I've been meaning to post about this for a while, but have yet to get to it, and I figure there's no better time than when I should be doing homework to do finally do it.
It's pretty safe to say that The Decemberists are one of my all time favorite bands. Once in high school I even snuck out of my house while I was grounded, drove 25 miles in a blizzard in my mom's car to see the concert alone (long story short I was supposed to go with my best friend, but due to some extenuating circumstances we were both grounded for the same thing), and it ended up being one of the best shows I've ever been to.
Since then the Decemberists have signed to a major label and released what I believe to be their best album to date. With two songs that stretch past the 10 minute mark, it seems that Colin Meloy is at his best ever, and his the rest of his band is getting sharper too. The CD is very well rounded in my opinion, with all the necessary elements: a perfect pop song ('O Valencia), a perfectly written retelling of an ancient Japanese folk story ('The Crane Wife 1-3'), and my personal favorite three part prog-rock murder epic ('The Island'). My only beef with the album is 'The Perfect Crime 2' which is the only song that I find myself continually skipping when I listen to this album, but I'll leave it to you to decide whether it suits your taste or not. Get the album here.
Rumor has it that 5 songs didn't make the final album cut, and I have two of them up for download here. Look for the rest to be released as B sides on future singles from The Crane Wife. Enjoy.
The Decemberists - 'After the Bombs'
The Decemberists - 'Culling of the Fold'
As I mentioned earlier, I'm heading to the great white north to see Islands on Saturday, which I can't wait for! Look for a post about that later in the week.
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