The Decemberists

Nerdy nerd awesome indie.  I loved their 2011 album The King is Dead, and their most recent disc (What a Terrible World, What a Beautiful World) is definitely in the running for my favorite album of 2015 so far.  Here is my review of that album from a few months ago.  I shouldn't cannibalize my prior writing, but I just have to note that the things I said about that new album are still totally true. "Make You Better," "Lake Song," and "12/17/12" are still fantastic.

Their most listened-to track on Spotify is "Don't Carry It All," from The King is Dead.  Kick ass harmonica and fiddle-backed march of empowerment.  With over 5.8 listens, it beats out "Make You Better" by over a million listens.

"Summer's freckled knees."  Great image.  Then the next track on that 2011 album, "Calamity Song," is a fantastic R.E.M. homage tune about the end times.  "Down by the Water" still gets radio play and is excellent (and was nominated for a Grammy).  Also love "This is Why We Fight."  "Rise to Me" has this ragged feeling that makes me want to smoke a pipe on the front porch of a general store in the Appalachians.  "Rox in the Box" sounds like a river chantey sung to get goods down the mighty Mississippi to be sold in New Orleans.  "January Hymn" is just damn pretty.  The whole disc is a really cool thing, heavy on alt-country and R.E.M. flavor but with intricate lyrics that reward multiple listens.  It all feels time-worn although I find it original.  Love Colin Meloy's voice and the harmonies they use as well.

Then, venturing out of those two most recent albums, I'm out of my depth.  This is what I remember about this band, The Crane Wife (2006), Picaresque (2005), and Her Majesty The Decemberists (2003).  I have tried listening to these albums and just have never been able to make them stick. They also have 2009's Hazards of Love and 2002's Castaways and Cutouts out there, but I had never even given those a shot in the first place.  With a concerted effort over the past few days to carefully listen to these albums now, I now find them better than I remember.  I think those two recent albums change my hearing of the older tunes to find them better.

Of those older albums, I think 2002's Castaways and Cutouts is my favorite.  More like the new music, with country flavor and more accessible songwriting.  One of my favorites, California One:

The Hazards of Love is apparently a rock opera.  According to Wikipedia, it was originally intended to be a staged musical, but that didn't work out.  But even without a full on musical, "The Hazards of Love tells the tale of a woman named Margaret; her shape-shifting lover, William; his fey forest queen mother; and a cold-blooded, lascivious rake, who recounts with spine-chilling ease how he came "to be living so easy and free" in "The Rake's Song"."  Mmmmkay.  Here is "The Rake's Song," you be the judge.

Marriage is totally cool until the womb starts "spilling" out babies.  And then he began to "divest" the burden of the kids once the mom dies in childbirth.  Dang, Mr. Rake.  You're a hard-core little kid murderer.  Poor Charlotte, Isaiah, and Dawn.  And then Margaret gets kidnapped (rudely, to boot), before the Queen (who is the forest, apparently) steps in (My Brightest Diamond singer at the mic, which is great) and gives her support for kidnapping old Marge.  So, the album is actually pretty entertaining - the story is a fun one to listen along with - but you really have to pay attention to the entire thing.  Not the kind of music you can really appreciate while doing other things.

The Crane Wife was voted the 2006 favorite album of the year for NPR listeners to All Songs Considered. Other than the two new albums, it is the only older album with a song in the band's top ten most popular songs on Spotify, the confusingly titled opening song "The Crane Wife 3."

Not sure I agree that this should be the top album of any given year, but 2006 may have sucked, I can't recall.  Here is one of the "hits" from the Picaresque album, "16 Military Wives."

And finally, one of the earliest songs available on Spotify is the "Apology Song" available on their 2002 Five Songs EP.  Cracks me up, it is literally an apology to Stephen for getting his bike stolen.

Awesome.  I bet I'll go check them out at the Festival.  I'd dig seeing them play the new songs live.

Also, in case you just can't get enough, here is a Tiny Desk Concert, which is pretty tight.