Album of the Day

That's right, dear reader(s), it's that time of year again. It's the time when I work my way through the breadth and depth of my CD collection while listening at work and tell you about it. This year, being an odd one, means not using the traditional "A-to-Z" method.

Instead, using my spiffy recording inventory program, I'm going to work my way through based on the length of the recording. This applies only to albums released independently of any other release, so no bonus discs or anything like that. With that in mind . . .

The Tain, by The Decemberists (2005): As is traditional, we begin with the first disc in line. In this case, it's this 18-minute EP in which The Decemberists engaged their proggy tendencies completely. In one epic track, Meloy and company tell the tail of Táin Bó Cúailnge from Irish mythology. I don't quite get the whole story, honestly (it involves livestock somehow), but that's not important. The music rises and falls and conveys the gist of it.