Rob Mason Tells You What To Listen To: The Decemberists Edition Wednesday, Oct 7 2009 

the arts rmason 8:49 pm

New feature! I am going to tell you what you should listen to. I’ve had people ask me where they should start listening to some bands, so I thought it might be helpful to write up a little guide with that in mind. Everything that I listen to is excellent, of course, but it can be difficult to choose an in, as it were. Today we will look at The Decemberists‘ catalog. (Click the clicky for their Myspace page, with some tracks, to listen to.) (more…)

 

Music: The Hazards of Love Thursday, Mar 19 2009 

the arts rmason 9:47 pm

Yesterday at midnight Central Time, NPR had a live broadcast of The Decemberists playing their new album, The Hazards of Love, in concerts. As live broadcasts of concerts tend to be, the quality was lacking, and through my laptop speakers it felt distant. Despite that, I knew I needed to purchase this album as soon as possible. I got on iTunes the next day and downloaded it.

In many ways it’s a continuation of what they started experimenting with in The Tain, The Island, or The Crane Wife (the song)–long, multi-part stories, epic in scope. This is not a new concept, but the Decemberists pull it off in a unique way–Colin Meloy’s unique lyrics and vocals added to some much harder edged sensibilities than most of their previous works (with a few notable exceptions). It captures the perfect balance between over-the-top and taking itself seriously. It’s fun, it’s epic, it’s scary, it’s creepy, it’s touching. If you’ve liked some of The Decemberists’ longer and more epic material in the past, this is the album you have been waiting for.

As a fully developed story, it’s possible there will be a dearth of single- and radio-friendly tracks from this, but that is hardly a weakness.

It’s on iTunes for ten dollars, bereft of DRM. Go, buy it, love it.

 

The Decemberists Announce New Tour Monday, Feb 9 2009 

the arts rmason 7:45 pm

Having apparently signed up for The Decemberists‘ mailing list on two different email accounts, I was pleased to read recently that they are launching a new tour soon. There’s also a new album cover at their website! And a fun track–”The Rake’s Song”–from their next album–The Hazards of Love. I’m even more pleased to read that their setlist will consist of the entirety of their new album.

This past March I had the pleasure of attending Harvey Danger’s 10th Anniversary Public Spectacle, a two evening event at which the band played all three of their albums, and most of their B-sides and rarities. It was a treat, to say the least. (I also believe the Half Brothers played their entire new album at their CD release when I was doing merch.)

Sometimes I feel like it’s easy for people to say that it’s easy to play through an album, it doesn’t require any clever setlist design. Possibly so! But it’s a rarity, something bands seldom do, and this is part of where the charm comes from. In the case of a new release, your first chance to listen to the new material is in a live format–by the time you buy the album, you already have songs to be excited about, you know what to expect, you remember all the excitement and energy from the show. In the case of older releases, it’s a chance to hear the old material as it appears on the album, but live. Not so much different as transformed.

I ramble. I’m looking forward to the new album and hope I can scrape together money for the new tour.