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Picaresque | 
| Artist: The Decemberists
Label: Kill Rock Stars
Category: Music
List Price: $16.98
Buy New: $11.49
You Save: $5.49 (32%)
New (39) Used (16) from $8.29
Avg. Customer Rating:  105 reviews
Sales Rank: 4989
Media: Audio CD
Discs: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2
Dimensions (in): 5.6 x 5 x 0.5
MPN: 60425
UPC: 759656042529
EAN: 0759656042529
ASIN: B0007M22S4
Release Date: March 22, 2005
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Shipping: Expedited shipping available
Shipping: International shipping available
Condition: Brand new, factory sealed. Fast shipping!
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| Tracks:
| • | The Infanta | | • | We Both Go Down Together | | • | Eli, The Barrow Boy | | • | The Sporting Life | | • | The Bagman's Gambit | | • | From My Own True Love (Lost At Sea) | | • | Sixteen Military Wives | | • | The Engine Driver | | • | On The Bus Mall | | • | The Mariner's Revenge Song | | • | Of Angels And Angles |
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| Editorial Reviews:
Amazon.com
Picaresque is yet more proof that the Decemberists' Colin Meloy is the songwriter who loves love—especially when it ends in death, ("We Both Go Down Together," "Of Angels and Angles"), disease ("The Mariner's Revenge Song") or in some other tragic way. This CD spends some time in the band's familiar old Europe setting, although Meloy also touches on politics, espionage, and even soccer. (Proving he knows his fan base, Meloy's "The Sporting Life," is the perfect shout-out to the kids who preferred the library to the gym.) Long-time fans will know what to expect from this album, which compares favorably to the other LPs on their catalog, and with Death Cab for Cutie's Chris Walla on board as producer, the band seems poised to reach the greater audience they deserve. If you're not already a listener, don't wait another second to become one. With their remarkable vocabulary and bawdy-yet-literary imagery, the Decemberists are guaranteed to make you smarter even as they make you weep. Pop this in your CD player, grab a dictionary, rock and learn.--Leah Weathersby
Album Description
In the past two years, The Decemberists have gone from unknowns outside their native Portland to success via critical praise, impressive sales, and packed houses. This is their fullest sounding release yet. They blaze through more instrumental variations than can be listed here, for a heightened urgency and depth to the sharply written lyrical scenarios.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 100 more reviews...
An "A" Effort by the Teacher's Pets of Indie Rock (* * * * 1/2) September 7, 2008
Rogue's Progress: The Picaresque Experience.
That was the name of a Humanities class that was offered when I was in college. I did not plan to take the class, but I had to know what the word Picaresque meant. So I looked it up and found out.
Almost a decade later, it came rushing back into my consciousness when an album with that word as the title was released. At that point, I hadn't really listened to the band that recorded it. Given what I knew about them, however, the title made perfect sense. I instinctively knew that if there were any band that can depict the adventures of the common and not-so common people who embodied the picaresque experience, it was The Decemberists.
Her Majesty, The Decemberists' second album, set the bar quite high for what one was to expect from this Portland (OR)-based band. Picaresque, which improves upon that excellent previous album, features eleven shining examples of Colin Meloy's intoxicating storytelling, including the two requisite 7-minute plus epics and some vibrant pop songs. Several of the tracks sound like tales from a dusty old anthology that his grandfather read to him as a child.
That is not to say that all of the songs are set in some remote and bygone era. Meloy succeeds magnificently in setting his songs in the pre-industrial European past and in the American present, at sea or on the soccer field. The world is Meloy's canvas.
As expected, and hoped for, Meloy includes a few sea-faring tunes on Picaresque. The sparse and melancholy "From My Own True Love (Lost At Sea)" puts a nautical, rain-swept twist on a classic Motown lyric. This song has a maritime counterpart in the album's showstopper, "The Mariner's Revenge Song". This is probably the most ambitious and fully-realized of Meloy's longer pieces. It covers over 15 years in the life of a young man who swears vengeance on the man whom he blames for bringing about his widowed mother's untimely demise. With the help of his mother's ghostly guidance, he will learn that revenge is both sweet and best served cold. The song is the work of a virtuoso storyteller-cum-songwriter. If you don't like it, then you have no business listening to The Decemberists.
Meloy's trademark vignettes also make a couple of appearances. "The Infanta" starts off the album at a thundering pace, probably not unlike that of the "five score pachyderm" mentioned in the second verse of the song. This song is another example of Meloy at his most masterful, with plenty of $10 words, clever use of alliteration, and picturesque images. "Eli, the Barrow Boy" tells of an ill-fated, corduroy-clad seller of "coal and marigold" who, like Sisyphus, is doomed to eternally push his wheelbarrow into the afterlife. While this song is the opposite of "The Infanta" tempo-wise, I can imagine Ian Anderson singing either of them, whether alone and reserved on acoustic guitar or with shaggy-haired, wild-eyed overkill. (Anyone to whom that sounds like less than a compliment simply isn't aware that Jethro Tull was a pretty darn good band.)
"Eli, the Barrow Boy" is followed by "The Sporting Life". On this song, the mood and tempo of the album completely change. Musically, it sounds like a cross between Iggy Pop's "Lust for Life" and "This Charming Man" by The Smiths. Lyrically, it is told from the point of view of an injured young athlete who lies helplessly on the playing field. His embarrassed coach, father, and girlfriend "condescend to fix on me a frown", all apparently unconcerned about his well-being. This song is unique to the Decemberists catalog, as it is set in present day American suburbia.
However, it is not the only song on Picaresque that takes place in modern or contemporary America. As he had on the previous two efforts, Meloy rolls out his first epic in the middle of the album. "The Bagman's Gambit" is a slow-tempo story of love and espionage. Its mention of documents, microfilm, and Petrograd give it a paranoid Cold War-drama flavor, as does its dramatic climax and cryptic denouement.
"16 Military Wives" is Meloy's most unapologetically political song. He surely speaks for many Bush haters when he says, "And America can, and America can't say no/And America does, if America says it's so/It's so". Finally, "On the Bus Mall" is an endearing, sweetly-sung story of two "kings among runaways", both of whom "learned quick to make a fast buck/In bathrooms and barrooms." Eventually - for the better, it would seem - they "laughed off the quick tricks/The old men with limp d---s".
The remaining songs include the late-80s R.E.M.-ish "We Both Go Down Together" to the gentle, very Shins-y closer, "Of Angels and Angels". One can almost imagine the latter song playing while a janitor sweeps up after a staged performance of its predecessor, "The Mariner's Revenge Song". "The Engine Driver" is the only song about which I can muster any sort of complaint. It is a lovely song, but Meloy gets a bit too formulaic by simply replacing "engine driver" with some other profession in each verse. (A similar complaint could be levied at "Here I Dreamt I Was An Architect" from their first album, and "Red Right Ankle" from Her Majesty.)
It is unlikely that The Decemberists will ever be as cool as a band like Arcade Fire. However, they will always have a group of fans who are interested in the more literary possibilities of rock music. That is not to say that these same fans won't also appreciate power pop, punk, and brooding alternative. But these - more pure, some would argue - forms of popular music will never quite satisfy those who occasionally like to think about and be challenged by what they listen to. (And what's wrong with learning a few new vocabulary words in the process?) Those to whom such a prospect is appealing will find much to savor on the albums and EPs of The Decemberists, and more on Picaresque than any of their previous releases.
my first in-depth introduction to this band... June 30, 2008
i figured it was time to buy a decemberists album, after liking a few songs whenever friends played them for me, and after listening to the 5 songs that repeat on the band's myspace page. i picked this one because it was cheap (used) on amazon. i dig it. there are a few boring songs, but the good ones are REALLY GOOD.
 good album but the negative reviews are great February 25, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Although I like this band quite a bit (esp. 'The Tain' and 'Crane Wife') I find the rabid fans to be frequently over the top in their praise of the Decemberists. I fully understand the naysayers' complaints that Meloy's voice is annoying and probably even contrived. I still cringe at times and wonder why in the world he decided on the enunciating and phrasing tactics that he utilizes. I'm generally willing to overlook that, however, because I do appreciate their use of colorful and unconventional instrumentation. To claim, as some have, that the Decemberists are poor performers is simply irrational, forwarded by those who are probably bitter that their favorite acts haven't reached the acceptance level of these nerds. Maybe that's it! They are bothered by the fact that nerds can be cool. Yeah, their verbosity and pseudo-romanticism can get tiring but to discredit them because of the words they sing is giving way too much credence to the repeated, banal lyrics that have polluted pop music for decades and have catapulted lesser acts to super stardom. To slap the 'derivative!' label on them is also missing the point. There's nothing particularly wrong with being derivative. That's just an inflammatory term used only when trying to discredit an artist. What's wrong with having influences and showcasing them in one's art? Elvis, the Beatles, Zeppelin, Springsteen, Nirvana and Muse are all derivative in one way or another. Is that such a bad thing? In fact precious few acts are truly original. And The Decemberists are insignificant specks when compared the true giants in pop music. I've read some claim they are Tull, Fairport and Steeleye Span ripoffs. If that were the case I'd probably like them even more. Truth is they have nothing in common with those forerunners and those who say otherwise have very little understanding of those other bands' bodies of work. They're merely trying to make a cheap point hoping that they won't be called on it. Actually I'm amused by both the lovers and haters of this band. They are both full of hyperbole and partially thought out point/counterpoint.
 Masterful musicianship and superb storytelling February 22, 2008
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
I've noticed something during my recent musical explorations; a lot of CDs contain a bunch of songs that all sound alike. They have the same tempo, the same over-produced sound, with no song that jumps out of the pack. I complained about this to a friend and he suggested that I try the Decemberists. I borrowed a copy of "Picaresque" and gave it a shot.
The first thing I did was look up the meaning of "picaresque". According to Merriam Webster Online, "picaresque" means: "of or relating to rogues or rascals; also : of, relating to, suggesting, or being a type of fiction dealing with the episodic adventures of a usually roguish protagonist."
Interesting. I was looking forward to listening to the CD.
I have to admit, the first listen didn't impress me (but maybe I just wasn't paying enough attention). Then I reached track 10, "The Mariner's Revenge Song". The song with its unique folksy sound grabbed me by the throat - especially the part where the mother sings her dying words. Yikes. I probably listened to the song a dozen times in a row. This song by itself was the gem that justified purchase of the CD.
I always listen to new CDs at least twice to give the music a chance. On my second run through "Picaresque", two more songs jumped out at me: "We Both Go Down Together" and "Eli, the Barrow Boy". Suddenly, I had three gems on this CD. On a third listen, "16 Military Wives" and "From My Own True Love (Lost at Sea)" stuck their heads out. I was up to five gems.
This is a fantastic album. Talent oozes from every song. The music is theatrical and dramatic. The lyrics are complex, but interesting. Plus, the songs are hummable.
Each song on "Picaresque" tells a story and most of them deal with death. I usually don't like depressing music but the Decemberists make it, well, interesting because each song is formatted as a story, a myth, a tale.
"We Both Go Down Together" deals with the double suicide of star-crossed lovers. For me, this is the most emotional song on the album. I hate to admit it but, during the last few times I've listened to it, I've gotten a little misty during the last verse. I think this is probably my favorite song from "Picaresque".
"Eli, the Barrow Boy" tells the story of a boy who sells coal, marigolds and other miscellaneous items from his wheelbarrow. He laments the loss of his love, and commits suicide. However, on moonlit evenings, he is still seen pushing his barrow and calling out to his love.
"The Mariner's Revenge Song" is a 9 minute epic that tells the story of a young boy whose mother is wronged by a sailor. She dies of consumption but before she dies, she makes her son pledge to exact revenge. The boy spends his life pursuing the sailor and the two end up in the belly of a whale. Great stuff.
The rest of the songs are good too and I'm sure others will have their own favorites. This is a great album and I highly recommend it.
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Michael Mihalik is the author of Debt is Slavery: and 9 Other Things I Wish My Dad Had Taught Me About Money. Learn how to gain control of your finances, pay off your debt, and create financial security!
Can a great song make a great record? July 18, 2007
Perhaps it's just my residual jubilation from having seen the Decemberists in Central Park just two nights ago, but I have become addicted to the Mariner's Revenge Song. It is perfect - unique, image-laden, funny, ironic, and fun.
The group concluded their quite long encore with the Mariner's Revenge Song at the show. It became clear that each member of the Decemberists loves this music. For other groups, use of Dickensian imagery might be corny, but somehow it works, even shines.
So, yes - buy the album just for this song. But the rest of the LP is great as well.
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