As a heads up, some of Sufjan Stevens‘ songs have been mixed with the vocals from a bunch of hip hop heavyweights to make the mixtape, Illinoize. I’m going to give you the little blurb from the website telling you a little more about it, as well as the tracklist and a download link at the bottom. It’s supposed to be good. UPDATE: After having listened to it, I can verify that it is VERY good. It’s a lot like what AmpLive did with Radiohead’s In Rainbows, in terms of quality.
Illinoize is a free remix tape put together by Montreal-based producer Tor, sampling songs from multi-instrumentalist and indie hero, Sufjan Stevens. Tracks are sampled from his 2005 LP Illinoise, as well as 3 of his other albums, ‘A Sun Came’, ‘Seven Swans’ and ‘Songs for Christmas’, blending Sufjan Steven’s acoustic guitar, piano and horns with MC’s Aesop Rock, Big Daddy Kane, Gift of Gab (Blackalicious), C.L. Smooth, Outkast, Brother Ali, and Grand Puba.
Tracklist:
1. Tor / Sufjan Stevens - Star of Wonder / None Shall Pass (f. Aesop Rock)
2. Tor / Sufjan Stevens - Dumb I Sound / ATLiens (f. Outkast)
3. Tor / Sufjan Stevens - John Wayne Gacy Jr. / Specialize (f. Pete Rock & CL Smooth)
4. Tor / Sufjan Stevens - The Tallest Man / I Like It (f. Grand Puba)
5. Tor / Sufjan Stevens - Kill / Any Type of Way (f. Big Daddy Kane & DJ Premier)
6. Tor / Sufjan Stevens - Night Zombies / Talkin’ My Shit (f. Brother Ali)
7. Tor / Sufjan Stevens - The Dress Looks Nice On You / Make You Feel That Way (f. Gift Of Gab)
Download HERE
Via A.V. Club
DOWNLOAD: Sufjan Stevens - John Wayne Gacy Jr./Specialize ft. Pete Rock and CL Smooth (MP3) or Follow us on Twitter for the latest Sufjan Stevens news.
This comment stream is so meta. Great review Kelly.
by chris on Tue Mar 16, 2010 at 07.50 pm from the entry: Flying Lotus - "Cosmogramma" - Buy It
no prob. The whole album is excellent, combining some of the harder sonics of Los Angeles with the meat of his debut and obviously difficult to summarize in only 50 words… 
I’d say it’s on par with the debut, but better than Los Angeles.
by kelly on Tue Mar 16, 2010 at 06.23 pm from the entry: Flying Lotus - "Cosmogramma" - Buy It
By the way, I really liked the mp3 posted. Thanks.
by Joshua H on Tue Mar 16, 2010 at 06.17 pm from the entry: Flying Lotus - "Cosmogramma" - Buy It
WHO WROTE THIS...PUKE ! “WHO WROTE THIS...PUKE ! “Picture yourself coasting your bike past space funk palm trees, homeless harpists, vintage video arcades, electronic drum circles, and 60s psychedelic singers who’re waiting for the bus. Cosmogramma is kinda like that if someone suddenly tripped you just as you’re starting to enjoy the ride. But in a good way.””
by Joshua H on Tue Mar 16, 2010 at 06.17 pm from the entry: Flying Lotus - "Cosmogramma" - Buy It
you’ll notice the author’s name under title.
by kelly on Tue Mar 16, 2010 at 06.11 pm from the entry: Flying Lotus - "Cosmogramma" - Buy It
WHO WROTE THIS...PUKE ! “Picture yourself coasting your bike past space funk palm trees, homeless harpists, vintage video arcades, electronic drum circles, and 60s psychedelic singers who’re waiting for the bus. Cosmogramma is kinda like that if someone suddenly tripped you just as you’re starting to enjoy the ride. But in a good way.”
by HKD on Tue Mar 16, 2010 at 06.10 pm from the entry: Flying Lotus - "Cosmogramma" - Buy It
i saw them open for the Cave Singers, not very original, the crowd was not into it either, frankly i think they suck
by rigamarole on Tue Mar 16, 2010 at 11.30 am from the entry: The Dutchess & The Duke Tour Dates, Y'all
this is brilliant. just too short. if it were longer, i’d put it up there with the grey album.
I agree, it is much too short. It needs a good 5-6 more songs on it. Grey album is so overrated though.
haven’t listened to the grey album in a while. i’ll have to give it another spin and compare. tor’s choice of lyricists are impeccable. flow over sufjan sounds natural.
I agree, Tor did a great job. It fits perfectly; there are no holes. Have you heard that Amplive collection, because if you haven’t, click on his name for the download link. It’s pretty damn good too.
i grabbed it shortly after it went online, but only listened to it a few times. yet another one to put on the mp3 player!
on another note: in a year like this one, without a lot of good hip-hop releases, does this make your “best of” list?
No. There have been too many good albums in other genres for it to make my best of list. If we are talking strictly hip hop, I don’t know if I feel right about putting that on there since everything here has been released before. It’s a mash-up, there’s nothing new besides the fact that it feels different. That said, I really like it.
You are right though, there haven’t been too many stand-out releases this year. Just a bunch of pretty good, solid, or lame ones. I like the new Wale album though.
Once I found this I couldn’t stop listening to it.. it’s amazing. It’s different.