"The Infanta," the thunderous opening track on the Decemberists' fluid and predictably studious Picaresque, rolls in like a ghost ship at 40 knots in a hail of cannon fire with a mad English professor at the wheel. Colin Meloy and his esteemed West Coast colleagues have no qualms about beginning their third full-length record with a processional about a child monarch, and it's a testimony to their talents as orators and interpreters of both the absurd and the mundane that they continue to assimilate more fans than they alienate. While Picaresque follows its predecessor's -- the treacly Her Majesty -- predilection for seafaring and mythology, its boot-covered feet are more firmly planted in the present, resulting in the group's most accessible -- and decidedly upbeat -- product to date. The rollicking "16 Military Wives," the aforementioned "Infanta," and "The Sporting Live" (which comes dangerously close to Belle & Sebastian's "Stars of Track and Field") help balance the spooky atmospherics of more reserved cuts like "From My Own True Love (Lost at Sea)" and "Eli, the Barrow Boy." The Decemberists have always excelled at midtempo British folk-inspired dream pop, and Picaresque is no exception, as the brooding "We Both Go Down Together," which sounds like a mist-drenched Pacific Northwest rendering of R.E.M.'s "Losing My Religion," and the wistful "Engine Driver" rank among the group's finest offerings. The album concludes with the diabolical "Mariner's Revenge Song," a Tin Pan Alley dirge/operetta reminiscent of Kurt Weill's "The Black Freighter," and the brief but intoxicating "Of Angels and Angles," a solo Meloy allad celebrating the holy trinity of nautical lore: love, drowning, and death.
The weathermen called for rain but what do they know?My _whole_ family, Rick and his _whole_ family and 8493 other people met in Troutdale, Oregon for the Decemberists' "a Bit of Grass Stain Does Not a Ruined Pair of Jeans Make" tour homecoming.First off, I'd like to thank the people of Edgefield Winery for the full bar! so I didn't have to settle for warm beer and box wine. It's the little th...
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As I gradually emerge from the musical cocoon I've inhabited for the past 15 years or so, I make certain discoveries. Some happy and fortuitous, some not. The Decemberists definitely fall into the former category.I'd heard about them, but not heard them, until two nights ago, driving with my brother in his car, when he played the Picaresque CD for me all the way to the end of the line. Creem...
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ah sunday...i got me some new cd's yesterday...some being two...Picaresque by The Decemberists and Something About Airplanes by Death Cab For Cutie...woot...picaresque has to be one of the best albums i have heard in awhile...ahh...well i am just bored and i have nothing else really to say so see ya moggershere are some pictures i took after it "snowed"
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So, I'm geeking out about this new MOG thang. Pretty hot. So my blog and myspace get a new toy, the MOG Widget, because for some reason I feel the need to tell the world (or, at least the people who read my blog) the most recent songs I've listened to.Anyway, here's the question. Why isn't it working? Now all I got is some blank widget (don't you think they like to be called "little applica...
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Hooray! Another entry on my "best music I've recently seen" widget! However, it's probably about time I trimmed it at the other end. Does over a year ago (Herman Dune last January) count as "recently?"Last night was The Decemberists at Trent Students Union. And I thought it was a pretty good night, considering I knew only about one and a half songs of theirs.I am wondering what I can type of va...
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...For Moggers' Information: this might've been mentioned (I won't lie, I didn't check) but I just got this notice in on the wire today from some of the Decemberist's folk...the Mog HQ's got two (count 'em, two) opportunities to see a show...see an excerpt from the press release band a video for "*16 Military Wives*":http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/16_Military_Wives below...if they're your cup 'o ...
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there are many reasons i love this song. top reason is that the lyrics are amazing.
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It has occured to me recently that im becoming bored with hardcore/metalcore/metal/anything related to those. I used to really love this stuff, breakdowns seriously changed my life, but lately im just not getting the urge to listen like i used to. I suppose that as i mature my tastes change, but instead of gladly letting them go, i really wish i still wanted to listen to it. I hear alot of the ...
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The Mariner's Revenge Song... simply cannot be compared to anything else. This song, though slightly old, is nothing less than amazing. The integration of old style music and folk story telling within an alternative song is simply brilliant. Nobody could have pulled this off but the Decemberists.Check it out, NOW!
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Okay, I owe a lot of props to On Demand. Sure they were pretty screwed up when it came to moving videos around every five seconds, but not only did they introduce me to my favorite Japanese band, but they also gave me my first glimpse of my favorite American band.Again, back when we had Comcast and such, my sister told me she had to show me this one amazing video she found on there. I wasn't te...
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not the actual video. don't think there IS an actual video, actually. but it is quite nice.this video always makes me want to watch rushmore. can you believe i don't own that movie? i mean, seriously. i don't have an excuse. i've just never picked it up. usually someone else has it. but i just can't believe i don't have fucking rushmore on dvd. oh, and my VHS copy of old school (yes, i...
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So, glad to be here at Mog. Got the info for the website from some guy who invested in the site but had never been here before. Whats up with that? Oh well, glad to be here, amazingly enough, met this guy right before the My Morning Jacket show in Indy. Show was great by the way, amazing live band. Anyway, just wanted to say hello, hope all is well.
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I love them! I wish I knew about them earlier. I took a crapload of video clips from their show here last month:
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So I just finished watching South Carolina put an old-fashioned beat down on the Kentucky Wildcats, and all I can say is this:It's about time.Not that we beat Kentucky. I actually feel bad for them because they finally have a great team this year. But it's about time that things start going our way for a change. I've been a Gamecock fan since we moved down here in 1982, and basically every y...
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...For Moggers' Information: this might've been mentioned (I won't lie, I didn't check) but I just got this notice in on the wire today from some of the Decemberist's folk...the Mog HQ's got two (count 'em, two) opportunities to see a show...see an excerpt from the press release band a video for "*16 Military Wives*":http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/16_Military_Wives below...if they're your cup 'o ...
More >
The weathermen called for rain but what do they know?My _whole_ family, Rick and his _whole_ family and 8493 other people met in Troutdale, Oregon for the Decemberists' "a Bit of Grass Stain Does Not a Ruined Pair of Jeans Make" tour homecoming.First off, I'd like to thank the people of Edgefield Winery for the full bar! so I didn't have to settle for warm beer and box wine. It's the little th...
More >
From decemberists.com:Colin Meloy Live Set Available This AprilOn April 8, Kill Rock Stars will release Colin Meloy Sings Live! - a 14-song set documenting Colin's 2006 solo U.S. tour. As those of you know who saw the shows, Colin stripped down to an acoustic guitar and was accompanied by a skull named Cheryl, a ship named Maya Angelou and a small stuffed sheep named Erick (the c is silent). Th...
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Oh man, putting up one of the Decemberists songs is not easy for me, and picking one of their more radio-friendly songs is even tougher, because their catalogue is tremendous in so many ways, much due to Colin's story-telling ability, the stories generally being sweeping tales of sea and land battles from yesteryear. However, on this song, "16 Military Wives," originally off of their last indi...
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Here are the Decemberists performing "The Mariner's Revenge Song" at Coachella. Unfortunately, I had to split up the video because youtube was not being nice to me...Split 1:Split 2:
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not the actual video. don't think there IS an actual video, actually. but it is quite nice.this video always makes me want to watch rushmore. can you believe i don't own that movie? i mean, seriously. i don't have an excuse. i've just never picked it up. usually someone else has it. but i just can't believe i don't have fucking rushmore on dvd. oh, and my VHS copy of old school (yes, i...
More >
Hey Magen, This one’s for you sweety.And yes, I am gathering the strength to build our spaceship we will one day fly together into the day exploding with presence.LOL ,Tu Da Luo
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Yes. I have found myself consumed by this album once again. It happens every few months. If you do not own this album I highly recommend it. Great album to listen to both actively and passively. It's one of those rare albums for me that just never gets old, even if I listen to it many times in a row(Random other example: Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not by the Arctic Monkeys). If a...
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Hooray! Another entry on my "best music I've recently seen" widget! However, it's probably about time I trimmed it at the other end. Does over a year ago (Herman Dune last January) count as "recently?"Last night was The Decemberists at Trent Students Union. And I thought it was a pretty good night, considering I knew only about one and a half songs of theirs.I am wondering what I can type of va...
More >
ah sunday...i got me some new cd's yesterday...some being two...Picaresque by The Decemberists and Something About Airplanes by Death Cab For Cutie...woot...picaresque has to be one of the best albums i have heard in awhile...ahh...well i am just bored and i have nothing else really to say so see ya moggershere are some pictures i took after it "snowed"
More >
I love them! I wish I knew about them earlier. I took a crapload of video clips from their show here last month:
More >
It has occured to me recently that im becoming bored with hardcore/metalcore/metal/anything related to those. I used to really love this stuff, breakdowns seriously changed my life, but lately im just not getting the urge to listen like i used to. I suppose that as i mature my tastes change, but instead of gladly letting them go, i really wish i still wanted to listen to it. I hear alot of the ...
More >
So, I'm geeking out about this new MOG thang. Pretty hot. So my blog and myspace get a new toy, the MOG Widget, because for some reason I feel the need to tell the world (or, at least the people who read my blog) the most recent songs I've listened to.Anyway, here's the question. Why isn't it working? Now all I got is some blank widget (don't you think they like to be called "little applica...
More >
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 "Picaresque")
