Tuesday, January 18, 2011

The 11 Best Songs By The Decemberists

Combining two great musical forces from different generations can have disastrous results.  David Byrne & Fatboy Slim.  Billy Corgan & Ric Ocasek.  Or it can be a welcome surprise:  Them Crooked Vultures.  The new Decemberists falls into the latter category.  The album is produced by Peter Buck of REM, which is a perfect match.  Buck's signature restrained twang is an effective compliment to Colin Meloy's tendency to wander with his lofty melodies.  Buck's influence is subtle and not overwhelming.  It's still a Decemberists album. It's also one of their best.


1. The Island (The Crane Wife)
2. Los Angeles, I'm Yours (Her Majesty The Decemberists)
3. O Valencia! (The Crane Wife)
4. We Both Go Down Together (Picaresque)
5. Cocoon (Castaways and Cutouts)
6. Perfect Crime #2 (The Crane Wife)
7. July, July! (Castaways and Cutouts)
8. The Crane Wife #3 (The Crane Wife)
9. Pt. I/Pt. II/Pt. III/Pt. IV/Pt. V (The Tain EP)
10. The Rake Song (Hazards of Love)
11. Valerie Plame (Always the Bridesmaid EP)

Buy The Decemberists new album, The King Is Dead...now!!!  (only $3.99 for a limited time)

3 comments:

Chris said...

I am quite excited for the new REM. I, however, am not in the least excited about the new decemberists. I feel like I never really had that interest. I really, really, really love their two ep's, 5-song & The Tain. I lose interest in the albums fairly quick, even though they sound good.

I also was quite disappointed to find out that the Joy Division singles were not released in the US. That's some bullshit there brother. Of course it sees a iTunes release, but no real official release.

I also was reading Patton Oswalt's book "Zombie Spaceship Wasteland" and in the first chapter he talks a lot about REM's Fables of the Reconstruction, which of course made me need to listen to it. so instead of just listening I made up a playlist of the demos in the same order as the album.

yep, rambled. sorry, g'night.

Chris said...

After last nights rant I purchased the new Decemberists (I believe) through your link and I've been thoroughly enjoying it.

Brian@bothsidesofthecoin said...

Rise to Me is a great song, and it's about autism, a topic near to my heart. I would put this #1 on my list, but I'm biased.

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