Are you "On the Hatch?" Have you "Met Your Match?" Then maybe you should try THE AVALANCHE, Sufjan’s symphonic answer to those summer time blues. The days are only getting shorter. Why waste it on beach balls and tan lines and sand in your swimming shorts? What is The Avalanche anyway? The refreshing winter air, the snowy bliss, the downhill skiers and Coors Light TV commercials? No! It’s all the musical debris, the outtakes and extras, the soundscapes and folk songs, the electronic experiments, the notey woodwinds, the brassy choruses, the pomp and pageantry, scrupulously sifted from everyone’s favorite "that’s-so-last-year" album ILLINOIS.

Listen to the album [here].Do you like the song "Chicago" enough to hear it deconstructed three times over the course of a single album? Oh, that’s not your idea of a good time? What about a disco-jazz ode (in 7/8) to the Supercomputer hosted at the University of Illinois, Champaigne-Urbana? Ok, not your cup of tea? What about smarty pants Saul Bellow or the man who discovered Pluto or Ann Landers and her estranged sister Dear Abby? We strongly urge drivers to hum a line from the title track whenever they catch sight of an actual Chevy Avalanche truck. If you don’t know what it looks like, catch a glimpse [here]. Wow! What an elegant eyesore! Designed by a six-year-old boy! It’s a toy truck the size of a small house! The Avalanche comes in many shapes and sizes, in many color schemes, with or without plastic bumpers. We strongly urge you to buy a copy [here]. In other news, Sufjan Stevens has announced a tour, not in support of the Avalanche, but in support of [LIFE ITSELF].