The Hazards of Love
is driving me bonkers. In order to fully enjoy it, I really need to
know what the crap is going on in the story and who’s doing what, and I
still haven’t gotten around to reading the liner notes, fearing that
perhaps it won’t actually clear anything up. But it is pretty epic, I
give you that. The Tain was like a simple version of it, a solid,
ancient story told in about 5 chapters. This is like an epic novel with
Tolkien-esque adjective strains expressed in music (and often words)
and a complex storyline that is probably easily understood once you
actually sit down and listen to it. So let me clear this up: this is
not a casual listening album. I repeat: This is NOT a casual listening
album! The Crane wife was like episodes of a storyline, interspersed
with other stories; Each song stood on its own fairly well. But this
one…the couple songs that they released by themselves (The Hazards of
Love and The Rake Song) are about the only ones that truly hold their
own once separated from the narrative. So far, the rest seem pretty
intertwined (even though they are separate tracks.) I might change my
mind on this later, but at the moment it’s pretty much an Opera of
sorts, and when listening to an Opera, you’re just not likely to crave
a reprise. This is not one of those albums that is going to have much
airplay, sadly, but that explains the release of their very radio-ready
singles earlier this year and late last year. You Decemberists are
smart cookies/marketing geniuses! I knew there was a reason I loved
you! But anyway.
The use of the two Diamond girls was an interesting choice, but not
unexpected. I'm not used to so much female vocal in my Decemberists
albums, but I can get used to it in this situation, especially since
the "play" that is The Hazards of Love calls for it. I've seen them
both live (their respective bands, My Brightest Diamond and Lavender
Diamond, opened for the band on two occasions) and they play Margaret
and the Queen distinctly and beautifully.
One thing I really
noticed with this album is electric guitar, which in previous Dec'ist
fare played little part, only truly introduced in full in The Tain and
the Crane Wife. Here, the electric guitars are a poignant and sturdy
backbone, yet never so harsh as to be out of place or out of time
period, strangely enough. They are the sharp pen and ink lines that are
filled with the softer colour of voices---except the Queen, whose part
is never understated. She
is somehow the electric guitars, just like in Peter and the Wolf, the cat
is
the clarinet. You can feel who she is and what she is by the music that
surrounds her and the way that she sings it...a musical done right, if
you ask me. All in all, this is perhaps the the piece de resistance for
Colin and the band's already luminous career. I'm not sure how they
will top it, but I have little doubt that they will---they always do.
Now I just need to figure out what the heck this album is about, and
everything thing will be on the up and up....
And that's what doesn't suck!
On more Decemberists-related news, I’m also
excited to see Carson Ellis (lead singer Colin Meloy’s GF and in-house
band art Illustrator) grow in her illustration popularity. It seems she
will be illustrating the newest Lemony Snicket book,
The Composer is Dead, along with
The Mysterious Benedict Society
(a series that runs in the vein of Lemony Snicket, but in this writer’s
humble opinion, not on quite the same entertainment level.) Of course,
I simply ADORE Brett Helquest, the original illustrator of A Series of
Unfortunate Events, but I’m rather excited about the exposure this is
going to give Carson (I emailed her once…I still have her reply!
*fangirl’d*) I admit that I have a tendency to rather snatch up books
when Carson’s on the cover, whether the book is good or not. So much
for judging a book….
And that's all I got. It's late.
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