Illinois

Rough Trade 50th Anniversary Editions

2005: Sufjan Stevens - Illinois

Sufjan Stevens maps the American heartland with a rare balance of wonder and unease. A lingering, gorgeous masterpiece.

Includes

• Rough Trade Exclusive superhero splatter vinyl
  
• Insert with exclusive stories and interviews with the people behind the music
• Limited to 2500 copies

Tracklist

1. Concerning the UFO Sighting Near Highland, Illinois
2. 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!
3. Come On! Feel the Illinoise! (Part I: The World's Columbian Exposition / Part II: Carl Sandburg Visits Me in a Dream)
4. John Wayne Gacy, Jr.
5. Jacksonville
6. A Short Reprise for Mary Todd, Who Went Insane, but for Very Good Reasons
7. Decatur, or, Round of Applause for Your Stepmother!
8. One Last 'Whoo-Hoo!' for the Pullman!!
9. Go! Chicago! Go! Yeah!
10. Casimir Pulaski Day
11. To the Workers of the Rock River Valley Region, I Have an Idea Concerning Your Predicament, and It Involves an Inner Tube, Bath Mats, and 21 Able-bodied Men
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!! Ahhhh!
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

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The year 2026 marks five decades of Rough Trade. From a small shop on West London's Kensington Park Road to a global community of music heads, it’s been half a century of backing counterculture, celebrating the physical format and championing creativity. We exist to serve the die-hards and the curious alike - fiercely independent, always chasing what’s next.

This is 50.