The Tain

The Decemberists | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (July 12, 2005)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Kill Rock Stars
• ASIN: B0009VNCXW
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #42,655 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #79 in Music > Alternative Rock > Indie & Lo-Fi > Chamber Pop

Editorial Reviews

Review

''I never was a metal head,'' remarked Colin Meloy in an Earlash interview last July. ''It's something in my later years I've come to regret a little bit just because everybody has their stories of when they were a metal head. And it wasn't until recently that I started listening to Black Sabbath and started appreciating it.''

Two albums and a six-song Five Songs EP into their career, The Decemberists' are beginning to seriously define their sound; a sudden plunge into, say, heavy metal, seems unlikely. Yet the first movement of The Tain EP, the band's new 18-minute composition based loosely on the 8th-century Celtic Ulster cycle's central poem ''Tain Bo Cuailinge'', finds Meloy and the others most immediately concerned with-- am I about to say this?-- serious Ur-metal riffage. Granted, Decemberist metal is not going to weigh down the Dominique Leones of the world, but make no mistake: Never has this band sung a flag so black, a maiden so iron

With each release, The Decemberists grow more sophisticated in their songcraft and subtler in their wit. The result, naturally, is that their releases are increasingly more demanding on the listener. Meeting a record on its own terms, though, is to a large extent a forgotten responsibility. Especially given its disorienting opener, The Tain EP is dense musically and lyrically, a bona fide grower, but certainly worth the effort to unravel it. --Pitchfork

After releasing two solid albums of British folk-inspired library-pop, it's only fitting that the Oregon-based collective the Decemberists would construct a nearly 20-minute EP based on an epic tale concerning a violent cattle raid in pre-Christian Ireland. If anything, Tain is the indie rock generation's ''Court of the Crimson King,'' a narrative that's as isolating as it is compelling, especially when filtered through the surprisingly Black Sabbath-inspired song cycle. Composed of five movements, parts one and two roll in like an outtake from Deep Purple's Machine Head, part three brings together some of the more melodious and mournful moments of Pink Floyd's The Wall, part four introduces some delectable balladry from drummer Rachel Blumberg and part five brings back the Hammond B3 for a true progressive rock encore, all bookended by the musings of a character known simply as ''The Crone.'' While not as Dio as it sounds, there is a certain lust for tall tales and gentry high-speak needed to become fully immersed. For all of its bombast and esoteric subject matter, Tain is raw, engaging, and bristling with an electricity that's been missing from this enigmatic collective of bibliophiles' previous releases. --All Music Guide

Love 'em or hate 'em, one has to admit that the Decemberists are one of the more interesting bands to come around in some time. Always idosyncratic, with their feet firmly planted in times of past where Great War commrades cuddle in trenches and dying gypsies reveal the placement of their hidden loot, the Decemberists have carved out their niche as archaic storytellers. Their latest work is their most esoteric yet, a 19 minute, five section suite revolving around an Irish legend about an Illiad-esque war fought over a sacred bull instead of a faire-skinned maiden.

Not only is The Tain a slight lyrical change from Meloy's ages-of-past character studies (which were still comprehensible to those who failed World History) but it's even more of a musical departure for the band. Taking the brooding nature of the Celtic fable as inspiration, Meloy has added flourishes of heavy-metal flair to their twee-with-organ sound. Two minutes in when the Meloy sings ''Damn your ankles and eyes wide,'' accompanied by the band's guitar at its must chugging yet, those who thought that the band had solidified it's sound on last year's Her Majesty the Decemberists are in for a welcome surprise.

The unsung hero of the EP is drummer Rachel Blumberg, who also plays with fellow Hush records labelmate Adam Selzer's Norfolk and Western project. Not only is she able to percussively shine thanks to the harder-rocker edge of the record, but she also adds wonderful vocal harmonies (particularly to the third section's chorus) and sings her first lead vocal with the Decemberists. Her average voice appropriately fits the fourth section's gentle first-person narration of the Queen's lament.

A solid work which provides more proof of the Decemberists' unique place in the current musical landscape also showcases their uncanny ability at musical mood shifting. With every example of the various styles the band has navigated since their formation in a concise 19 minute package, The Tain works as both an introduction to the band and a progression to new levels of musical- and lyricality. With the EP also available on vinyl backed with the band s first six song EP from 2000, the band s miraculous succession in such a short time is further evident. --Stylus Magazine

Product Description

The Decemberists burst onto the scene with Castaways and Cutouts, wowed critics and gained legions of fans with Her Majesty, and then continued the trend with Picaresque. Along with these recorded feats they have been praised for their captivating live shows and never ending lengthy tours. Following the release of their latest album, Picaresque, The Decemberists are everywhere. Really everywhere, in the pages of Rolling Stone and Wired, on NPR, in Nordstrom, on your TV and radio, etc. In the wake of all this Kill Rock Stars is re-releasing their highly acclaimed EP The Tain. This concept EP was previously released last year on Acuarela. The Tain's cornerstone is a cycle of Celtic mythology under the same name and is basically a one epic song divided into five parts. A bit of a rock opera, the Tain has been a live favorite among their fans.

''The Decemberists have made two albums of literate, crackling songs, but The Tain is the best entry into their high-rock theater. The Portland, Oregon, band vividly conjures the clang of battle and the stench of ruined flesh in this mini-epic of marching guitars, bowed upright bass and artful contradiction.''

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

29 of 30 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Radical departure, July 12, 2005

By 

E. A Solinas "ea_solinas" (MD USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 50 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Tain (Audio CD)

Everyone knows the Decemberists as being a sort of light indie-pop/folk band, with slightly odd songs and a slightly sunny feel. Not the sort of band to do a mythic concept album, right? Wrong. In what may be their best release so far, the Decemberists released "The Tain," a rich musical reinterpretation of Irish legend.

It's basically one song in five movements, starting off with a quietly sneering song from the "Crone." It then switches to a dark mix of bass and electronic instrumentation, before changing again to a stately, mournful acoustic ballad, where Meloy's cries of "On this stretch of ground/I'll lay me down" are echoed by the "Chorus of Waifs."

The fourth movement opens with Rachel Blumberg's soft singing, over a muted Hammond ballad. The final part of this musical tapestry is mostly a conversation between a woman and daughter, a percussive rock song that snaps and snarls, before ending with another word from the Crone.

"Tain Bo Cualnge" was the inspiration for this EP -- it was originally a story about cattle raids and legendary heroes in ancient Ulster. The Decemberists only loosely retell it, through offbeat rock songs and peculiar ballads. What's really striking is the musical reinvention -- nowhere are the more charming tunes of their full-length albums. This is dark, it's rock, and it's wonderfully eerie.

Meloy and Co. don't let the dark tone of the old myth get away from them -- in the middle of the fourth part, they burst into a kind of Celtic carnival tune. I'm not sure what it's supposed to signify, except that it sticks closer to the musical traditions of Ireland. The writing only falters at the beginning; the first part is pretty vulgar, and lacks the mythic tone of the following songs.

Colin Meloy seems to have found his vocal niche here. While he just sounds odd in light songs, here he sounds like the long-lost brother of Billy Corgan. It's a sound that suits him. He sounds particularly good when singing intensely, drawing the word "blood" out to something like "Bloo-uh-ud!" And he fits against a backdrop of sharp percussion, solid riffs and basslines, as well as some majestic waves of Wurlitzer, Rhodes, and piano.

In "The Tain" EP, the Decemberists seem to have found one of the kinds of music they do best. A unique concept album, and definitely one worth checking out.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A radical departure, January 12, 2005

By 

E. A Solinas "ea_solinas" (MD USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 50 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Tain (Audio CD)

Everyone knows the Decemberists as being a sort of light indie-pop/folk band, with slightly odd songs and a slightly sunny feel. Not the sort of band to do a mythic concept album, right? Wrong. In what may be their best release so far, the Decemberists released "The Tain," a rich musical reinterpretation of Irish legend.

It's basically one song in five movements, starting off with a quietly sneering song from the "Crone." It then switches to a dark mix of bass and electronic instrumentation, before changing again to a stately, mournful acoustic ballad, where Meloy's cries of "On this stretch of ground/I'll lay me down" are echoed by the "Chorus of Waifs."

The fourth movement opens with Rachel Blumberg's soft singing, over a muted Hammond ballad. The final part of this musical tapestry is mostly a conversation between a woman and daughter, a percussive rock song that snaps and snarls, before ending with another word from the Crone.

"Tain Bo Cualnge" was the inspiration for this EP -- it was originally a story about cattle raids and legendary heroes in ancient Ulster. The Decemberists only loosely retell it, through offbeat rock songs and peculiar ballads. What's really striking is the musical reinvention -- nowhere are the more charming tunes of their full-length albums. This is dark, it's rock, and it's wonderfully eerie.

Meloy and Co. don't let the dark tone of the old myth get away from them -- in the middle of the fourth part, they burst into a kind of Celtic carnival tune. I'm not sure what it's supposed to signify, except that it sticks closer to the musical traditions of Ireland. The writing only falters at the beginning; the first part is pretty vulgar, and lacks the mythic tone of the following songs.

Colin Meloy seems to have found his vocal niche here. While he just sounds odd in light songs, here he sounds like the long-lost brother of Billy Corgan. It's a sound that suits him. He sounds particularly good when singing intensely, drawing the word "blood" out to something like "Bloo-uh-ud!" And he fits against a backdrop of sharp percussion, solid riffs and basslines, as well as some majestic waves of Wurlitzer, Rhodes, and piano.

In "The Tain" EP, the Decemberists seem to have found what kind of music they do best. Let's hope Meloy and his band stick to this richer, more majestic sound.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Decemberists' Epic, September 7, 2004

By 

Naive Pegasus "bobawedge" (Oak Park, IL United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Tain (Audio CD)

"Tain" serves as The Decemberists most connected, and dare I say it, heaviest project yet. A slight Heavy metal tinge with a Ancient Celtic tone replaces the Victorian Era feel of "Her Majesty the Decemberists" and "Castaway and Cutouts". Based loosely on the 8th century Celtic poem called, fittingly, "The Tain", this 18 minute, five song EP runs together like one large rock epic.

The band has indicated that their Third complete album, which has begun recording, will share a sound similar to the Tain. There will be a slight increase in guitar usage, and the CD will have a much stronger internal link between songs.

All in all, "Tain" offers a different way to view The Decemberists, just as good as they're older stuff, in a completely different way.