SUFJAN STEVENS
The Avalanche
Asthmatic Kitty
· One man’s trash is everyone else’s gold.
Sufjan Stevens’ most recent gestures both musically and in the press have hinted at some slight sense of disconnect and disinterest. Announcing a temporary retirement from the world of recording in favour of narrative writing (punctuated by a surprisingly sloppy and shrugged-off appearance at the Sasquatch Festival, one of his sole performances this year), the announcement of The Avalanche’s release came along at just the point the Sufjan bubble perhaps deflated just a little. It’s easy to suspect the quality of 21 outtakes from the Illinoise sessions, especially when the album cover itself proclaims it’s "shamelessly compiled by Sufjan Stevens."
The end result, however, is an album very nearly as strong as the one these songs were originally intended for. More focused on pitch-perfect character miniatures ("Adlai Stevenson," "Saul Bellow" and "The Perpetual Self, or "What Would Saul Alinsky Do?"’ rank as three of the record’s high-points, all clocking in at under three minutes each), The Avalanche makes up in concentrated focus what it lacks in multi-part epics.
That’s not to say everything’s perfect – sometimes an outtake stays an outtake for a reason. "No Man’s Land’ quotes Woody Guthrie’s "This Land Is Your Land" within a framework far less worthy than the original. The several interludes that punctuate throughout don’t accomplish much more than making one wish the likes of "The Vivian Girls are Visited in the Night by Saint Dargarius and his Squadron of Benevolent Butterflies" had the lyrical content to live up to its title (it could’ve been a thrill to hear Sufjan really take on folk artist Henry Darger’s self-made mythologies rather than just reference them with a bit of noise).
Perhaps most fascinating are the three different incarnations of Illinoise’s "Chicago" – the "Acoustic Version" hitting it closest, the "Adult Contemporary Easy Listening Version" slightly neutered, and the "Multiple Personality Disorder Version," an example of an artist over-thinking one of his simplest and best, compositions. Still, the best version of the song I’ve ever heard is still the solo banjo rendition debuted on the Seven Swans tour. It’s easy enough to track down and download.
As a peek into Stevens’ creative process, The Avalanche isn’t only an indispensable look at one of the brightest songwriting talents at work, but also an album unto itself strong enough to live up to the already high peaks of his discography. To paraphrase Final Fantasy, Sufjan pretty much poos clouds.
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