Red Mosquito

I once snuck into a venue early and watched them soundcheck The Tain in full. This was about three hours before the concert started. I met up with friends in between, we all had tickets to see the show, and told them, "Y'all are gonna love the show tonight." But I didn't spoil the surprise.

The Tain was the closer and it was epic. I've since seen it another three times live and in just never get tired.

I just read the lyrics but I'm gonna save the full listen for tomorrow so that I can take it all in properly; it's an interesting not exactly straight chronological retelling; it seems more interested in the character voices, the metaphors, the emotions of it; there are references I recognise kind of scattered throughout; the story begins as we know, with the "pillow talk" between Medb and Ailill, then the battle breaks out for the Brown Bull of Cooley; after that, it becomes increasingly modern, scattered and interpretive, but I can see The Morrigan in a couple of the references (the woman at the river)

I listened to The Táin this morning

it warmed my little Irish mythology geek heart

Ms Harmless wrote:I listened to The Táin this morning

it warmed my little Irish mythology geek heart

Let’s rank the albums:

Crane Wife
Castaways
Picaresque
The King Is Dead
Her Majesty
I’ll Be Your Girl
Terrible Works, Beautiful World
Hazards of Love

What a Terrible World, What a Beautiful World
The Crane Wife
Her Majesty, The Decemberists
The Hazards of Love
Picaresque
Castaways and Cutouts
The King is Dead
I'll Be Your Girl

The top three are interchangeable. On any given day either of those could be my #1.

It also hurts to see I'll Be Your Girl at the bottom. I really love that record. But I guess something has to be in last place?

Everyone seems to love 'Hazards of Love' but that's the one album I've never been able to get into. Just not the version of Decemberists I like I guess.

I'm enjoying that one so far, Won't Want For Love is divine

I like how they go from indie folk / "Americana" to almost 70's prog rock; so far there aren't any flights of fancy they've taken that I haven't enjoyed

The Wanting Comes in Waves wrecks me.

same, it's beautiful

oftheearth wrote:Everyone seems to love 'Hazards of Love' but that's the one album I've never been able to get into. Just not the version of Decemberists I like I guess.

I have to admit I haven’t listened since it came out around 2009 or so. I need to revisit, maybe it will click this time. It was just so different at the time and I was into different music.

Saw them last night at The Paramount in Brooklyn. Unreal venue. One of the most beautiful I've ever been in.

Ratboys opened.

Concert was great. I love The Decemberists so goddang much.

Another solid album for The Decemberists with As It Ever Was....

Early highlights for me are Long White Veil, William Fitzwilliam, All I Want Is You, Joan in the Garden. America Made Me has some 16 Military Wives meets Soldiering Life throwbacks. Really enjoying this so far, another common W

I think the album is pretty solid, sometimes great, with a strong start and a strong finish, and a bit of a lull in the middle thanks to three (good) songs in a row without drums, so that's a hard sell for me; however, I keep wanting to replay it, so it's sure to grow on me further; some of the songs have a repetitiveness to them that I never hold against "folk music" -- often very simple, cyclical music meant to hold the lyrics out front -- so I know a dig into the lyrics is in order, especially if there's a story to be found here

absolutely love "Burial Ground", it's got that "Mr. Tambourine Man" 60s pop vibe that I love

Longtime fan of these guys, had a deep and abiding love for them in college that carried me through many years beyond, but I didn't care for I'll Be Your Girl and I'm struggling to get into this one too. "Don't Go To The Woods" and "All I Want Is You" are my favorite tracks after one listen. "Oh No" and "Born to the Morning" I found extremely grating.

Kevin Davis wrote:Longtime fan of these guys, had a deep and abiding love for them in college that carried me through many years beyond, but I didn't care for I'll Be Your Girl and I'm struggling to get into this one too. "Don't Go To The Woods" and "All I Want Is You" are my favorite tracks after one listen. "Oh No" and "Born to the Morning" I found extremely grating.

Two of my early favs!

Oh No! reminds me a lot of Jockey Full of Bourbon (though not as good) and I'll always welcome that vibe.

Reaper and William Fitzwilliam might be the best pure folk songs Colin has written.

best album in a long long time

I really like the album but it also feels like they tried to make an album that sounds like every previous Decemberists album at once. 'What a beautiful world' was seen as that as well but I feel it way more with this album. I could pretty much point to a similar song on older albums for every song on here and even to similar melodies for a lot of the songs. It's like a Decemberists best of but with new songs.