here i dreamt i was an architect : the decemberists
here's a band i'd like to get to know better. i found out about the decemberists from a cd that came with a music magazine that i like. (it's called paste, and it's a shame they only come out once every two months, because they're one of the few mature ones around.) the featured decemberist song, we both go down together, hooked my interest. after a quick google, i was able to download a few of their earlier songs, including this one from their 2003 album castaways and cutouts, which you can download for free here. my conclusion so far: colin meloy doesn't have the best voice on the block, but he uses it to his music's advantage, because his lyrics are layered with the kind of skewed narrative and homoerotic imagery i normally associate with morrissey. in the soldiering life, meloy writes: but you, my brother in arms, i'd rather i'd lose my limbs, than let you come to harm. it's reminiscent of the smiths' there is a light that never goes out: and if a double-decker bus crashes into us, to die by your side is such a heavenly way to die. this shouldn't really come as a surprise as meloy has professed his fanaticism toward the smiths, but what's surprising is he seems to approximate morrissey's unabashed delivery of passionate, personal stories quite effortlessly. of course, having listened to only a few decemberist songs and not having any of their albums, i could be wrong with the analogy. note to self: must check out all their albums soon.
hi! i like your blog and its the one after mine i think. i'm pretty crazy about music myself though i believe there's a generation gap (or two!) in our first listening. for me it was the beatles, haha!! the music you've put up for us to listen is really talented, erudite (is that the word i want?), seemingly full of urban angst(cliche but appropriate!). besides i'm not too familiar with the stuff you have there. i come from india and we are over-exposed to the usual mtv/channel v/vh1 stuff here. downloading is also limited so we go with what's available and for me that's mainly jazz and blues. and some of the local talent here in india who find it really tough to get a recording contract if they aren't doing pop music in the local languages! anyway the point of my comment is that while the music you've posted is quite good it seems to lack the quality of living life to the full. it seems to me to be full of depression and anger and hate and stuff like that. give me african, latin american, jazz and indian folk music anytime brother so that i can feel like i'm living a really happy life despite the odds! anyway cheers and do keep up your music posts - they're enjoyable anyway.
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