The Decemberists are an American indie rock band from Portland, Oregon. The band consists of Colin Meloy, Chris Funk, Jenny Conlee, Nate Query (bass), and John Moen (drums).
Castaways and Cutouts is the first full-length album by The Decemberists, originally released on May 21, 2002, on Hush Records and reissued on May 6, 2003, on Kill Rock Stars. The album's title is taken from a lyric of the song "California One/Youth and Beauty Brigade".
Colin Patrick Henry Meloy is an American musician, singer-songwriter and author best known as the frontman of the Portland, Oregon, indie folk rock band The Decemberists. In addition to vocals, he performs with an acoustic guitar, 12-string acoustic guitar, electric guitar, bouzouki, harmonica and percussion instruments.
5 Songs is a six-track EP by The Decemberists initially self-released in 2001. It is the first record the band released. The misleading title owes to the fact that the final track, "Apology Song", was written after the original self-produced CD was released. Meloy liked it so much that it was added to the album when it was re-released by Hush Records in 2003.
Colin Meloy Sings Morrissey was the first solo project released by Portland musician Colin Meloy of The Decemberists. The album was released in January, 2005 and was available exclusively on Meloy's first solo tour. Copies of it were later made available to raise money to benefit The Decemberists after their trailer with all their instruments was stolen in 2005.
Carson Friedman Ellis is a Canadian-born American children's book illustrator and artist. She received a Caldecott Honor for her children's book Du Iz Tak? (2016). Her work is inspired by folk art, art history, and mysticism.
Colin Meloy Sings Shirley Collins is the tour-only EP by Colin Meloy, lead singer of The Decemberists. Similar to his EP from 2005, where he covered six songs by Morrissey of The Smiths, Meloy covers six traditional arrangements from folk singer Shirley Collins.
"Everyday Is Like Sunday" is the third track of Morrissey's debut solo album, Viva Hate, and the second single to be released by the artist. While the lyric was written by Morrissey, the song's composer was Stephen Street. The lyric is reportedly inspired by Nevil Shute's novel On the Beach, about a group of people waiting for nuclear devastation in Melbourne, Australia. It reached number nine on the UK Singles Chart and remains one of his best-known songs. "Everyday Is Like Sunday", as well as the single's B-sides "Disappointed" and "Will Never Marry", feature on the compilation album Bona Drag.
Tarkio was an indie rock band from Missoula, Montana which included Colin Meloy prior to his forming The Decemberists. Tarkio broke up in 1999, but found new popularity in a retrospective released by Kill Rock Stars in 2006.
The Crane Wife is the fourth album by The Decemberists, released in 2006. It was produced by Tucker Martine and Chris Walla, and is the band's first album on the Capitol Records label. The album was inspired by a Japanese folk tale, and centers on two song cycles, The Crane Wife and The Island, the latter inspired by William Shakespeare's The Tempest. National Public Radio listeners voted The Crane Wife the best album of 2006.
"Sister I'm a Poet" (2:44) is a song by Morrissey. It was featured as a B-side to the single "Everyday Is Like Sunday", on the live album Beethoven Was Deaf and compilation albums World of Morrissey, The CD Singles '88–91', The Best of Morrissey, and in the promotional film release Hulmerist. Though a fan favourite, the song was never released as an A-side. The lyric and title have been interpreted as a homage to Tennessee Williams' The Glass Menagerie
Colin Meloy Sings Sam Cooke is a tour-only EP by Colin Meloy, lead singer of The Decemberists. It is the third in a series of EPs of covers of influential artists, which include works of Morrissey and Shirley Collins. The EP was released to accompany his 2008 solo tour, and has five covers of songs previously performed by the American gospel, R&B, soul and pop singer Sam Cooke. Four songs were written or co-written by Cooke; one, "Summertime", is a pop standard that Cooke had performed in 1957. The artwork of the EP was designed by Carson Ellis, who has done much of the artwork for The Decemberists, and all of Colin Meloy's solo work. The EP includes vocals by Laura Gibson.
Her Majesty the Decemberists is the second full-length album by The Decemberists, released on September 9, 2003, by Kill Rock Stars. The song "Song for Myla Goldberg" was written years earlier, after Colin Meloy had been a media escort for the novelist Myla Goldberg during a tour following the publication of her first book, Bee Season.
The Hazards of Love is the fifth album by the American indie rock band The Decemberists, released through Capitol Records and Rough Trade in 2009. The album was inspired by an Anne Briggs EP titled The Hazards of Love. According to the band, frontman Colin Meloy had set out to write a song with the album's title, which eventually developed into an entire album. Becky Stark, Shara Nova, and Jim James provide guest vocals throughout the album, while Robyn Hitchcock makes a cameo guitar appearance on "An Interlude".
Killingsworth is the eighth studio album by The Minus 5, released on Yep Roc Records in 2009. The album was a collaboration with Portland, Oregon-based indie rock band The Decemberists.
The King Is Dead is the sixth studio album by The Decemberists, released on Capitol Records on January 14, 2011. Described as the "most pastoral, rustic record they've ever made" by Douglas Wolk of Rolling Stone, the album reached No. 1 on the U.S. Billboard 200 chart for the week ending February 5, 2011. The song "This Is Why We Fight" reached number 19 on the U.S Alternative Songs Chart, while the song "Down by the Water" also charted in the United States. In November 2011, the band released an EP of album out-takes, entitled Long Live the King.
The Decemberists: A Practical Handbook is a 2007 film featuring indie rock band The Decemberists. The film includes music videos, a live concert, and documentary footage.
Long Live the King is an EP by the American indie rock band The Decemberists, released on November 1, 2011, on Capitol. The release is composed of out-takes from their sixth studio album, The King Is Dead. The titles of both combine to create the traditional proclamation, "The king is dead, long live the king!"
The Crane Wives is a four-piece Americana/folk band founded in Grand Rapids, Michigan, United States in 2010. They refer to themselves as a "home grown indie-folk outfit from Grand Rapids, Michigan that defies musical stereotypes." They utilize three-part vocal harmonies, eclectic instrumentation, and a passion for songcraft to create organic music that is both accessible and innovative.
We All Raise Our Voices to the Air is a 2012 live album by the folk rock band The Decemberists. The album was recorded during the 2011 Popes of Pendarvia World Tour to promote the album The King Is Dead at venues across the United States. The album was released as a double Compact Disc and a triple vinyl LP set. The title comes from a line in the track "The Infanta", from the album Picaresque.
