Always The Bridesmaid

I've been sworn to secrecy for a few weeks but can now report that The Decemberists have a bunch of releases in the pipeline.

First up is Always The Bridesmaid: A Singles Series which, as the title hints, is a series of three singles coming our way on a monthly basis. The first is called "Valerie Plame" and will be released on 10/14 via Capitol in the US and Rough Trade in the UK. With a song title like that, methinks the band might be getting political again! Tracklists and release dates are:

Volume I - October 14, 2008
A. Valerie Plame
B. O New England

Volume II - November 4, 2008
A. Days Of Elaine
B1. Days Of Elaine (Long)
B2. I'm Sticking With You

Volume III - December 2, 2008
A. Record Year For Rainfall
B. Raincoat Song

The singles will be available digitally and on colored 180 gram audiophile 12" vinyl in the US and 7" vinyl and the UK and feature songs that the band felt would not fit on their forthcoming LP. I've always loved a good non-album single or three. The new album is described as "a tough bit of leather...a little mossy, a little evil." I can't wait! No release date for that just yet, but my guess is we'll see it early in 2009. While we wait, The Decemberists will perform "Valerie Plame" on Late Night with Conan O'Brien on 11/3.

Watch The Decemberists first foray into politics:

Sorting Out Colin Meloy's Presale Offers

Being a music fan and consumer can be tough these days. Sometimes you feel like those big bad major record labels really enjoy screwing you at every turn.

Luckily, there is great music being put out by lots of smaller, independent labels which seem to care about music and art and their consumer. Maybe that makes you feel better about shelling out your hard-earned cash for music again.

That is until you realise that the indies are doing a lot of the same crap too. I'll throw out a topic: Colin Meloy Sings Live! (in stores April 8th!).

Insound, Kill Rock Stars, and The Decemberists Shop are all doing pre-orders. And they're all different. Here's the run-down:

Insound: Pre-order the CD or LP and get two free, otherwise unavailable bonus downloads immediately.

Kill Rock Stars: Pre-order the CD and receive a one of a kind bookmark and free poster.

The Decemberists Shop: Pre-order the CD or LP and have your copy autographed (first 300 CDs and first 100 LPs only!) by Colin Meloy and be entered to win "the ship, sheep and skull props as seen on the stage for Colin's 2006 tour, and two tickets to any one of his upcoming shows in April."

OK, so not all pre-order give-aways are created equal. The first one I got wind of was from Kill Rock Stars. I jumped on it. I thought, "A free book mark and a poster? My cup runneth over!" And I felt that way for a few days until I saw the Insound pre-order. My cup felt slightly less full. "I got a book mark and a poster but those other people will get more music!" By the time I heard about The Decemberists Shop pre-order I was just annoyed.

The practice of giving exclusives to different retailers is really frustrating. I'm a fan. I want to support Colin. But I don't want to buy the record three times just to get all of the free stuff that went with it. I can handle the idea of missing out on a book mark or poster, but two more tracks? More music? That really gets under my skin. I'm sure they'll show up somewhere and you can bet I'll be downloading them.

Oh. The vinyl version of the album? It's got another otherwise unavailable bonus track. Ugh.