The Decemberists: iTunes Session

The Decemberists
iTunes Session
Captiol Records [2011]









Fire Note Says: Fans will dig it!

Album Review:
This mostly acoustic 8-song EP from The Decemberists was released exclusively for the iTunes Session series and overall is a nice reworked replay of the bands catalog, as it gives you 3 songs off this years The King Is Dead, 2 covers, 1 track from The Crane Wife, 1 track from The Hazards Of Love and 1 track off their first 5 Songs EP release. Now, the two covers are where this record shines as both Leonard Cohen's "Hey, That's No Way To Say Goodbye" and the more modern Fruit Bats tune, "When U Love Somebody", sound great under Colin Meloy's vocal range. The rest of this EP works out fine, although had they selected stronger tracks it would have been stellar. The iTunes Session also gets solid help from former Nickel Creek fiddle player Sara Watkins and finds The Decemberists in a very musically loose spirit, which will have fans eating this release up but overall still may not be a starting point for a new person to their party.

Key Tracks: "Hey, That's No Way To Say Goodbye", "When U Love Somebody", "Calamity Song"

Bands With Similar Fire:
The Builders And The Butchers
R.E.M.
Robyn Hitchcock

The Decemberists: The King Is Dead [Fire Note Review 1/20/11]
The Decemberists: The Hazards Of Love [Fire Note Review 3/25/09]
The Decemberists: Always The Bridesmaid - A Singles Series [Fire Note Review 11/6/08]
Colin Meloy: Colin Meloy Sings Live! [Fire Note Review 5/19/08]
The Decemberists: The Crane Wife [Fire Note Review 10/2/06]

The Decemberists Website
The Decemberists Facebook
Captiol Records

-Reviewed by Christopher Anthony