Progress...

The Decemberists Have Stolen My Soul.

After finally listening to the new Decemberists album The King is Dead I can consider myself more that just a casual fan. They're making music that is so gut-wrenchingly pure and honest I just want to die, never have I head Americana, blue grass and pseudo-blues mixed so brilliantly and yet so endearingly. The beauty of their brand of music is that is conventionally unconventional, that after the opening track you can't help but continue to listen to the album in it's entirety. The flow of the album is akin to listening to what's in the heart of the band, it has all the sensibilities of pop music without the the cliches of pop music, the beauty of bluegrass without the pretentiousness, and the soul of Americana albeit more accessibly. Never have i been sonically raped by bluegrass and loved it, the lull of the guitars, the screech of the harmonica, and the gently lullaby-like singing of Colin Meloy. The beauty in their intricate simplicity is almost enough for me to proclaim this the best album that's been released in the last few months, and possibly the best (so far) of 2011.