New Stuff by the Decemberists

The Album: The King is Dead by The Decemberists. I have been waiting for this album to come out since I first found out that it was going to be released. The King is Dead is very different from what fans would be expecting from having listened to The Decemberists earlier works such as Castaways and Cutouts and Picaresque. Unlike The Decemberists last album, the English Folk inspired Rock opera The Hazards of Love, The King is Dead, I feel, goes back to the band's (or at least Colin Meloy's) roots. This album features tracks inspired by American folk rock, deterring away from their usual English folk. From what I have heard of it, this album is very reminiscent of Tarkio, the band formed by Decemberists lead singer Colin Meloy before the formation of The Decemberists. The "sound" of this album may cause a few Decemberists fans to feel let down as there is more of a "country feel"; less ship captains, more communing with nature. I, however, am pleased with this album; tracks such as January Hymn and July Hymn are easy to relax to, but for someone looking for the old, harder Decemberists sound, songs like This Is Why We Fight, Down By The Water, and Dear Avery capture the esence of the "old" Decemberists. It is also hard to miss the obvious R.E.M. influences on tracks such as This Is Why We Fight, and Down By The Water (I've been told that it sounds very similar to the song The One I Love by R.E.M.). Finally, this album also introduces Decemberists fans to a new use of the harmonica, which, if I am not mistaken, has never been used before in any of their songs. I think that the harmonica is a good addition to the wide variety of instruments that the Decemberists use. I recommend The King Is Dead to not only fans of The Decemberists, but to any fans of folk music.

One last thing, I bought the "kinda special edition" which came with a bonus DVD with a 30 minute documentary into the making of this album. I think that this is really cool because they show that the album was actually recorded on an old farm that had been converted into a recording studio. Also, many of the tracks were recorded live (at least two band members recorded together on a few tracks). How cool is that?

The Song: My song of the week is Don't Carry It All off of The King Is Dead. This song is the opening track of the album and works as a very powerful introduction to the Decemberists new sound. Unlike most of their other tracks, Don't Carry It All has a more rustic sound. Though not the strongest song on the album, their is no doubt that this song will leave the listener (or at least most listeners) wanting more.

The Play: As I said before, every now and then I would post a song that I was playing a lot on the guitar. This week I find myself playing a song by, you guessed it, The Decemberists, from the Album (here's a hint, read the first part of this post), that's right, The King Is Dead. The song? Down By The Water. Simply put, this song is strong, acoustic, and easy to play. There is nothing too difficult about this song, it is easy to get the rhythm once you've heard the song a few times, and the chords are easy too. I like playing this song when I'm relaxing, it really puts me in a good mood.

There you have it, another installment of What's on my iPod.
See ya next week.