The Decemberists - My Faith In Music Has Returned
"The Decemberists are musical profundity mollified by personal understatement, and Castaways and Cut-Outs, their latest LP just re-released on Kill Rock Stars, remains lyrically detached yet sonically honest and immediate. This is a band with about a thousand-and-a-half layers of musical genius, and that's sort of fucking awesome."
Pitchfork.com, July 2003
I had begun to believe that I was living in the horrible pit between music that meant something personally to me and Progressive Jazz, New Age and Classical. Thankfully I found proof that I was wrong, and that proof came in the form of The Decemberists. I can honestly say that I can't remember the last time I found a band that I liked enough to listen to entire albums by.
The Decemberists hail from Portland, Oregon and their songs conjure up the imagery of the sea and rain that the Pacific Northwest is known for. At first one will draw a parallel to Belle and Sebastian but you'll soon realize that it is only because you can't think of any other bands that really sound the way they do.
They are a five piece band fronted by Colin Meloy. But, they are not your typical group. A look at their websitewill tell you that. For one, they use a number of instruments you don't tend to find in most bands these days, like an accordian, an upright bass, and something called a theremin that I'm not even sure what is, but I believe it to be a guitar. And for two, they have a sense of humor, as you'll see in their video for Sixteen Military Wives as well as their press photos.
Their first ep Five Songs was released in 2001 and was followed by the re-release of their first full length album Castaways and Cutouts in 2003. Both contain the beginnings of what would evolve into the story telling, character driven, whimsical tale-like song structure they are known for. (Meloy holds a degree in creative writing.)
Her Majesty The Decemberists, also released in 2003, brought them a wider fan base and their first real success with songs like Billy Liar, which was later released as a single. In 2004 they released an ep calledThe Tain, a five part song based on an 8th century Irish poem, that comes in at over 18 minutes long. (And amazingly they play it live.)
Picaresque, released this year, gave them a great deal of commercial success as well as a worldwide audience. (They spent last month touring Europe, but sadly did not make it up here to Stockholm... They did however play in Boston in October, where R. Panda got to see them...lucky him.) It contains some truly remarkable songs like We Both Go Down Together. Eli, the Barrow Boy and The Engine Driver. The entire album was recorded in a church, as I said, they are not exactly average.
The strange thing about this band is that, if you like one of their songs, you can pretty much listen to all of them. Meloy has a voice that is at first odd, and later strange, and finally familiar. You'll also find yourself actually listening to the lyrics, something none to common these days, as each song is deeply thought out, with characters and plots. More like short stories than 3 minute poems.
With this combination it's not strange that Meloy has a great liking for Morrissey and The Smiths. In fact he often performs their songs live, has released a solo ep of Morrissey B-side covers and has written at least two songs inspired by Smiths/Morrissey ingredients. (Billy Liar and Leslie Anne Levine)
If you know me, then you've probably had me try to force you to listen The Decemberists. I can't help it people. I like music. And when I find music I like I feel obligated to pass it on, in the hopes that you'll get the same emotional feeling of listening joy that I get. I may be wrong, perhaps you're not as interested. Fair enough. But at least give them a chance.
All of their songs are available on the iTunes music store in the US and most of them on foreign stores. You can access their page in iTunes via this link. (We do not get any commission.)
However, if you'd like to hear more of them, without putting out your hard earned cash you can download 17 of their live concerts over at the Internet Archive via this link. Most of which are very high quality, and will give you almost as much satisfaction as the studio/church recordings. (They are a very dedicated live band, and do a lot of covers.) You will however have to convert most of them from .flac files, which are lossless and between 20 and 60 MB a piece, before you can get them into mp3 format. There are a number of programs that can do this, xACTis probably the easiest to use and is free. You can also download a couple of their videos at the Internet Archive here.
I have now bared the soul of my taste in music. Hopefully, I have given somebody something new to listen to. And The Decemberists, if you read this, please come to Stockholm. You can crash in our living room.
K. Panda
