What if The Decemberists put out an album where nobody died?

October 17, 2014 8:45 PM

“Society Is Functioning Pretty Well (Here In The Past Where We Live)”. Shared by the band on facebook, both comment sections have (of course) extended the list far beyond the original.
posted by davey_darling (31 comments total)

Don't Carry It All, Here Let Me Help You With Those
This Is Why We Peacefully Coexist
posted by axiom at 9:27 PM on October 17, 2014 [2 favorites]

I'm just so glad that we've converted to MalloryFilter. I get Toast articles in my Tumblr feed, my Feedly feed, and here on MeFi, and yet it still doesn't feel like enough Toast.
posted by protocoach at 9:31 PM on October 17, 2014 [5 favorites]

On the Bus Mall We Waited for the MAX
The Mariner's Whalewatching Song
posted by Artnchicken at 9:34 PM on October 17, 2014 [3 favorites]

The Summer When Nobody Hung Themselves (Feat T-Pain) [Skrillex Remix]
posted by hellojed at 10:22 PM on October 17, 2014 [5 favorites]

PSH I'm already ahead of the curve. In
linked this to the person who introduced me to the Decembrists two days ago! Clearly I'm now the most hipster. Am accepting all challenges.
posted by Carillon at 10:36 PM on October 17, 2014

Gotcha beat Carillon, Jenny bought an accordion from me. Not like I'm name dropping or anything.
posted by boilermonster at 11:14 PM on October 17, 2014 [4 favorites]

The Infanta (Actually Made Friends With That Baroness and Provided Emotional Support RE: Childlessness)

How Therapy Really Helped Me Deal With My Memories About Adolescent Athletic Failures

The Ballad Of The Marigold (A Small Fishing Vessel That Never Had Any Major Incidents And Whose Catch Was Enough To Support The Family Who Ran It)

The Narrator Receives A Letter From His True Love, Who Is Safe And Lives A Few Miles to The West

When The Peace Came

Dear Avery (This Is The Only Letter I Am Sending You Because I Respect Your Boundaries and it Contains No Threats)
posted by NoraReed at 11:16 PM on October 17, 2014 [14 favorites]

Accordion Jig in 4/4
posted by Potomac Avenue at 1:11 AM on October 18, 2014 [3 favorites]

The Landlord's Daughter Just Graduated from Vassar, I Threw Her A Nice Graduation Party To Celebrate Her Accomplishments
posted by Pizzarina Sbarro at 1:24 AM on October 18, 2014 [2 favorites]

> “Everyone In This Mining Camp Respects One Another’s Boundaries”

Seriously, I would be happy with a malloryortberg.metafilter.com subsite plugged directly into her rss feed.
posted by kandinski at 2:15 AM on October 18, 2014 [3 favorites]

I'm Returning Your Bike Unharmed and I Even Put Air in The Tyres
posted by qldaddy at 3:17 AM on October 18, 2014 [7 favorites]

I love the Decemberists' subject matter, but I just can't get into their sound, musically speaking. Why can't they be folkier and more acoustic?

(Basically I want the Decemberists covered by the Chad Mitchell Trio.)
posted by Faint of Butt at 4:10 AM on October 18, 2014

I love the Decemberists' subject matter, but I just can't get into their sound, musically speaking. Why can't they be folkier and more acoustic?

I think the surprising combination of the subject matter and rock (specifically as opposed to folk) music is a large part of the appeal. It is for me, anyway.
posted by eugenen at 4:52 AM on October 18, 2014 [1 favorite]

I loved the first Decemberists EP and album, but once they really committed to their TMBG-meets-Hawkwind sound, I lost interest.
posted by pxe2000 at 5:05 AM on October 18, 2014 [3 favorites]

I love the Decemberists' subject matter, but I just can't get into their sound, musically speaking. Why can't they be folkier and more acoustic?

Give their debut album, Castaways and Cutouts a listen, because it is precisely this (and it is perhaps my favorite of theirs for that very reason.
posted by rorgy at 7:12 AM on October 18, 2014

We Went Shopping at Pioneer Place and Did Not See Any Homelessness Thanks to Rigorous Enforcement of the Sit-Lie Law.
posted by Skwirl at 7:48 AM on October 18, 2014 [1 favorite]

I actually like Tarkio a lot (pre-Decemberists Colin Meloy band) precisely because they tone down the Doom and Gloom and Steampunking to a dull whistle.
posted by Potomac Avenue at 8:16 AM on October 18, 2014 [2 favorites]

So I've never delved into The Decemberists beyond a song or two, but this is a great example of satire that tells me I need to explore the original, like now.
posted by Celsius1414 at 8:39 AM on October 18, 2014

"...the Decemberists craft theatrical, hyper-literate pop songs that draw heavily from late-'60s British folk acts like Fairport Convention and Pentangle and the early-'80s college rock grandeur of the Waterboys and R.E.M."

/click
posted by Celsius1414 at 8:40 AM on October 18, 2014

Count me in as liking the less folky approach to folk subject matter cause if I want to hear sad wails about a lady who fell into a well and that well was in a mine fire, that a train crashed into, a ghost train - I have literally all of traditional folk music to look to.
posted by The Whelk at 8:50 AM on October 18, 2014 [5 favorites]

I can see why they posted it because it's like the Decemberists' own approach to their own work. (Also, bad FB for not showing this post to me. I had a band actually tell me to sign up for their mailing list recently because of the way FB is handling band posts.)
posted by immlass at 9:56 AM on October 18, 2014

I woke up yesterday to find out that Frank Turner had performed a free show on Thursday night here in Chicago that he announced at the last minute on Facebook. FB didn't think it was important to show this to me until Friday morning. This approach is maddening. I told you I like this thing; show it to me.
posted by protocoach at 10:02 AM on October 18, 2014

Clearly I'm now the most hipster. Am accepting all challenges.

One time I walked a few blocks on SE Hawthorne within a few yards of Colin Meloy, and never acknowledged him.
posted by Danf at 10:13 AM on October 18, 2014 [1 favorite]

I laughed until I cried at the original toast article, and allllllmost posted it to mefi but didn't because I was worried that the Ortberg Concentration was nearing disagreeable levels. I should have known better.

My brother is in an indie band, I should tell him that I will give him a dollar if he writes a song called "Everyone In This Mining Camp Respects Each Other's Boundaries."
posted by KathrynT at 1:28 PM on October 18, 2014

I love the way the Decemberists are basically "Steeleye Span for people who like the idea of traditional folk material more than the reality". They're kind of like Goth in that way, only with Melodramatic Victoriana instead of Edgar Allan Poe.
posted by Harvey Kilobit at 2:52 PM on October 18, 2014

Tell the tale of the Jewess and the Mandarin Chinese Boy
They learned a lot that summer about other cultures
and appreciating what's unique about others
while also finding joy in the things that make us all the same
posted by bleep at 3:23 PM on October 18, 2014 [5 favorites]

Down By The Water I Referenced Bruce Springsteen and R.E.M But Made It So The Teenagers Used Birth Control And Also Stayed In Love With Each Other

We're Just Singing To Our Dad Who Is Raising Us On His Own And Didn't Murder Us Or Anything
posted by pernoctalian at 6:16 PM on October 18, 2014 [2 favorites]

Nice reference to the [16] Military Wives in the comments on the Toast article.
posted by Pink Frost at 1:37 AM on October 19, 2014

We Both Have A Nice, Healthy Relationship Across Socioeconomic Lines And No One Gets Raped, Together.
posted by chainsofreedom at 6:27 PM on October 19, 2014

Everything I Try to Do Turns Out Pretty OK

Eli, the Barrow Boy Who is Alive and Making a Decent Profit as an Entrepreneur

The Sporting Life Isn't Really My Thing and My Father Respects That
posted by Solon and Thanks at 1:03 PM on October 20, 2014

My Name is Leslie Ann Levine
My mother birthed me down a dry ravine
My mother birthed me far too soon
Paramedics arrived quickly and socialized health care saved both of our lives
posted by bleep at 3:23 PM on October 20, 2014