The Decemberists-Complete Always A Bridesmaid UK 7"s OP
  $   39

 


$ 39 Sold For
Jun 6, 2011 Sold Date
May 30, 2011 Start Date
$   20 Start price
6   Number Of Bids
  USA Country Of Seller
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Description

The Decemberists- Always A Bridesmaid: A Singles Series Vol. 1 : Valerie Plame/O New England 7” (Rough Trade RTRADS472)
The Decemberists- Always A Bridesmaid: A Singles Series Vol. 2 : Days Of Elaine/I’m Sticking With You 7” (Rough Trade RTRADS473)
The Decemberists- Always A Bridesmaid: A Singles Series Vol. 3 : Record Year For Rainfall/Raincoat Song 7” (Rough Trade RTRADS474)

Very limited 7" set of The Decemberists' Always A Bridesmaid singles series. These are the UK pressings. These were only released as 12" singles in the US.

I understand from Discogsdot com that these 7" editions of the Always A Bridesmaid singles were limited to 500 per title.

Each 7" comes in a grey die-cut cover with silver embossed print, along with printed color inner sleeves on heavy cardboard. The records in this batch have been stored in plain white paper sleeves to assure they remain clean.

Pitchfork reviewed the set saying :
As Decemberists frontman Colin Meloy recently intimated to Rolling Stone, the band's forthcoming LP, Hazards of Love, is for all intents and purposes a rock opera, encompassing a narrative suite that tells the tale of "a woman named Margaret who is ravaged by a shape-shifting animal." Considering the anthropomorphic bent of the group's last full-length, The Crane Wife, it would seem Meloy has swapped maritime yarns for tragic critter fables as his prevailing field of interest, but that's a minor point.

More interestingly, and perhaps worryingly, is the "rock opera" part. Sure, it might be pulled off flawlessly, though something about the RS article's promise of "crushing stoner-metal lurches" leaves me a bit concerned. The Decemberists have always embraced their own inescapable pretentiousness, yet their saving grace was the self-aware lightness with which they carried their geekdom, at its best manifested in breezy dork-outs like "Billy Liar" and "The Sporting Life". By comparison, chunks of The Crane Wife felt turgid and overblown, indications that a band once wise enough to cordon off its most epic tendencies in ancillary standalones like The Tain EP had allowed the weight of ambition to partially sink its albums. This year, the Decemberists released a series of three vinyl singles, joined under the shared title Always the Bridesmaid, that-- after the sometimes unwieldy The Crane Wife-- offer a welcome return to more modest song forms. The first and most lyrically ear-grabbing of these six tunes is "Valerie Plame", a beseeching love letter to the infamously outed CIA operative narrated by an imagined confidant. Meloy's treatment of the Plame affair may seem a tad flippant considering the grave journo-ethical issues that go unmentioned-- and, shame about the unnecessary "Hey Jude"-ish outro-- yet he nails perfectly the milieu of 21st century foreign intrigue, right down to references to Vespas and "the Green Zone Marriott."

Less thematically loaded but more compositionally satisfying is "Days of Elaine", which substitutes modern headline fodder for imagery of macabre decay that's more typical of Meloy's bent, touching obliquely on drink, drugs, and execution. Most importantly, the song is a rousing triumph of momentum, replete with a tight riff and providing an excellent conduit for its singer's reedy tones. That sense of putting melody and verbiage on equal footing carries over to the second A-side, the wistful "O New England".

A head-scratching cover of the Velvet Underground's "I'm Sticking With You" follows (why aim for charming artlessness when you're already interpreting one of rock's most famously unaffected moments?), but the series finishes strong with the 1-2 punch of "Record Year" and "Raincoat Song". The former performs the classic Meloy trick of conflating societal and romantic ruin, while the abrupt but evocative latter gives us a brief character sketch of a luckless spinster and delivers the best lyric of the whole collection, as Meloy wryly but heartrendingly opines that "the raincoat you wore when it rained today/ I think it only made it rain more." It's precisely such a moment of fine observation and quiet humanity that hopefully won't be lost if the Decemberists continue to make albums overweening with conceptual heft. — Joshua Love, December 1, 2008

A M G says of The Decemberists:
Led by Montana native Colin Meloy, the Decemberists craft theatrical, hyper-literate pop songs that draw heavily from late-'60s British folk acts like Fairport Convention and Pentangle and the early-'80s college rock grandeur of the Waterboys and R.E.M. The band's initial lineup also included drummer Ezra Holbrook, bassist Nate Query, keyboardist/accordionist Jenny Conlee, and multi-instrumentalist Chris Funk. Frontman Meloy had previously devoted some time to an alternative country group before breaking off to pursue his craft as a singer/songwriter in the city of Portland, a move that eventually led to the Decemberists' formation. Drawing influence from his degree in creative writing, he began fashioning a hybrid of literate lyrics and wide-ranging pop music, touching upon everything from Sandy Denny to Morrissey in the process.

Before Hush Records released the band's debut album in 2002, the Decemberists baited their initial fans with a five-track EP. Their full-length debut, Castaways and Cutouts, was re-released that same year on the Kill Rock Stars label, and the band began to accumulate a serious fan base. After adding organist and keyboardist Rachel Blumberg to the group, in 2003 the Decemberists released Her Majesty, another fine collection of theatrical indie pop with pastoral sensibilities that further cemented their growing reputation. One year later, a five-part epic EP entitled The Tain -- based on the eighth century Irish poem of the same name -- appeared, followed by the full-length Picaresque in 2005.

The group, which at this point consisted of Meloy, Conlee, Query, Funk, and drummer John Moen, made the move to the major leagues by signing with Capitol Records in advance of 2006's The Crane Wife, which managed to hit number 35 on the Billboard 200. The album also grabbed the attention of comedian/actor Stephen Colbert, who challenged Funk to a guitar solo competition during a live taping of his show, The Colbert Report. For their next project, the Decemberists tackled one of Meloy's most ambitious ideas to date: an honest to God rock opera. The Hazards of Love appeared in 2009, featuring a fantasy-filled story line as well as cameos from My Morning Jacket's Jim James, Lavender Diamond's Becky Stark, and My Brightest Diamond's Shara Worden. In January 2011, the band unexpectedly topped the charts with The King Is Dead, a concise and rustic country-pop collection that featured guest appearances by Peter Buck and Gillian Welch.



All three 7"s are MINT-/All three cover are MINT to MINT-.

I accept payments through Paypal. I also accept payment by mail in US currancy and Checks drawn on US banks (Checks require 10 days to clear the bank). Please do not send cash by postal mail, I cannot be responsible for cash sent by mail.

Buyer pays shipping:
Media Mail To USA : $3.50
Air Mail To Canada : $6.25
Europe/Australia/NZ: $10.00
Asia: $6.00

I will ship internationally & I will provide proof of mailing but I cannot guarantee delivery overseas (Italy has been a problem for many sellers) unless the buyer elects to use international priority mailing (ask for details...coverage is limited). It is essential that you provide a clear and accurate address for mailing of a package. Domestic packages to the USA are sent with delivery tracking.

I need to be clear that I can provide proof of shipping on any package mailed, but I cannot be responsible for packages lost in the post. In order to minimize the likelyhood of lost packages I print the address from your paypal payment address and give you the oppportunity to correct the address if necessary. If you pay by postal mail, I ask that you email me your address so that I can print a label from your email.

These prices reflect Priority shipping with coverage of $63.78 added automatically up to 1 pound.
Western Europe: $23.00
Asia : $22.00
Australia: $21.00
New Zealand: $19.50

On May-30-11 at 21:59:17 PDT, seller added the following information:


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