The Decemberists have announced plans for a DVD set to be released March 20. The DVD will be called The Decemberists: A Practical Handbook and features a live show as well as a documentary on the band and various music videos.

Stephen Colbert, host of Comedy Central's "The Colbert Report," has formally accepted a counter-counter challenge from The Decemberists, setting the stage for an epic winner-take-all guitar duel. The event will take place on Wednesday, December 20th at 11:30 pm ET/PT on "The Colbert Report."

The first stone was cast on November 29th when Colbert used the debut of a segment entitled "Look Who's Riding My Coattails Now" to lambaste the band for their MtvU-sponsored "Re-Animate the Decemberists" contest . For the contest, the band performed their new single "O Valencia!" in front of a "green screen" and asked college students nationwide to create animation for the video's backdrop. Colbert alleged that the band stole the concept from a contest he had earlier staged. Said Colbert:

Let's see how well they perform their trademark brand of hyper-literate prog-rock when I'm slicing off their legs at the knee," said Colbert, while brandishing a Star Wars-style light saber. "Oh yes. They will feel the pain."

The band responded via fellow music website Pitchfork, defending the band against the charge and upping the stakes with a counter challenge: the "Decemberists vs. Stephen Colbert Guitar Solo Challenge". The band's statement was:

"Put down the pen, Colbert, and pick up the axe! Let's see what kind of a man you really are," said the band in a statement, adding, for dramatic effect, "Let's SHRED!"