Decemberists Discography: Part 3: Picaresque

While the band managed to churn out two great albums in essentially a year's time, they took their time with their third release, Picaresque. In doing so they made what is regarded by the vast majority of Decemberists fans to be their best album ever; I agree with that to an extent, though I've always been a bigger fan of their sophomore or their fourth album, The Crane Wife.

On first listen you can tell just how much time and care went in to each and every song on Picaresque; the arrangements are bigger, the vocals more layered, and the track lengths beefier. Also, the band went all in with their theatrics (made prominent by the album art) delivering tracks that were equal parts goofy, yet straight-faced as well, and it is this balancing act that proves to be Picaresque's greatest strength.

The band also happens to pen some of their best tracks here with "The Sporting Life" and "16 Military Wives" being among their poppiest, and to me, most memorable tracks. The former is a Wes Anderson esq story about a young athlete who sprains his ankle on the playing field and humiliates himself in front of his friends, family, and girlfriend (who is seen with the captain of the other team), but the character is set on proving them all wrong. The latter is an oddly political song that points at America's knack for sending its citizens off to war and the effects that has on the families of the soldiers.

We also get the wonderfully theatrical and over the top anthems "A Bagman's Gambit" and "The Mariner's Revenge Song" both of which weave movie like plots in under ten minutes and are considered by most fans to be the highlights of the album.

However, among the poppier moments and the more gaudy tracks, we get a lot more sad, slow tracks much like we got on the band's debut, only this time the production and stories are stronger, "Eli, The Barrow Boy" and "The Engine Driver"/"On The Bus Mall" coupling being  my personal favorites.

The only weak moment here is the closer which has never in the nearly five years I've been listening to this album, never left an impression on me, thus making Picaresque slightly lesser in my eyes in comparison to Her Majesty, but don't let that stop you from enjoying The Decemberists at what many consider to be their creative peak.

Personally, I think the band has plenty more to offer going forward, though now we come to the spot in their career where things become a bit strange.

9.6/10

Decemberists Discography: Part 2: Her Majesty The Decemberists

After the solid set of releases that The Decemberists put out in 2002, they wasted no time putting out their sophomore LP, Her Majesty The Decemberists. To me, Her Majesty is probably the strongest set of songs that the band put out in the early part of their career, and is in many ways my favorite release from them overall. They tightened up the instrumentation, melodies and even Colin's voice seems stronger on this LP.

The album starts with the sea faring "Shanty For The Arethusa" which shows how the band was embracing their more theatrical side, which would go on to define them in a lot of ways, that and the fact that this song is far more complex instrumentally than almost any of the songs on the band's debut. The following two tracks are much more pop focused and are some of the strongest songwriting the band has ever displayed in my opinion. "Billy Liar" is a quirky character portrait of a randy young man, and "Los Angeles, I'm Yours" paints the picture of a Los Angeles that despite its ugly side, the narrator still seems to hold a great affection for the place, whether that love is sarcastic or not is up to the listener.

The following track, "The Gymnast, High Above The Ground" is a personal favorite, and is a moment when the band writes a slower track and stretches the length of the track, but manages to put an interesting character on display; this happens again on the late album track "I Was Meant For the Stage", a track that seems to be a bit biographical as well.

Amidst the slower moments we also get the fan favorite "Red Right Ankle" which is a sweet little love song that poetically states how love can bind people together. There's also "The Bachelor and the Bride", but I find this track to be the most nondescript on the entire album. However, we also get a batch of more energetic moments which, to me, give this album its edge when compared to the debut; songs like "Song For Myla Goldberg" and "The Chimbley Sweep" are upbeat and quirky, but the true star of the more driving songs on Her Majesty is easily, "The Soldiering Life", a song about two soldiers who find love on the battlefield; this track is probably my favorite Decemberists song because it has such a great melody and the explosion of instrumentation and vocals during the chorus is just to good to deny, plus it is an incredibly sweet song to boot.

The closer her is a bit of an anomaly, but one that I actually enjoy quite a bit. It comes right after the long, winding "I Was Meant For the Stage", and features the most "lo-fi" sounding production I've ever heard the band use.

Her Majesty The Decemberists is such a great listen; it is easily my most re-visited Decemberists LP and still sounds fantastic 11 years after its release. If you want to give just one Decemberists album a chance, make it this one.

10/10

Decemberists Discography: Part 1: Castaways & Cutouts

Well, 2014 is darn near over and I'm waiting on the new year to dawn before tackling any significant amount of new music. So in the meantime I thought it would be a neat to take a look at the current discography of one of my favorite bands, The Decemberists. To me, this band represents a turning point in my musical tastes; gone were the days where I thought the only legitimate form of music was Thrash Metal and in came a plethora of musical ideas and concepts that would forever alter the way I listened to music.

To start, I'm only going to cover the main album releases from The Decemberists, no EPs or live albums, though I will try to make mention of them if they relate to the current LP I'm reviewing.

The Decemberists are essentially a folk band, though that description is pretty limited since they also dabble in country, sea faring tales and on occasion some Pink Floyd esque psychedelia. However, folk was the prime focus on their first couple of releases, the Five Songs EP and their debut full length Castaways & Cutouts. On these two releases the band penned songs that dealt with love and death, but often through the lens of a character or odd story, all the while, using some pretty heady vocabulary, a trait that the band has never really abandoned.

C&C starts with the gloomy "Leslie Ann Levine" which tells the tale of a dead girl who is mourning her own lost life, this song sets the mood for the album perfectly and is easily in my top favorite Decemberists songs. Next there is the ever addictive and mesmerizing "Here I Dreamt I Was An Architect", a track that portrays a series of characters and is wrapped in the most wonderful electric guitar lead on the entire album.

The album for the most part is a collection of sadder, slower paced tracks, dealing with an unfortunate death ("Leslie Ann Levine"), a special memory ("Grace Cathedral Hill") or even the dark tale of a prostitute ("Cautionary Tale"). However, there are a couple of more upbeat moments, though these too have there an element of darkness to them; for instance, on "July, July" the driving chorus is punctuated with lyrics about blood running down a drain, or the late album burst of "Legionnaires Lament" where the narrator describes being stranded in a desert.

The album in my opinion does hit a small slump in the middle with the tracks "Odalisque" and "Cocoon" though that has more to do with the length of those tracks than the quality of the tracks themselves, something I found myself thinking about a lot of Tarkio's material (the band that frontman Colin Meloy was in previously).

Really, this album is a fantastic debut from a band that would only push their sound farther on successive albums. Though this is just the first review, I can honestly say that C&C is the one Decemberists  album I can put on any time and while it isn't my absolute favorite, it is an LP that I hold near and dear.

9.0/10

Top 10 Albums of 2014

Well, it's that time again! Time to list off my favorite LPs of the year. Personally, this list was very hard to put together, because there were just so many solid albums that I listened over and over again. However, I'm very confident in my choices and hope you enjoy them as well!

#10: Tune Yards: Nikki Nack

I never saw myself enjoying a Tune Yards album, but luckily Nikki Nack came along this year and really blew me away. Few albums this year were as colorful and oddly dark as the one that Tune Yards managed to put together. It has incredibly strong pop songs mixed in with sociopolitical and serious topics, a mixture that works so well it turned a former hater into a fan.

#9: Timber Timbre: Hot Dreams

The day that Timber Timbre put out an album I don't love will be a truly sad day indeed. Fortunately, I don't see that happening any time soon because Hot Dreams is simply their best album, ever. It (like the album above) mixes pop song structures with incredibly dark sounds and subjects. However, this album also contains an element that Timber Timbre always incorporate; a looming sense of doom and creepiness that makes songs like the title track take on a completely different meaning when analyzed closely. The perfect album for the month of October, or really any month.

#8: Mac Demarco: Salad Days

Ahh, the most chilled-out album of 2014. Sure, it isn't anything radically different from Mac's last album, but I still found myself putting this album on repeat all throughout the summer and beyond. Salad Days is the sound of an artist sticking with his guns, despite anyone's judgment or criticism. Luckily for Mac, the critics still kick back after a log day and mellow out to the smooth grooves of tracks like "Blue Boy".

#7: Freddie Gibbs & Madlib: Pinata

The tough as nails rhymes of Freddie Gibbs and the never disappointing production of Madlib come together and make Pinata a true modern classic in the gangsta rap genre. The sound of this album is just so masterful and irresistible; every time I put this on I lose myself in the smooth, crispy samples and satisfying drum kicks. Plus you have Freddie Gibbs putting together his best rhymes ever, and even bringing in some pretty great features as well.

#6: Future Islands: Singles

To be honest, I thought this album would be my album of the year for a good while, but then a lot of albums that were just as great came out and I had to make a decision. But don't let this album's place stop you from listening to this years finest pop album. Singles shows Future Islands working with a cleaner recording and writing their tightest hooks and choruses, ever. Plus it's always a joy to hear the vocals that this band brings to the table; soulful and slightly off their rocker.

#5: Swans: To Be Kind

I'll admit it, I'm a bit of a glutton for punishment when it comes to rock music. I like it loud, dark and twisted, and that is exactly what Swans do on a regular basis, but especially on their latest serving of pain, To Be Kind. This album is relentless in all of it's facets, but most importantly, it was (to me) endlessly enjoyable. I've sat through this albums 2 full hours over a half dozen times since it's release, and I've gone back to cuts like "Oxygen" and "Just a Little Boy" many more times than that. This is rock music at it's most eccentric and mesmerizing.

#4: Perfume Genius: Too Bright

Mike Hadreas changed his sound up on Too Bright, and I think it payed off in a big way. We get to hear his voice more clearly, and we get to see him incorporate more sounds and attitude into his usually downbeat, contemplative music. It may not be my favorite in his discography, but that has more to do with the time and place his last album hit me and less to do with the actual quality of the music on Too Bright, which is easily his most cohesive and approachable album to date. I'm happy to see Mike strutting his stuff and still writing excellent tunes in the process.

#3: Run The Jewels: RTJ2

If you remember last year's list, you'll recall that I said that anything with both Killer Mike and EL-P was bound to end up on my top 10... well that's still the case. However, I actually think that the dynamic duo did one better, and put together an even stronger album than their debut. RTJ2 is thoroughly enjoyable and darn near perfect with really only one track standing out as "good, not great". This has been on constant rotation since the day it came out, and will continue to for the foreseeable future.

#2: Iceage: Plowing Into The Field Of Love

When these fine young Danes came out with their sophomore album You're Nothing I was incredibly close to putting it on that years list, but I thought that with just a bit more substance, Iceage would be an undeniably great band; and that is exactly what they did with their latest album, Plowing Into The Field Of Love. To me, this is the album that all future modern goth-rock and post-punk albums should be compared to because Iceage are on a whole other level on this LP. From the moment that "On My Fingers" starts, I'm one hundred percent lost in this album until the very end. Add to that the years best rock song (in my opinion) "The Lord's Favorite" and I can no longer hide the fact that I love this album from top to bottom. Utterly amazing.

#1 Sun Kil Moon: Benji

This may not be a surprise if you've been following the blog, but I think that this album is flawless. Yeah, not a single track on this album is even remotely bad or anything less than superb. From the moment I first heard it all the way through, I knew this was the only acceptable spot for it when it came to end of the year lists. The amount of emotion here is staggering, and it is one of the few folk albums that after listening to it, I felt like I knew the artists better on a human level. The stories on display here range from heartbreaking, to inspiringly sad and heartwarming. The perfect picture of an artist who is experiencing life on the other side of middle age.