Rise

Format

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  AKR022CD  £10.00

Label

Asthmatic Kitty

Sufjan Stevens

The Avalanche

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 8track 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 handheld 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 centerpiece 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

Tracklist

• 1. The Avalanche
  2. Dear Mr. Supercomputer
  3. Adlai Stevenson
  4. The Vivian Girls Are Visited in the Night By Saint Dargarius and His Squadron of Benevolent Butterflies
  5. Chicago
  6. The Henney Buggy Band
  7. Saul Bellow
  8. Carlyle Lake
  9. Springfield, Or Bobby Got a Shadfly Caught in His Hair
  10. The Mistress Witch from McClure (Or, the Mind That Knows Itself)
  11. Kaskaskia River
  12. Chicago (Adult Contemporary Easy Listening Version)
  13. Inaugural Pop Music for Jane Margaret Byrne
  14. No Man's Land
  15. The Palm Sunday Tornado Hits Crystal Lake
  16. The Pick-up
  17. The Perpetual Self, Or 'What Would Saul Alinsky Do?'
  18. For Clyde Tombaugh
  19. Chicago (Multiple Personality Disorder Version)
  20. Pittsfield
  21. The Undivided Self (For Eppie and Popo)