Avalanche Pulaski Day

As you probably already know, Sufjan Stevens is releasing The Avalanche on Tuesday. It's an album of B-sides from Illinois, which was regarded by many critics as last year's best record. Having listened to Avalanche several times now, I can tell you it's, eh, OK. There are some great songs on the album, like "Pitsfield," "Springfield, or Bobby Got a Shadfly Caught in His Hair," and "Dear Mr Supercomputer." And there are several other tracks that make Avalanche sound like, well, an album of B-sides. At any rate, here are five Sufjan related items to tide you over until Tuesday: 1) Video of Sufjan performing "Casmir Pulaski Day" live. 2) Stream The Avalanche in its entirety. 3) Video of Sufjan and the Illinoisemakers performing "The 50 States Song" live. 4) Video of a capella group Carleton Singing Knights performing "Chicago" live. 5) Sufjan is touring with My Brightest Diamond this fall. Dates: Mon. Sept. 11: Nashville, TN, Ryman Tues Sept 12: Little Rock, AR TBA Fri. Sept. 15: Austin, TX, Paramount Theater Sat. Sept. 16: Austin, TX, Paramount Theater Tue. Sept. 19: New Orleans, LA, House of Blues Weds. Sept. 20: Atlanta, GA, Fox Theater (PASTE Fest) Thu. Sept. 21: Chapel Hill, NC, Memorial Hall Sat. Sept. 23: Indianapolis, IN, Egyptian Theater Sun. Sept. 24: St. Louis, MO, The Pageant Mon. Sept. 25: Milwaukee, WI, Pabst Theater Tue. Sept. 26: Chicago, IL, The Riviera Thu. Sept. 28: Philadelphia, PA, The Towers Fri. Sept. 29: New York, NY, Town Hall Sat. Sept. 30: New York, NY, Town Hall Mon. Oct. 9: Los Angeles, CA, The Wiltern Weds. Oct. 11: San Francisco, CA, Zellerbach Hall Fri. Oct. 13: Portland, OR, Crystal Ballroom Sat. Oct. 14: Vancouver, BC, St. Andrews Cathedral Sun. Oct. 15: Seattle, WA, Paramount