The Avalanche: Outtakes & 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 titled track. The track "Avalanche", a song intended for the leading role on ILLINOIS but eventually cut and placed as a bonus track on the vinyl release. Almost ever 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"