Decemberists

Sophisticated yet folk-tinged indie pop from Portland, with a literary edge provided by vocalist Colin Meloy. A collection of 11 CD, which includes seven studio albums by The Decemberists, also 3 EPs and one single.

For over 20 years, The Decemberists have been one of the most original, daring, and thrilling American rock bands. Their distinctive brand of hyperliterate folk-rock set them apart from the start, releasing nine full-length albums that are unbound by genre and highly ambitious. Now the beloved indie band is back with their first new album in six years, As It Ever Was, So It Will Be Again - not only the longest Decemberists album to date (and their first intentional, proper double-LP) but also their most empathetic and accessible, its 13 songs like semaphores of mutual recognition for our fraught times and faint hope.

A seventeen-song set documenting The Decemberists' lead singer/songwriter's 2006 solo tour. Meloy was heralded by Rolling Stone as "a master of improbable juxtaposition: arcane, detailed fictions of star-crossed passion and avenging bloodshed dressed up in indie rock jangle, la-de-da choruses, and vintage prog-rock bombast" in a review of The Decemberists' show in NY's Central Park last spring. By contrast, the live solo album presents him in a stripped down, acoustic setting. Of the thirteen Meloy originals, two are previously unreleased compositions, "Dracula's Daughter" and "Wonder". Along the way, he employs snippets of songs from The Smiths, Fleetwood Mac, Pink Floyd, and REM. The collection also captures ample between-song banter.

"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.

For their eighth studio album, I'll Be Your Girl, The Decemberists worked with producer John Congleton (St. Vincent, Lana Del Rey) and tinkered with their acoustic style, adding synth-driven grooves and assertive tempos. Songs like “Severed” and “Cutting Stone” sound expansive, opening new vistas of mood. “Rusalka, Rusalka/Wild Rushes” comprises multiple suites of grandeur, gently unfurling with ambition and conviction. The Decemberists save room for their acoustic heartbeat—check “Everything Is Awful” and “Sucker’s Prayer” for amazing songs about despair.

For their eighth studio album, I'll Be Your Girl, The Decemberists worked with producer John Congleton (St. Vincent, Lana Del Rey) and tinkered with their acoustic style, adding synth-driven grooves and assertive tempos.

For their eighth studio album, I'll Be Your Girl, The Decemberists worked with producer John Congleton (St. Vincent, Lana Del Rey) and tinkered with their acoustic style, adding synth-driven grooves and assertive tempos. Songs like “Severed” and “Cutting Stone” sound expansive, opening new vistas of mood. “Rusalka, Rusalka/Wild Rushes” comprises multiple suites of grandeur, gently unfurling with ambition and conviction. The Decemberists save room for their acoustic heartbeat—check “Everything Is Awful” and “Sucker’s Prayer” for amazing songs about despair.

Unfortunately the first transfer had a little jumper in it. By now i received a new cartridge and decided to re-rip the LP. Includes a sample. Enjoy!