Rewind to 2005

Music – Illinois, Sufjan Stevens
Singer-songwriter Sufjan Stevens’ concept album about the US state (his second, after 2003’s Michigan) is long, winding and clearly a work of genius. The epic Chicago may be the obvious highlight, but it’s his subtle, dextrous exploration of people – the bedside friend of a dying cancer patient in Casimir Pulaski Day and the notorious serial killer in John Wayne Gacy, Jr – as a way to paint a picture of a place that linger longest in the memory.