Entertainment For Lively Minds
The National are back
Posted by Prestonia on 11 March 2010 - 7:12pm.
and sounding better than ever. Any other fans out there among The Massive?
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I keep meaning to
spend a bit of time getting to know this band, more so since I discovered that two of them are in the amazing Clogs (whose albums I cannot recommend enough).
Thank You
for the Clogs recommendation - just a quick sample from their website they sound wonderful. Its going to get expensive
Alligator
is my favourite, but I love all the albums. I'll have to investigate Clogs..
Oooh - that's v fine
I love Alligator, possibly my favourite LP of the last ten years or certainly up there.
Had a revelation (to me) earlier in the week though - they sound just like Joshua Tree-era U2 only with all the shit bits (ie Bono mostly) replaced with good stuff. Seriously.
Brilliant brilliant band
There's little more to say although I would pick spt up on the above comment. I think the second National album is a bit too U2-ish but after that they're ploughing their own furrow. Alligator and Boxer would both be in my top-10 of the last 10 years and they were absolutely fantastic live when I saw them in 2007.
Hopefully there'll be a chance to see them again here in Holland this year.
Oh Yes!
Looking forward to May 11th.
excellent!
May the 11th cannot come quickly enough!
I absolutely ove the national, they are my favourite band by a long way. Its great to see that they are becoming more & more popular as they really deserve it. Both Alligator & Boxer would be in my top 5 albums of all time & all of the new material I have heard is really impressive. I think Matt Berninger is one of the best lyricists around and musically the band are really subtle! For any word folk wondering where to start, I would go for 'All The Wine' off Alligator or 'Apartment Story' from Boxer.
'All the Wine'
is a beauty. Definitely my favourite moment from that record..
Boxer...
...just astonished me when I first heard it. I couldn't believe I'd never heard of them. Witty, sad, literate lyrics hitched to such compelling music - I can still just lose myself in that album.
Very excited
I'm a big fan of both Boxer and Alligator - like idiotbear, when I first heard them I couldn't believe such a good band existed and I had never heard of them! Good old emusic recommendations!
I'm hoping the album will leak before the official release date, although I will obviously buy it when it does come out!
I can't believe the YouTube poster above only gave the new song 3/10 though.
Slow burner
That's great news.
The National are one of those bands that take their time to get to you.
I must have had Boxer and Alligator on the ipod for months before the penny dropped.
This is the track that did it for me
It's an utter jaw-dropper, that tune.
Although, for me, "Boxer" had me from the first few notes of "Fake Empire". That weird, shuffly piano that you can't quite pin down to a beat until the drums come in, that delivery that sounds like Stuart Staples after a Valium accident. Perfect.
You don't work for Newsnight do you?
They used the intro to Fake Empire at the beginning of all the pre-recorded bits of their education special on Wednesday.
There are times
...when I wish I spent my days putting together reports about education for Newsnight, rather than actually working in education. But no, sadly, myself and Paxo are destined to move in different circles.
Although I did go to university with Jeremy Vine's missus. She was in the year above me.
Interesting explanation of the timing of Fake Empire here
When I first saw this, I thought it looked virtually impossible for a beginner like me to play, but I showed it to my guitar teacher and he explained it to me and had me playing it in about 2 minutes!
The National
Have already posted here about them but they are my favourite band of the last ten years. It took about 30 seconds of Fake Empire for me. Each album is better than the last....err..that's jinxed it.
Thanks
That sounds great. I loved Boxer too, and am glad that I was not alone in discovering them late.
A band that is in a similar vein to The National is Frightened Rabbit. A Scottish band with a great new album currently (Winter of Mixed Drinks) and a total belter in The Midnight Organ Fight.
Cheers kb
I am now well into frightened rabbit after seeing you this recommendation the other week. Head Rolls Off from The Midnight Organ Fight is phenomenal as is the rest of the album!
Cheers
Thanks!
That's made my day that has. If you get the chance, go see them live too; really strong.
It is truly a shame that they have probably missed the big-time pay-boat, Heads Roll Off and Keep Yourself Warm deserve to be heard.
Winter of Mixed Drinks?
I'm looking into that for the title alone.
KB, tell me what else you like
After that comment on Frightened Rabbit, tell me what else you like. I'm also a huge National fan discovering them around the time of Alligator and I stumbled across Frightened Rabbit in 2008, loving Midnight Organ Fight. Winter of Mixed Drinks turned up today from Amazon.
What else do you like?
Not that typical actually
F'Rabbit is about as rock as I go. REM is my all time fave band (The National have similarities, I feel) plus Bright Eyes, Belle & Sebastian, Interpol, Charlatans, The Shins etc.
The National
I love 'em. Am now, officially and literally, counting the days.
Earlier albums?
I love Boxer and Alligator, are any of the earlier albums worth getting?
There's a few good songs
but it was Alligator where they really got it right for me.
I remember getting Cherry Tree as a promo and thinking, "if there were more like All the Wine this'd be great"
Sad Songs For Dirty Lovers
is also superb if a little rougher..
It includes the beautiful:
New track
available free here
http://www.highviolet.com/
Ta muchly for that
I'll enjoy listening to that later.
New Album
High Violet is streaming at the New York Times website now:
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/25/magazine/25national-t.html