''Picaresque'' is the third studio album from

The Decemberists The Decemberists are an American indie rock band from Portland, Oregon. The band consists of Colin Meloy (lead vocals, guitar, principal songwriter), Chris Funk (guitar, multi-instrumentalist), Jenny Conlee (piano, keyboards, accordion), Nate ...

. It was released in 2005 on the

Kill Rock Stars Kill Rock Stars is an independent record label founded in 1991 by Slim Moon and Tinuviel Sampson, and based in both Olympia, Washington, and Portland, Oregon. The label has released a variety of work in different genres, but was originally know ...

record label. The word "

picaresque The picaresque novel ( Spanish: ''picaresca'', from ''pícaro'', for "rogue" or "rascal") is a genre of prose fiction. It depicts the adventures of a roguish, but "appealing hero", usually of low social class, who lives by his wits in a corru ...

" refers to a form of satirical prose originating in

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

, depicting realistically and often humorously the adventures of a low-born, roguish hero living by their wits in a corrupt society.

Recording

The album was recorded at the Prescott Church in

northeast Portland Northeast Portland is one of the six major divisions of Portland, Oregon. Northeast Portland contains a diverse collection of neighborhoods. For example, while Irvington and the Alameda Ridge feature some of the oldest and most expensive homes i ...

, which the band rented for one month in the summer of 2004. To facilitate the creative process and avoid creative block, band members filled a used bike helmet with slips of paper listing strategies and ideas to try out. Non-traditional rock instruments used in the album's recording included an accordion and a

hurdy-gurdy The hurdy-gurdy is a string instrument that produces sound by a hand-crank-turned, rosined wheel rubbing against the strings. The wheel functions much like a violin bow, and single notes played on the instrument sound similar to those of a vi ...

. The album was produced by

Chris Walla Christopher Ryan Walla (born November 2, 1975) is an American musician, record producer, and film music composer, best known for being a former guitarist and songwriter for the band Death Cab for Cutie. Musical career Early bands While at Bo ...

, also the guitarist for the band

Death Cab for Cutie Death Cab for Cutie is an American rock band formed in Bellingham, Washington, in 1997. The band is currently composed of Ben Gibbard (vocals, guitar, piano), Nick Harmer (bass), Dave Depper (guitar, keyboards, backing vocals), Zac Rae (keyb ...

Release

The album includes the track "

Sixteen Military Wives "Sixteen Military Wives", sometimes referred to as "16 by 32", is a single released by The Decemberists from their third album, ''Picaresque''. Track listing CD # "Sixteen Military Wives" # "The Kingdom of Spain" # "Sixteen Military Wives" (Vide ...

", the music video of which was distributed by the band via BitTorrent. A double vinyl version was released in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

that contained the album on the first three sides with an EP of outtakes named '' Picaresqueties'' on the fourth side. This EP was the band's final release for the Kill Rock Stars label. In

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located entirel ...

, a single-disc vinyl version was released on Rough Trade without the ''Picaresqueties'' EP; the first six tracks appear on Side A, and the final five are on Side B. A limited edition tenth anniversary pressing of the album on red vinyl was released for Record Store Day 2015. It was formatted as three sides, with the tracks from the Picaresqueties EP as the fourth side. As of September 2006 it has sold 123,000 units in United States.

Reception

''Picaresque'' has a rating of 81/100 on Metacritic, indicating "universal acclaim." The album reached number 5 on the ''Billboard'' Heatseekers chart, and number 128 on the ''Billboard'' 200. ''

Pitchfork A pitchfork (also a hay fork) is an agricultural tool with a long handle and two to five tines used to lift and pitch or throw loose material, such as hay, straw, manure, or leaves. The term is also applied colloquially, but inaccurately, to ...

'' placed ''Picaresque'' at number 143 on their list of top 200 albums of the 2000s.

Track listing

All songs written by

Colin Meloy Colin Patrick Henry Meloy (born October 5, 1974) is an American musician, singer-songwriter and author best known as the frontman of the Portland, Oregon, indie folk rock band The Decemberists. In addition to vocals, he performs with an acoust ...

Personnel

The Decemberists *

– lead vocals, rhythm guitar *

Chris Funk Christopher Funk (born November 28, 1971) is an American musician and multi-instrumentalist best known as a member of the Portland, Oregon, indie rock band The Decemberists. He plays guitar, pedal steel, piano, violin, dobro, hurdy-gurdy, ma ...

– lead guitar, steel guitar, backing vocals *

Jenny Conlee Jennifer Lynn Conlee-Drizos (born December 12, 1971) is an American musician, best known as the accordionist, pianist, organist, keyboardist, melodica player, and occasional backup singer and harmonicist for the indie rock quintet The Decemberi ...

– keyboards, accordion, backing vocals *

Nate Query Nate Query (born September 5, 1973) is an American musician best known as the bassist of the Portland, Oregon indie rock band The Decemberists. He plays electric bass, upright bass, banjo and cello. He makes appearances on many albums by Portland ...

– bass, backing vocals *

Rachel Blumberg Rachel Chaiya Blumberg (born February 10, 1969) is an American musician, artist, and filmmaker, best known for her tenure as the drummer for the indie rock band The Decemberists. Early life Blumberg was born in Portland, Oregon in 1969. She is ...

– drums, backing vocals Additional musicians *

Petra Haden Petra Haden (born October 11, 1971) is an American musician and singer. She is the daughter of the jazz bassist Charlie Haden, and is the triplet sister of bassist Rachel Haden (her bandmate in That Dog) and cellist Tanya Haden (married to ...

– violin, backing vocals *

– electric guitar * Paul Brainard – trumpet * Tom Hill – trombone * Joe Cunningham – saxophone * Aaron Stewart – tam-tam * Jeff London –

shofar A shofar ( ; from he, שׁוֹפָר, ) is an ancient musical horn typically made of a ram's horn, used for Jewish religious purposes. Like the modern bugle, the shofar lacks pitch-altering devices, with all pitch control done by varying ...

* Eric Stern – operatic tenor

Uses in media

The ''

Mad Men ''Mad Men'' is an American period drama television series created by Matthew Weiner and produced by Lionsgate Television. It ran on the cable network AMC from July 19, 2007, to May 17, 2015, lasting for seven seasons and 92 episodes. Its f ...

'' episode "

Maidenform Maidenform Brands is a manufacturer of women's underwear, founded in 1922 by seamstress Ida Rosenthal; Enid Bissett, who owned the shop that employed her; and Ida's husband, William Rosenthal. They rebelled against the flat-chested designs of t ...

" opened with a montage set to a segment of the song "The Infanta".

References

External links

Reviews
at

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created by Jason Dietz, Marc ...

{{Authority control The Decemberists albums 2005 albums Kill Rock Stars albums Albums produced by Chris Walla