THE album…

…not of right now, or last week or next. but of the year, the decade, the century, the millenium, the era, the epoch, the eon.
SUFJAN STEVENS, ILLINOIS.
i, being the most special, incredibly hip guy that i am, got an advance copy today. i happened to check my mail before going to work and found a nice little package in my mailbox. i knew instantly what it was, headed back inside, made a cup of hot tea and turned on the hi-fi. work would have to wait. and it did. in fact, all time stood still as the first notes of piano, flute and vocal lifted from the stereo. this record is amazing, full of unimaginable arrangements of orchestras and choirs and banjos and flutes and xylophones. there are stories about god and faith and superman and honest abe and john wayne gacy and chicago and carl sandburg and ferris wheels and ufo’s and well, illinois. and while i am being a little hyperbolic (but only a little), this record really deserves to be heard by every single one of you. it is a tone poem of epic proportions that took me to a speechless point of awe and wonder and worship. and thats just with the first listen.