the tain

one would think that colin meloy would be content to continue writing sea shanties. instead, he has written a five act, 18 minute song loosely based on an eigth century celtic epic, the tain bo cuailnge (here’s a somewhat shorter summary). i love it. from the zeppelinesque riffs that kick it off to the redemptive closing strains, it’s just fun to listen to. head over to hush records and get a copy, and perhaps take a look at the lyrics, or the pitchfork review that alerted me to the existence of this venture.

on a related note, the decemberists cover of bjork’s human behavior is good listening as well (thanks, drew). i have noticed that while i don’t really ever listen to bjork any more, i do generally like covers of her songs, e.g. a love-cars cover of hyperballad i heard at a show last spring, and death cab’s rendition of all is full of love.