This week you'll see some reviews of much talked about recent releases by groups like The Decemberists, Beirut and U2. I'm probably going to get some spitfire emails, but just trying to keep it real (one person's opinion). Let's start off with a band that was a favorite of mine for years.

Then, not so long ago, The Decemberists 'crossed over' and signed with a major label - Capitol Records. That was a bit hard to take for a band that helped boost the popularity of true indie labels. Anyways, my fear that their music would change has come true, and not in the best way.

And so what is the freaking hype for? First off, I have been a huge Decemberists' fan since first hearing The Crane Wife. After hearing that record, I immediately bought everything they ever released - and I was hooked man. The upcoming release of The Hazards of Love marks a new direction for the band that personally I am not a fan of.

There are really only a handful of songs on Hazards that are keepers for me, among them "The Rake Song" and "The Wanting Comes in Waves". I am more inclined to go back and listen to their merchant sailing songs and bucolic ballads from bygone days.

The NPR music dudes from All Songs Considered recently "bet" after The Decemberists' SXSW show last week in Austin that Hazards will be the best album of 2009.

What?! First of all guys, it's only freaking March. Secondly, I've heard dozens of better albums so far this year from bands few have heard of. Sometimes NPR irks me. For the last few years, NPR's musical staff druels over a handful of bands and commonly declare, prematurely notwithstanding, the contenders for 'best albums of the year', and eagerly enough, the sure-fire, got-to-be, hands down winner - with an entire freaking nine months in the year left.

Please guys. Time for a reality check at NPR music. If you don't believe me, dig through the IRC archives for this year and check out some of the other albums on the list to the right of this page; I promise there are better albums in that list than The Hazards of Love.

Next up in "Just OK" New Releases: Beirut and U2

Labels: 2009 Indie Rock Albums, Beirut, New Releases, The Decemberists, U2

Ben Kweller's new album is creating plenty of buzz even as the new resident of Austin adds country to his repertoire; indeed, changing horses.

On his blog, Kweller says about his newest album: "People are asking me, ‘why did you wake up and decide to make a country album?' To them I say, ‘I didn't. It's been in me the whole time, I just never put it on tape.'"

Also, the new album from Bishop Allen simply titled Grrr is receiving wide praise. The anticipation keeps building in lieu of the release of the new Decemberists' album Hazards of Love, due out at the end of March.

"Things That I Like To Do" - Ben Kweller from Changing Horses

- Buy the album from Ben's website
- Ben Kweller's MySpace page
- Download other Ben MP3s

"Dimmer" - Bishop Allen from Grrr...

"The Rake Song" - The Decemberists from upcoming release The Hazards of Love

Labels: 2009 Indie Rock Albums, Ben Kweller, Bishop Allen, The Decemberists

Colin Meloy and The Decemberists, satisfying a craving of fans for some sounds from the upcoming release of their new album, The Hazards of Love, have made the track "A Rake Song" available as a free download.

To get the song, just go to the band's official website and provide a valid email address. You will be emailed a link to download the song.

The album is scheduled for release on March 24.

Die-hard fans can follow Colin on Twitter.

Labels: Colin Meloy, New Releases, The Decemberists

After the much publicized "green-screen challenge" with Stephen Colbert of Comedy Central, we are happy to say it has been put to rest. Or has it?

Regardless, The Decemberists gained a lot of new fans from the Colbert Nation show who are probably to see them live.

IRC has obtained the quirky indie pop group's most updated concert dates (listed below) to support their latest album, The Crane Wife.

The gig-packed tour begins March 21 in New Jersey with My Brightest Diamond opening the show. Many of the venues are small, which is reportedly what the band members prefer. (Now there's some real independent thinking). The group will tour through early May.

Decemberists' Tour Dates:

03/21 - Jersey City, NJ - Loews Theater
03/22 - Jersey City, NJ - Loews Theater
03/23 - Boston, MA - Avalon
03/24 - Boston, MA - Avalon
03/26 - North Bethesda, MD - Strathmore Music Center
03/27 - Upper Darby, PA - Tower Theater
03/29 - Wellesley, MA - Wellesley College (students only)
03/30 - Buffalo, NY - Center for the Arts
03/31 - Grantham, PA - Messiah College
04/01 - Norfolk, VA - The Norva
04/02 - Raleigh, NC - Meymendi Concert Hall
04/04 - Knoxville, TN - Tennessee Theater
04/05 - Nashville, TN City Hall
04/06 - Atlanta, GA – Tabernacle*
04/08 - Orlando, FL - Hard Rock Live
04/09 - Tallahassee, FL - The Moon
04/10 - Birmingham, AL - Alabama Theater
04/11 - Memphis, TN - New Daisy Theater
04/13 - Louisville, KY - Brown Theater
04/14 - St. Louis, MO - The Pageant
04/15 - Champaign, IL - Foellinger Auditorium (University Of Illinois)
04/16 - Milwaukee, WI - Pabst Theater
04/18 - Chicago, IL - Riviera Theater
04/19 - Chicago, IL - Riviera Theater
04/20 - Madison, WI - Orpheum Theater
04/21 - Kansas City, MO - Uptown Theater
04/22 - Denver, CO - Fillmore Auditorium
04/25 - San Francisco, CA - Warfield Theater
04/26 - San Francisco, CA - Warfield Theater
05/03 - Eugene, OR - McDonald Theater
05/04 - Seattle, WA - Paramount Theater
05/05 - Bellingham, WA - Western Washington University

Related Links:

The Decemberists - Official Website
The Decemberists and Stephen Colbert - Green-Screen Challenge
The Final Video - "O Valencia"

Labels: The Decemberists

Who really "won" last night in the month-long green screen challenge between a wacky news anchor and an indie rock guitarist? (IRC was first to report it on the web).

Thursday night's The Colbert Report showcased a mismatched parade of VIPs including a creaky, almost freaky, gala of old rockers, like Peter Frampton, former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger (umm, ok), a new rock star (Chris Funk, the guitarist), and not to be forgotten, of course, the energetic, ever ego-tripping, flag-waving prankster Stephen Colbert.

Morley Saffer of 60 Minutes kicked-off the show with an opening that probably spooked some folks that it might be Sunday evening.The Apples in Stereo aslo dedicated a song Colbert called "A Bullet" and the "Shred Down" master himself rocked out with Frampton.

But take a look at this video. Did Colbert even really play the guitar? If not, Funk won and he should counter-challenge again (all in the matter of comedy, or is it somthing more?)


When The Decemberists launched their green-screen challenge to encourage animation fans to complete their music video "O Valencia", it was right here at IRC that the question was posed – were The Decemberists stealing Colbert’s idea?

During the late summer, Colbert had challenged his viewers to send in their repurposed video of Colbert swinging around a Star Wars laser against a green-screen back drop.

The final video was played on The Colbert Report but it, well, sucked.

IRC First to Raise Colbert vs. Decemberists Controversy

Shortly afterwards, The Decemberists announced their own green-screen challenge encouraging viewers to complete their "O Valencia" video, it was the Indie Rock Cafe that first blogged the similarity to Colbert's contest.

The following day, Pitchfork Media reported the unmistakable likeness of Colbert’s challenge to The Decemberists' contest, and never gave IRC credit.

A night or two after Pitchfork "broke the story", Colbert opened his show with a bitch-slap of The Decemberists for "stealing his idea" and presented a number of challenges in retaliation, including encouraging his audience to mess up The Decemberists video by flooding the group with repurposed video of "O Valencia" containing video of Colbert swinging around a Star Wars laser. Then The Decemberists counter-challenged which culminated in to last night's widely-viewed "Shread Down".

While it’s no surprise that Colbert claimed victory last night, it's clear that The Decemberists' guitarist Chris Funk stole the show with a blistering, Jimi Hendrix-style guitar solo.

Now, we ask: Is it the end of the green-screen challenge for Colbert and The Decemberists, or the beginning of a blog-off challenge between the overly verbose Pitchfork Media and IRC.

The Indie Playlist Challenge for Pitchfork Media

IRC is completely ready to have a blog-off with Pitchfork Media to settle the score. But what would the challenge be? How about a Top 10 List of rare indie songs that few people have ever heard of?

How the Contest Would Work

The way it would work is we would post our indie playlist on our websites with the ability to easily listen to or download the songs. Then, let our loyal indie rock fans choose from the two playlists and see which one gets more votes.

The Top 10 list can be published in a number of formats, including MP3 samples and downloads, music streams or an Indie Podcast.

Finally, please use the Comments section below (no registeration required and anonymous postings allowed) or email Pitchfork. Not only will the contest be interesting and fun, it'll also introduce to rare, but jeminy great, indie rock and pop songs.

Email us Pitchfork. We’re waiting to see if you're serious. Let's call it the "The Greatest Top 10 Indie Rarities" contest.


(Un)related story:

Stephen Colbert was nailed by ACLU lawyer Mark Rosenbaum in today's New York Times as representing the secrecy of the federal government to the peril of Americans and that he had top-level government authority to keep the FBI files of Beatle rocker John Lennon conciled for decades.

At first, even news junkies, thought, oh wow, is it true? Is it the real Stephen Colbert? If so, would there be a green screen challenge broadcast between Colbert and the ACLU over the final and "complete" release of John Lennon's FBI files?

Can you imagine if it was the same Stephen Colbert? It's not, though. It turns out the other Stephen Colbert is a right-wing strategist who fought the ACLU for years trying to block the release of Beatles legend John Lennon.

New Idea for The Colbert Report

Maybe Colbert will have the other Colbert and the ACLU on his show to get to the bottom of it?

Stephen, if you're reading this blog (which we think you are), email IRC if you think it's a good idea for the show.

Labels: Stephen Colbert, The Decemberists

UPDATE: Colbert Claims Victory - Read now

Last night, Steven Colbert of The Colbert Report - one of my favorite TV personalities after John Stewart and David Letterman - accused The Decemberists indie rock band of stealing his idea of the green-scene animation contest.

On an episode of the show last month, Colbert asked his viewers to create an animation enhancement of a video Colbert made against a green back scene.

The low budget, shoddy shot video shows a crazed Colbert swinging around wildly making geeky gestures that only he can with a "laser sword" (a comic take on Star Wars) against a green back scene.

Nowadays, many movies ("Shrek" being one of the first), music videos and other visual media are recorded using a green back scene. The green screen (it was blue in the early days) allows animators to more easily add and fill in animated characters, special effects, backgrounds, spatial data and so on, thereby creating, a cyber collaboration, if you will.

On November 13, prior to the issue being reported on CNET, IRC posted a profile of The Decemberists that included a mention of their green-screen animation contest and its likeness to the Colbert video.

I was surprised, and somewhat excited last night when at the top of his program, Colbert blasted The Decemberists for holding a similar "fill in the green-scene" contest for their new music video O Valencia!.

So I asked the obvious question: Does Stephen Colbert read my blog?

If so, it's OK, I love you Stephen, even though your a conversative Republican (or at least play one on TV).

If you can't admit you regularily read my indie rock blog showcasing the best of indie music, then shame on you, Mr. Colbert!

A T-shirt is in the mail.

Now my challenge: Who got the story right the first time?

A - Indie Rock Cafe
B - The Colbert Report
C - CNET News
D - Stereogum
E - Pitchfork

Labels: Indie Rock Videos, Steven Colbet, The Decemberists

You'd notice these folks if they were walking down Main Street in your town with their stuffy 1880's attire, Japanese hand fans and, well, make-up, but would you know that they are The Decemberists?

Like their name, The Decemberists' music is unconventional. But that didn't stopped the group from rocketing upward - at warp speed compared to many other artists - to become one of the top indie bands of the past few years.

However, some of the group's first and most loyal fans were, let's say, less than happy when the band "crossed the line" and went big-time, signing on with Capitol Records this year to record The Crane Wife.

The group's founder, singer and songwriter, Colin Meloy, told The Boston Globe that signing with Capitol had not interfered with his work because the contract stipulates that "the label would stay out of the creative process."

Nevertheless, the talented indie quintet has wooed fans with their experimental, infectious music that combines pop and rock with contemporary and British folk influences infused with theatrical transitions, catchy melodies, melancholic bass lines, and crafty, often quirky, lyrics and subject matter.

Hints of Cake, Belle & Sebastian, They Might Be Giants and Tom Waits are sprinkled throughout their music. There are definitely other artists The Decemberists can be compared with simply because the diversity and depth of their music makes it hard to categorize them.

Meloy's music is described, on The Decemberists' official web site, as "an infallible melodic knack with a venturesome lyrical palette equally suitable for painting fantastical songs full of sea captains, legionnaires, chimney sweeps and seekers of all kinds."

The Missoulian spotlights the rise in popularity of The Decemberists - from the buzz initially created by a few indie bloggers and college radio disc jockeys, to their uncanny inability to be labeled by mainstream music journalism, and their frequent play volume on radio stations across the country and around the world.

Decemberists' Video Contest
Contribute your animation to a Decemberists' music video of "O Valencia" and win a computer. A green-screen contest? Hmmm, Didn't Steven Colbert do that first?

Go to MTV for more details. Deadline is December 15, 2006! You can also sample and download Decemberists' songs for less than .30 cents each (with monthly subscription).

Labels: Stephen Colbert, The Decemberists