At Date: Sat, 17 Dec 2005 01:21:34 Stewart wrote:

>But they're a group that's moving the goalposts lyrically, and as I've 
>always said, I'm always in favor of smart, funny lyrics.  The songs are 
>tuneful as heck, in an admittedly low-key way, and I love their chocies of 
>instrumentation.  What can I say, their records make me happy and their 
>live show is absolutely terrific: Chris Funk, the pedal 
>steel/mandolin/rhythm guitar/general utility infielder, has turned into the 
>most shameless ham, Petra's got this very flirty and magnetic stage 
>presence, and keyboardist/accordionist Jenny Conlee is just unbearably 
>cute.  As far as I'm concerned, the Decemberists have the full package, but 
>I can see why they're not universally beloved.

I've been meaning to give the Decemberists a further investigation myself. I 
was in one of the Deja Vu discs outlets one day months ago and this material 
was being played over the store system by a young kid behind the counter (I 
mean, he had to be 21 - tops). After a few tracks I went up to ask him if it 
was the latest John Mann solo album or, at least, his band Spirit Of The 
West. The kid pointed out that it was The Decemberists. I asked to look at 
the CD packaging and didn't recognize any of the band members as I was sure 
this music was somehow Canadian which is why I thought of Spirit Of The West 
-- accordion, pedal steel, et al being the dead giveaway.

With the discussion here I think I may have to pick up "Picaresque" and give 
it a more thorough gleaning.


Jaimie Vernon,
President, Bullseye Records
"Not Infecting Our Customers' Computers Since 1985!!"
http://www.bullseyecanada.com
http://www.bullseyerecords.com
Author, Canadian Pop Music Encyclopedia
http://jam.canoe.ca/Music/Pop_Encyclopedia/

http://www.myspace.com/jaimievernonsmovingtargetz