My favourite harpsichord-and-bouzouki-playing  folk-rock masters The Decemberists, responsible for the fairytale opuses The Hazards of Love and The Crane Wife, have changed tack and released a concise set of 10 unadorned, country-based songs as The King Is Dead.

Although the new album is produced by The Decemberists’ long-term collaborator Tucker Martine, The King Is Dead is a completely different beast… According to bespectacled twit-celeb frontman Colin Meloy, the album is an “exercise in restraint” and is heavily influenced by American traditions rather than the fantastical English lore of their earlier gorgeous sagas. “Over the last eleven years or so, since I moved to Portland, I feel like I’ve been mining mostly English traditions for influence”, says Meloy “I guess I’ve kind of come back to a lot of the more American music that got me going in the first place – R.E.M. and Camper Van Beethoven and all these bands that borrowed from more American traditions like Neil Young and the Byrds.” So it only makes sense that R.E.M guitarist Peter Buck and iconic Americana singer songwriter Gillian Welch feature throughout the album. Boom. The King Is Dead is available from iTunes Australia or you can pick up the stunning vinyl / book / documentary / t-shirt boxsets from thedecemberists.com.

Our friends over at Moshcam have a vertiable treasure trove of concerts on their site. And, they have damn fine taste, we might add. The Decemberists first ever headline show in Australia was filmed for posterity on January 19th at Sydney’s Metro Theatre and is now live on Moshcam for your midday or midnight Decemberists fix.

Highlights? On the Bus Mall – a nostaglic favourite. The Rake’s Song – multiple percussionists and a sprawling narrative that if you think too much about becomes unsettling. And of course, a cover of The Go Betweens Bye Bye Pride. Colin and co. know their audience.

This just in off the wire (because you should phrase things in olde timey if possible when referring to The Decemberists) Australian sideshows have been announced.

Tues, January 19 – Sydney – Metro
Sun, January 24 – Melbourne – Billboard

Head o’er yonder to ye olde Love Police shoppe for your tickets.
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If you’re a frequent InSound reader, you’ll probably notice a recurring theme… The Decemberists are FREAKIN’ AWESOME.

Off the back of their Australian tour announcement and a stunning new video from Alex Dashino and Varvara Volodina for The Rake’s Song, we are super excited about Here Come the Waves: The Hazards of Love Visualized, a collaboration between the band and four incredible filmmakers.

On October 19 at Royce Hall in LA, The Decemberists will perform the epic rock-opera The Hazards of Love in its entirety (plus some older and new tunes) in synch with animation provided by Guilherme Marcondes, Julia Pott, Peter Sluszka and Santa Maria. Presented in association with Flux (a global creative collective / online journal / concept space / film / art / event hub / you name it), the event is also a benefit for the Grammy In The Schools music education programs.

So without further ado, we present a taste of Here Come The Waves:

If you need more convincing (yeah, right!), the director’s credentials are not half bad: Marcondes directed Modest Mouse’s Dashboard, and Peter Sluszka worked with Michel Gondry to animate Devendra Banhart’s A Ribbon and Steriogram’s Walkie-Talkie Man.

For we unfortunate many not at Lollapalooza ‘09, you can watch the live stream at http://iclips.net/lollapalooza2009.php

Well worth checking out – including live streamed performances from Bat For Lashes, Ben Harper & Relentless 7, Animal Collective, The Decemberists, Neko Case, Jane’s Addiction (for those us us who recently found ourselves Jane-less in Oz). Currently watching Perry Farrel – in what appears to be gold sparkling leather flares – run around stage with Joe Perry of Aerosmith, against a magic Chicago skyline… *sigh*…

Luckily we have InSoundian Tara on-ground at Lolla, so we’ll have full reports soon!

July is the new December with music sites trumpeting The Best Albums of 2009… So Far. We thought we’d join in on this list-making exercise. Here’s some of our faves 7 months into the year that is 2009.

Eels – Hombre Lobo (Nikki)
M Ward – Hold Time (Fez)
Phoenix – Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix (Karen)
Yeah Yeah Yeah’s – It’s Blitz! (Lisa)
Andrew Bird – Noble Beast (Tara)
The Decemberists – Hazards of Love (Darryl)
Dirty Projectors – Bitte Orca (Liesl)
The Crystal Method – Divided By Night (Kara)

Nikki:
Eels – Hombre Lobo
Perfect mix of rockin songs and quiet, sensitive ballads. It’s the spectrum of kick-ass Fresh Blood to the demure That Look You Give That Guy that keeps you totally engaged. And you can’t argue with a beard like that!

Fez:
M Ward – Hold Time
This is such a sublime record. Matt has this fantastic reverb on his voice that conjures up this instant nostalgia. Dreamboat Zooey Deschanel is back to help him out on stand out tracks Never had nobody like you and Rave On (a rad Buddy Holly cover).
Highlight for me has to be his duet with Lucinda Williams on Oh Lonesome Me. Being sombre never felt so damn good.

Karen:
Phoenix – Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix
Fourth album from this eclectic French band. Lisztomania is a gorgeous slice of indie pop. It’s a perfect summer record to get us through winter! Love their blog too.

Lisa:
Yeah Yeah Yeahs – It’s Blitz!
Karen O is AMAZING – I loooove her style… and there needs to be more chicks in Rock n’ Roll. Check out her dress at Coachella.

Tara:
Andrew Bird – Noble Beast
Intricate songs on matters of the heart, the head and the far out. His albums are forward-thinking yet with a bit of the rustic. This came out in January and nothing has surpassed it for me – yet. I even said so back in April.

Darryl:
The Decemberists – Hazards of Love

A brilliant modern (well in feel… maybe not in subject matter) concept album that takes you on a trip. I feel like a lie down after I hear this album. I can’t wait to see the show. Sydney Festival anyone? Please oh please. And maybe an exhibition of Colin Melloy’s wife Carson Ellis who produces all of their amazing album art.

Liesl:
Dirty Projectors – Bitte Orca
Totally lovin that cool kooky art pop that somehow manages to avoid being too overbearing or wanky.

Kara:
Crystal Method – Divided By Night
Could just as easily be Mastodon’s Crack the Skye, or Depeche Mode’s Sounds of the Universe… but for me Divided By Night wins out.
One word: intense. The beats on this album practically rip your guts out, they’re so hard and fast. The Method are so great at combining diverse sounds and blending genres to create seriously dark and intensive breakbeats / hiphop / rock / you name it. As usual, it features a legion of guest artists – Peter Hook, Matisyahu, Justin Warfield, Emily Haines, and LMFAO. Nice that you can stream the full album on iLike too. Love the Matisyahu single Drown in the Now:

Others’ Lists:
Spin magazine – 20 Best Albums of 2009…So Far
NPR – Listeners Pick The Year’s Best Music (So Far)
MTV – The Best Albums of 2009 (So Far)
Drowned In Sound – 20 Must Have Independent Albums of the Year So Far

I know exactly where i’m going to find the HOTTEST new records in the world now – BREAKFAST AT SULIMAYS!

Probably the most honest reviews you will find on the internets (made by 75+ year olds). Here’s some of our finest: Animal Collective, The Decemberists and Joanna Newsom getting put into place!

Usually the time difference doesn’t really work in Australia’s favour. We get up and watch the World Cup at 3:30AM, we get up before the roosters for Barack Obama’s inauguration and put the kettle on.

But TODAY at the reasonable late afternoon hour of 4pm (Eastern time), we can all dial up the National Public Radio (NPR) site to hear The Decemberists debut their album The Hazards of Love live and in its entirety at South By Southwest. Here’s a taste of what you’re in for.

And, the album deserves a full-play because it’s a story unto itself:

The Hazards of Love tells the woodland melodrama of a character named Margaret — voiced by Becky Stark of Lavender Diamond and Shara Worden of My Brightest Diamond, alternately — who encounters such obstacles as a lecherous villain, forest royalty and rapacious, shape-shifting fauna. As for the music itself, Meloy draws heavily from British folk, but also adds plenty of synthesizers and hard rock verging on heavy metal.

Gotta love the winning entry to the Texan-themed concert poster design contest. Complete with Lyndon Johnson and Lady Bird.

The album is out now:

There is something about The Decemberists’ artwork that is so them. It fits the verbose, literary, beautifully (oftentimes) dark imaginings of the lyrics .

And it is so quaint, old timey and made with such care. I imagine someone in a workshoppe toiling away by candlelight.

When the band first started to warrant attention, it seemed quite gutsy even for an indie band, simply because it’s not really design-y cool. But it’s different.

Carson Ellis, the wife of frontman Colin Meloy, does the artwork and here are her latest creations — packshots for the album Hazards of Love and for the single ‘The Rake’s Song’. The band have asked punters to design the poster for their upcoming SXSW gig where they will debut the album live in concert on NPR. Maybe Carson needs a holiday…

The Decemberists – MySpace