Come On Feel The Illinoise...at the Eastman School of Music - The relationship between Music and Identity

I forget exactly which year, maybe it was Junior year, maybe Senior year, I know it was one of my years at the University of Rochester. My good friend Dave heard through the grapevine that a student at the Eastman School of Music transcribed “Come on Feel The Illinoise” in its entirety. This is a landmark album by the multi-talented "Sufjan Stevens.”

My eyes lit up and my ears perked up. “Was this really happening?” I was elated.

For some background on this recording please read the following excerpt from Wikipedia:

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 Metacritic, and was included on several reviewers' "best of the decade" lists—including those of Paste, NPR, and Rolling Stone.

Stevens employed low-fidelity recording equipment, which allowed him to retain creative control and keep costs low on recording Illinois. Typically, his process involved recording tracks using 2 Shure SM57s and an AKG C1000, running through a Roland VS880EX,[13] at a sampling rate of 32 kHz (lower than the rates typically used in recording). He then employed Pro Tools for mixing and other production tasks.[13]

This album is a top down listen. There are no filler tracks. For me, this is a top 20 album of all time, it’s simply one of the best out there in terms of creativity, recording quality, authenticity, and listenability. There’s folk, rock, minimalism, and classical components.

So, back to the memory: Dave and I entered the performance space at Eastman and were treated to a full room (about 300 people) and a large band (I estimate 15 members). Attending this show was one of the most magical experiences I had at the U of R. I could tell that the entire room was grateful for the efforts of the Eastman Student that put this project together and for the musicians that performed the music.

So what is it that makes this album so good? Well, to me, it’s the clarity of vision. When listening to this recording it is clear that Sufjan was intentional with every decision he made. The tracks are all unified and sonically, they all feel natural. The orchestrations that weave throughout the folk rock sensibilities create a large landscape of sound, pleasing to the ear. There is also a lot of variation, and at the same time a few themes and motifs that get revisited. To sum it up, this is something that is different than the usual and it stands out. There are horns, banjo, violins, piano, backing vocals, flute, and so much more.

It’s interesting how music helps form identity. It’s why most of us will revisit the same music again and again. It defines us. We would not be who we are without the music we listened to when we were younger.

I can safely say that even through the discovery of so much new and wonderful music, I still come back to the recordings I grew up with. “Come on Feel The Illinoise” is an album I will revisit time and time again.