May 17, 2024 By Mark Redfern (with Andy Von Pip)

Welcome to the 17th Songs of the Week of 2024. This week Andy Von Pip, Matt the Raven, Mark Moody, Scott Dransfield, and Stephen Humphries helped me decide what should make the list. We seriously considered over 25 songs this week and narrowed it down to a Top 11. More

May 15, 2024 By Mark Redfern

The Decemberists are releasing a new album, As It Ever Was, So It Will Be Again, on June 14 via YABB Records and Thirty Tigers. Now they have shared the album’s fourth single, “Oh No!” They’ve also shared a live performance video for the song. More

Apr 25, 2024 By Mark Redfern

The Decemberists are releasing a new album, As It Ever Was, So It Will Be Again, on June 14 via YABB Records and Thirty Tigers. Now they have shared the album’s third single, “All I Want Is You.” More

Mar 22, 2024 By Mark Redfern (with Andy Von Pip)

Welcome to the tenth Songs of the Week of 2024. This week Andy Von Pip and Scott Dransfield both helped me decide what should make the list. We settled on a Top 11 this week, narrowed down from the 16 songs we seriously considered. More

Mar 19, 2024 By Mark Redfern

The Decemberists have announced a new album, As It Ever Was, So It Will Be Again, and shared a new song from it, the epic 19-minute closing track, “Joan in the Garden.” More

Feb 09, 2024 By Mark Redfern (with Andy Von Pip)

Welcome to the fifth Songs of the Week of 2024. This week Andy Von Pip, Mark Moody, Matt the Raven, Scott Dransfield, and Stephen Humphries all helped me decide what should make the list. We settled on a Top 12 this week, narrowed down from the 20 songs we seriously considered. More

Feb 06, 2024 By Mark Redfern

The Decemberists have shared their first new song in six years, “Burial Ground.” James Mercer of The Shins provides backing vocals on the song. They have also announced some new North American tour dates for this spring and summer. Ratboys will be the opener on almost all the dates. More

Jan 25, 2022 By Joey Arnone

The Decemberists have announced tour dates for summer 2022. Tickets will go on sale to the public this Friday (January 28) at 10 a.m. local time. More

Apr 21, 2021 By Mark Redfern

Under the Radar is excited to announce the full details of our new print issue, which is out now nationwide (on newsstands, in such stores as Barnes & Noble and Books-A-Million, and elsewhere) and available to buy directly from us here. The issue features Japanese Breakfast and HAIM on the two covers and is another edition of The Protest Issue, which examines the intersection of music and politics and features musicians photographed with protest signs of their own making. More

Aug 04, 2020 By Jennifer Irving

This weekend was the finale of the entirely virtual Newport Folk Festival, aptly dubbed “Our Voices Together,” as it features upward of 20 artists covering Burt Bacharach’s classic “What the World Needs Now Is Love.” The cover was led by Jim James of My Morning Jacket and music directed by Chris Funk of The Decemberists, wrapping up the week-long virtual fest. More

Feb 11, 2020 By Christopher Roberts

Ready to feel old indie rock fans? The Decemberists have just announced a 20th anniversary tour. The 20 Years Before the Mast tour dates happen across the U.S. this summer. More

Nov 30, 2018 By Christopher Roberts

The Decemberists released a new album, I’ll Be Your Girl, back in March via Capitol. They are releasing a new EP, Traveling On, on December 14, also via Capitol. More

Nov 30, 2018 By Christopher Roberts

We didn’t do a Songs of the Week last week due to the Thanksgiving holiday and long weekend. Beyond the fact that we were taking a break from work, there simply weren’t enough songs released last week to justify a Songs of the Week wrap up. More

Jul 17, 2018 By Christopher Roberts

The Decemberists released a new album, I’ll Be Your Girl, back in March via Capitol. Now they have shared a video for one of the album’s highlights, “Once In My Life.” Autumn de Wilde directed the video, which stars her seven-foot-two-inches tall brother Jacob de Wilde as a guardian angel of sorts. More

May 30, 2018 By Christopher Roberts

If you support Under the Radar‘s Patreon page at the minimum contribution of at least $1.00 a month you get access to our Patreon-only feed featuring exclusive content only available to Patreon supporters and you will also help keep one of the last print music magazines strong and vital. More

Mar 28, 2018 By Christopher Roberts

Under the Radar is excited to announce the full details of our Spring 2018 Issue, which is out now digitally via Under the Radar’s app and the magazine apps Readly and Zinio. The print version has shipped out to subscribers and stores and will be on all newsstands soon. The issue features Courtney Barnett on the cover. More

Mar 22, 2018 By Christopher Roberts

The Decemberists released a new album, I’ll Be Your Girl, last Friday via Capitol. On Tuesday night the band stopped by Jimmy Kimmel Live! to perform two songs from the album: “Severed” and “We All Die Young” (which featured a mean sax solo). More

Mar 17, 2018 By Stephen Mayne

This week we look back on foreign invasions of years gone by, plus Trump turmoil, Russian spies, Neil Young laughing at the NRA, and Conor Oberst in his President Bush bashing days. More

Mar 16, 2018 By Michael James Hall

This week’s album of the week serves as a follow-up to the most stark, moving and genuinely heartbreaking records of last year, Mount Eerie‘s A Crow Looked At Me. Charting Phil Elverum’s immediate situation and emotional response to the death of his wife Geneviève in 2016, not long after the birth of the couple’s only child, a daughter, the album was a brutally honest document of death and grief delivered with remarkable, soft, melodic directness. More

Mar 09, 2018 By Mark Redfern

After a couple of strong weeks for Songs of the Week, it was more much more of a challenge this week to come up with 10 songs we were truly excited about. But we’re really fully passionate about this week’s Top 5 and stand behind the rest of the Top 10. More

Mar 09, 2018 By Christopher Roberts

The Decemberists are releasing a new album, I’ll Be Your Girl, on March 16 via Capitol. Previously they shared its first single, “Severed” (it was one of our Songs of the Week). Now they have shared another song from the album, album opener “Once In My Life.” More

Jan 19, 2018 By Christopher Roberts

2018 is coming on strong with lots of fantastic new tracks this week in our second Songs of the Week post of the year. Like last week, it was definitely a challenge to narrow it down to only 10. Preoccupations, The Spook School, Hinds, Yamantaka // Sonic Titan, St. Vincent remixed by Kelly Lee Owens, Eels, and Hinds all could have easily made the Top 10, but it was a competitive week. More

Jan 19, 2018 By Stephen Mayne

This week we’re joined by Nate Lacy from Mimicking Birds who talks the wonders and dangers of nature, plus we have medicals, shutdowns, presidential racism, and a sad loss. More

Jan 17, 2018 By Christopher Roberts

The Decemberists have announced a new album, I’ll Be Your Girl, and shared its first single, “Severed.” I’ll Be Your Girl is due out March 16 via Capitol. John Congleton produced the album. Below is “Severed,” followed by the album’s tracklist and cover art. More

Dec 15, 2017 By Christopher Roberts

The Decemberists have teamed up with Lin-Manuel Miranda for the #HamilDrops project, which will share previously unreleased songs by Miranda related to his hit musical Hamilton. The first offering is “Ben Franklin’s Song,” which features lyrics by Miranda and music by The Decemberists’ frontman Colin Meloy and the band. More

Aug 18, 2017 By Stephen Mayne

With the President outdoing himself in a bid to appear like a terrible human being, there’s only really one thing to talk about this week. Still, read on and you might find a few positive developments outside his Charlottesville debacle. More

May 09, 2017 By Christopher Roberts

Two of the Pacific Northwest’s biggest artists, Death Cab for Cutie and The Decemberists, have teamed up for a benefit concert for both Planned Parenthood and the ACLU. It’s an acoustic benefit that goes down on June 9 at the Paramount in Seattle. Sera Cahoone will be the support act. More

Nov 29, 2016 By Christopher Roberts

Today was Bedstock, an Internet charity music festival. It featured videos of various musicians performing songs in bed, including Jenny Lewis, Tegan and Sara, Moby, Warpaint, Norah Jones, Lucy Dacus, Radiation City, and others. More

Nov 18, 2016 By Christopher Roberts

The Decemberists are putting out a deluxe 10th anniversary reissue of 2006’s The Crane Wife on December 9 via Capitol/Ume. It includes five red vinyl LPs and features the original album, B-sides, bonus tracks, outtakes, and demos. Now the band has shared a previously unreleased demo of the near 13-minute long “The Crane Wife 1, 2 & 3.” More

Nov 04, 2016 By Christopher Roberts

The Decemberists are releasing a board game named Illimat. As we previously reported, it’s been crowd funded on Kickstarter. The Kickstarter campaign just ended and did the band meet their goal? You could say that. In fact they raised nearly 10 times their goal. More

Oct 24, 2016 By Christopher Roberts

The Decemberists have announced a deluxe 10th anniversary of their 2006 album The Crane Wife. The limited edition vinyl box set is due out December 9 via Capitol/Ume. More

Oct 04, 2016 By Christopher Roberts

The Decemberists are releasing a board game named Illimat. How very Decemberists of them! It’s been crowd funded on Kickstarter and has already more than doubled the $42,812 goal (it’s at $104,571 as we write this), with 30 days to still go. The game was put together in collaboration with their longtime illustrator Carson Ellis (also frontman Colin Meloy’s wife) and game designer Keith Baker. More

Oct 09, 2015 By Christopher Roberts

The Decemberists’ the 5-song Florasongs EP comes out today via Capitol and today they’ve also released a new video. But the song is actually taken their most recent album, What a Terrible World, What a Beautiful World, which was released back in January of this year. More

Sep 11, 2015 By Christopher Roberts

The Decemberists have announced a new 5-song EP and shared its first single. The Florasongs EP is due out on October 9 via Capitol. Below you can listen to the first single, “Why Would I.” More

May 04, 2015 By Laura Studarus

On May 2, The Decemberists stopped by The Greek Theatre in Los Angeles, CA. More

Mar 29, 2015 By Laura Studarus

On March 23, The Decemberists performed at The Chicago Theater. More

Jan 23, 2015 By Laura Studarus

Every internet crawler worth his salt knows that nothing good can come from reading the comments. That is, unless you’re a member of The Decemberists. More

Jan 13, 2015 By Mike Hilleary

Next week on Jan. 20 The Decemberists return with their seventh studio album What A Terrible World, What A Beautiful World. More

Dec 16, 2014 By Laura Studarus

Today The Decemberists premiered “The Wrong Year,” a cut from their seventh album, What a Terrible World, What a Beautiful World, due out Jan 20 on Capital. More

Dec 04, 2014 By Laura Studarus

The Decemberists stopped by Conan last night to air What a Terrible World, What A Beautiful World cut, “Make You Better.” More

Dec 02, 2014 By Mike Hilleary

Due to kick off 2015 in style with the release of their newest album What A Terrible World, What A Beautiful World, The Decemberists have shared an intimate lyric video for the record’s included track, “Lake Song.” More

Nov 24, 2014 By Mike Hilleary

Following the release of a teaser last week, The Decemberists have premiered the full music video to “Make You Better,” the lead single off their forthcoming album What A Terrible World, What A Beautiful World. More

Nov 21, 2014 By Mike Hilleary

The Decemberists have posted a preview of their upcoming music video for “Make You Better,” the lead single off the band’s forthcoming LP What A Terrible World, What A Beautiful World. More

Nov 17, 2014 By Mike Hilleary

Poised to release their brand new album What a Terrible World, What a Beautiful World on Jan. 20, The Decemberists have announced plans for their first North American tour in over three years. More

Nov 03, 2014 By Laura Studarus

Early today, The Decemberists gave us a listen to “Make You Better,” the first track from their forthcoming album What a Terrible World, What a Beautiful World. Now there’s a tracklist to go with that. More

Nov 03, 2014 By Laura Studarus

Last week, The Decemberists announced their album in fine form, with frontman Colin Meloy busking on the streets of Brooklyn. More

Oct 24, 2014 By Mike Hilleary

The Decemberists have announced the upcoming release of What a Terrible World, What a Beautiful World, the follow-up to the band’s 2011 LP The King Is Dead. More

Jun 02, 2014 By Mike Hilleary

Releasing his brand new solo LP Beauty & Ruin this week, former Hüsker Dü frontman Bob Mould has teamed up with the folks over at Funny or Die for a music video of his lead single “I Don’t Know You Anymore.” More

May 29, 2014 By Laura Studarus

It was a minute since we’ve heard from The Decemberists—and then the Portland band stopped by Parks and Recreation and reminded us why we all loved them in the first place. More

Mar 28, 2014 By Laura Studarus

We’re not ones for the summer television hiatus—but forgive us when we say that we wish the season finale of Parks and Recreation would get here now. More

Mar 06, 2014 By Laura Studarus

Decemberists fans, start your engines. The Portland-based orchestral rock collective will return to the stage on May 30. More

Oct 25, 2013 By Mike Hilleary

Next week The Decemeberists’ Colin Meloy will set off on a new solo tour, bringing with him the latest installment of his Colin Meloy Sings… cover EPs. More

Aug 20, 2013 By Mike Hilleary

On Dec. 6, the Coen brothers will release their newest film, Inside Llewyn Davis, depicting a week in the life of a young folk singer living in Greenwich Village in the winter of 1961 as he struggles for his big break. More

Jul 30, 2013 By Mike Hilleary

The Decemeberists’ frontman Colin Meloy has announced plans for a new solo tour, his first in five years. More

Dec 10, 2012 By Mike Hilleary

Last night on The Simpsons the town of Springfield was invaded by a whole mess of special guests. More

Aug 29, 2012 By Mike Hilleary

Joining the ranks of George Harrison, The Ramones, Red Hot Chili Peppers, The White Stripes, U2, and a select number of yellow-ized musical artists, The Decemberists have revealed that they will guest as themselves during the new fall season of The Simpsons. More

Feb 13, 2012 By Mike Hilleary

As mentioned earlier this year, The Decemberists are among a number of notable musical artists contributing to the soundtrack of The Hunger Games’ star-studded film adaptation. More

Jan 12, 2012 By Mike Hilleary

The Decemberists have announced that they will be releasing their first live album as a follow-up to last year’s studio work The King Is Dead. More

Jan 03, 2012 By Mike Hilleary

Just as the Twilight films have done in years past, the upcoming adaptation of The Hunger Games is tapping into its audience’s rabid fandom by putting together a soundtrack featuring chart-topping names and high-profile indie artists. More

Nov 02, 2011 By Mi Tran

Here are the streams for upcoming albums from The Decemberists, The Beach Boys, Phantogram and Laura Veirs. More

Oct 28, 2011 By Laura Studarus

Check out the new track from The Decemberists (found on the Long Live the King EP). More

Oct 20, 2011 By Laura Studarus

Check out The Decemberists at Austin City Limits. We have the video. More

Oct 19, 2011 By Mark Redfern

Under the Radar is excited to announce the release of the indie music and entertainment print magazine’s 10th Anniversary Issue which hits newsstands next week. The extra-sized 10th Anniversary Issue features cover artists Joanna Newsom and Fleet Foxes’ Robin Pecknold together in an exclusive photo shoot and joint interview. Exclusive video taken during the cover shoot of Robin Pecknold and Joanna Newsom arm wrestling can be found here. More

Aug 22, 2011 By Mike Hilleary

Still riding high off the success of their latest full-length The King Is Dead, The Decemberists have been unveiled a fitting, word-nerd music video for the track “Calamity Song.” More

Aug 17, 2011 By Wendy Lynch Redfern

Check out photos from Day Three of the Outside Lands Festival, held in the historic Golden Gate Park in San Francisco, CA. The gallery includes photos of Arcade Fire, The Decemberists, tUnE-yArDs, Little Dragon, Beirut, Junip, !!!, Lord Huron and Major Lazer. More

Aug 09, 2011 By Laura Studarus

The AV Club recently invited The Decemberists into the studio. We have the video. More

Jul 27, 2011 By Margot Cooper Gruen

Wye Oak has announced more fall tour dates in support of March release, Civilian. More

Jul 22, 2011 By John Everhart

The Decemberists frontman Colin Meloy and his wife, artist Carson Ellis, recently inked a book deal for their Wildwood Chronicles series, and now you can preview four chapters from the first book. We have the details. More

Jul 19, 2011 By Mark Redfern

Last week Under the Radar premiered an unreleased Ryan Adams song, “Shine Through the Dark,” and now we’re pleased to premiere a full stream of the album it’s taken from —the 64-track charity compilation Live From Nowhere Near You: Volume Two, which is out today via Greyday Records. The album features rare and unreleased tracks from the likes of Elliott Smith, Bright Eyes (featuring Spoon’s Britt Daniel), The Shins’ James Mercer, Modest Mouse, Wilco, Daniel Johnston, The Helio Sequence, Blue Giant (featuring members of Sleater-Kinney, The Decemberists, and Viva Voce), and much more. More

Jul 19, 2011 By Laura Studarus

The Decemberists recently hit up the iTunes studios to record and exclusive live session. We have the tracklist. More

Jul 06, 2011 By Margot Cooper Gruen

Okkervil River have announced they will be extending their fall tour dates in support of their May release, I Am Very Far. More

May 04, 2011 By Laura Studarus

Sad news from The Decemberists today. Keyboardist/accordionist Jenny Conlee (a member of the band since day one) has been diagnosed with breast cancer. We have the details. More

Apr 14, 2011 By Laura Studarus

The Decemberists revealed this gem today—a video for The King is Dead cut, “This is Why We Fight.” We have the video. More

Apr 11, 2011 By Lauren Barbato

Outside Lands recruits a solid lineup for their 2011 fest. We have the details. More

Mar 07, 2011 By Laura Studarus

The Decemberists have added June dates to their never-ending jaunt in support of new album The King is Dead. We have the dates and info on their Record Store Day exclusives. More

Mar 03, 2011 By Laura Studarus

The Decemberists are getting interactive. The band is offering fans a chance to mix up beautiful black and white photos shot by Autumn De Wilde to create the ultimate slideshow/music video. More

Feb 16, 2011 By Laura Studarus

Colin Meloy (The Decemberists), James Mercer (The Shins/Broken Bells), and Corin Tucker (Sleater-Kinney/Corin Tucker) stopped by the not-quite so real world of Portlandia—a sketch show written by Saturday Night Live’sFred Armisen and Sleater-Kinney/Wild Flag’s Carrie Brownstein. More

Feb 15, 2011 By Mike Hilleary

Celebrating its 10th anniversary, the Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival’s four-day entertainment extravaganza has unveiled its 2011 lineup. More

Feb 11, 2011 By Mark Redfern and Laura Studarus

Under the Radar’s Winter 2011 issue is about to hit stands. The cover features Death Cab for Cutie, who gave writer Matt Fink insight into the band’s forthcoming album, Codes and Keys (due out in May). The issue also includes interviews with Bright Eyes, British Sea Power, The Dears, The Decemberists, Destroyer, The Dodos, Duran Duran,Elbow, Iron and Wine, Lykke Li, R.E.M., Telekinesis, Toro Y Moi, The Antlers, The Big Pink, Cymbals Eat Guitars, Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros, Jens Lekman, Okkervil River, Panda Bear, Vivian Girls, Anna Calvi, Porcelain Raft, Smith Westerns, Yuck, and more.

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Feb 07, 2011 By Laura Studarus

Still got The Decemberists’ number one album, The King is Dead on repeat? Craving more? A new kids song and a late night performance simply not enough for you? How ‘bout some tour dates? More

Feb 02, 2011 By Laura Studarus

While new Decemberists album The King is Dead has listeners flexing their S.A.T. vocab skills, Colin Meloy and the gang are also setting out to teach kids on a new episode of Yo Gabba Gabba. We have the clip. More

Jan 26, 2011 By Laura Studarus

Today, The Decemberists charted their first career number one with new album, The King is Dead. More

Jan 21, 2011 By Laura Studarus

The Decemberists stopped by The Tonight Show With Jay Leno last night to play The King is Dead cut, “Down By The Water.” More

Jan 03, 2011 By Laura Studarus

Just in time to spruce up your first day back in the office, NPR is offering up a first listen of sixth Decemberists full-length, The King is Dead. More

Dec 13, 2010 By Lauren Barbato

The indie folk-rock outfit releases limited edition 7” single of “January Hymn,” a track off upcoming LP The King Is Dead. More

Dec 08, 2010 By Laura Studarus

The Decemberists have never been ones to shy away from the big expression. Heck, their last full-length The Hazards of Love was a multi-part, rock opera. It doesn’t get bigger than that. Now the expressive Portlanders are taking their theatrics to the stage. More

Nov 19, 2010 By Laura Studarus

Last night, The Decemberists took the stage at Conan. With a little help from Gillian Welch, the Portland-based band played “Down by the Water”—a cut from forthcoming album, The King Is Dead. More

Nov 15, 2010 By Laura Studarus

The Decemberists are hitting the road in 2011 in support of forthcoming album, The King is Dead (out January 18, via Capitol Records).

Nov 11, 2010 By Laura Studarus

The Decemberists’ previously announced new album The King is Dead got an extra dose of visuals today when the band released the album art. More

Nov 02, 2010 By John Everhart

The Decemberists are set to release their new LP in January 2011. We have the details, along with a widget link to a brand new track from the album. More

Sep 10, 2010 By Laura Studarus

Last weekend at Bumbershoot, The Decemberists (who have been in the studio hard at work on follow up to 2009 rock opera, The Hazards of Love) surprised the audience, debuting three new songs “Down by the Water,” “June Hymn,” and “Rise to Me. More

May 14, 2010 By Laura Studarus

Sad but true, sometimes you can have too much of a good thing. Well, sad for us that is. Swamped with back issues—which I’m all sure we can agree is a good thing—Under the Radar is passing them on to you with a sale on selected issues. The question is, can you have too much of a good thing? We’re offering two dollars off most available back issues! More

Apr 01, 2010 By Laura Studarus

When Oregon-based artist Jessica Schleif was left with a pile of medical bills, her friends The Decemberists came riding to the rescue. On April 30th the band will be playing their only scheduled date this year at the Liberty Theater in Astoria with all proceeds benefiting her recovery. More

Nov 19, 2009 By Laura Studarus

After a cohesive concept album and ambitious stage show, what’s left? If you’re The Decemberists, why not make a movie? Their effort arrives December 1st. More

Oct 14, 2009 By Laura Studarus

Still basking in the glow of summer memories of Bonnaroo? How about finding a little bit of that festival cheer in your Christmas stocking? Beginning December 15th, you’ll get your chance to make that dream a reality with a Live From Bonnaroo 2009 DVD. More

Aug 05, 2009 By Wendy Lynch Redfern

The Decemberists and Andrew Bird played a show in Portland, OR on July 18th. Photographer Michele Yamamoto was there to capture the action. Check out the full gallery of photos of The Decemberists here, and Andrew Bird here. More

Jul 28, 2009 By Michele Yamamoto

Here to usher you into the waning summer months and nearly through the whole of autumn are a slew of recently announced tours from indie luminaries to hip hop incendiaries. Spanning from August to November, east to west, there’s sure to be something near you. New tour dates announced for The Decemberists, Mos Def, The Mars Volta, Ray LaMontagne, Nurses, Bell X1, and Wavves. More

Jul 13, 2009 By Kyle Lemmon

It’s official: MGMT and the Flaming Lips will headline the two days of Noise Pop and Another Planet Entertainment‘s third annual Treasure Island Music Festival, to be held in the midst of San Francisco’s beautiful Indian Summer, Oct. 17-18. Plus The Decemberists, Beirut, The Streets, Grizzly Bear, Girl Talk, Yo La Tengo, The Walkmen, Dan Deacon, others set to play. More

Apr 29, 2009 By Michele Yamamoto

Though the early bird 3-day passes have been sold out since last year, the preliminary lineup for the Austin City Limits Music Festival has only recently been announced. More

May 14, 2018 By Mike Hilleary

A little ways south of his longtime home of Portland, OR, Colin Meloy has spent the past four years living on a five acre farmstead with his wife and two sons. Listed on the historic registry, the property dates all the way back to the mid-19th century. More

Mar 20, 2017 By Matt Fink

In 2001, when Under the Radar‘s first issue was released, the music industry had reached a transitional moment. In January, Apple introduced its iTunes program to the world, laying the groundwork to forever change how listeners interfaced with their music. More

Nov 10, 2009 By Matt Fink

Though it’s reputed to be the most widely spoken musical language in the world today, rock and roll was born on the margins. More

Dec 09, 2016 By Cody Ray Shafer

Ten years ago, Colin Meloy and his merry band of murder balladeers broke out from the indie label circuit with their Capitol Records debut, The Crane Wife. By that point, we all knew The Decemberists as a quirky Portland outfit with a flare for folk-tinged storytelling and a particular appeal to bookish liberal arts majors. More

Jan 16, 2015 By Aaron Passman

Terrible World is the band’s first studio LP since 2011’s The King Is Dead, and it reveals a band older, wiser, and less reliant on the quirks and gimmicks of earlier releases (see: “The Crane Wife” parts 1-3, “The Mariner’s Revenge Song,”The Hazards of Love, et al). In place of that are more intricate arrangements, more varied tempos and song structures, and subject matter befitting musicians now firmly in middle age. More

Nov 23, 2011 By Ryan Reed

The Decemberists’ last album, The King is Dead, was a deliberately ramshackle affair. Inspired by Peter Buck’s mandolin and Gillian Welch’s off-key harmonizing, the nasal-voiced, hyper-literate Colin Meloy and his band of merry noisemakers stripped their prog-leaning sound way back to an Americana core. More

Jan 17, 2011 By Aaron Passman

The Decemberists have never been shy about their Anglophilia, their early releases often marked by dark, Victorian tales. More

Jan 27, 2010 By By Aaron Passman

The Decemberists’ 2009 album The Hazards of Love now has an animated album-length video companion, one that brings to mind those ‘60s and ‘70s rock ‘n’ roll films that were often watched with chemical enhancement. More

Nov 02, 2009 By Michele Yamamoto

UCLA’s Royce Hall is a beautiful little venue. Ornately decorated, acoustically lush and comfortable in size, the theater lends itself well to all manner of performances. And on October 19th, Portland’s The Decemberists brought their fun blur of theater and rock show to the hall. More

May 26, 2009 By Michele Yamamoto

As anyone who has been to a Decemberists show can testify, a show is certainly ensured. This year’s The Hazards of Love, which acts more like a rock opera than all previous endeavors, was presented last Tuesday night on its own terms. With minimal stagecraft, The Decemberists performed Hazards in its entirety in their first set and a mixed bag in its second. More

Mar 19, 2009 By Jim Scott

If Colin Meloy has, up to this point, written four full albums worth of excellent short stories, The Hazards of Love is his first crack at a novel. More