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The Decemberists' sixth, full-length studio outing finds the Portland, Oregon-based indie rock collective exploring a region that has thus far eluded them. Raised on a steady diet of Morrissey, Robyn Hitchcock, Shirley Collins, and Fairport Convention, The King Is Dead represents frontman Colin Meloy's first foray into the musical traditions of his homeland, or more specifically, it proves that he really, really likes R.E.M. “Calamity Song,” which is one of three tracks to feature guitar work from Peter Buck, threatens to break into “Pretty Persuasion” or “So. Central Rain (I’m Sorry)” at any moment, and first single “Down by the Water” flirts with “The One I Love” hard enough to take it on a long weekend, though Meloy has stated that the track “started out as more of a paean to R.E.M. than I think any of us really wanted it to.” David Rawlings and Gillian Welch also join the party on a number of tracks, lending their instantly recognizable voices to two of the album’s finest moments, the Wildflowers-era, Tom Petty-inspired “Don’t Carry It All,” and the lovely, Paul Simon-esque “June Hymn” -- Meloy and Welch, the former a Montana-born Anglophile and the latter a California girl with a fetish for dustbowl Appalachia -- harmonize nicely, canceling out each other’s vocal affectations. It’s a refreshing change from the usual compilation of bibliophile, sea shanty/murder ballad, and while the Led Zeppelin III-style rural overhauling may isolate fans who prefer the serpentine, progressive, art rock of albums like The Crane Wife and Hazards of Love, it opens up a whole new continent for the band to explore.
© James Christopher Monger /TiVo
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PETER BUCK, AssociatedPerformer - Stephen Marcussen, Engineer - The Decemberists, MainArtist - Gillian Welch, AssociatedPerformer - Tucker Martine, Producer, Engineer, MixingEngineer - Rich Hipp, Engineer - Clinton Welander, Engineer - Nate Query, Producer, AssociatedPerformer - Jenny Conlee, Producer, AssociatedPerformer - John Moen, Producer, AssociatedPerformer - Colin Meloy, Producer, AssociatedPerformer, ComposerLyricist - Dave Rawlings, AssociatedPerformer - Chris Funk, Producer, AssociatedPerformer - Annalisa Tornfelt, AssociatedPerformer - Music Of Stage Three, MusicPublisher - Harry Fox Agency, MusicPublisher - CMRRA, MusicPublisher - Osterohzhna Music (BMI), admin by Stage Three Music Inc, MusicPublisher
2011 Capitol Records under exclusive license to Rough Trade Records Ltd 2011 Capitol Records under exclusive license to Rough Trade Records Ltd
PETER BUCK, AssociatedPerformer - Stephen Marcussen, Engineer - The Decemberists, MainArtist - Tucker Martine, Producer, Engineer, AssociatedPerformer, MixingEngineer - Rich Hipp, Engineer - Clinton Welander, Engineer - Nate Query, Producer, AssociatedPerformer - Jenny Conlee, Producer, AssociatedPerformer - John Moen, Producer, AssociatedPerformer - Colin Meloy, Producer, AssociatedPerformer, ComposerLyricist - Chris Funk, Producer - Music Of Stage Three, MusicPublisher - Harry Fox Agency, MusicPublisher - CMRRA, MusicPublisher - Osterohzhna Music (BMI), admin by Stage Three Music Inc, MusicPublisher
2011 Capitol Records under exclusive license to Rough Trade Records Ltd 2011 Capitol Records under exclusive license to Rough Trade Records Ltd
Stephen Marcussen, Engineer - The Decemberists, MainArtist - Gillian Welch, AssociatedPerformer - Tucker Martine, Producer, Engineer, MixingEngineer - Rich Hipp, Engineer - Clinton Welander, Engineer - Nate Query, Producer, AssociatedPerformer - Jenny Conlee, Producer, AssociatedPerformer - John Moen, Producer, AssociatedPerformer - Colin Meloy, Producer, AssociatedPerformer, ComposerLyricist - Chris Funk, Producer, AssociatedPerformer - Music Of Stage Three, MusicPublisher - Harry Fox Agency, MusicPublisher - CMRRA, MusicPublisher - Osterohzhna Music (BMI), admin by Stage Three Music Inc, MusicPublisher
2011 Capitol Records under exclusive license to Rough Trade Records Ltd 2011 Capitol Records under exclusive license to Rough Trade Records Ltd
Stephen Marcussen, Engineer - The Decemberists, MainArtist - Gillian Welch, AssociatedPerformer - Tucker Martine, Producer, Engineer, MixingEngineer - Rich Hipp, Engineer - Clinton Welander, Engineer - Nate Query, Producer, AssociatedPerformer - Jenny Conlee, Producer, AssociatedPerformer - John Moen, Producer, AssociatedPerformer - Colin Meloy, Producer, AssociatedPerformer, ComposerLyricist - Chris Funk, Producer, AssociatedPerformer - Annalisa Tornfelt, AssociatedPerformer - Music Of Stage Three, MusicPublisher - Harry Fox Agency, MusicPublisher - CMRRA, MusicPublisher - Osterohzhna Music (BMI), admin by Stage Three Music Inc, MusicPublisher
2011 Capitol Records under exclusive license to Rough Trade Records Ltd 2011 Capitol Records under exclusive license to Rough Trade Records Ltd
Stephen Marcussen, Engineer - The Decemberists, MainArtist - Tucker Martine, Producer - Rich Hipp, Engineer - Clinton Welander, Engineer - Nate Query, Producer - Jenny Conlee, Producer, AssociatedPerformer - John Moen, Producer, AssociatedPerformer - Colin Meloy, Producer, AssociatedPerformer, ComposerLyricist - Chris Funk, Producer, AssociatedPerformer - Music Of Stage Three, MusicPublisher - Harry Fox Agency, MusicPublisher - CMRRA, MusicPublisher - Osterohzhna Music (BMI), admin by Stage Three Music Inc, MusicPublisher
2011 Capitol Records under exclusive license to Rough Trade Records Ltd 2011 Capitol Records under exclusive license to Rough Trade Records Ltd
PETER BUCK, AssociatedPerformer - Stephen Marcussen, Engineer - The Decemberists, MainArtist - Gillian Welch, AssociatedPerformer - Tucker Martine, Producer, Engineer, MixingEngineer - Rich Hipp, Engineer - Clinton Welander, Engineer - Nate Query, Producer, AssociatedPerformer - Jenny Conlee, Producer, AssociatedPerformer - John Moen, Producer, AssociatedPerformer - Colin Meloy, Producer, AssociatedPerformer, ComposerLyricist - Chris Funk, Producer - Music Of Stage Three, MusicPublisher - Harry Fox Agency, MusicPublisher - CMRRA, MusicPublisher - Osterohzhna Music (BMI), admin by Stage Three Music Inc, MusicPublisher
2011 Capitol Records under exclusive license to Rough Trade Records Ltd 2010 Capitol Records under exclusive license to Rough Trade Records Ltd
Stephen Marcussen, Engineer - The Decemberists, MainArtist - Gillian Welch, AssociatedPerformer - Tucker Martine, Producer, Engineer, MixingEngineer - Rich Hipp, Engineer - Clinton Welander, Engineer - Nate Query, Producer, AssociatedPerformer - Jenny Conlee, Producer, AssociatedPerformer - John Moen, Producer, AssociatedPerformer - Colin Meloy, Producer, AssociatedPerformer, ComposerLyricist - Chris Funk, Producer, AssociatedPerformer - Annalisa Tornfelt, AssociatedPerformer - Music Of Stage Three, MusicPublisher - Harry Fox Agency, MusicPublisher - CMRRA, MusicPublisher - Osterohzhna Music (BMI), admin by Stage Three Music Inc, MusicPublisher
2011 Capitol Records under exclusive license to Rough Trade Records Ltd 2011 Capitol Records under exclusive license to Rough Trade Records Ltd
Stephen Marcussen, Engineer - The Decemberists, MainArtist - Gillian Welch, AssociatedPerformer - David Rawlings, AssociatedPerformer - Tucker Martine, Producer, Engineer, MixingEngineer - Rich Hipp, Engineer - Clinton Welander, Engineer - Nate Query, Producer, AssociatedPerformer - Jenny Conlee, Producer, AssociatedPerformer - John Moen, Producer, AssociatedPerformer - Colin Meloy, Producer, AssociatedPerformer, ComposerLyricist - Chris Funk, Producer - Music Of Stage Three, MusicPublisher - Harry Fox Agency, MusicPublisher - CMRRA, MusicPublisher - Osterohzhna Music (BMI), admin by Stage Three Music Inc, MusicPublisher
2011 Capitol Records under exclusive license to Rough Trade Records Ltd 2011 Capitol Records under exclusive license to Rough Trade Records Ltd
Stephen Marcussen, Engineer - The Decemberists, MainArtist - Tucker Martine, Producer, Engineer, MixingEngineer - Rich Hipp, Engineer - Clinton Welander, Engineer - Nate Query, Producer, AssociatedPerformer - Jenny Conlee, Producer, AssociatedPerformer - John Moen, Producer, AssociatedPerformer - Colin Meloy, Producer, AssociatedPerformer, ComposerLyricist - Chris Funk, Producer - Music Of Stage Three, MusicPublisher - Harry Fox Agency, MusicPublisher - CMRRA, MusicPublisher - Osterohzhna Music (BMI), admin by Stage Three Music Inc, MusicPublisher
2011 Capitol Records under exclusive license to Rough Trade Records Ltd 2011 Capitol Records under exclusive license to Rough Trade Records Ltd
Stephen Marcussen, Engineer - The Decemberists, MainArtist - Gillian Welch, AssociatedPerformer - David Rawlings, AssociatedPerformer - Tucker Martine, Producer, Engineer, MixingEngineer - Rich Hipp, Engineer - Clinton Welander, Engineer - Nate Query, Producer, AssociatedPerformer - Jenny Conlee, Producer, AssociatedPerformer - John Moen, Producer, AssociatedPerformer - Colin Meloy, Producer, AssociatedPerformer, ComposerLyricist - Laura Veirs, AssociatedPerformer - Chris Funk, Producer, AssociatedPerformer - Music Of Stage Three, MusicPublisher - Harry Fox Agency, MusicPublisher - CMRRA, MusicPublisher - Osterohzhna Music (BMI), admin by Stage Three Music Inc, MusicPublisher
2011 Capitol Records under exclusive license to Rough Trade Records Ltd 2011 Capitol Records under exclusive license to Rough Trade Records Ltd
Albumbeschreibung
The Decemberists' sixth, full-length studio outing finds the Portland, Oregon-based indie rock collective exploring a region that has thus far eluded them. Raised on a steady diet of Morrissey, Robyn Hitchcock, Shirley Collins, and Fairport Convention, The King Is Dead represents frontman Colin Meloy's first foray into the musical traditions of his homeland, or more specifically, it proves that he really, really likes R.E.M. “Calamity Song,” which is one of three tracks to feature guitar work from Peter Buck, threatens to break into “Pretty Persuasion” or “So. Central Rain (I’m Sorry)” at any moment, and first single “Down by the Water” flirts with “The One I Love” hard enough to take it on a long weekend, though Meloy has stated that the track “started out as more of a paean to R.E.M. than I think any of us really wanted it to.” David Rawlings and Gillian Welch also join the party on a number of tracks, lending their instantly recognizable voices to two of the album’s finest moments, the Wildflowers-era, Tom Petty-inspired “Don’t Carry It All,” and the lovely, Paul Simon-esque “June Hymn” -- Meloy and Welch, the former a Montana-born Anglophile and the latter a California girl with a fetish for dustbowl Appalachia -- harmonize nicely, canceling out each other’s vocal affectations. It’s a refreshing change from the usual compilation of bibliophile, sea shanty/murder ballad, and while the Led Zeppelin III-style rural overhauling may isolate fans who prefer the serpentine, progressive, art rock of albums like The Crane Wife and Hazards of Love, it opens up a whole new continent for the band to explore.
© James Christopher Monger /TiVo
About the album
- 1 disc(s) - 10 track(s)
- Total length: 00:40:35
- Main artists: The Decemberists
- Composer: Colin Meloy
- Label: Rough Trade
- Genre: Pop/Rock Rock Alternative en Indie
2011 Capitol Records under exclusive license to Rough Trade Records Ltd 2010 Capitol Records under exclusive license to Rough Trade Records Ltd
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