Sufjan Stevens Illinois Zip Lines
• • • • Length 73: 59 / and Sufjan Stevens chronology (2004) Illinois (2005) (2006) Illinois (styled Sufjan Stevens Invites You To: Come On Feel the Illinoise on the cover; sometimes written as Illinoise) is a 2005 by American singer-songwriter. His fifth studio album, it features songs referencing places, events, and persons related to the U.S. Illinois is Stevens' second based on a U.S. State—part of a planned series of fifty that began with the 2003 album and that Stevens has since acknowledged was a joke. Stevens recorded and produced the album at multiple venues in New York City using studio equipment and a variety of instruments between late 2004 and early 2005. The artwork and lyrics explore the history, culture, art, and geography of the state—Stevens developed them after analyzing criminal, literary, and historical documents.
Feel The Illinoise!” Beginning with a rousing fanfare of shuffling drums, piping horns and flutes, sparkling vibes, and fluid piano lines — the core elements of Illinois’ breezy, rolling arrangements — Stevens lays down line after line of oft-humorous, reference-filled lyrics while backed by a trilling female chorus line.
Following its release, Stevens promoted Illinois with a world tour. Critics praised the album for its well-written lyrics and complex orchestrations. In particular, reviewers noted Stevens' progress as a songwriter since the release of Michigan. Illinois was named the best-reviewed album of 2005 by review aggregator, and was included on several reviewers' 'best of the decade' lists—including those of,,. The album amounted to Stevens' greatest public success to date; it was his first to place on the, and it topped the Billboard list of 'Heatseekers Albums'.
The varied instrumentation and songwriting on the album invoked comparisons to work by,,. Besides numerous references to Illinois, Stevens continued a theme of his songwriting career by including multiple references to his Christian faith. Sufjan Stevens performing on stage during a tour for Illinois. Stevens and his band the Illinoisemakers wore outfits modeled after those of the cheerleaders of the.
Stevens launched his 50-state project in 2003 with the album and chose to focus on Illinois with this recording because 'it wasn't a great leap', and he liked the state because he considered it the 'center of gravity' for the. Before creating the album, Stevens read literature by Illinois authors and, and studied immigration records and history books for the state—he made the deliberate decision to avoid current events and focused on historical themes. He also took trips through several locations in Illinois and asked friends and members of Internet for anecdotes about their experiences in the state. Although he began work in 2004 on -themed songs and briefly considered releasing a, Stevens has since not released another album focused on a state, saying in a November 2009 interview with that 'the whole premise was such a joke,' and telling Andrew Purcell of in October 2009 'I have no qualms about admitting [the fifty states project] was a promotional gimmick.' An -related song was released through as 'The Lord God Bird' and material intended for and became. Naruto ost mp3. All of the songs on Illinois were written, recorded,, and by Stevens, with most of the material being recorded at The Buddy Project studio in, and in Stevens' apartment.