy a copy.