"I'm a poor, drunken orphan with nowhere to go but the grave," wailed a waifish and non-plussed Mr. Chris Funk as he lay supine by the railroad tracks. The crate of records he had been cradling in his nubile appendages now lay in pieces on the ashen ground, his complete collected recordings of sixties psychedelic luminary Rick "Paisley Dave" Rigmore scattered hit her and yon like so many dead leaves beneath a diseased elm. Noting his neglect to accredit this phrase to its rightful owner, chief engineer Jenny Conlee, her accordion neatly strapped to her back, stepped lightly from the caboose and corrected his negligence with the aplomb only an immigrant Hungarian could muster: "Dylan Thomas, sir! Please move along!" But it was too late: an indelible bond had been soldered in that moment of recognition. A few hours later, in a Turkish bath, they revealed their stories to one another between sips of a strange, tangerine liqueur. Not far from that spot, however, two young military dignitaries (John Moen, Nate Query), appropriately lathered, overheard our two heroes' stories. Was it chance, then, that lead the four unsuspecting bathers to seek to return their soiled undergarments at the same kiosk where worked the poor, bespectacled Colin Meloy? One can surmise all one wants, but the truth should be known that, after adopting the moniker The Decemberists, these five wan vagabonds began playing their peculiarly styled pop music in various concert-halls and brothels all across the globe.
The Decemberists | News 03.24.09
Point of Order:
• The Hazards of Love available everywhere today!
• Digital booklet for The Hazards of Love available here
• Record signing at Music Millennium in Portland tonight!
• Two shows at Edgefield Amphitheater in Troutdale, Oregon -- on sale now!
• Colin sings on the new Robyn Hitchcock record!
Adored Mailing List Recipients,
As tow-headed, flower-garlanded Persephone ducks a peek out of Hades, casually popping a white earbud from a freckled ear and listening for the sounds of Spring, we Decemberists are incredibly pleased to present to you our new LP, The Hazards of Love, which is available in discriminating record stores and digital outlets everywhere RIGHT NOW. And while the Decemberists support listening to the record at your own speed, on your own time, it's no secret that the lyric booklet is a helpful guide to the world laid out in The Hazards of Love. Download a PDF of the booklet at http://www.decemberists.com/downloads.aspx and dig in!
For those of you who are still keen on owning something tangible, the Decemberists will be on hand in person to sign vinyl or CD copies of the record at the Music Millennium in SE Portland (http://www.buymusichere.net/stores/musicmillennium/) tonight (3/24) from 6 to 8 pm pst.
Speaking of our lovely, gray Portland: we Decemberists will be playing two shows with the inimitable Andrew Bird and the able-bodied Blind Pilot at the Edgefield Amphitheater in Troutdale, OR. Tickets are on sale now at http://www.ticketmaster.com/venue/123048/
And: check out the new release by Robyn Hitchcock and the Venus 3, Goodnight Oslo: http://www.yeproc.com/news.php?articleId=5847 A tacit agreement was made between Colin and Robyn: that Robyn would agree to play on The Hazards of Love and Colin would, in return, live out his life-long dream and sing on a Robyn Hitchcock record. Colin says, "As a life-long (or at least since I was 12) fan of Robyn, I have to say that Goodnight Oslo ranks with the best of Robyn's records."
Yours,
The Decemberists
www.decemberists.com
The Decemberists | News 03.18.09
Point of Order:
. NPR broadcast of the Decemberists' SXSW show tonight!
. The Hazards of Love available now on iTunes!
. Pre-sale for Edgefield shows ends FRIDAY
Adored Mailing List Recipients,
Another brilliant sun rises on the stucco'd pavilions of Austin, TX; another swarm of robot armadillos flies from their unseen cubbies to wash the streets clean of the beer, vomit and soggy discarded halter tops. O, SXSW.
So let us politely remind you that NPR will be broadcasting The Decemberists' performance in Austin tonight as they play their new record The Hazards of Love in its entirety. Check it out at 12 midnight (central time) at http://www.npr.org/music/sxsw/.
The Hazards of Love is also available NOW on iTunes worldwide as a special pre-release: http://www.itunes.com/thedecemberists/thehazardsoflove. It is also available in deluxe 180 gram vinyl in select indie stores. Hooray! The record will be available everywhere on CD, vinyl and all digital formats on March 24th.
And for those of you in the Portland area currently being drubbed with sheets of dull gray rain, remember that Summer will eventually arrive. Proof: the pre-sale for tickets to our two shows July 18 and 19 at the Edgefield Amphitheater (with very special guests Andrew Bird and Blind Pilot) in scenic Troutdale, OR is currently on at http://decemberists.tickets.musictoday.com -- but ends just before the public onsale this Saturday at 10 am (when they'll be onsale at http://ticketswest.com.) Full show information can be found on the Decemberists web site.
And that's it for now!
Yours,
The Decemberists
www.decemberists.com
p.s. Colin tweets! www.twitter.com/colinmeloy
The Decemberists | News 03.13.09
Points of Order:
• The Hazards of Love available on iTunes on March 17th; available in US indie record stores on 180 gram vinyl the same day.
• Pre-order bundle shenanigans to end on Wednesday, March 18th at The Decemberists Shop
• The Decemberists to perform THoL live via NPR webcast at SXSW in Austin TX -- 12 midnight Central Time on March 18th.
• A winner is announced in the SXSW NPR showcase poster contest!
• A few dates from Phase 2 of The "A Short Fazed Hovel" Tour 2009 trickle out !
• Listening parties! Record signings!
Adored Mailing List Recipients,
There are simply too many points of order on the docket here; we'll have to disburse with the usual preamble of this here Relatively Unobtrusive e-Missive (RUeM) and move directly to the dirt. This one's all about economy, folks.
Holy s**t: The Decemberists' new record The Hazards of Love will be sneakily made available on iTunes (digitally) and select US indie stores (on vinyl) on March 17th! It'll be popping up in discriminating retailers and online stores in other forms on March 24th.
For those of you new to the list, you'll be pleased to know that there are pre-order "bundles" available at the Decemberists.com webshop ( http://www.decemberistsshop.com/zencart/). Pre-order your hard copy of the record, CD or vinyl, and for a special price, we'll throw in one of two exclusive t-shirts. We'll also enter your name in a contest in which we give a random shopper a signed Baglama Saz (google it yourself, lazybones!). However, be warned that pre-orders/Win-a-Saz contest entering ends Wednesday, March 18th.
Which:
Happens to be the date that we Decemberists play a special show at SXSW in Austin, TX for the lovely folks at NPR. We'll be performing our new record in its entirety (for the first time EVER, I should add) at Stubb's. Tune in online at http://www.npr.org/music/sxsw/ at 12 (midnight) Central Time or listen in on to some of their participating stations that will be broadcasting the show on the radio, listed on that same web site.
Thanks to everyone who submitted entries to the poster contest for the Stubb's show. And so it's our pleasure to announce the winner: Ms. Kathryn Rathke. And no, we didn't pick her just because of her totally awesome name. Her poster fit all the practical criteria: it had the name and date of the show right and managed to spell all of the bands' names correctly. But beyond, it incorporated both Ladybird and Lyndon Johnson in a stunning tableau in which Lyndon has been abruptly plucked from an idyllic walk in a field by what appears to be a giant hawk. No investigation has been made into the nature of this allegory, we've just taken it on face-value and have deemed it RAD, in the parlance of the day. The poster is attached herein.
While it's too soon to entrust the public with the full dates of Phase 2 of The "A Short Fazed Hovel" Tour 2009, we're happy to announce that we'll be playing TWO SHOWS at the Edgefield Amphitheater in scenic Troutdale, Oregon (just a hop/skip/jump along the Banfield eastward from Portland) on July 18th and 19th with extremely special guests Andrew Bird and Blind Pilot. Ticket pre-order for these shows starts at 10 am (pacific) on Monday, March 16th at http://decemberists.tickets.musictoday.com. Public on-sale begins March 21st at http://ticketswest.com. Full show information can be found on the Decemberists web site.
The rest of Phase 2 will be revealed soon!
We Decemberists are not the sort to dictate how or where one should listen to our new record, but suffice it to say that we deem The Hazards of Love to be best digested in one sitting, surrounded by tasseled pillows and indentured eunuchs. If this ideal setting is not available to the casual listener, we'd like you to know that a few select cafés, bars, and indie record stores in Chicago, Berkeley, LA, San Francisco, Portland, Pen State, Boston, DC, Eugene, Seattle, Austin, Nashville, Louisville and Knoxville are hosting listening sessions of the record on the 24th of March. The full list can be found at http://decemberists.com. The Decemberists themselves will be at the Music Millennium in glorious SE Portland on the 24th from 6 to 8 pm to sign copies of the record. We'll be packing silver sharpies; quoth Chris Walla: "If you must have a black record cover, make sure you keep yourself in silver sharpies."
And that's it for now!
Yours,
The Decemberists
www.decemberists.com
The Decemberists | News 02.09.09
Points of Order:
• The Decemberists announce the first leg of the "A Short Fazed Hovel" Tour 2009. Ticket pre-sale currently underway !
• Public tickets on sale on Friday the 13th (creepy!)
• Decemberists headline NPR's showcase at Austin's South by Southwest, playing The Hazards of Love in its entirety.
Adored Mailing List Recipients,
Cutting straight to the chase: we Decemberists are pleased (and not just pleased, but pleased) to announce, here in 72 dpi glory, the dates of Phase One of the "A Short Fazed Hovel" Tour 2009. Before we throw those dates out, we feel it important to remind you that the online ticket pre-sale currently underway (except for Boston and Philly, whose pre-sales will start Wednesday). Click HERE to get going on that!
And without further ado, here's Phase One:
May 19 - Hollywood Palladium - Los Angeles, CA
May 20 - Fox Theatre - Oakland, CA
May 21 - McDonald Theater - Eugene, OR
May 24 - Wilma Theatre - Missoula, MT
May 26 - Fillmore Auditorium - Denver, CO
May 27 - Uptown Theater - Kansas City, MO
May 29 - Riverside Theater - Milwaukee, WI
May 31 - The Pageant - St. Louis, MO
June 1 - Lifestyle Communities Pavilion - Columbus, OH
June 3 - Tabernacle - Atlanta, GA
June 4 - Memorial Auditorium - Raleigh, NC
June 5 - The National - Richmond, VA
June 6 - Tower Theatre - Upper Darby, PA
June 9 - Bank of America Pavillion - Boston, MA
June 10 - Radio City Music Hall - New York, NY
June 11-14 - Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival - Manchester, TN
Now, before you get your boyfriend's borrowed boxer-briefs in a clove hitch because your particular city of residence is not on that list, remember, dear Mailing List Recipient, that this is merely Phase One. Decemberists HQ will be doling out more information as, you know, it seems pertinent.
Public on-sale will happen on Friday, the 13th of February. The day before Valentine's Day. The Decemberists would like everyone to know that although this is a happy coincidence, considering that our new record is called The Hazards of Love and deals heavily with the potential pitfalls of romance, it is purely an act of coincidence; not the machinations of major record label's over-eager marketing department. That's right: higher powers were involved.
The format of the tour is simple. The show will consist of two sets: one in which we Decemberists perform the record, The Hazards of Love, in its entirety (joined onstage by the immeasurable talents of M'mes Becky Stark and Shara Worden), and another where we perform a tidy selection of older material.
And what better way to dispel the jitters of performing a dense, 58 minute piece of music for the first time than to play it headlining NPR's SXSW showcase in Austin, TX, on March 1 8t h, which will be in turn broadcast and webcast to hundreds of thousands of listeners? Well, we'll be doing just that. Hope to see you there!
Oh and: The Hazards of Love is out on Capitol Records on March 24th. And as always, to keep abreast of things Decemberist, consider joining up with the /orate forum on decemberists.com: http://orate.decemberists.com.
Yours,
The Decemberists
www.decemberists.com
The Decemberists To Play Bonnaroo!
The Decemberists will be appearing at the 2009 Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival. The eighth annual festival will be held on June 11-14 in Manchester, Tennessee, 60 miles south of Nashville.
Tickets go on sale exclusively through www.bonnaroo.com on Saturday, February 7 at 12:00 PM Eastern.
The Decemberists News |01.15.2009
Point of Order:
• "The Rake's Song" available now as a free download!
• The Decemberists on World Cafe today
• Colin is all a-twitter.
Adored Mailing List Recipients,
It is our utmost pleasure to offer to you, dear Mailing List Recipient, the first crack at downloading a song culled from our upcoming Long Player, The Hazards of Love, due out on Capitol Records on March 24th. The song in question? It's called "The Rake's Song." Go immediately to www.decemberists.com to redeem said FREE DOWNLOAD! Share it with your friends! Post it as your Facebook update! Play it for your grandmother!
On second thought, don't play it for your grandmother.
In other news: NPR's World Cafe will be broadcasting a live session from the Decemberists along with an interview with Colin Meloy in the first hour of their show on Thursday, Jan. 15th. You can find your local station and times by scrolling to the bottom & choosing their state under "Find a Program Broadcast Time" at the following link: http://www.npr.org/templates/stations/schedule/?prgId=39
Also: check out Colin's new twitter feed for the most up-to-date abstruse information about him and the band: www.twitter.com/colinmeloy. Put that in your proverbial pipe and proverbially smoke it.
Yours,
The Decemberists
www.decemberists.com
The Decemberists News |12.11.2008
Points of Order:
• The Hazards of Love gets a tracklist and a release date!
• Always a Bridesmaid: A Singles Series Vol. 3 available now!
• Tour merch now available at the online shop.
Adored Mailing List Recipients[1],
We Decemberists are pleased to announce that our forthcoming LP, The Hazards of Love, is, in the parlance of the industry, "in the can[2]". Four tumultuous months passed in the creation of the record, during which a new president was selected[3], 3 people associated with the band were married[4], birthdays too numerous to recount were celebrated and many tasty asada tacos from two of the vast array of taco trucks in the greater Portland east-side were consumed. And what do we have to show for it? Or at least that we can now reveal to you? A release date and a tracklist! As follows:
Release Date: March 24th[5] in the U.S. and March 23th[6] in the UK.[7]
Tracklist:
1. Prelude
2. The Hazards of Love 1 (The Prettiest Whistles Won't Wrestle the Thistles Undone)
3. A Bower Scene
4. Won't Want for Love (Margaret in the Taiga)
5. The Hazards of Love 2 (Wager All)
6. The Queen's Approach
7. Isn't it a Lovely Night?
8. The Wanting Comes in Waves / Repaid
9. An Interlude
10. The Rake's Song
11. The Abduction of Margaret
12. The Queen's Rebuke / The Crossing
13. Annan Water
14. Margaret in Captivity
15. The Hazards of Love 3 (Revenge!)
16. The Wanting Comes in Waves (Reprise)
17. The Hazards of Love 4 (The Drowned)
In other news, the 3rd and final volume of Always the Bridesmaid: A Singles Series is available now in fine retail outlets[8] and online[9]. The songs in this volume are "Record Year for Rainfall" and "Raincoat Song" - two songs particularly suited for this weather we're having. And how. Visit the Decemberists' online shop[10]:http://www.decemberistsshop.com/zencart/ for more information and to find sweet[11] bundled deals!
Speaking of the online store[12]: surplus merchandise from the just completed Bridesmaid Revisited Tour is now available. T-shirts, silkscreened posters & what-have-you. Going and going quick. Also, there's a brand new reindeer hoodie on athletic gray [13], fresh off the presses, unavailable anywhere else. Order by next Tuesday, December 16 for shipments to arrive before December 24.
'Til Next Time!
Yours,
The Decemberists
www.decemberists.com
[1] This Relatively Unobtrusive e-Missive (RUeM) will be written with footnotes, in memory of David Foster Wallace.
[2] Etymology unknown, though the author has done nothing to research said etymology - author imagines it has something to do with the film industry, i.e. a piece of finished film being literally in a can when it's completed. Caveat: the author has no working knowledge of the film industry other than his brief appearance as Rancher McKellar in the mini-series Return to Lonesome Dove. The author would site a list of credits to support this claim but the author has discovered, much to his chagrin, that the imdb credit list has been scrubbed clean of any mention of his participation in the film.
[3] Hooray!
[4] Those would be our booking agent, live sound engineer, and Jenny.
[5] Which, serendipitously, was the day that Timur sacked Damascus in 1401.
[6] Less so, Chaka Khan's birthday.
[7] ROTW - TBA (or: rest of the world -to be announced. But what's the point of release dates anymore, anyway, really? I mean, if we can be frank here. So you live in Botswana and you want a copy of this record it's not that hard to track down. But let's all keep up the theater anyway.)
[8] on crisp, clean 180 gram vinyl. Buy it here or at select indie stores (go to http://www.thinkindie.com to find out where).
[9] in mysterious, abstruse digital form. Buy it online here.
[10] Author resisted the temptation to spell this in the olde English way, "shoppe," graciously.
[11] Apologies.
[12] What a transition!
[13] In high fashion, per Decemberists merch priestess Corinna Repp.
Spin.com has an interview with Colin and an exclusive stream of "Record Year," from the upcoming Always The Bridesmaid: Vol.3 which is hitting stores and online on December 2.
You can see and hear it all at http://www.spin.com/articles/video-exclusive-stream-decemberists-colin-meloy-explains-record-year
The Decemberists News |11.3.2008
Points of Order:
-VOTE TOMORROW!
Adored Mailing List Recipients,
DECEMBERISTS PSA
Yours,
The Decemberists
www.decemberists.com
p.s. Watch the Decemberists on Conan O'Brien tonight!
p.p.s. Always The Brides Maid: A Singles Series - Volume 2 ("Days of Elaine" b/w "Days of Elaine (long)" & "I'm Sticking With You") is available tomorrow. Buy the vinyl here or at select indie stores (go to http://www.thinkindie.com to find out where) and buy it online here.
The Decemberists News |10.7.2008
Points of Order:
-3/5 of The Decemberists to perform at Oct. 12th fundraiser for US Senate candidate Jeff Merkley
-The Decemberists say: REGISTER TO VOTE!
-Register voters and have Colin Meloy perform solo at your college!
-Upcoming US Tour dates
-Pre-order "Always the Bridesmaid: A Singles Series" vinyl now!
-Holy *&^%: we're nearly done with our new record!
Adored Mailing List Recipients,
Such tumult! Such excitement! Such. . . hopefulness! These are heady days, heady days. The promise of true progressivism in at least two of our three branches of government seems so near, you could almost poke it with a summer squash. And while we Decemberists have already thrown our proverbial hat into a certain Illinois senator's ring, it's hight time we all take a moment to recognize that Mr. Obama's potential *FDR-redux-new-progressive* administration would be NUTHIN (in the parlance of our day) without a strong majority of like-minded Senators and Representatives to enable said progressivism! Gentle Mailing List Recipients, we are sooooo close to that magic 60 seats. . .
And what better way to support that endeavor, than to support a guy who has a startlingly good chance at kicking Oregon's current GOP Senator Gordon Smith to the curb: Democrat Jeff Merkley. On October 12th, Colin Meloy, Chris Funk and Jenny Conlee will be joined by fellow PDXers China Forbes and Thomas Lauderdale (of Pink Martini) and Laura Veirs (performing as Two-Beers Veirs) at a fundraiser for Merkley's campaign. The show is at Doug Fir here in Portland, tickets are $25. Doors at 6 pm, show at 7. Click here for more info about Jeff and about the event.
Also, Colin is participating in "The Ultimate College Bowl" - a competition between colleges and college students to encourage voter registration. The college where the highest percentage of the student body registers to vote this Fall will win a free concert by Colin some time during the academic year.
You can register to vote, and learn more about the contest, by clicking here
The voter registration deadline is upon us in many states (and passed already in some) so you may have one last chance to help your school win the contest and participate in the 2008 election. Click here to Register to Vote today.
And as a reminder: we Decemberists are poised to hit the road at the end of October for a short tour in support of our new singles series, "Always the Bridesmaid." Tour dates are as follows:
10-30 Georgetown, TX - Southwestern University (public onsale 10/8)
10-31 Wheaton, IL - Edman Chapel at Wheaton College
11-05 New York, NY - Terminal 5 (SOLD OUT)
11-06 Boston, MA - The Orpheum
11-07 Philadelphia, PA - Electric Factory
11-08 Baltimore, MD - Ram's Head Live
11-09 Ithaca, NY - Cornell University, Barton Hall
11-11 Montclair, NJ - Wellmont Theatre
11-12 East Lansing, MI - Wharton Center at Michigan State University (public onsale 10/10)
11-24 Los Angeles, CA - The Wiltern
11-25 San Francisco, CA - Warfield Theatre
11-29 Portland, OR - Crystal Ballroom
11-30 Seattle, WA - The Moore Theatre
(Note: all shows are expected to sell out in advance, so ye best get on it.)
In related news: Click HERE to pre-order "Always a Bridesmaid: A Singles Series." Have 'em shipped to your home as the release, or in one big drop in December. The first installment, "Valerie Plame," hits record stores and doorsteps on October 14th, while the single will be available digitally on all your favorite DSPs the same day. In the US, these singles come in the form of tasty 180 gram 12" vinyl. In the UK, our good friends at Rough Trade are releasing as 7" vinyl. Check out the Rough Trade Shop for more info.
In other news, we've officially closed the book on tracking our next record and mixing starts tomorrow! We're all tremendously pleased with the outcome thus far. It's called "Hazards of Love." That's all we'll say now.
Yours,
The Decemberists
The Decemberists | News 9.2.08
Points of Order:
- Bridesmaid Revisited Tour 2008 hits the road in November
- Reminder: Always the Bridesmaid vinyl pre-order happening now
Adored Mailing List Recipients,
In our last e-missive, there was a passing reference to the fact that summer is upon us. That, my friends, does not appear to still be true in some northwestern climes. Fall seems to be creeping in with its mossy, moldering fingers.
And so: what better time to hit the road to bring our Decemberists' entertainments to the public, to the masses? And so: the Decemberists will be bringing the Bridesmaid Revisted Tour 2008 to a few fair US cities in November. Dates are as follow:
11-05 New York, NY - Terminal 5
11-06 Boston, MA - The Orpheum
11-07 Philadelphia, PA - Electric Factory
11-08 Baltimore, MD - Ram&8217;s Head Live
11-09 Ithaca, NY - Cornell University, Barton Hall
11-11 Montclair, NJ - Wellmont Theatre
11-24 Los Angeles, CA - The Wiltern
11-25 San Francisco, CA - Warfield Theatre
11-29 Portland, OR - Crystal Ballroom
11-30 Seattle, WA - The Moore Theatre
A limited number of pre-order tickets go on sale today, September 2nd, to the public on a first-come, first-serve basis at http://decemberists.tickets.musictoday.com . General ticket on-sales begin on Saturday, September 6th for East Coast dates and on Saturday, September 13th for West Coast dates. Our good friends and fellow PDXers Loch Lomond will be opening the dates.
And, as we mentioned last time, pre-orders are also being accepted for the Always the Bridesmaid: A Singles Series vinyl releases. Via http://www.decemberistsshop.com, one can either order the three installments in one shot and receive in a tidy package in December, or order them one by one and receive them as they are released (Vol. I on Oct. 14th, Vol. II on Nov. 4th and Vol. III on Dec. 2nd).
That's all!
Yours,
The Decemberists
THE DECEMBERISTS’ ALWAYS THE BRIDESMAID: A SINGLES SERIES KICKS OFF WITH OCTOBER 14TH RELEASE OF VOLUME 1
The Decemberists will release Always The Bridesmaid: A Singles Series this fall. The three volumes will be available digitally and on 12” vinyl. Volume 1, comprised of “Valerie Plame” and “O New England,” will be released on October 14th. The band will give “Valerie Plame” its national television debut on “Late Night with Conan O’Brien” on November 3rd, the eve of the United States presidential election. Written from the point-of-view of one of Plame’s inside contacts upon discovering her true identity, the song is an amorous tribute to the onetime CIA operative. The Decemberists will be playing select U.S. dates this November; details will be announced shortly.
Volume II and Volume III of Always The Bridesmaid: A Singles Series will be released on November 4th and December 2nd respectively. (See below for track listings.) The series will be available digitally at DSPs, released by Capitol Records, and on 12” vinyl via The Decemberists’ own label, Y.A.B.B. Records/Jealous Butcher Records. Fans who pre-order all three singles through the band’s website will receive a limited edition version on colored vinyl; the pre-order begins today at http://www.decemberistsshop.com/. The vinyl will also be available at select independent retail stores (go to http://www.thinkindie.com to find out where). In the U.K., Rough Trade will release the series digitally and on 7” vinyl.
The band is currently in the studio working on a new full-length album with Tucker Martine, who produced Always The Bridesmaid: The Singles Series and co-produced The Crane Wife
Track listings for Always The Bridesmaid: A Singles Series:
Volume I. Valerie Plame / O New England
Release date: October 14, 2008
Volume II. Days of Elaine / Days of Elaine (long) and I’m Sticking With You
Release date: November 4, 2008
Volume III. Record Year / Raincoat Song
Release date: December 2, 2008
The Decemberists News | 5.14.2008
Points of Order:
* Colin Meloy Sings Sam Cooke now available at the Decemberists Shop
* John Moen releases debut solo album Perhapst also now available at the Decemberists Shop
Thanks to all of you who came out to a show on Colin's recent U.S. outing. We have some limited quantities of the tour EP Colin Meloy Sings Sam Cooke that we have put up for sale at the Decemberists Shop. The five-song collection features Laura Gibson singing on harmonies throughout, and the track listing goes like this:
1. Cupid
2. Summertime
3. That's Where It's At
4. Good Times
5. Bring It On Home To Me
In addition, the store is now stocked with vinyl of Colin Meloy Sings Live! Apologies for the delay in getting them shipped out to the patient lot of you that had ordered. There was some kind of production hold-up involving a plant manager who had taken ill at the fine vinyl plant in Prague that we use. Suffice it to say that the plant manager is feeling a lot better, and the double-gatefold LP that finally arrived on our shores looks and sounds pretty sweet.
In other band news, we're pleased to announce the solo debut of Decemberists drummer John Moen. Asked to describe the album, John says he wishes he was a guitar player - "think a much less agile Dave Grohl" - so this is an opportunity where he gets to play guitar and sing. Says John, "You can go ahead and make all the Phil Collins jokes you want, but you must listen to the album at least once before you crack wise." The 'band' and album are titled Perhapst, and the album includes eleven tracks of folk-pop-psych goodness. Now available at the Decemberists Shop. You can hear a couple tracks on the freshly minted Myspace page.
And with that, we hope springtime is in full bloom wherever you are.
Yours,
The Decemberists
Colin Meloy LP Now Available
COLIN MELOY SINGS LIVE NOW AVAILABLE FOR PREORDER
Colin's first solo CD "Colin Meloy Sings Live" is now available for preorder on the new and improved Decemberists Shop.
This is no run of the mill preorder. Beyond the simple pleasure of the CD/LP arriving via the esteemed U.S. Postal Service on or around the album's April 8 release date, there are a myriad of tantalizing perquisites that await the preorderee:
* The first 300 CDs and the first 100 LPs ordered will be autographed by Colin
* Everyone who preorders are automatically entered into a drawing for a Grand Prize: a skull, ship and sheep as seen on Colin's 2006 tour ("I thought it would be nice to have company onstage" - Colin) , as well as 2 tickets to any one of the shows on Colin's upcoming tour.
* Order a Colin Meloy t-shirt at a reduced price along with the CD or LP (this shirt will not be available on Colin's tour).
For international orders, please bear in mind that arrival of your package might take a little longer than U.S. orders because of shipping variability overseas.
Included on Sings Live! are songs from Meloy's first band, Tarkio, as well as cuts from every Decemberists full-length pre-The Crane Wife. There is also a tune from the 2006 EP Picaresqueties, two previously unreleased originals ("Dracula's Daughter" and "Wonder"), bits of covers of songs by the Smiths, R.E.M., Pink Floyd, and Fleetwood Mac, and a traditional folk song in debt to Shirley Collins' arrangement.
Tracklist:
01 Devil's Elbow
02 We Both Go Down Together
03 Evoking a Campfire Singalong [banter]
04 The Gymnast, High Above the Ground
05 Here I Dreamt I Was an Architect / Dreams
06 Dracula's Daughter [previously unreleased]
07 Wonder [previously unreleased]
08 A Brief Introduction to Shirley Collins [banter]
09 Barbara Allen
10 The Engine Driver
11 On the Bus Mall
12 A Skull, a Ship, and a Sheep [banter]
13 California One/Youth and Beauty Brigade / Ask
14 The Bachelor and the Bride
15 A Cautionary Song
16 Red Right Ankle
17 Bandit Queen
Note that the vinyl version (on Jealous Butcher Records, not Kill Rock Stars, as had been erroneously reported in the last email) contains a bonus track - a cover of Jackson C. Frank's "Blues Run the Game".
COLIN MELOY LIVE SET AVAILABLE THIS APRIL!
On April 8, Kill Rock Stars will release Colin Meloy Sings Live! - a 14-song set documenting Colin's 2006 solo U.S. tour. As those of you know who saw the shows, Colin stripped down to an acoustic guitar and was accompanied by a skull named Cheryl, a ship named Maya Angelou and a small stuffed sheep named Erick (the c is silent). The album will be released in the U.S. and Canada on CD and double gatefold vinyl. We expect to announce a European release date shortly.
COLIN MELOY SINGS LIVE! - TRACK LISTING
1. Devil's Elbow
2. We Both Go Down Together
3. Evoking a Campfire Singalong*
4. The Gymnast, High Above the Ground
5. Here I Dreamt I Was an Architect > Dreams
6. Dracula's Daughter (previously unreleased)
7. Wonder (previously unreleased)
8. A Brief Introduction to Shirley Collins*
9. Barbara Allen
10. The Engine Driver
11. On the Bus Mall
12. A Skull, a Ship, and a Sheep*
13. California One/Youth and Beauty Brigade > Ask
14. The Bachelor and the Bride
15. A Cautionary Song
16. Red Right Ankle
17. Bandit Queen
* indicates talk between songs
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