Concluding my look at the albums of 2006…

I usually come away from these Decades series with at least one artist I plan to revisit, and for 2006 it’s The Decemberists, whose fourth album — The Crane Wife — dropped that year.

I remember hearing about this album at the time, but for whatever reason I never bought it (back when we had to buy music). So this is my first real exposure to the Portland-based indie band.

The Crane Wife was inspired by a Japanese folk tale, and a few of its songs explore that narrative in-depth. Others are based on William Shakespeare’s The Tempest and (in the case of today’s SOTD) Romeo & Juliet. It’s no surprise listeners of NPR voted this the best album of 2006.

But for all its literary pretensions, The Crane Wife is a surprisingly fun and varied listen. It starts off in solid folk rock territory with the title song, then veers into the prog rock realm on the epic second track, before hopping over to the R.E.M.-inspired jangle pop of today’s selection, the album’s first single.

Second single ‘The Perfect Crime #2′ is a dead ringer for Talking Heads’ ‘Life During Wartime,’ and later songs crib from The Beatles.

Despite that laundry list of influences, this album sounds very much like its own thing. Lead singer/songwriter Colin Meloy has a distinctive voice, both as a performer and a writer. I had a hard time picking a song to feature today because so many of these tracks are sticky in the best way.

The Decemberists have released nine albums since their 2002 debut, so I have some digging to do if I want to explore them further. I might give the first few albums a spin to see what led to this one.

That wraps up my look at 2006. My next Decades installment will jump to 1987, a very solid year based on my early peek at the top releases.