the decemberists

okay, we all love the decemberists, right? but i want to pause and give props back to an early effort some people might not be familiar with if you've only recently gotten into the band thanks to the definitely great picaresque. i was listening to castaways and cutouts (their first LP) last night for the first time in a long while. still their best album, i think. i'm probably influenced by personal associations, but it has this late afternoon haze about it. reminds me of a moment when i was a little kid in the house i grew up in williamstown, ma when it was, of course, late afternoon and there was no sound in the house. the sun was slanting in through the front door into the hall and i could see all the little dust motes floating around in the air. i thought they were atoms. "grace cathedral hill," "odalisque," "clementine"; they feel like that to me. if that makes any sense.

their records have gotten consistenly better with regard to sound, at least from the perspective of sounding more professional, but c&c is still my favorite.