Bottom/ The Avalanche: Outtakes and Extras from the Illinois Album (Asthmatic Kitty, 2006) is an album by indie rock singer/songwriter Sufjan Stevens, consisting of outtakes and other recordings from the sessions for his 2005 concept album Illinois. 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. Top/ On the vinyl edition of the album Illinois, released on November 22, 2005, Superman's image is covered by a balloon sticker. The varied instrumentation and experimental songwriting on Illinois invoked comparisons to work by Neil Young and The Cure. Sufjan Stevens (born July 1, 1975) is an American singer-songwriter and musician born in Detroit, Michigan. Stevens has released albums of varying styles, from the electronica of Enjoy Your Rabbit and the lo-fi folk of Seven Swans to the symphonic instrumentation of Illinois and Christmas-themed Songs for Christmas. He is considered part of the folk revival in indie pop, but his influences are very broad. His music has been likened to electronica and aesthetically compared to the minimalism of Steve Reich. Stevens' music often has spiritual themes, and many songs (most notably on Seven Swans) draw inspiration from Bible tales. The Age of Adz (pronounced "odds") was released on October 12, 2010 by Asthmatic Kitty Records. It is Stevens' first song-based full length album in five years, since the release of Illinois in 2005. The album features a heavy use of electronics augmented by heavy orchestration, and takes inspiration from the apocalyptic artwork of schizophrenic artist Royal Robertson.
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