Picaresque
| Picaresque | ||||
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| Studio album by The Decemberists | ||||
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Publication |
March 22, 2005 |
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admission |
August - September 2004 |
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| Label (s) | Kill rock stars | |||
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Format (s) |
CD, LP |
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Title (number) |
11 |
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running time |
Picaresque : 53 min 7 sec |
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| occupation |
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The Decemberists, Christopher Walla |
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Studio (s) |
Prescott Church, Portland , Oregon and Hall of Justice, Seattle , Washington |
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Picaresque is the third studio album by the American folk rock band The Decemberists . It was released on March 22, 2005 in the United States on the Kill Rock Stars label and produced by Christopher Walla ( Death Cab for Cutie ).
The word "Picaresque" ( picaresque novel ) describes a Spanish satirical prose that realistically and often humorously depicts the story of a villainous hero.
The double vinyl version was released with an EP , the final release by The Decemberists on Kill Rock Stars. The name of the EP is Picaresqueties . In the UK on the label Rough Trade Records there was only a single vinyl version without an EP.
At the beginning of the sixth episode of the second season ( Maidenform ) of the US series Mad Men , a fast version of the song The Infanta was played.
The online magazine Pitchfork chose Picaresque at number 143 of the best albums of the 2000s.
Track list
- The Infanta - 5:07
- We Both Go Down Together - 3:04
- Eli, the Barrow Boy - 3:11
- The Sporting Life - 4:38
- The Bagman's Gambit - 7:02
- From My Own True Love (Lost at Sea) - 3:42
- Sixteen Military Wives - 4:52
- The Engine Driver - 4:15
- The Mariner's Revenge Song - 8:45 am
- Of Angels and Angles - 2:27
Picaresqueties playlist
- Bandit Queen (with Dialogue and Tap Dancing) - 4:26
- Bridges & Balloons ( Joanna Newsom Cover) - 3:19
- Constantinople - 3:42
- Kingdom of Spain (Prescott version) - 3:48
- Bandit Queen (Prescott version) - 4:34
Sixteen Military Wives
Songwriter Colin Meloy described Sixteen Military Wives as a protest song inspired by the Iraq war . Although the song attacks some elements of US foreign policy under George W. Bush (in the refrain: "Because America can / And America can't say no / And America does / If America says it's so / It's so"), it focuses Song mainly based on criticism of the news media, particularly infotainment and the superficial involvement of stars in public affairs.
Music video
The music video for Sixteen Military Wives was filmed at Cleveland High School in Portland, Oregon and is set at the fictional "Barger Rothery Academy". Colin Meloy embodies Henry Stowecroft, a student who represents the United States in the school's Model United Nations . Jude (Nate Query), another student, tries to outbid him at every opportunity. Henry Stowecroft intimidates Carl (Chris Funk), another classmate, with a harassment campaign. The US declares war on Luxembourg , the country that Carl represents. Henry causes his lackeys to keep Carl from going to the toilet. In addition, Carl is thrown with paper balls, he is no longer given any food in the canteen and contraband is hidden in his locker. Molly (Jenny Conlee) leads a revolt against Henry by convincing the other members of the Model UN to sing a protest song during a meeting. The beaten Henry escapes from the meeting and the video ends with him being spilled by balls of paper that his classmates threw at him. Henry's idea of tyrannizing a smaller country as the USA is reflected in the lyrics.
The video was the first to be officially distributed via BitTorrent . It was co-produced by Nick Harmer ( Death Cab for Cutie ), who also has a cameo . The album producer Chris Walla, John Roderick from The Long Winters and Carson Ellis (Meloy's wife) can also be seen in other roles .
Directed by Aaron Stewart-Ahn, who also wrote the music video for the song O Valencia! turned. The video is stylistically based on Wes Anderson's films, especially Rushmore . The renowned private school and similar school uniforms were borrowed from this film. In addition, a model UN can be seen in one scene of the film. Henry's haircut in the video is very similar to Max Fischer's in Rushmore .
The Mariner's Revenge Song
action
The song begins with the narrator, one of two survivors in the stomach of a whale , who tells his companion how he knows him.
When the narrator was three years old, his widowed mother fell in love with a dock worker who was initially charming, but later turned out to be a gambler and riot. When he disappeared from one day to the next, he left behind only his gambling debts and the sick mother. The magistrate confiscated their property to pay for the debt. When the mother died a little later, she left the boy as an orphan. On her deathbed, she asked him to avenge her death, which acts as the chorus of the song:
“Find him, bind him, tie him to a pole and break his fingers to splinters. Drag him to a hole until he wakes up, naked, clawing at the ceiling of his grave. "
“Find him, tie him up, tie him to a pole, and split his fingers. Pull him into a hole until he wakes up, naked, scratching the ceiling of his grave. "
Fifteen years later, the narrator heard about a whaling captain who fits the porter's description. The next day he hired a privateer to find him. After 20 months at sea, they found the whaling ship, but it was attacked by a giant whale before they could board. Except for the narrator and the former dock worker, the entire ship's crew died.
The narrator explains to the man that it is providential that only they survived. He should also listen carefully, as that is probably the last thing he will hear. At the end of the lyrics, the melody that runs during the chorus begins to play at an increasingly faster pace, suggesting that the narrator is carrying out his mother's will to kill the man.
Demonstration at concerts
The Mariner's Revenge Song is one of The Decemberists' favorite songs at live concerts. Until 2006, the song was played at every concert until the band decided to "give it a break". Since the "Twilight in the Fearful Forest Tour 2007" it has been performed more regularly.
When the song is played live at a concert, various instruments are used: mandolin (Chris Funk), double bass (Nate Query), guitar (and vocals Colin Meloy), floor tom (John Moen) and accordion (Jenny Conlee). Usually the band brings a paper mache whale jaw and as the whale attacks the ship, urges viewers to scream as if they are being swallowed by a whale.
admission
The song was recorded in one piece with just one microphone. The various band members had to step back and forth to control the volume of their instruments. Rachel Blumberg had to sit further away because of the volume of her drums .
Of Angels and Angles
The song title is an allusion of the phrase " Non Angli, sed Angeli " (" not fishing , but angel "). Pope Gregory the Great is said to have given this Latin joke in response to the question of who the blond children were in the marketplace.
Alternatively, the name can come from Saul Alinsky , who writes in his book Rules for Radicals :
"... is a world not of angels, but of angles where men speak of moral principles but act on power principles."
"... is a world not of angels, but perspectives from which men speak of moral principles, but act according to principles of power."
Of Angels and Angles is the only song on the album with only Colin Meloy singing and playing guitar.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Staff Lists: The Top 200 Albums of the 2000s: 150-101. Pitchfork, September 29, 2009, accessed December 1, 2009 .
- ↑ The Decemberists "16 Military Wives". Kill Rock Stars on YouTube, June 5, 2006, accessed December 17, 2009 .
- ↑ Katie Dean: Rockers Flex Bit Torrent's Muscle. Wired, March 23, 2005, accessed September 9, 2016 .
Web links
- Picaresque on MusicBrainz
- Reviews in Metacritic (English)