By Charles R. Cross
Special to The Seattle Times
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Concert Review |

There are certain things that any fan of the Decemberists would expect at one of their concerts. You would expect acoustic guitars, mandolin, accordion, fiddle, and Colin Meloy’s soaring voice. These things, and more, were abundant at the band’s sold-out concert Friday night at the Paramount.

There are also things you would reasonably not expect at a Decemberists show. Those might include Supertramp’s “When I Was Young,” Fleetwood Mac’s “Tusk,” and the image of a red bra resting on Meloy’s head. Yet these oddities, and more, were also part of Friday’s show.

Meloy did give fair warning. “We’re going to start with the practical songs, and move to unpractical,” he said. And then the band went into an intimate “The Apology Song” from the 2003 EP “5 Songs.”

Throughout a generous 17-song set, they touched on all their albums, but it was the six songs they played from the chart topping “The King is Dead” that received the best crowd response.

The applause was loudest when R.E.M.’s Peter Buck joined for two songs. Once a Seattleite, Buck now lives in Portland, like the Decemberists, but he was heralded like a hometown boy. He added a tasteful guitar layer to “Down By the Water” that sounded off “Out of Time.”

Buck wasn’t the only guest, as Sara Watkins of Nickel Creek was in the line-up for the entire show, adding vocals and fiddle. Meloy turned lead vocals over to her for “Won’t Want For Love,” and she sang the part as if she’d been in the Decemberists for years.

The show’s highlight came next with a 15-minute suite of “The Crane Wife,” all three parts of the story-song. Meloy’s voice, always rich, was particularly strong on “Part Three,” with dreamy xylophone added by Jenny Conlee.

Then the show shifted gears, and a vaudeville show ensued. Meloy started the Supertramp tune, and then switched spots with drummer John Moen for “Tusk.” Then he began pulling women’s bags onstage and riffling through them, and the bra flew. It was raucous turn that was humorous, but also peculiar.

But Meloy couldn’t let it end there. “We’re going to pull this together,” he said with his always hint of sarcasm. “The rest of the show is going to be all ‘pro.’” He was good to his word though, as they encored with a gorgeous “June Hymn.” It was what the crowd had wanted, and expected.

Colin
Whim, Po and Emili

for quick tunes (I’d start with “Aldalome” off of the album ‘Whim Po and Emili’ and “Shadow Puppets” or “For Me” off of the album ‘Maybe Baby’):

http://whimpoemili.bandcamp.com/

for the website:

whimpoemili.com

If you haven’t, (I’m in no ways affiliated) listen to

Hadestown by Anaïs Mitchell
featuring: Greg Brown, Justin Vernon, Ani DiFranco and Ben Knox Miller

tells the story of Orpheus gone to get his Eurydes in Hades. Dubbed a folk opera.
Know you’re a Decemberists fan, The Tain was something. This is another something wonderful.

I will swear to it.

We refer to it as “Analog Music from a Lost World” — previously unreleased post-punk experimental rock from 1981, unlike anything else recorded before or after.

“It’s amazing!” — Gibraltar Encyclopedia of Progressive Rock

“Here’s something lovely and odd from the Free Music Archive: the Karen Cooper Complex.” — No Rock and Roll Fun.com

“…some hefty grooves, and plenty of ‘holy shit” moments’. It’s a spacious but highly rewarding listen, and I wouldn’t be surprised if some label makes an effort to press this on vinyl in the near future.” – ongakubaka.blogspot.com

Jason Sigal, Managing Director at WFMU said:
“This is amazing stuff and we would be honored to feature it in wfmu’s curated portal on the free music archive. I’m very sorry for our slow response, we have a lot of stuff to wade through to find gems like these.”

http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Karen_Cooper_Complex/