The Decembrists

The years that I lived in Washington were a dark period for me as it relates to music. With one notable exception, I did not discover any new artists (I knew of Alejandro when I moved to WA but only became a fan when a friend gave me tickets to see him live in Seattle) and I rarely listened to the music that I already owned. One of the Northwest's bands that I missed out on is The Decembrists.

Last weekend, when I was watching Mad Men (the best show on TV right now - if you haven't seen it, go rent season 1. There are some uneven moments and times when the novelties of life in the late 1950's pulls you out of the story, but they have really hit their stride in season 2) the opening sequence was set to The Decembrist's song "The Infanta." The song is captivating.

Since then, I've been trying to familiarize myself with this interesting band. Like one of my favorite musicians from college, Bill Mallonee, the songwriter is a bit of a history buff. "The Infanta" is about the birth of a Spanish princess in 1824. Another new favorite of mine is "When the War Came." Here is what frontman Colin Meloy said about the song.

The last great book I read was Hunger by Elise Blackwell. It’s about the siege of Leningrad in World War II, and there was a botanical institute. During the siege, which lasted a long time, the entire population were starving, but all of the botanists in the institute swore themselves to protect the catalog of seeds and plants and things, from not only a starving population, but also from themselves. It’s pretty amazing.

The Infanta





When The War Came