The BQE is a mixed-medium artistic exploration of the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway by Sufjan Stevens. The project originally manifested in the form of a live show, performed on November 1–3, 2007.The show consisted of an original film, directed and written by Stevens, accompanied by an orchestra performing a live soundtrack.A multimedia package of The BQE was released on October 20, 2009.

The set consists of a CD of the show's soundtrack, a DVD of Brooklyn-Queen Expressway footage that accompanied the original performance (not a film of the performance itself), a 40-page booklet with liner notes and photos, and a stereoscopic 3D View-Master reel. There is also a limited edition version that features the soundtrack on 180-gram vinyl and a 40-page BQE-themed comic book starring the show's hula-hooping wonder women, The Hooper Heroes.Regarding The BQE, Stevens stated:“I intended to create a non-personal, non-narrative piece. I tried to reduce my own personal investment as much as possible, and I refused to incorporate one of my strengths, which is the song. I was relinquishing my greatest weapon.

Track Listing

1. "Prelude on the Esplanade" – 2:56
2. "Introductory Fanfare for the Hooper Heroes" – 1:07
3. "Movement I: In the Countenance of Kings" – 5:19
4. "Movement II: Sleeping Invader" – 4:34
5. "Interlude I: Dream Sequence in Subi Circumnavigation" – 3:33
6. "Movement III: Linear Tableau with Intersecting Surprise" – 4:09
7. "Movement IV: Traffic Shock" – 3:24
8. "Movement V: Self-Organizing Emergent Patterns" – 3:45
9. "Interlude II: Subi Power Waltz" – 0:28
10. "Interlude III: Invisible Accidents" – 0:54
11. "Movement VI: Isorhythmic Night Dance with Interchanges" – 3:17
12. "Movement VII (Finale): The Emperor of Centrifuge" – 3:51
13. "Postlude: Critical Mass" – 2:59

Songs for Christmas is a box set of five separate EPs of Christmas-related songs and carols recorded by independent musician Sufjan Stevens between 2001 and 2006. The EPs had been given as gifts to friends and family of Stevens over the past six years, except for 2004 where he was too busy recording the Illinois album. Though the first three EPs have been available on Sufjan Stevens-related fansites for several years, Songs for Christmas is the first official release of these EPs.

Most of the tracks are versions of traditional Christmas songs, with a number of original compositions such as "Sister Winter" and "Star of Wonder" included. Sufjan Stevens has developed a reputation for being a devoted Christian and many of the songs he chose for inclusion on Songs for Christmas are religious in nature, including his original compositions.The box set includes a poster of Sufjan Stevens, an animated short for "Put the Lights on the Tree" by Tom Eaton, an essay by Rick Moody, two original short stories by Stevens, stickers, comics and a sing-a-long book for all five discs.

During Stevens' international tour in the later half of 2006, he regularly performed the original song "That Was the Worst Christmas Ever" while releasing inflatable Santas into the audience for fun.Songs for Christmas was generally well-received by music critics. As of late November 2006, Songs for Christmas was selling briskly at Amazon.com, breaking the top twenty in the number of all albums being ordered.

Track Listing

Noel: Songs for Christmas, Vol. IRecorded December 2001

1. "Silent Night" – 0:47 (instrumental)
2. "O come, O come, Emmanuel" – 3:59
3. "We're Goin' to the Country!" – 2:19 *
4. "Lo How a Rose E'er Blooming" – 3:25
5. "It's Christmas! Let's Be Glad!" – 1:58 *
6. "Holy Holy, etc." – 0:39 (instrumental)
7. "Amazing Grace" – 4:00Hark!:

1. "Angels We Have Heard on High" – 0:47 (instrumental)
2. "Put the Lights on the Tree" – 1:50 *
3. "Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing" – 4:45
4. "I Saw Three Ships" – 2:36
5. "Only at Christmas Time" – 2:18 *
6. "Once in David's Royal City" – 3:45
7. "Hark! The Herald Angels Sing!" – 0:49 (instrumental)
8. "What Child Is This Anyway?" – 6:51
9. "Bring a Torch, Jeanette, Isabella" – 1:32

1. "O Come, O Come, Emmanuel" – 1:03 (instrumental)
2. "Come On! Let's Boogey to the Elf Dance!" – 3:50 *
3. "We Three Kings" – 3:05"O Holy Night" – 3:34
4. "That Was the Worst Christmas Ever!" – 2:52 *
5. "All the King's Horns" – 2:59 *
6. "Ding! Dong!" – 0:56 (instrumental) *
7. "The Friendly Beasts" – 3:41

1. "The Little Drummer Boy" – 3:44
2. "Away in a Manger" – 2:54
3. "Hey Guys! It's Christmas Time!" – 4:41 *
4. "The First Noel" – 0:53 (instrumental)
5. "Did I Make You Cry on Christmas Day? (Well, You Deserved It!)" – 3:22 *
6. "The Incarnation" – 2:23 *
7. "Joy to the World" – 4:21

1. "Once in Royal David's City" – 2:01
2. "Get Behind Me, Santa!" – 3:49 *
3. "Jingle Bells – 0:36" (instrumental)
4. "Christmas in July" – 3:17 *
5. "Lo! How a Rose E'er Blooming" – 1:46 (instrumental)
6. "Jupiter Winter" – 3:51 *
7. "Sister Winter" – 5:05 *
8. "O come, O come, Emmanuel" – 1:06 (instrumental)
9. "Star of Wonder" – 7:08 *
10. "Holy, Holy, Holy" – 3:50
11. "The Winter Solstice" – 3:23 *

The Avalanche: Outtakes and Extras from the Illinois Album is an album by indie rock singer/songwriter Sufjan Stevens, consisting of outtakes and other recordings from the sessions for his album Illinois. It has been released on the iTunes Store, and copies are available on the website for Asthmatic Kitty, Stevens' record label. The title song "The Avalanche" was also a bonus track on the Illinois vinyl and iTunes release.

The cover features a cartoon depiction of Stevens wearing a cape and costume held aloft by strings, a likely reference to the image of Superman he was forced to remove from the cover of Illinois. He wears a shirt with a Block-type Serif letter I; the symbol of varsity athletics at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. The "Block I" appears several times in the album art.A press release on the Asthmatic Kitty website reported that the Illinois album was supposed to be a double record (with somewhere near 50 songs), but the idea was eventually scrapped.

After the success of the album, Stevens returned to his analog 8-track recorder in late 2005 and began the process of finishing 21 of the previously abandoned songs, which would eventually become The Avalanche.Stevens has stated during interviews that although he doesn't like The Avalanche as much as Illinois, he felt it was important to release the songs in light of the success of his most recent album. He has also said that he decided to release the album in order to buy time until his next "The 50 States" project," release.

The album cover jokingly makes reference to the partially commercial reasons for the album's release, declaring that its contents were "shamelessly compiled by Sufjan Stevens".In May 2006, Pitchfork Media was given permission to distribute the second track from The Avalanche, titled "Dear Mr. Supercomputer", on their website in MP3 format. The whole album was leaked to the Internet on May 9, 2006.The album debuted at #71 on the Billboard Top 200, making it the highest charting Sufjan Stevens release to date.

The album ranked 9th on Almost Cool's Best of 2006 and #9 on Uncut's Best of 2006 The album made several other Best of 2006 lists .The track "No Man's Land" plays during the closing credits to the 2006 film Little Miss Sunshine, which also features "Chicago" by Sufjan Stevens. The track "The Perpetual Self or What Would Saul Alinsky do?" plays during the trailer for the upcoming film Babies.

Track Listing

1. "The Avalanche" – 3:14
2. "Dear Mr. Supercomputer" – 4:20
3. "Adlai Stevenson" – 2:34
4. "The Vivian Girls Are Visited in the Night by Saint Dargarius and His Squadron of Benevolent Butterflies" – 1:49
5. "Chicago" (Acoustic Version) – 4:40
6. "The Henney Buggy Band" – 3:16
7. "Saul Bellow" – 2:53
8. "Carlyle Lake" – 3:15
9. "Springfield, or Bobby Got a Shadfly Caught in His Hair" – 4:17
10. "The Mistress Witch from McClure (Or, the Mind that Knows Itself)" – 3:24
11. "Kaskaskia River" – 2:14
12. "Chicago" (Adult Contemporary Easy Listening Version) – 6:06
13. "Inaugural Pop Music for Jane Margaret Byrne" – 1:25
14. "No Man's Land" – 4:45
15. "The Palm Sunday Tornado Hits Crystal Lake" – 1:38
16. "The Pick-Up" – 3:27
17. "The Perpetual Self, or 'What Would Saul Alinsky Do?'" – 2:24
18. "For Clyde Tombaugh" – 3:43
19. "Chicago" (Multiple Personality Disorder Version) – 4:34
20. "Pittsfield" – 6:53
21. "The Undivided Self (For Eppie and Popo)" – 4:59

Illinois (printed Sufjan Stevens Invites You To: Come On Feel the Illinoise) is a 2005 concept album by American songwriter Sufjan Stevens, with songs referencing places and persons related to the U.S. state of Illinois. It is Stevens' fifth studio album and his second based on a U.S. state—part of a planned series of fifty that began with the 2003 album Michigan.

The album was recorded between late 2004 and early 2005 at multiple venues in New York City with Stevens producing the album and performing a variety of instruments. Illinois was released on July 4, 2005, through Rough Trade Records in Europe and was distributed domestically by Asthmatic Kitty Records starting July 5, 2005.Musical influences for the album cited by reviewers include Steve Reich, Neil Young, and The Cure due to the varied instrumentation and experimental indie folk songwriting.

The album was well received by both critics and the public, being the first album by Stevens to place on the Billboard 200, and topping the Billboard "Heatseeksers Albums" list. Review aggregator Metacritic named Illinois the best reviewed album of 2005.

Track Listing

1. "Concerning the UFO Sighting Near Highland, Illinois"   2:08
2. "The Black Hawk War, or, How to Demolish an Entire Civilization and Still Feel Good About Yourself in the Morning, or, We Apologize for the Inconvenience but You're Going to Have to Leave Now, or, 'I Have Fought the Big Knives and Will Continue to Fight Them Until They Are Off Our Lands!'"   2:14
3.  "Come On! Feel the Illinoise!" (Part I: The World's Columbian Exposition — Part II: Carl Sandburg Visits Me in a Dream) 6:45
4. "John Wayne Gacy, Jr"   3:19
5. "Jacksonville"   5:24
6.  "A Short Reprise for Mary Todd, Who Went Insane, but for Very Good Reasons"   0:47
7.  "Decatur, or, Round of Applause for Your Stepmother!"   3:03
8.  "One Last 'Whoo-Hoo!' for the Pullman"   0:06
9.  "Chicago"   6:04
10. "Casimir Pulaski Day"   5:53
11. "To the Workers of the Rock River Valley Region, I Have an Idea Concerning Your Predicament"   1:40
12. "The Man of Metropolis Steals Our Hearts"   6:17
13.  "Prairie Fire That Wanders About"   2:11
14.  "A Conjunction of Drones Simulating the Way in Which Sufjan Stevens Has an Existential Crisis in the Great Godfrey Maze"   0:19
15.  "The Predatory Wasp of the Palisades Is Out to Get Us!"   5:23
16.  "They Are Night Zombies!! They Are Neighbors!! They Have Come Back from the Dead!! Ahhhh!"   5:09
17.  "Let's Hear That String Part Again, Because I Don't Think They Heard It All the Way Out in Bushnell"   0:40
18. "In This Temple as in the Hearts of Man for Whom He Saved the Earth"   0:35
19. "The Seer's Tower"   3:53
20.  "The Tallest Man, the Broadest Shoulders" (Part I: The Great Frontier — Part II: Come to Me Only with Playthings Now) 7:02
21. "Riffs and Variations on a Single Note for Jelly Roll, Earl Hines, Louis Armstrong, Baby Dodds, and the King of Swing, to Name a Few"   0:46
22.  "Out of Egypt, into the Great Laugh of Mankind, and I Shake the Dirt from My Sandals as I Run"   4:21