Decemberists release new EP "Long Live the King"

Not sure if this has been mentioned before, but The Decemberists have a new EP out, Long Live the King. I downloaded it today from iTunes and will post a review one of these days once I've given it a listen or two. It is apparently outtakes from The King Is Dead, so I fully expect it to be in the same vein, which will either evoke dances of elation or shrugs of shoulders amongst the faithful here. It does include their cover of The Dead's Row Jimmy Row, which I have heard previously, and it is a fine rendition of that song. Regardless, for me it's always good to hear some new music from the band.

Burying Davy and E. Watson could have come from a much earlier pre-Crane Wife Decemberists era. Foregone is strictly The King Is Dead stuff. The EP is definitely not a look backwards to the proggier music however. It's on first listen or two more or less what I would expect. That cover of Row Jimmy is in a class of its own however, reveling in the stoned, sloppily meandering beauty of The Dead. It's probably one of the better covers, of any band by any band, that I've ever heard.