The Decemberists’ album The Hazards of Love was released by EMI’s Capitol Records in March to rave reviews with NPR calling the album an “epic adventure” and SPIN writing that it “yields spectacular sparks,” adding that it contains “some of the snarliest, bluesiest, rockingest moments in The Decemberists’ catalog.” The raves continued when the band hit the road for their “A Short Fazed Hovel” tour with Pitchfork calling the live performance “a triumph,” The Wall Street Journal declaring it “a remarkable experience,” and New York Magazine naming it the “Indie Rock Show of the Year.”

On October 19, The Decemberists will unveil Here Come The Waves: The Hazards of Love Visualized, a special project that takes their ambitious and acclaimed song cycle to new heights for it’s final American performance at UCLA’s Royce Hall in Los Angeles. This unique live experience will feature The Decemberists in collaboration with four filmmakers—Guilherme Marcondes, Julia Pott, Peter Sluszka and Santa Maria—each of whom have created animation to accompany a section of the music. Presented in association with Flux, the event will also be a benefit for The GRAMMY Foundation®’s Grammy In The Schools® music education programs for high school students.

At Royce Hall, The Decemberists will perform the entire piece synchronized with the animation, as well as an additional second set of older and newer material. A limited presale will begin at 10:00am PT on Wednesday, September 16 at http://www.decemberists.tickets.musictoday.com. General tickets will go on sale on Friday, September 18. The band will also kick off the final leg of their “A Short Fazed Hovel” tour this week. See full dates below.

About Flux:

Flux is a global creative community and collective led by RESFEST founder Jonathan Wells and designer/gallerist Meg Wells. Flux is an online journal, concept space, film/art/event hub where individuals from various creative fields can meet and share their work. Visit for www.flux.net more information.

About The Filmmakers:

Guilherme Marcondes was born in São Paulo, Brazil. He started working as an illustrator while still in architecture school. In 2000 he joined the Brazilian animation studio Lobo where he worked for five years, eventually directing spots for international clients such as Diesel, Cartoon Network and Nickelodeon. In 2005 he went to London to direct the build-up campaign for that year’s Europe Music Awards at MTV Networks. He came back to São Paulo and directed Tyger, a short film that won more than 20 awards around the world. Marcondes moved to the US in 2006 and worked for a year at the renowned studio Motion Theory. He currently works with Hornet, a New York-based production company representing directors in the areas of multimedia, directing short films and commercials.

Julia Pott is a freelance animator and illustrator working out of London and New York. Her clients include Malibu Rum, Picador, Chronicle Books, Picasso Pictures, Sherbet, Casiotone for the Painfully Alone and Of Montreal. Her work has been exhibited in London, the U.S. and Antwerp and her animations have been screened at Onedotzero, Rushes Soho Shorts, the Youtube Short Film of the Year Award, SXSW and Pangea Day. She collaborates with her fellow animators in the animation collective Treat Studios. She begins an MA in animation at the Royal College of Art in Fall 2009.

Peter Sluszka is a New York-based director with Hornet specializing in stop-motion animation and photo-based effects. He studied literature and visual arts at Columbia University, eventually contriving to combine his love of storytelling and visual innovation by studying stop-motion animation at the School of Visual Arts. Sluszka has directed animation for feature films, commercials, music videos, television series, and performance projections. He has collaborated with Michel Gondry and Pilobolus, and manipulated everything from traditional foam latex puppets to meat, origami, snow, and yarn.

Santa Maria is a directing team comprised of Josh Goodrich and David Hill. Working in both live action and animation, Santa Maria’s vibrant mixed-media style evokes a playful, unexpected tone. For Goodrich and Hill, the creative process is a path of exploration. They are on a constant mission to fuse contrasting aesthetics, whether it’s integrating Native American and ‘80s motifs or merging folk art with techno design. Goodrich and Hill met at the Savannah College of Art and Design, where they studied computer animation and illustration, respectively. With their joint experience in illustration and computer animation, the two, directors at Hornet in New York, make a highly complementary team.

About The GRAMMY Foundation®:

The GRAMMY Foundation was established in 1989 to cultivate the understanding, appreciation and advancement of the contribution of recorded music to American culture — from the artistic and technical legends of the past to the still unimagined musical breakthroughs of future generations of music professionals. The Foundation accomplishes this mission through programs and activities that engage the music industry and cultural community as well as the general public. The Foundation works in partnership year-round with its founder, The Recording Academy®, to bring national attention to important issues such as the value and impact of music and arts education and the urgency of preserving our rich cultural heritage. For more information, please visit www.grammyintheschools.com.

* * *

The Decemberists’ confirmed 2009 tour dates are as follows:

Sept. 18 Orono, Maine University of Maine (w/ Laura Veirs & the Hall of Flames)
Sept. 19 New York, NY Terminal 5 (*special lottery show w/ Laura Veirs & the Hall of Flames)
Sept. 20 Burlington, VT Flynn Theater (w/ Laura Veirs & the Hall of Flames)

Sept. 21 Montclair, NJ Wellmont Theater (w/ Laura Veirs & the Hall of Flames)

Sept. 23 Norfolk, VA The Norva (w/ Laura Veirs & the Hall of Flames)

Sept. 24 Charlottesville, VA Charlottesville Pavilion (w/ Laura Veirs & the Hall of Flames)

Sept. 25 Asheville, NC Thomas Wolfe Auditorium (w/ Laura Veirs & the Hall of Flames)

Sept. 26 Athens, GA The Classic Center (w/ Laura Veirs & the Hall of Flames)
Sept. 27 Nashville, TN Ryman Auditorium (w/ Laura Veirs & the Hall of Flames)

Sept. 29 St. Augustine, FL St. Augustine Amphitheater (w/ Laura Veirs & the Hall of Flames)

Sept. 30 Orlando, FL Hard Rock Live (w/ Laura Veirs & the Hall of Flames)

Oct. 2 Houston, TX House of Blues (w/ Laura Veirs & the Hall of Flames)

Oct. 3 Austin, TX Austin City Limits Music Festival

Oct. 4 Tulsa, OK Cain’s Ballroom (w/ Laura Veirs & the Hall of Flames)

Oct. 6 Lexington, KY University of Kentucky, Lexington (w/ Laura Veirs & the Hall of Flames)

Oct. 7 Columbia, MO Ninth St. Fall Fest (w/ Laura Veirs & the Hall of Flames)

Oct. 8 Chicago, IL Riviera Theatre (w/ Laura Veirs & the Hall of Flames)
Oct. 9 Minneapolis, MN State Theatre (w/ Laura Veirs & the Hall of Flames)
Oct. 18 San Francisco, CA Treasure Island Music Festival

Oct. 19 Los Angeles, CA UCLA Royce Hall

Nov. 18 London, UK Forum

Nov. 19 London, UK Coronet

Nov. 21 The Hague, Netherlands Crossing Border Festival

 

Hazards of Love

By Sam

I’m a little late in writing this review (the album came out 2 months ago), but I’m glad I waited. Upon my first, second and even third listen-though, I was less than enthralled with the latest effort from the sea-chanty-spouting indie darlings, The Decemberists. The album came across as a muddled mixture of frantic acoustic guitar picking and awkward lyrics about babies, magic and sex in the woods.

Hazards of Love is a concept album that (in a nutshell) tells the story of a woodland Fawn who falls in love, only to have a jealous magical Queen of the woods betray him and attempt to kill his lover. The story is rather complex, and without knowing at least a basic synopsis, listeners may be completely lost during the first few times through the album. With so many characters to voice, the record boasts some impressive guest singers (Ex: Becky Stark of Lavender Diamond voices Margaret, the object of the Fawn’s affection).

The overall impression that I was left with was that Hazards was nothing but the overblown masturbatory fantasy of lead singer/songwriter Colin Meloy and whatever special guests he could pay with his undoubtedly impressive Capitol Records budget.

Because as we all know, the Decemberists SUCK because they are signed to mega-evil Capitol Records, right? Right?!

Everybody who bought Hazards (….or downloaded it) and thought the same as me needs to take a deep breath, shut off all distractions and spin the record again. Forget about the label, the reputation, and everything you know about this band. Empty your head. Don’t think of anything but the music that you are hearing, and the story that is being expertly sketched in front of you. This is what I had to do, and when I did that something happened. Something incredible.

Not only did I come around to this album, but it also literally knocked me over. By the time it got around to the climactic scenes near the end, I was so deep into the story that every line seemed to pierce into me–particularly the sorrowful howling of Stark in “Margaret in Captivity”. The album takes its time, pacing itself at moments when Meloy wants to show time passing within the story line, represented by instrumental tracks like the gorgeous “An Interlude” which occurs about halfway through the record. This is not a record that you can easily toss in and skip around, listening only to your favourite tracks. That is the brilliant trick of this album, but its also what makes it so hard to absorb–to get the full impact, it must be listened to from start to finish.

Much in the same vein as an opera or a modern musical, motifs are presented, restated, then altered. Sometimes these motifs are purely musical. For example, the evil characters (The Rake, the Queen, Margaret’s Father) are always featured alongside thick electric guitar riffs, which are never heard when the Fawn is present. Thematic motifs– like waves, which play a large part in the story’s imagery–are also presented throughout. “Wanting Comes in Waves” is one of the disc’s stand-out tracks, and portions of it are reprised no less than three times over the course of the album.

If I have one major qualm with this album it’s that it is mixed exactly like a boring, big-budget studio album. Some of the moments which should sound gigantic, raw, and dramatic come across as flat. Moments of extreme tension or crescendo seem to be offset by the fact that, for the most part, the album sounds as though its being held at the same volume no matter what is occurring in the music. The drums in particular are mixed completely level with each other and everything else, which means that often times they are either too loud or too quiet depending on the mood of the song. But for this, more blame is to be laid on producer Tucker Martine than on the band.

Hazards of Love is a beautifully told story. If you invest the time to get to know it, you may find yourself truly captivated (and a little heartbroken) when it all comes to an end. The songs are written with a great deal of care and thought; it’s clear that Meloy and crew took their time and attempted to make a record that would slowly unveil itself to the listener. Although it is not perfect and will not likely go down in history as a revolution in operatic indie-rock, there is something gentle, deeply sorrowful, and stirring about this effort.

4/5

http://www.myspace.com/thedecemberists

www.decemberists.com

The Decemberists will be taking to the airwaves and the road in support of their new album The Hazards of Love. Following an appearance on The Colbert Report, the band has announced upcoming TV and radio appearances on NBC The Tonight Show With Jay Leno (May 14), KCRW Morning Becomes Eclectic (May 15), and CBS The Late Late Show With Craig Ferguson (May 22).

The Decemberists will also be launching their “A Short Fazed Hovel” 2009 North American tour at the Hollywood Palladium in Los Angeles on May 19. Other highlights of the tour include their first-ever concert at Radio City Music Hall in New York (June 10), two shows at the Edgefield Winery in their hometown of Portland, Oregon (July 18-19), and major festival plays including the Sasquatch Festival (May 23), Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival (June 13), Newport Folk Festival (August 1), Lollapalooza (August 7), and the Austin City Limits Music Festival (October 3). Full venue and ticketing information is available at The Decemberists’ website.

On tour, The Decemberists will play two sets a night, the first a full performance of The Hazards of Love, and the second consisting of their older material. Joining the band on stage will be special guests Lavender Diamond’s Becky Stark and My Brightest Diamond’s Shara Worden. Pitchfork called the band’s live debut of The Hazards of Love at SXSW “a triumph,” while The Wall Street Journal declared it “a remarkable experience.”

The Decemberists’ confirmed 2009 tour dates are as follows:

May 19 Los Angeles, CA Hollywood Palladium (w/ Other Lives)

May 20 Oakland, CA Fox Theatre (w/ Other Lives)

May 21 Eugene, OR McDonald Theater (w/ Other Lives)

May 23 Quincy, WA Sasquatch Festival

May 24 Missoula, MT Wilma Theatre (w/ Blind Pilot)

May 26 Denver, CO Fillmore Auditorium (w/ Blind Pilot)

May 27 Kansas City, MO Uptown Theater (w/ Blind Pilot)

May 29 Milwaukee, WI Riverside Theater (w/ Blind Pilot)

May 31 St. Louis, MO The Pageant (w/ Blind Pilot)

June 1 Columbus, OH Lifestyle Communities Pavilion (w/ Blind Pilot)

June 3 Atlanta, GA Tabernacle (w/ Blind Pilot)

June 4 Raleigh, NC Memorial Auditorium (w/ Blind Pilot)

June 5 Richmond, VA The National (w/ Blind Pilot)

June 6 Upper Darby, PA Tower Theatre (w/ Robyn Hitchcock & the Venus 3)

June 8 Baltimore, MD Merriweather Post Pavilion (w/ Andrew Bird & Robyn Hitchcock & the Venus 3)

June 9 Boston, MA Bank of America Pavilion (w/ Robyn Hitchcock & the Venus 3)

June 10 New York, NY Radio City Music Hall (w/ Robyn Hitchcock & the Venus 3)

June 13 Manchester, TN Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival

June 20 Minneapolis, MN Rock the Garden/Walker Art Center (w/ Calexico, Yeasayer, Solid Gold)

July 17 Seattle, WA Marymoor Park (w/ Andrew Bird & Blind Pilot)

July 18-19 Portland, OR Edgefield Winery (w/ Andrew Bird & Blind Pilot)

July 21-22 Vancouver, BC Vogue Theater (w/ Blind Pilot)

August 1 Newport, RI Newport Folk Festival

August 2 Montreal, QUE Osheaga Music & Arts Festival

August 3 Toronto, ONT Kool Haus (w/ Heartless Bastards)

August 5 Madison, WI Orpheum Theater (w/ Heartless Bastards)

August 7 Chicago, IL Lollapalooza

August 8 Indianapolis, IN Murat Egyptian Room (w/ Heartless Bastards)

August 10 Louisville, KY W.L. Lyons Brown Theater (w/ Blind Pilot)

August 11 Detroit, MI Royal Oak Theater (w/ Heartless Bastards)

August 14 Pittsburgh, PA Byham Theater (w/ Heartless Bastards)

October 3 Austin, TX Austin City Limits Music Festival

Tune in tonight (4/27) to check out The Decemberists performing “The Wanting Comes In Waves / Repaid” on The Colbert Report (Comedy Central, 11:30/10:30c)! Colin Meloy and Chris Funk will also sit down for an interview with Stephen Colbert. This will be the band’s first appearance on the show since 2006’s ShredDown where Funk was dubiously defeated by last-minute Colbert fill-in Peter Frampton, and Eliot Spitzer had to recuse himself from the voting after an attempted Colbert bribe.

Check out The Decemberists featured on the cover of the May issue of PASTE magazine! PASTE writes “Hazards is both the most daring and logical leap of the band’s career. It’s an hour-long romp through traditional British folk motifs—ill-fated lovers, shape-shifters, infanticide—buoyed by sludged-out guitars, leering synths and an arsenal of talented guest stars, all pressed, as always, through the bizarre sieve of Meloy’s mind.” You can read the full story online here.

HITS magazine has put their money on The Hazards of Love as the dark-horse Grammy contender for Album of the Year. HITS writes “If there’s any 2009 release that deserves to be in consideration for an Album Grammy, it is The Decemberists and their ambitious The Hazards of Love, a bearer of the classic-rock mythos for the iPod generation.” You can read more here.

The Decemberists have confirmed a performance on Comedy Central’s The Colbert Report for Monday, April 27. This will be the band’s first appearance on the show since 2006’s ShredDown where guitarist Chris Funk was dubiously defeated by last-minute Colbert fill-in Peter Frampton, and Eliot Spitzer had to recuse himself from the voting after an attempted Colbert bribe.

The Decemberists have also announced most of Phase Two of their “A Short Fazed Hovel” 2009 tour in support of The Hazards of Love, their ambitious new album on Capitol Records. Kicking off July 17 in Seattle, Washington, Phase Two will also include two shows at the Edgefield Winery in their hometown of Portland, Oregon. A limited number of pre-sale tickets go on sale today to the public on a first-come, first-served basis at http://www.decemberists.tickets.musictoday.com. Tickets are already on sale for the Edgefield Winery. Tickets will go on sale to the public for newly-announced headline concerts beginning Friday, April 17 at 10am ET. Full venue and ticketing information is available at The Decemberists’ website.

On tour, The Decemberists will play two sets a night, the first a full performance of The Hazards of Love, and the second consisting of their older material. Joining the band on stage will be special guests Lavender Diamond’s Becky Stark and My Brightest Diamond’s Shara Worden. Pitchfork called the band’s live debut of the piece at SXSW “a triumph,” while The Wall Street Journal declared it “a remarkable experience.”

The Decemberists’ confirmed 2009 tour dates are as follows:

May 19 Los Angeles, CA Hollywood Palladium (w/ Other Lives)
May 20 Oakland, CA Fox Theatre (w/ Other Lives)
May 21 Eugene, OR McDonald Theater (w/ Other Lives)
May 23 Quincy, WA Sasquatch Festival
May 24 Missoula, MT Wilma Theatre (w/ Blind Pilot)
May 26 Denver, CO Fillmore Auditorium (w/ Blind Pilot)
May 27 Kansas City, MO Uptown Theater (w/ Blind Pilot)
May 29 Milwaukee, WI Riverside Theater (w/ Blind Pilot)
May 31 St. Louis, MO The Pageant (w/ Blind Pilot)
June 1 Columbus, OH Lifestyle Communities Pavilion (w/ Blind Pilot)
June 3 Atlanta, GA Tabernacle (w/ Blind Pilot)
June 4 Raleigh, NC Memorial Auditorium (w/ Blind Pilot)
June 5 Richmond, VA The National (w/ Blind Pilot)
June 6 Upper Darby, PA Tower Theatre (w/ Robyn Hitchcock & the Venus 3)
June 8 Baltimore, MD Merriweather Post Pavilion (w/ Andrew Bird & Robyn Hitchcock & the Venus 3)
June 9 Boston, MA Bank of America Pavilion (w/ Robyn Hitchcock & the Venus 3)
Jue 10 New York, NY Radio City Music Hall (w/ Robyn Hitchcock & the Venus 3)
June 11-14 Manchester, TN Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival
June 20 Minneapolis, MN Rock the Garden/Walker Art Center (w/Calexico, Yeasayer, Solid Gold)
July 17 Seattle, WA Marymoor Park (w/ Andrew Bird & Blind Pilot)
July 18-19 Portland, OR Edgefield Winery (w/ Andrew Bird & Blind Pilot)
July 21-22 Vancouver, BC Vogue Theater (w/ Blind Pilot)
August 3 Toronto, ONT Kool Haus (w/ Heartless Bastards)
August 5 Madison, WI Orpheum Theater (w/ Heartless Bastards)
August 8 Indianapolis, IN Murat Egyptian Room (w/ Heartless Bastards)
August 10 Louisville, KY W.L. Lyons Brown Theater (w/ Blind Pilot)
August 11 Detroit, MI Royal Oak Theater (w/ Heartless Bastards)

The Decemberists have achieved their career-high chart position with the iTunes digital exclusive of The Hazards of Love, which was released March 17th and became the #1 album on the iTunes Store last week, debuting today at #1 on Billboard’s Top Digital chart and #14 on The Billboard 200. The Decemberists’ previous album, The Crane Wife, peaked at #35 the week it was released in 2006. The Hazards of Love was also released as deluxe 180-gram gatefold vinyl through select indie retailers last week, and was made available widely through all retail outlets in all formats yesterday, March 24th.

The Hazards of Love, which earned a 4-star rating in Rolling Stone and was the subject of a glowing review on NPR All Things Considered, continues to be the most intensely debated album of the year. The band’s live debut of the album last week at NPR Music’s SXSW showcase in Austin, Texas, was one of the most buzzed about shows of the festival, and earned rave reviews across the board. Pitchfork called the performance “a triumph,” while The Wall Street Journal wrote that “it’s quite an impressive work…a remarkable experience.”

The New York Times offered this descriptive: “The Hazards of Love is an all-or-nothing proposition. It’s an unapologetic concept album, with characters, recurring musical passages and a perhaps allegorical story about two pairs of lovers enfolded in images of rivers…[Colin] Meloy has always been fascinated by the British folk tradition and by 1970s rock…The Hazards of Love plunges in further: segueing from prettily picked ballads to church-organ processionals to riff-rock and back…Yet the large form found coherence; melodies gained strength and resonance each time they returned to underline a plot parallel, as Mr. Meloy’s libretto traced arcs from desire and love to destruction and oblivion. It’s old-fashioned and quixotic for Mr. Meloy to write an hourlong rock opera in an era of snippets and Shuffle mode, but the music justified the attention span.”

Check out what else the critics have been saying about The Hazards of Love:

“The first few times I listened to the new Decemberists album The Hazards of Love, I dismissed it… But Colin Meloy’s latest sprawling rock opera grew on me, the raw emotion cutting through the frilly window-dressing and the metal (yes, metal) parts feeling more and more assured. The album’s few repeating musical themes lodged in my brainstem and refused to leave, and I realized: shit, this band has pulled it off yet again.”—Pitchfork

“Decemberists albums are consistently generous with great tunes and charm, and The Hazards of Love is no different… Personified by vocals from Lavender Diamond’s Becky Stark and My Brightest Diamond’s Shara Worden, characters come to life…bringing vivacity and added dimension to an expansive and ambitious undertaking.”—Billboard

“Colin Meloy’s gorgeously crafted compositions remain multitextured, layering strings against synthesizers in this cycle’s fable of love gone awry…moody, compelling melodies in glorious arrangements; and elegant phrasing dripping like honey off the tongue.”—Austin Chronicle

“The Decemberists are old-school ambitious: out to scale sonic peaks and narrative heights because they are there… Meloy is a rare bird: genuinely sincere, a true eccentric, and craftsman enough to use those competing gifts in the service of his big, bookish ideas.”—Boston Globe

“…a delicious, delirious swirl of baroque melodrama, 70s analog synthesizers, elegiac heavy-metal guitars, and gorgeous, timeless melodies.”—Chicago Sun-Times

“The quintet blends the brooding atmosphere of English folk with the grandeur of hard rock…the music rocks convincingly on its own audacious terms.”—Chicago Tribune

“If anyone has made a more breathtaking folk-rock album in the past 20 years, I’ve yet to hear it.”—London Times

“…a rich and transporting experience.”—Washington Times

* * *

The Portland-based quintet of Colin Meloy, Chris Funk, Jenny Conlee, Nate Query and John Moen will kick-off the first leg of their 2009 tour on May 19th at the Hollywood Palladium in Los Angeles. The 16-date run also includes a June 10th performance at Radio City Music Hall in New York, as well as a set at the 2009 Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival in Tennessee. On tour, the band will play two sets a night, the first a full performance of The Hazards of Love, and the second consisting of their older material. Joining the band on stage will be special guests Becky Stark (Lavender Diamond) and Shara Worden (My Brightest Diamond). More upcoming tour dates will be announced shortly.

The Decemberists’ confirmed 2009 tour dates are as follows:

May 19 Hollywood Palladium (w/ Other Lives) Los Angeles, CA

May 20 Fox Theatre (w/ Other Lives) Oakland, CA

May 21 McDonald Theater (w/ Other Lives) Eugene, OR

May 23 Sasquatch Festival Quincy, WA

May 24 Wilma Theatre (w/ Blind Pilot) Missoula, MT

May 26 Fillmore Auditorium (w/ Blind Pilot) Denver, CO

May 27 Uptown Theater (w/ Blind Pilot) Kansas City, MO

May 29 Riverside Theater (w/ Blind Pilot) Milwaukee, WI

May 31 The Pageant (w/ Blind Pilot) St. Louis, MO

June 1 Lifestyle Communities Pavilion (w/ Blind Pilot) Columbus, OH

June 3 Tabernacle (w/ Blind Pilot) Atlanta, GA

June 4 Memorial Auditorium (w/ Blind Pilot) Raleigh, NC

June 5 The National (w/ Blind Pilot) Richmond, VA

June 6 Tower Theatre Upper Darby, PA

June 8 Merriweather Post Pavilion (w/ Andrew Bird) Baltimore, MD

June 9 Bank of America Pavilion Boston, MA

June 10 Radio City Music Hall New York, NY

June 11-14 Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival Manchester, TN

July 18-19 Edgefield Winery (w/ Andrew Bird & Blind Pilot) Portland, OR

The Decemberists have launched their ambitious new album The Hazards of Love (Capitol Records) today March 17th with a weeklong exclusive sale of the digital album through the iTunes Store. The album, which NPR called an “epic adventure,” is also being released today as deluxe 180-gram gatefold vinyl through select indie retailers, and will be made available widely through all retail outlets in all formats on March 24th.

The band is heading to Austin, Texas, this week where they will give the highly-anticipated debut live performance of The Hazards of Love when they headline NPR Music’s South by Southwest showcase at Stubb’s BBQ on Wednesday, March 18th. The concert will be streamed live, podcast and archived at www.npr.org/sxsw, and will be available for broadcast on NPR Member stations across the country, including KUT Austin, WFUV New York, WXPN Philadelphia, KEXP Seattle and The Current from Minnesota Public Radio.

Capitol Records and imeem recently hosted a contest for fans to try their hand at designing the official poster for the SXSW showcase, and the band has selected Kathryn Rathke’s entry as the winner, deeming its surreal depiction of Lyndon Johnson being plucked from the earth by a giant hawk “rad.” The winning design and the runners up can be viewed at http://www.imeem.com/thedecemberistsfans.

Music critics are already weighing in on what is sure to be one of the most intensely debated releases of the year. Check out what they’ve been saying so far about The Hazards of Love:

“An epic adventure.”—NPR

“Musically, Hazards of Love is the Decemberists’ full-on classic-rock move, with pretty Zep-style fingerpicking punctuated by crushing stoner-metal lurches.”—ROLLING STONE

“Meloy can write the hell out of a melody… some of the snarliest, bluesiest, rockingest moments in the Decemberists’ catalog… yields spectacular sparks.”—SPIN

“You have to hand it to Colin Meloy and his mob of merry rabble-rousers. Not many bands would event attempt an album this ambitious, and none could pull it off as convincingly as The Decemberists.”—FILTER

“An album with thematic ambition, delirious melodies, a depth of details and a wicked sense of humour.”—UNCUT

“[The Hazards of Love’s] musical palette is a vivid and evocative one… gloriously big, bold…”—Q

* * *

The Decemberists will kick-off the first leg of their Spring 2009 tour on May 19th at the Hollywood Palladium in Los Angeles. The 16-date run also includes a June 10th performance at Radio City Music Hall in New York, as well as a set at the 2009 Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival in Tennessee. On tour, the band will play two sets a night, the first a full performance of The Hazards of Love, and the second consisting of their older material. Joining the band on stage will be special guests Lavender Diamond’s Becky Stark and My Brightest Diamond’s Shara Worden. More upcoming tour dates will be announced shortly.

The Decemberists’ confirmed Spring 2009 tour dates are as follows:

May 19 Hollywood Palladium Los Angeles, CA
May 20 Fox Theatre Oakland, CA
May 21 McDonald Theater Eugene, OR
May 23 Sasquatch Festival Quincy, WA
May 24 Wilma Theatre Missoula, MT
May 26 Fillmore Auditorium Denver, CO
May 27 Uptown Theater Kansas City, MO
May 29 Riverside Theater Milwaukee, WI
May 31 The Pageant St. Louis, MO
June 1 Lifestyle Communities Pavilion Columbus, OH
June 3 Tabernacle Atlanta, GA
June 4 Memorial Auditorium Raleigh, NC
June 5 The National Richmond, VA
June 6 Tower Theatre Upper Darby, PA
June 8 Merriweather Post Pavilion Baltimore, MD
June 9 Bank of America Pavilion Boston, MA
June 10 Radio City Music Hall New York, NY
June 11-14 Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival Manchester, TN
July 18-19 Edgefield Winery Portland, OR (w/ Andrew Bird & Blind Pilot)

You’ve just received advanced music for The Decemberists new album “The Hazards of Love,” due out March 24th on Capitol Records. Please download the press release, bio & lyrics in the SHARE system and keep me posted about coverage. Enjoy! -Cem

Tracklist:
1. Prelude
2. The Hazards Of Love 1 (The Prettiest Whistles Won’t Wrestle the Thistles Undone)
3. A Bower Scene
4. Won’t Want For Love (Margaret In the Taiga)
5. The Hazards Of Love 2 (Wager All)
6. The Queen’s Approach
7. Isn’t It A Lovely Night
8. The Wanting Comes In Waves/Repaid
9. An Interlude
10. The Rake’s Song
11. The Abduction Of Margaret
12. The Queen’s Rebuke / The Crossing
13. Annan Water
14. Margaret In Captivity
15. The Hazards Of Love 3 (Revenge!)
16. The Wanting Comes In Waves (Reprise)
17. The Hazards Of Love 4 (The Drowned)

The Decemberists have announced the first leg of their Spring 2009 North American tour in support of The Hazards of Love, their ambitious new album to be released by Capitol Records on March 24th. The 16-date run will kick off May 19th at the Hollywood Palladium in Los Angeles, and include a June 10th performance at Radio City Music Hall in New York, as well as a set at the 2009 Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival in Tennessee.

A limited number of pre-sale tickets go on sale today to the public on a first-come, first-served basis at http://www.decemberists.tickets.musictoday.com. General ticket on-sales begin on Friday, February 13th. Full venue and ticketing information is available at The Decemberists’ website. More upcoming tour dates will be announced shortly.

On tour, The Decemberists will present a full performance of the album, a 17-song suite that tells the tale of a woman named Margaret who is ravaged by a shape-shifting animal; her lover, William; a forest queen; and a cold-blooded, lascivious rake. Joining the band on stage will be Lavender Diamond’s Becky Stark and My Brightest Diamond’s Shara Worden who deliver the lead vocals for the female characters. The band announced last week that they will give the debut live performance of The Hazards of Love when they headline NPR Music’s South by Southwest showcase at Stubbs in Austin on March 18th.

With their fifth full-length album, the Portland-based quintet of Colin Meloy, Chris Funk, Jenny Conlee, Nate Query and John Moen solidifies its standing as one of the most innovative creative forces in music today. In an age when singles rule and the death of the album has been pronounced by many, The Decemberists have fashioned an anomaly: a record that demands to be listened to from start to finish and reveals more with each subsequent play. NPR All Songs Considered has already declared it an “epic adventure,” while Rolling Stone recently wrote that “[The] Hazards of Love is The Decemberists’ full-on classic-rock move, with pretty Zep-style fingerpicking punctuated by crushing stoner-metal lurches.”

The Decemberists’ confirmed Spring 2009 tour dates are as follows:

May 19 Hollywood Palladium Los Angeles, CA
May 20 Fox Theatre Oakland, CA
May 21 McDonald Theater Eugene, OR
May 24 Wilma Theatre Missoula, MT
May 26 Fillmore Auditorium Denver, CO
May 27 Uptown Theater Kansas City, MO
May 29 Riverside Theater Milwaukee, WI
May 31 The Pageant St. Louis, MO
June 1 Lifestyle Communities Pavilion Columbus, OH
June 3 Tabernacle Atlanta, GA
June 4 Memorial Auditorium Raleigh, NC
June 5 The National Richmond, VA
June 6 Tower Theatre Upper Darby, PA
June 9 Bank of America Pavillion Boston, MA
June 10 Radio City Music Hall New York, NY
June 11-14 Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival Manchester, TN

NPR Music and Five NPR Member Stations To Live Broadcast, Webcast and Podcast Entire Show

NPR Music will present a South by Southwest showcase headlined by The Decemberists at Stubbs on Wednesday, March 18, kicking off the opening night of this year’s SXSW Music Conference and Festival in Austin, TX. The concert will mark the Portland-based band’s first live performance of its forthcoming album The Hazards of Love, which The Decemberists will debut in its entirety. Additional bands in the lineup, and NPR Music’s complete schedule of events at SXSW 2009, are to be announced.

Following the popularity of its concerts and on-air and online coverage at SXSW last year, NPR Music will live webcast and broadcast the entire concert. The concert will be streamed live, podcast and archived at www.NPR.org/music, and will be available for broadcast on NPR Member stations across the country. As in years past, NPR Music is partnering with five NPR Member stations – KUT Austin, WFUV New York, WXPN Philadelphia, KEXP Seattle and The Current from Minnesota Public Radio – to offer extensive coverage of the influential music festival on-air and online.

At SXSW, The Decemberists will perform all 17 songs from The Hazards of Love in sequence –how the band intends for the record to be heard. The Hazards of Love, out March 24 from Capitol Records, is the follow up to the quintet’s 2006 breakthrough The Crane Wife, and augments the band’s standing as one of the most creative forces in music. This album tells the tale of a woman named Margaret who is ravaged by a shape-shifting animal; her lover, William; a forest queen; and a cold-blooded, immoral rake. Joining The Decemberists members Colin Meloy, Chris Funk, Jenny Conlee, Nate Query and John Moen on stage at Stubbs will be Lavendar Diamond’s Becky Stark and My Brightest Diamond’s Shara Worden, who lend leading vocals to the album.

NPR Music’s broadcast and webcast of the concert will be anchored by Bob Boilen, host and creator of the popular show All Songs Considered and its Live in Concert series. Joining Bob will be NPR Music blogger Carrie Brownstein and David Brown, host of Austin Music Unlimited on KUT in Austin. “Usually, you go to a concert to hear your favorite band perform your favorite songs, but this 17 song journey will be a completely new to the audience,” says Bob Boilen. “It’s going to be so much fun to see everyone experience this absolutely epic and fun song cycle performed live for the first time.” Boilen announced the SXSW show on today’s episode of All Songs Considered, which features a track – “The Rake’s Song” – off The Hazards of Love. The All Songs episode is available at: www.NPR.org/allsongs

Last year, NPR Music and the five stations live webcast and broadcast 14 of the most anticipated concerts from SXSW, among them R.E.M., My Morning Jacket and Vampire Weekend. NPR Music’s daytime concert at The Parish was one of the festival’s must-hears, with headliners Vampire Weekend joined by Bon Iver, Yeasayer, The Shout Out Louds, Jens Lekman and A.A. Bondy. Those concerts, along with artist interviews and live audio and video performance sessions, are archived at: www.NPR.org/sxsw

NPR Music is a multimedia music site that features content from NPR and 12 NPR Member public radio stations, including live performances, studio sessions, exclusive first listens to new albums, interviews, reviews and blogs. The site’s continuously expanding sections are dedicated to rock/pop/folk, classical, jazz/blues, world and urban music. NPR Music culls from NPR’s and the stations’ extensive music archives to present thousands of features; more than 240 new features are added to the site every month. The site’s popular Concert section offers hundreds of streaming concerts in every genre.