Sufjan Stevens - The Avalanche [2xLP] Vinyl Record

The Avalanche is the companion volume to Sufjan Stevens' 2005 masterpiece Illinois, built from the songs that did not make the final cut. Illinois was first conceived as a sprawling double album, and when it was trimmed to a single release, a trove of material stayed behind on tape. Sufjan returned to it at the end of 2005, finishing sketches, writing new arrangements and adding vocals, and shaped 21 tracks into an album that stands on its own. Released by Asthmatic Kitty in 2006, it did not reach vinyl until 2018, spread across two LPs.

Fans of Illinois will find the same banjo, brass and choir-lifted orchestral folk here, from the swirling title track to the wistful "Carlyle Lake" and the bittersweet "Pittsfield." It also holds three very different takes on "Chicago," his best-loved song: an acoustic version, an easy-listening reimagining and the "Multiple Personality Disorder" rework. Across two records it plays like a scrapbook of the Illinois sessions, loose, generous and full of surprises.

A rewarding next step for anyone who has worn out their copy of Illinois.

Side A
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 (Acoustic Version)
6. The Henney Buggy Band

Side B
1. Saul Bellow
2. Carlyle Lake
3. Springfield, or Bobby Got a Shadfly Caught in His Hair
4. The Mistress Witch from McClure (or, The Mind That Knows Itself)
5. Kaskaskia River

Side C
1. Chicago (Adult Contemporary Easy Listening Version)
2. Inaugural Pop Music for Jayne Margaret Byrne
3. No Man's Land
4. The Palm Sunday Tornado Hits Crystal Lake
5. The Pick-Up

Side D
1. The Perpetual Self, or "What Would Saul Alinsky Do?"
2. For Clyde Tombaugh
3. Chicago (Multiple Personality Disorder Version)
4. Pittsfield
5. The Undivided Self (for Eppie and Popo)