The Decemberists

Adored Mailing List Recipients,

<Sigh> Seems like only yesterday that we were appearing in your inbox, happily announcing the launch of the Illimat Kickstarter campaign, but it was in fact two weeks ago. Hello, again. You should know that you are still the bright, youthful thing you were those two short weeks ago. You haven’t changed. Literally. Like, maybe put a new shirt on or something.

BUT we’re not here to chat about personal fashion — NO! It happens, O mailing list recipient, that TEN YEARS AGO TODAY*, we Decemberists released our fourth full length LP, and first for the Capitol label, The Crane Wife. While we’re not the sort of folk to make a ton of ballyhoo about every record’s birthday, it seemed fitting that this one should receive some sort of celebration. It was our first record for a major label, after all, and our first record working with Tucker Martine (alongside Chris Walla). It was our first record with a lineup that would remain constant for the next decade, and our first record to actually get a teensy bit of commercial airplay. We take what we can get.

So, in honor of this auspicious occasion, we Decemberists, along with Capitol Records, are reissuing The Crane Wife on December 9th as a 5 LP + 1 Blu-ray Box Set. The original record has been remastered and neatly folded on to three sides of the first two LPs (why didn’t we do that before?!), with the fourth side given over to b-sides and outtakes. A further LP of unreleased outtakes comprises the 3rd disc, with the 4th and 5th LPs being all of the as-yet unreleased home demos for the record. A live show at D.C.’s storied 9:30 Club from October 2006 has been unearthed and remastered for the Blu-ray that is included with the set. A LP-size booklet has been lovingly constructed as well, including all the art and lyrics from the original CD booklet along with an essay from David Fricke. Lin-Manuel Miranda, he of Hamilton fame, has been so generous as to provide a foreword for the book.

You can pre-order this behemoth NOW over at the Decemberists Shop. If you are among the first 500 to order, the aforementioned booklet will arrive autographed by all the members of the band. If you’re the sort of person who likes to bundle your orders with other related knick-knacks, we have you covered. We’ve designed a t-shirt and square scarf to commemorate The Crane Wife’s anniversary; you can add those to your order as you desire.

AND: since it happens that The Crane Wife is enjoying its decade birthday party in the midst of our Illimat Kickstarter campaign, we thought it fitting to draw some sort of connection between those two projects. We’ve asked Keith Baker, Illimat Designer, to create six exclusive Crane Wife-themed Luminary cards and two special okus tokens for the occasion. You can get this Crane Wife expansion at the Illimat Kickstarter page, Illimat.com.

Yours,

The Decemberists
home.decemberists.com
www.illimat.com

*Actually was released on October 3rd, but it just doesn’t have the same ring, does it?