Topix — The King Is Dead Standing at the junction of folk and indie rock, the Decemberists have grown a career by plying what's old into new, effectively employing hoary tricks of the roots trade song cycles, murder ballads, and folk tales in garnering worsh... more info

ContactMusic — THE DECEMBERISTS have debuted at the top of the U.S. album chart thanks to their best sales week ever.The King Is Dead is the group's first U.S. number one. It debuted atop the Billboard 200 with 94,000 sales. Last week's (19Jan11) number one album, ... more info

Stereogum — According to Billboard, The King Is Dead is the band’s first number one, selling 94,000 its first week. It’s also a career-high for first week sales for the Decemberists. Of course the condition of the music industry is partially why this record ... more info

411 Mania — Kidz Bop, Gregg Allman, The Script and Social Distortion make up an all new Top 5 albums... more info

411 Mania — Check out "Red Right Ankle" live... more info

Brooklyn Vegan — photos by Chris Gersbeck, words by Rachel Kowal Playing before The Decemberists is no easy task, but Merge duo Wye Oak was up for the challenge. "Good evening. We're a couple of kids from Baltimore, Maryland... hot dog!" declared vocalist/guitarist..... more info

Chorus.fm — *The Decemberists (http://thedecemberists.com)* have captured the top spot on the Billboard 200 by selling 93K copies of The King Is Dead. (http://pitchfork.com/news/41351-the-decemberists-have-the-number-one-album/) more info

Culture Bully — The Decemberists top this week's countdown of the top selling albums at Grimey's New & Preloved Music in Nashville. more info

Brooklyn Vegan — photos by Dominick Mastrangelo "It was pure geek chic last night at the Beacon Theatre, where The Decemberists played the first of a three-night engagement. This indie folk-rock quintet from Portland, Ore., look like extras from "Revenge of the Nerds... more info

Mjsbigblog — With 55.94% of the chart reporting, it looks like there will be no record breaking lows this week. Thank goodness. The Decemberists are set to debut at number one with about 65-70K (Friday predictions. Currently at 35,481). Next up is the latest in ... more info