NPR Music to live webcast & broadcast Newport Folk Festival performance;

World Cafe performance airs

The Decemberists have announced Fall dates for their “A Short Fazed Hovel” 2009 tour.

The tour, which features a full performance of their acclaimed new album ‘The Hazards of Love’, has been earning rave reviews as it crosses the United States from coast to coast, including sold-out performances at Radio City Music Hall in New York City, the Edgefield Winery in their hometown of Portland, Oregon, and stand-out performances at major summer festivals including Sasquatch and Bonnaroo.

The band will also be performing this year at the Newport Folk Festival, Lollapalooza, Austin City Limits Music Festival and Treasure Island Music Festival.

A limited number of pre-sale tickets for the Fall tour, which launches September 20, 2009 in Burlington, Vermont, went on sale July 27th to the public on a first-come, first-served basis at Decemberists on Music Today website. Full venue and ticketing information is available at The Decemberists’ newly redesigned website. See full list of upcoming tour dates below.

NPR Music will be live webcasting and broadcasting The Decemberists’ performance at the Newport Folk Festival on August 1, 2009, which will not be The Hazards of Love, but instead a special set for the festival.

The band’s performance and interview on World Cafe aired on July 24th, and is now featured on the NPR Music website.

Buy Music:

The Decemberists on amazon.com

The Decemberists on amazon.co.uk

Check out what the critics have been saying about The Decemberists’ live performance of The Hazards of Love featuring special guests Becky Stark (Lavender Diamond) and Shara Worden (My Brightest Diamond):

“Indie Rock Show of the Year? Last night’s riveting, and indeed, bombastic re-creation of the disc at Radio City Music Hall proved Meloy inflates his music, and not himself. He affably ceded the best songs to the guest singers, who made them so: Lavender Diamond’s Becky Stark and My Brightest Diamond’s Shara Worden. The diamond twins, they dazzled.” – New York Magazine

“In a short-attention-span world, the Decemberists dared to release a complicated, dark concept album, The Hazards of Love. Using a prog-rock template, singer/songwriter/guitarist Colin Meloy and his four mates channeled their inner Pink Floyd while spinning fatalistic strong-songs in the Fairport Convention tradition. During a two-hour show Tuesday, the Decemberists made Hazards their entire first set. And they pulled it off with panache.” – Boston Herald

“Colin Meloy of the Decemberists understands that when you make a concept album, you go big or go home. With the release of the ambitious story-cycle The Hazards of Love, Meloy and his cohorts in the literate indie-rock quintet are clearly all in. That conviction was evident as the band and a few special guests flooded the Bank of America Pavilion Tuesday night with images of a fair maiden, her rakish beau, shape-shifting woodland creatures, and an evil forest queen.” – Boston Globe

“At Merriweather last night, Decemberist-in-Chief Colin Meloy led his Beowulf-pack through The Hazards of Love in its sequential entirety, an unbroken hour-long narrative suite. Gutsy, that, but the crowd was with him. As in all rock operas, the dynamic shifts and crunchy power chords count for more than the Tolkeinesque storyline here, and those big, bombastic changes kept the show accessible. After all, Meloy designed these pieces to lodge in your mind after a single exposure, like the songs for a stage musical. And key motifs recur several times.” – Washington Post

“The Hazards of Love is more rock opera than folk record, complete with linear storyline and tooth-rattling guitar riffs. Performing the thing in its entirety seemed not only natural, then, but essential to the piece’s integrity. If I liked The Hazards of Love before, experiencing those big, bombastic metal moments live was a revelation.” – Seattle Weekly

“From the moment Jenny Conlee stepped on stage and took her seat at the organ until the final, ringing note of Colin Meloy’s acoustic guitar, to every Chris Funk instrument change in between (a rough count has him playing acoustic guitar, electric guitar, pedal steel, mandolin, a few other odd-shaped string instruments and drums), Hazards is … astounding.” – The Oregonian

“The Hazards of Love is an all-or-nothing proposition… 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.” – The New York Times

“The Decemberists played from start to end their album The Hazards of Love. It’s quite an impressive work—a big rock opera/musical with a weaving fantasy storyline and a sound that incorporates heavy metal and gentle, intricate ’60s British folk. The band was in absolute control of the new material and with a powerful presence, singer-composer Colin Meloy spun the tale… a remarkable experience.” – The Wall Street Journal

“The Decemberists came armed to the teeth for their album’s live premiere… The Hazards of Love is unashamedly over the top in its dreams and execution. And at the Decemberists nailed it that way. Their opera is ready for the road.” – Rolling Stone

“Last night, the Decemberists played The Hazards of Love in its entirety, for the first time ever… it was a triumph…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: this band has pulled it off yet again.” – Pitchfork

“Meloy’s prog-folk hard rock opera translates to the stage in furious, high-volume fashion, with the sashaying, white-clad, sweet-voiced Stark as the romantic heroine Margaret, and the sinister and slinky, black-clad Worden as the Forest Queen.” – AOL Spinner

The Decemberists confirmed 2009 tour dates are as follows:

(Dates and information subject to change.)

Aug. 1 Newport, RI Newport Folk Festival
Aug. 2 Montreal, QUE Osheaga Music & Arts Festival
Aug. 3 Toronto, ONT Kool Haus (w/ Heartless Bastards)
Aug. 5 Madison, WI Orpheum Theater (w/ Heartless Bastards)
Aug. 6 Chicago, IL Metro (w/ Heartless Bastards)
Aug. 7 Chicago, IL Lollapalooza
Aug. 8 Indianapolis, IN Murat Egyptian Room (w/ Heartless Bastards)
Aug. 10 Louisville, KY W.L. Lyons Brown Theater (w/ Blind Pilot)
Aug. 11 Detroit, MI Royal Oak Theater (w/ Heartless Bastards)
Aug. 13 Buffalo, NY UB Center for the Arts (w/ Heartless Bastards)
Aug. 14 Pittsburgh, PA Byham Theater (w/ Heartless Bastards)
Aug. 15 Schwenksville, PA Philadelphia Folk Festival
Aug. 16 Holyoke, MA Mountain Park (w/ Heartless Bastards)
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. 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. 18 San Francisco, CA Treasure Island Music Festival
Nov. 18 London, UK Forum
Nov. 19 London, UK Coronet

The Decemberists MySpace
The Decemberists Official Website

NPR MUSIC AND STATIONS TO EXCLUSIVELY WEBCAST AND BROADCAST PERFORMANCES FROM GEORGE WEIN’S FOLK FESTIVAL 50 AND CAREFUSION JAZZ FESTIVAL 55 IN NEWPORT, RHODE ISLAND AUGUST 1 and 2 AND 8 and 9, 2009

TWO 12-SONG “NPR MUSIC AT NEWPORT” SAMPLERS CURRENTLY AVAILABLE FOR FREE DOWNLOAD

NPR Music, together with five partner radio stations, is exclusively live webcasting and broadcasting dozens of performances from George Wein’s Folk Festival 50 and CareFusion Jazz Festival 55 next month in Newport, RI, offering four days of music by some of the country’s most acclaimed artists.

NPR Music and WFUV New York, FolkAlley.com (WKSU) Kent, Ohio, and mvyradio on Martha’s Vineyard and in Newport are covering all acts from the Folk Festival on August 1 and 2 – which celebrates its 50th anniversary with performances by trailblazers Pete Seeger and Joan Baez, and current favorites The Decemberists and Neko Case.

At the Jazz Festival on August 8 and 9, NPR Music with WBGO Newark and WGBH Boston are broadcasting and webcasting four complete line-ups from three stages, headlined by Tony Bennett, Mos Def, Miguel Zenon Quartet and The Bad Plus with Wendy Lewis.

For the second straight year, festival concerts will be accessible through free, live audio webcasts at NPR Music, and live station broadcasts.

NPR Music’s folk and jazz festival coverage will be available at npr.org/folkfestival50 and npr.org/jazzfestival55, where there will be artist interviews and festival news from the All Songs Considered blog and A Blog Supreme. In addition, NPR Music will archive all content and provide podcasts of the performances.

Music from this year’s festivals can be previewed by downloading two free 12-song “NPR Music at Newport” Samplers (one folk, one jazz), featuring many of the acts NPR Music will webcast and broadcast from both festivals.

Songs on the folk sampler include the Avett Brother’s single off their forthcoming record I and Love and You, Pete Seeger’s “Shenandoah” and “Mykonos” from the Fleet Foxes. The jazz sampler offers “Summer Song” by David Brubeck, “Precious” from Esperanza Spalding and Miguel Zenon’s “Penta.” Both samplers are currently redeemable at iTunes.

NPR Music, together with WFUV, Folk Alley and mvyradio, will webcast and broadcast two days of performances from the Folk Festival on August 1 and 2 from noon to 6:00PM (ET). The following week, performances from the festival will be available to stream at NPR Music and the station Web sites, and download through NPR Music’s “Live in Concert” podcast.

The festival will celebrate 50 years of music history in Newport, with Pete Seeger, Joan Baez, Arlo Guthrie and Judy Collins performing alongside The Decemberists, Neko Case, Iron & Wine, The Avett Brothers, Gillian Welch, Fleet Foxes, Mavis Staples, Ramblin’ Jack Elliot and many others.

The next weekend, August 8 and 9 from noon to 6:00PM (ET), NPR Music teams with WBGO and WBGH to live webcast and broadcast four stages from the Jazz Festival.

Saturday’s bill includes performances by Mos Def, Esperanza Spalding, the Joshua Redman Double Trio and Miguel Zenon Quartet.

On Sunday, hear from the likes of Tony Bennett, The Bad Plus with Wendy Lewis, Brian Blade and the Fellowship Band and the Dave Brubeck Quartet.

Hosting NPR Music’s coverage of the Folk Festival are Bob Boilen, host and creator of the popular show All Songs Considered and its “Live in Concert” series, and WFUV host and music director Rita Houston. Josh Jackson, WBGO special projects producer and host of The Checkout, will anchor all Jazz Festival coverage. Updated artist lists and performance schedules are at NPR Music, where there is also an archive of last year’s performances from Newport.

Buy Music, Gifts, more:

NPR on amazon.com

For music and more information, go to:

Folk at Newport

Jazz at Newport

NPR Music Official Website

Fat Possum Records is proud to announce that the Heartless Bastards have confirmed a very impressive and exciting summer 2009 touring schedule.

The band recently finished their first tour overseas and are fresh off a powerfully memorable performance at Bonnaroo as well as some dates supporting Wilco; one look at their summer tour schedule proves 2009 is undoubtedly their year.

Next up for the Austin, TX-based quartet are three of this summer’s most high profile tours supporting Jenny Lewis, The Decemberists and The Avett Brothers, as well as being invited by Andrew Bird himself to open for him at the Greek Theatre in Los Angeles and festival performances at Lollapalooza, All Points West, Outside Lands and Austin City Limits.

Buy Music:

Heartless Bastards on amazon.com

Main Bastard Erika Wennnerstrom and her fantastic new backing band (Dave Colvin on drums, Jesse Ebaugh on bass and Mark Nathan on guitar) are touring in support of the critically acclaimed ‘The Mountain’, and garnering new fans and rave reviews at a feverish pace.

After the band’s set at SXSW this year, the New York Times exclaimed, “Wennerstrom took the stage and knocked everybody down,” while Details called her an “unstoppable frontwoman.” Rolling Stone hailed, “Wennerstrom finds a softer side on her band’s third album — but still finds time to howl like a ‘nads- free Robert Plant.”

The Decemberists‘ guitarist Chris Funk said, “It’s been a few years since I’ve had a voice on repeat in my mind. This voice seems to arrive in my ears while sound checking, often before the shows on a pre-show play list and after shows too — the songs are just perfect and the band has found their spots behind this incredible woman. A unique and enduring artist arrived into our world once again.”

Heartless Bastards recently had the opportunity to record their incendiary live set for the Austin City Limits TV show, which will air nationwide later this fall.

The episode pairs them with one of their favorite bands and musical influences, Sonic Youth, and includes a special guest appearance by good friend Alex Maas of The Black Angels recreating with Wennerstrom the classic June Carter and Johnny Cash duet on Tim Hardin’s “If I Were A Carpenter.”

FREE Download: “If I Were A Carpenter” by Sweet Tea

Wennerstrom and Maas (with a little help from Colvin and Ebaugh), started a side project called Sweet Tea.

Recorded earlier this year, Sweet Tea is their unique collaborative take on classic country and Fat Possum will release the first single digitally later in July, comprising the studio version of “If I Were A Carpenter,” and the Ray Price classic “Crazy Arms.”

A collector’s, limited edition white vinyl 7″ will be made available in both band’s websites and at live shows later in the year; it will hit stores nationwide Sept. 1, 2009.

Heartless Bastards 2009 tour dates:

(Dates and information subject to change.)

7.10.09 Los Angeles, CA – The Greek Theatre w/ Andrew Bird
7.11.09 Tempe, AZ – Marquee Theatre w/ Jenny Lewis
7.31.09 Jersey City, NJ -Liberty State Park – All Points West Music & Arts Festival
8.02.09 Montreal, Quebec – Osheaga Music and Arts Festival
8.03.09 Toronto, Ontario – Kool Haus w/ the Decemberists
8.05.09 Madison, WI – Orpheum Theatre w/ the Decemberists
8.06.09 Chicago, IL – Metro w/ Decemberists (Offical Lollapalooza Aftershow)
8.07.09 Chicago, IL – Lollapalooza! Exact day and time TBD
8.08.09 Indianapolis, IN – Egyptian Room w/ the Decemberists
8.11.09 Royal Oak, MI – Royal Oak Music Theatre w/ the Decemberists
8.14.09 Pittsburg, PA – Byham Theatre w/ the Decemberists
8.15.09 Schwenksville, PA – Philadelphia Folk Festival
8.16.09 Holyoke, MA – Mountain Park w/ the Decemberists
8.25.09 Salt Lake City, UT – Red Butte Garden Amphitheatre w/ the Avett Brothers
8.26.09 Boise, ID – Knitting Factory w/ the Avett Brothers
8.28.09 Seattle, WA – Paramount Theatre w/ the Avett Brothers
8.29.09 Jacksonville, OR – Britt Fest w/ the Avett Brothers
8.30.09 San Francisco, CA – Golden Gate Park- Outside Lands Music & Arts Festival
10.03.09 Austin, TX – ACL Festival

Heartless Bastards Official Website
Heartless Bastards MySpace

On May 5, 2009, Waxploitation Artists will release ‘Causes 2′, the second album in the label’s ongoing benefit series for Darfur. 100% of the profits from the release go to Médecins Sans Frontières (Doctors Without Borders), Human Rights Watch and Oxfam America.

The video for ‘Causes 2′ can be seen on the Waxploitation YouTube channel and a Causes MySpace page has been created at www.myspace.com/causes.

The album includes rare and exclusive songs from some of the most compelling artists in the indie and alternative worlds: Black Moth Super Rainbow, The Decemberists, Devendra Banhart, Diplo, Federico Aubele, Gnarls Barkley, LCD Soundsystem, My Morning Jacket, Matthew Dear, Mum, Neon Neon, Richard Swift, RJD2, and Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings, as well as a contribution from Adult Swim’s Tim & Eric.

“It’s easy for fatigue to set in when a crisis goes on for a number of years, but no one has given up hope that things can change for the better in Darfur” says Waxploitation founder Jeff Antebi, who executive produced the album. “There are untold numbers of people committed to changing the outcome. It takes humanitarian assistance, tenacity and political will.”

‘Causes 1′ was released in 2007 to great acclaim. The album, which hit #35 on the iTunes Album Chart and reached #46 on Billboard’s Top Independent Albums chart, includes contributions from Animal Collective, The Black Keys, Bright Eyes, Death Cab for Cutie, The Cure, The Shins, Spoon and Teargas & Plateglass to name a few.

Causes 2 Tracklisting:

black moth super rainbow – happy melted city
the decemberists – after the bombs (live version)
devendra banhart – white reggae troll
diplo – wassup wassup (exclusive samim remix)
federico aubele – luna y sol
gnarls barkley – mystery man
lcd soundsystem – starry eyes original (causes exclusive)
matthew dear – when she don’t need me (causes exclusive)
mum – asleep in a hiding place
my morning jacket – highly suspicious (exclusive vhs or beta dee jays remix)
neon neon – i lust u feat. cate le bon (dj eli escobar remix)
richard swift – wastin’ m’time
rjd2 – wherever
sharon jones & dap-kings – it hurts to be alone
tim & eric – petite feet (exclusive devlin & ghostdad remix feat. sylvia gordon)

About Waxploitation Artists:

www.waxploitation.com

Waxploitation was founded over a decade ago as a home for innovative artists. Waxploitation’s roster includes Grammy Award winning artist and producer Danger Mouse, Grammy Award winning artist Gnarls Barkley, as well as innovators like Black Moth Super Rainbow, Dangerdoom, Teargas & Plateglass, Tobacco and Tweaker.

About Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF):

www.doctorswithoutborders.org

Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) is an international independent medical humanitarian organization that delivers emergency aid to people affected by armed conflict, epidemics, natural and man-made disasters, and exclusion from health care in more than 60 countries and was the recipient of the 1999 Nobel Peace Prize.

About Human Rights Watch:

www.hrw.org

Human Rights Watch is one of the world’s leading independent organizations dedicated to defending and protecting human rights. By focusing international attention where human rights are violated, it gives voice to the oppressed and hold oppressors accountable for their crimes. Its rigorous, objective investigations and strategic, targeted advocacy build intense pressure for action and raise the cost of human rights abuse. For 30 years, Human Rights Watch has worked tenaciously to lay the legal and moral groundwork for deep-rooted change and has fought to bring greater justice and security to people around the world.

About Oxfam America:

www.oxfamamerica.org

Oxfam America is an international relief and development organization that creates lasting solutions to poverty, hunger, and injustice. Together with individuals and local groups in more than 100 countries, Oxfam saves lives, helps people overcome poverty, and fights for social justice. We are an affiliate of Oxfam

Waxploitation – Causes on amazon.com

Waxploitation – Causes on amazon.co.uk

Waxploitation Official Website
Causes MySpace

Other Lives‘ self-titled, full-length debut was released on April 7th by tbd records, the ATO Records imprint that launched a year ago with the physical release of Radiohead’s ‘In Rainbows.’

Watch “E Minor” (acoustic version) video:

The album (and the EP that preceded it) was recorded in Los Angeles with producer Joey Waronker (the Eels, Lisa Germano) and engineer Darrell Thorp (Radiohead, Outkast, Beck). Released in October 2008, the EP – also self-titled – was featured for three consecutive weeks on iTunes’ “Rising Stars of Indie Rock.”

Based in the college town of Stillwater, Oklahoma, the band – Jesse Tabish (lead vocals, piano, guitar, harmonium, organ, vibes, electric harpsichord), Josh Onstott (bass, melotron, backing vocals), Jonathon Mooney (piano, violin, organ, vibes, electric harpsichord), Jenny Hsu (cello, backing vocals) and Colby Owens (drums, lap steel) – has been playing music together for the past five years in various incarnations. They began as an avant-garde instrumental group, then added vocals and eventually evolved into Other Lives.

In a recent feature, Filter hailed the band’s music as “perfect for waking up on a crisp fall Sunday or executing a heartrending breakup in the middle of the night,” going on to note: “If Other Lives was more formulaic or eager to get rich, the five-piece would be in N.Y. or L.A., gloating about impending global success. But that’s not how things are done in Stillwater, Oklahoma…”

The landscape informs their music, from the traditional folk elements to the expansive, unhurried nature of their songs. Yet Other Lives owes as much to modern-day classicists such as Jóhann Jóhannsson and Arvo Pärt and British progressive rock as it does to its folk forefathers, drawing from a rich palette that even encompasses traditional Spanish music (”Matador”).

Balancing epic grandeur with quiet restraint, the album evokes characters and civilizations hovering between life and death, majesty and melancholy, hope and despair.

“End Of The Year” is a breathtaking tightrope walk between such extremes – a lilting interplay between piano and cello gives way to more somber tones, then comes full circle six minutes in with a transcendent guitar riff over elegant orchestration and drum corps-style percussion. “Paper Cities,” featured as a KCRW “Tune Of The Day,” is a powerful indictment of nationalism, reminding us that the boundaries drawn by war are temporal, “just lines on a map,” while the cautionary “Don’t Let Them” takes to task the powers that be – and those who put them in power, namely us.

Praised by LiveDaily for its “captivating, cinematic sounds,” Other Lives was one of the noteworthy new acts performing at last fall’s CMJ Music Marathon.

The track listing for ‘Other Lives’ album is as follows:

01. E Minor
02. Don’t Let Them
03. Black Tables
04. End Of The Year
05. Speed Tape
06. Paper Cities
07. Matador
08. It Was The Night
09. How Could This Be?
10. AM Theme
11. Epic

Other Lives April/May 2009 tour dates:

(Dates and information subject to change.)

25 April – Norman Music Festival (Main Stage) w/Of Montreal,The Star Light Mints, Man Man, Black Angels, Norman, Oklahoma
28 April – Mercury Lounge New York, New York
30 April – Schuba’s Tavern (w/ Elvis Perkins) Chicago, Illinois
1 May – Memorial Union Terrace (w/ Elvis Perkins) Madison, Wisconsin
2 May – 400 Bar (w/ Elvis Perkins) Minneapolis, Minnesota
3 May – The Redstone Room (w/ Elvis Perkins) Davenport, Iowa
5 May – Jackpot Music Hall (w/ Elvis Perkins) Lawrence, Kansas
6 May – The Waiting Room (w/ Elvis Perkins) Omaha, Nebraska
8 May – Hi-Dive (w/ Elvis Perkins) Denver, Colorado
9 May – B Side Lounge (w/ Elvis Perkins) Boulder, Colorado
11 May – The Parish (w/ Elvis Perkins) Austin, Texas
12 May – Pontiac Garage at HOB (w/ Elvis Perkins) Dallas, Texas
13 May – Walters on Washington (w/ Elvis Perkins) Houston, Texas
19 May – Hollywood Palladium w/ The Decemberists Los Angeles, California
20 May – Fox Theater w/ The Decemberists Oakland, California
21 May – McDonald Theatre w/ The Decemberists Eugene, Oregon
25 May – Sasquatch! Quincy, Washington

Buy Music:

Other Lives on amazon.com

Other Lives on amazon.co.uk

Other Lives MySpace

The Decemberists have launched their ambitious new album ‘The Hazards of Love’ (Capitol Records) today March 17, 2009 with a weeklong exclusive sale of the digital album through the iTunes Store.

The Decemberists on amazon.com

The Decemberists on amazon.co.uk

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 NPR – 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.”

View the winning design, runners up on imeem.

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

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:

(Dates and information subject to change.)

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)

The Decemberists Official Website
The Decemberists MySpace

NPR Music will present a South by Southwest showcase headlined by The Decemberists at Stubbs on Wednesday, March 18, 2009, 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 the Feb. 2nd 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: NPR – 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.

The Decemberists on amazon.com

The Decemberists Official Website

NPR Music

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On March 24th, 2009, Capitol Records will release The Decemberists’ ‘The Hazards Of Love’, the follow-up to the group’s 2006 breakthrough, ‘The Crane Wife’, which NPR listeners voted their favorite album of the year.

The Decemberists on amazon.com

The Decemberists on amazon.co.uk

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 – who will be featured in a live session on NPR’s “World Café” today – have fashioned an anomaly: a record that demands to be listened to from start to finish and reveals more with each subsequent play. The 17-song suite, recorded with the band’s longtime producer, Tucker Martine, is rooted in ancient language and imagery, yet entirely modern and accessible.

Eager to share a bit of the new music with fans before street date, The Decemberists are making “The Rake’s Song” available as a free download beginning today at www.decemberists.com.

The album began when Meloy – long fascinated by the British folk revival of the 1960s – found a copy of revered vocalist Anne Briggs’s 1966 EP, titled ‘The Hazards of Love’. Since there was actually no song with the album’s title, he set out to write one. Soon he was immersed in something much larger than just a new composition.

‘The Hazards Of Love’ 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, who recounts with spine-tingling ease how he came “to be living so easy and free” in the aforementioned “The Rake’s Song.”

Lavender Diamond’s Becky Stark and My Brightest Diamond’s Shara Worden deliver the lead vocals for the female characters, while My Morning Jacket’s Jim James, Robyn Hitchcock and the Spinanes’ Rebecca Gates appear in supporting roles. The range of sounds reflects the characters’ arcs, from the accordion’s singsong lilt in “Isn’t it a Lovely Night?” to the heavy metal thunder of “The Queen’s Rebuke/The Crossing.”

“There’s an odd bond between the music of the British folk revival and classic metal,” says Meloy. “A natural connection between, like, Fairport Convention and Black Sabbath – of course, Sandy Denny from Fairport even sang with Led Zeppelin on ‘The Battle of Evermore.’ I think there’s a shared sense of narrative and ambience, of moving beyond the first person in your writing. And I thought it would be interesting to mess around with that.”

The Decemberists will tour this spring, playing ‘The Hazards Of Love’ straight through for the show’s first half and older material for the remainder. Ambitious, yes – but this is a band that doesn’t shy away from major stage productions, having performed ‘The Crane Wife’ with full orchestral accompaniment on several 2007 dates, including a stop at the historic Hollywood Bowl with the Los Angeles Philharmonic.

Upcoming tour dates will be announced shortly.

The track listing for ‘The Hazards Of Love’ is as follows:

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 Official Website
The Decemberists MySpace

The Decemberists will embark on the “Bridesmaid Revisited – Tour 2008″ shortly after an election eve performance (November 3rd) on “Late Night with Conan O’Brien“. They’re scheduled to play their single, “Valerie Plame”.

A limited number of pre-sale tickets have gone on sale to the public on a first-come, first-served basis for the Bridesmaid Revisited Tour.

General ticket on-sales begin on Saturday, September 6th, 2008, for East Coast dates and on Saturday, September 13th, for West Coast dates.

Portland-based band Loch Lomond will open on the tour. See below for itinerary; full venue and ticketing information is available at The Decemberists’ website.

Always compelling live, this time round the band’s shows will include material from its upcoming ‘Always The Bridesmaid: A Singles Series’, which will be released this fall. Volume I, comprised of “Valerie Plame” and “O New England,” is due out October 14th, 2008; Volumes II and III will follow on November 4th and December 2nd respectively.

The series will be available digitally at DSPs, released by Capitol Records, and on 12″ vinyl via The Decemberists’ own label, Y.A.B.B. Records/Jealous Butcher Records. The vinyl can be purchased at The Decemberists Shop and at select independent retail stores (go to Think Indie to find out where).

The band is presently recording its next full-length album with Tucker Martine, who produced ‘Always The Bridesmaid: A Singles Series’ and co-produced The Decemberists’ fourth full-length album, 2006’s acclaimed ‘The Crane Wife’.

Upcoming tour dates are as follows:

The Decemberists – “Bridesmaid Revisited – Tour 2008″

(Dates and information subject to change)

11/5 New York, NY Terminal 5
11/6 Boston, MA The Orpheum
11/7 Philadelphia, PA Electric Factory
11/8 Baltimore, MD Ram’s Head Live
11/9 Ithaca, NY Cornell University, Barton Hall
11/11 Montclair, NJ Wellmont Theatre
11/24 Los Angeles, CA The Wiltern
11/25 San Francisco, CA Warfield Theatre
11/29 Portland, OR Crystal Ballroom
11/30 Seattle, WA The Moore Theatre

The Decemberists on amazon.com

The Decemberists on amazon.co.uk

Photo credit: Autumn de Wilde

For more information, go to:

MySpace
The Decemberists Official Website

The Decemberists will release ‘Always The Bridesmaid: A Singles Series’ this fall.

The three volumes will be available digitally and on 12″ vinyl.

Volume 1, comprised of “Valerie Plame” and “O New England,” will be released on October 14th, 2008.

The band will give “Valerie Plame” its national television debut on “Late Night with Conan O’Brien” on November 3rd, 2008, the eve of the United States presidential election.

Written from the point-of-view of one of Plame’s inside contacts upon discovering her true identity, the song is an amorous tribute to the onetime CIA operative. The Decemberists will be playing select U.S. dates this November; details will be announced shortly.

Volume II and Volume III of ‘Always The Bridesmaid: A Singles Series’ will be released on November 4th and December 2nd respectively. (See below for track listings.)

The series will be available digitally at DSPs, released by Capitol Records, and on 12″ vinyl via The Decemberists’ own label, Y.A.B.B. Records/Jealous Butcher Records.

Fans who pre-order all three singles through the band’s website will receive a limited edition version on colored vinyl; the pre-order is at www.decemberistsshop.com. The vinyl will also be available at select independent retail stores (go to Think Indie to find out where). In the U.K., Rough Trade will release the series digitally and on 7″ vinyl.

Formed in Portland, Oregon in 2000, The Decemberists weave spellbinding tales rife with atmosphere and an infallible melodic knack. 2006’s ‘The Crane Wife’ – the band’s fourth full-length album and its first released by Capitol Records – was hailed by Pitchfork as “an enormous folk-prog monsterpiece” while The New York Times called it “one of the most accomplished albums of its kind this year.”

The band is currently in the studio working on a new full-length album with Tucker Martine, who produced ‘Always The Bridesmaid: The Singles Series’ and co-produced ‘The Crane Wife’.

Track listings for Always The Bridesmaid: A Singles Series:

Volume I. Valerie Plame / O New England
Release date: October 14, 2008

Volume II. Days of Elaine / Days of Elaine (long) and I’m Sticking With You
Release date: November 4, 2008

Volume III. Record Year / Raincoat Song
Release date: December 2, 2008

Photo Credit: Autumn de Wilde

The Decemberists on amazon.com

The Decemberists on amazon.co.uk

MySpace
The Decemberists Official Website

The rally will take place at The Bowl in Waterfront Park (at the corner of SW Columbia St. and SW Naito Pkwy., south of the Hawthorne Bridge). Doors will open at 12:30 p.m. The Decemberists’ set will be followed by a speech from Senator Obama.

The rally is free and open to the public. Tickets are not required, but an RSVP is strongly encouraged. Admission is on a first-come, first-served basis.

For additional information or to RSVP, visit Barack Obama – Portland Rally Website.

The Decemberists – comprised of Colin Meloy (lead vocals, guitar), Chris Funk (guitar and assorted instruments), Jenny Conlee (keyboards), Nate Query (bass) and John Moen (drums) – have demonstrated a remarkably sweeping command of literary and musical styles while forging an aesthetic all their own.

‘The Crane Wife’, the band’s 2006 album, was hailed by Pitchfork as “an enormous folk-prog monsterpiece.”

The Decemberists Official Website
The Decemberists Myspace