Didn't Expect To Hear The Decemberists On Mad Men Last Night • Sunday night's hour with the misogynists and ladies of Sterling Cooper kicked off with a montage soundtracked by "The Infanta," which has teed off a very important debate on the internet: are you For or Against anachronistic music in period pieces? If you missed it, Videogum's got it, but know that it isn't the first time the show wasn't true to the '60s. Also: Don Draper is a very good lay.
Posted at 4:49 PM
Tags: Mad Men | The Decemberists
honestly, i didn't think it fit at all. i like the song, but it was jarring, completely out of place.
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Something like Marie Antoinette clearly set itself up as more of a metaphor for current "celebutants" (hate that word) than a true period piece, so anachronisms seemed necessary and even welcome (even if it wasn't entirely successful).
With Mad Men, clearly Weiner and co. are taking great pains to remain true to that time period in the way people, dress, talk, think, move, act, etc. that anything from outside of the specific time period is jarring. Even if they had played something that was recorded in '63 it would have seemed weird.
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The last time wasn't as obvious as this which was felt completely out of place. Hope they never do it again.
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that "the first time" link is outrageous. Who are these people that know about rare 60's typewriters and shit?
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As a music supervisor, I personally wouldn't do that with a show that is so tightly bound by very few years ('58-'62). I pitched several songs to their music supervisor and everything they requested had to fall within those years. Seeing a new song in the TV show tells me two things: One, their Neilsen ratings have plateaued and the show runners and producers are looking to attract a younger audience and Two, Mad Men, as a 'franchise', would be wise to broaden their scope. Playing Jimmy Witherspoon or Dakota Staton does nothing to attract the all-powerful 18-39 group, but the Decemberists could (I suppose).
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when i think early 1960's madison avenue, i think portland nautical indie rock.
PAUSE NOT.
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Let's not forget that the show's theme song is an instrumental by RJD2, so this is clearly not their first foray into non-60's music.
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yeah, but that RJD2 instrumental has a timeless 50s/60s feel, despite its drum n' bassy leanings. the decemberists song is very clearly a modern tune. completely different.
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I think it worked in the opening scene and I think it worked for the show. (Its getting blogged about more than usual, right?)
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It was so jarring the first time I heard it that my immediate reaction was "I bet people'll be blogging up a storm about this!," which is a horribly embarassing thing to ever think. Somehow it fits a lot more now than it did Sunday night though.
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did not make sense at all.
and agreed about the rjd2 tune. it does sound weirdly classic and in place.
maybe they should lean towards modern day doo wop number like grizzly bear's "knife" or maybe something by camera obscura "if looks could kill"/spoon "..cherry bomb" /pipettes "your kisses are wasted on me"/belle and sebastian "step into your office"/anything off the new dutchess and the duke album, etc. bands with a 60-ish sound.
although no discrediting the decemberists- i am sure they have a faux 60's tune in there. that one just didn't fit. it totally bummed me out.
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I actually dug it a lot. I think when you're going to use a song anachronistically like that, you really have to miss your era by a lot. So, "The Infanta" (and "The Great Divide" by the Cardigans from season one) were fine by me, since they're so far away from the actual time period. However, using 1963's "Don't Think Twice (It's Alright)" at the end of season one (which took place Thanksgiving of 1960) was awkward for me.
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filling the void of everyone missing the oc
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Totally lame. It annoyed the everlovin' crap out of me to hear a modern song during a show that strives for historical accuracy. Keep the indie rock out of my peanut butter!
Let us pray that Don and Betty don't go to Paris, or we're bound to hear Vampire Weekend's "Mansard Roof." (shivver)
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there is never a good time for VW.
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