The Avalanche: Outtakes and Extras from the Illinois Album

These are tracks not used on the "Illinois" album; some songs were finished, others weren't, requiring substantial editing, arrangements and/or vocals. The centerpiece of course, is the title track, "The Avalanche", a song intended for the leading role on "Illinois", but eventually cut and placed as a bonus track on the vinyl release. Almost every song on "Illinois" has a counterpart on this outtakes release. "In his own modest way, Stevens has quietly become the master of micro over six years and five albums; his ornately detailed compositions hold a magnifying glass to the dusty ephemera in his curious scope - and, intermittently, the center creases of his US atlas" - Entertainment Weekly