The new Sufjan Stevens album calls to mind Vice President Dan Quayle's spelling controversy in the '80s. Potato vs. potatoe. I'll ask the same thing Danny Boy asked...so does it have an E or what?!

For the last week or so I've wondered why there are two spellings of the new Sufjan Stevens album, Illinoise. Or maybe it's Illinois. The album cover spells it one way, with an E. Many others spell it another way.

The label that's putting out the album, Asthmatic Kitty, drops the E. Illinois. The label should be the final say on a matter. They should know, right? They set the standards, they say how albums are spelled and how to pronounce the names of their artists. (The pronunciation variations of Sufjan would have to be a completely different post. There's one for every man, woman and child in the country. Luckily the Asthmatic Kitty site answers this one for us at the info page.)

Retailers are split. Other Music spells it just as the album cover spells it: Illinoise. With an E. Insound drops the E. Amazon spells the domestic with an E and the import without an E. Barnes And Noble drops the E as well. iTunes omits the E.

The press is just as split as the rest of the country. Pitchfork dropped the E in its review. The New York Times' review spelled it with an E. The Guardian's review had an E as well. So did Filter's review.

And in the ultimate popularity contest, Google Fight results for "sufjan illinois" and "sufjan illinoise" put the 'No E' version ahead 152,000 to 40,400.