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ThatsMyBoye posted:Sea of Love music video. This is the best song released so far, studio or otherwise. Jesus, how Aaron (that's Aaron, right?) avoids causing physical harm to Bryan there is beyond me. E: The video is an homage to this by Russian band Zvuki Mu Real Name Grover fucked around with this message at 23:55 on May 8, 2013 |
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May 8, 2013 23:42
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ThatsMyBoye posted:Sea of Love music video. This is the best song released so far, studio or otherwise. Jesus Christ, that is fantastic. If there's one complaint I'd levy against The National, it's that their production has been a bit monochromatic - and now they've fixed that. So psyched. Somewhere, Paul Banks is making this face:  (Though he's probably still rich off the sales of the
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May 8, 2013 23:46
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precision posted:So psyched. Somewhere, Paul Banks is making this face: I thought the first half of Interpol was as good as anything pre-Our Love to Admire. I admit that it's a somewhat controversial opinion, though.
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May 9, 2013 02:40
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It appears this album has leaked. "I Should Live in Salt" is great. Did Matt get divorced or something? EDIT - Also Matt does a lot of interesting things with his voice, kudos to him for pushing himself further in that department. Lord Krangdar fucked around with this message at 05:25 on May 9, 2013 |
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May 9, 2013 05:15
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Whoever was on the lookout for more piano-driven songs, I think you're gonna like Pink Rabbits. Also this album rules and lives up to the hype easily. Take that as avatarred bias if you will.
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May 9, 2013 06:09
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I'm really loving it so far. My terrible impulse control has made sure that I know half the songs by now, but on first listen "Fireproof" and "This is the Last Time" are both lovely.
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May 9, 2013 06:12
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It's so good. I was actually a little bit worried for some reason, but it's excellent. Now I really can't wait to see them at Boston Calling.
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May 9, 2013 06:54
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Elderling posted:I had nothing better to do so I went early with a friend I found a set list for the show in case you are feeling nostalgic. http://www.setlist.fm/setlist/the-national/2013/moma-ps1-long-island-city-ny-63d8029f.html Half way into the album now and I gotta say its loving incredible. TheAbortionator fucked around with this message at 07:40 on May 9, 2013 |
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May 9, 2013 07:24
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I am absolutely in love with Pink Rabbits. "You didn't see me, I was fallin' apart. I was a white girl in a crowd of white girls in a park"
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May 9, 2013 15:21
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Lord Krangdar posted:It appears this album has leaked. "I Should Live in Salt" is great. He's still happily married, far as we know. It's not an unreasonable question, I've gotten that impression from every album of theirs since Boxer.
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May 9, 2013 16:24
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Hard to Find is a perfect closer. Reminds me of Gospel
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May 9, 2013 16:27
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Oxxidation posted:He's still happily married, far as we know. I'm pretty sure his wife helps write some of the lyrics.
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May 9, 2013 17:57
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Glug_Glug posted:I'm pretty sure his wife helps write some of the lyrics. Yeah I've heard the same thing. I think it was mentioned in a behind the scenes video for Bloodbuzz. For fans in the Los Angeles area, they announced a show at the Hollywood Forever Cemetery, August 11. I was able to catch Explosions in the Sky at this place a few years back and I still consider it the best show I've ever been to, really an amazing venue. Tickets go on sale tomorrow.
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May 9, 2013 19:21
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"This Is The Last Time" is an incredible song. I can't stop listening to it.
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May 10, 2013 03:46
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Gee, this album is cool as hell. I Should Live In Salt, Sea of Love, and I Need My Girl are spectacular. Don't know what I think of Fireproof though - if I had to choose a weak point it would probably be that song, it gives me blue balls.
pepperburg fucked around with this message at 14:28 on May 10, 2013 |
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May 10, 2013 14:20
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Slipped is the only song I straight up don't like at all. Fireproof is probably my favorite of the "ballad" type songs. I also think Demons is one of the worst songs on the album, I'm really surprised they released it as a single. There is a lot of female vocal harmonies on this album. Do we know who is on which song? They all kinda sound like Sharon Van Etten to me, or maybe the singer from Wye Oak.
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May 10, 2013 14:29
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I can't get over "I Should Live In Salt." It tickles all the right nerves for me.
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May 10, 2013 15:00
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So It Goes posted:There is a lot of female vocal harmonies on this album. Do we know who is on which song? They all kinda sound like Sharon Van Etten to me, or maybe the singer from Wye Oak. I don't know specifically on this one but Matt's wife does a bunch on other albums. Also, I saw Mistaken For Strangers, the doc his brother made. I was dubious going in but was pleasantly surprised. Surprisingly funny, kind of sad, kind of dark, but uplifting too. Highly recommended, even for non-fans.
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May 10, 2013 15:34
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Mikerthan posted:I don't know specifically on this one but Matt's wife does a bunch on other albums. Wikipedia indicates that Sharon Van Etten is indeed on the album (I knew it!), along with St. Vincent, Sufjan Stevens, and Nona Marie Invie. Still not clear who is on which songs though.
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May 10, 2013 15:57
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This is my now my favorite album. I can't stop listening to I need my girl and humiliation. "All the L.A women, fall asleep well swimming. I got paid to fish em out, then one day I lost the job." is probably the darkest lyric ever.
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May 10, 2013 19:47
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TheAbortionator posted:This is my now my favorite album. There's a lot of really nice turns of phrase on this one compared to High Violet, which was more about repetition. The opening verse of I Need My Girl sticks out in my head: quote:I am good, I am grounded. Berninger says his lyrics are basically word salad, but he's still really good at capturing anxiety and deteriorating self-image.
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May 10, 2013 21:01
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Oxxidation posted:He's still happily married, far as we know. Kind of like how every Yo La Tengo album has songs on it that sound like Ira and Georgia's Divorce Testimony. I am really loving the album so far, not sure if it's better than Boxer but definitely better than High Violet.
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May 10, 2013 21:14
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I don't know if they could ever top Boxer for me. It's one of my favorite albums ever. I like every song on this album. They haven't made anything after Sad Songs... that I didn't like which is pretty impressive.
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May 10, 2013 21:22
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Oxxidation posted:There's a lot of really nice turns of phrase on this one compared to High Violet, which was more about repetition. The opening verse of I Need My Girl sticks out in my head: I couldn't articulate what I loved so much about the lyrics on this album but I think you hit the nail on the head. nihil morari posted:I don't know if they could ever top Boxer for me. It's one of my favorite albums ever. I cant say for sure either but I should be able to judge a year down the line. I actually liked High Violet the most when I first heard it but it didn't have the staying power that the Boxer did. TheAbortionator fucked around with this message at 21:51 on May 10, 2013 |
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May 10, 2013 21:48
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The National's lyrics are at their best when they near the "burnt tongue" technique used by author Amy Hempel and popularized by Chuck Palahniuk. What that means is twisting words in an awkward, unexpected, or otherwise wrong direction in a way that forces the reader/listener to pay attention and catch up. Some examples from Hempel: "I moved through the days like a severed head that finishes a sentence", or "In my neighborhood there is a fellow who was a chemistry teacher until an explosion took his face and left what was left behind." From Demons: "Get the sudden sinking feeling, of a man about to fly", or Humiliation: "I was teething on roses, I was in guns and noses" (of many, many examples from all their albums). I can't recommend Hempel's short stories enough to any fans of this band. Lord Krangdar fucked around with this message at 01:54 on May 11, 2013 |
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May 11, 2013 01:48
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I just found out that there was a National thread because I was looking for people to talk to about the leak. I'm only on Heavenfaced right now and I'll probably be giving this a bunch of "spins" before I definitively judge it but so far I'm not regretting pre-ordering the deluxe album bundle. It sounds to me like they took where they were going with the post-High Violet songs such as "Think You Can Wait" and "You Were a Kindness" and made it bigger and sparser, if that makes any sense.
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May 11, 2013 21:23
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With listen #4 now half complete, I'm pretty disappointed. There are lots of bits and pieces that I like but they are spread fairly randomly throughout the album, and unfortunately they are also mixed with bits that I simply dislike, and so there's not actually a single song on here that I particularly want to return to. Case in point, Slipped, which I just finished listening to: The "ah-ah-ah-ah" bits in the chorus are just trite and nursery-rhyme-like. So while I like the rest of the vocals, that turns me off the whole track. And now we're into I Need My Girl, and, again, the chorus vocals strike me as insipid, and that kind of ruins a guitar sound which is actually quite nice (despite the fact that it's trotting out a really tired chord progression). While I've been happy to learn about "burnt tongue", I have no idea what is appealing about the lyric "I was teething on roses, I was in guns and noses". Maybe this just isn't for me. Oh well, back to High Violet. Those On My Left fucked around with this message at 06:29 on May 13, 2013 |
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May 13, 2013 06:26
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Those On My Left posted:With listen #4 now half complete, I'm pretty disappointed. There are lots of bits and pieces that I like but they are spread fairly randomly throughout the album, and unfortunately they are also mixed with bits that I simply dislike, and so there's not actually a single song on here that I particularly want to return to. I am actually on listen #4 as well. I am not as disappointed as you are, but compared to Boxer and High Violet, this is definitely taking me longer to get into. I am liking it more and more with each listen though, so there is still a lot of hope.
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May 13, 2013 17:55
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TheAbortionator posted:I found a set list for the show in case you are feeling nostalgic. Listened to it last night a few times. This is the Last Time, I Need My Girl, and Pink Rabbits are absurdly good, the rest of the album is just very good. Pink Rabbits is especially heartbreaking, "used to be" about death, my rear end. For the record, I'd say this could be the best album they've ever released. Not as musically cohesive as High Violet, but thematically consistent in a brutal way. The National does things sometimes (Cardinal Song, City Middle) that absolutely slay me, and this seems to be the mood that went into those songs stretched out to album length. I'd put it on par with Alligator at least, better than anything else they've ever done. Elderling fucked around with this message at 21:30 on May 13, 2013 |
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May 13, 2013 21:22
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I think Breihan's Premature Evaluation over at Stereogum has a salient point in that this album doesn't necessarily have the chorus of a Mr. November or the immediate accessibility of the first few tracks of Boxer and most of High Violet, but it's just more refinement of a style these guys do and nobody else approaches.
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May 13, 2013 23:35
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Those On My Left posted:While I've been happy to learn about "burnt tongue", I have no idea what is appealing about the lyric "I was teething on roses, I was in guns and noses". Maybe this just isn't for me. Well that wasn't the best example, I had better ones in my head but when I went to write that post I couldn't quite remember them- you could say they were on the tip of my burnt tongue. Those "ah-ah-ah"'s that you dislike are maybe a better example of the awkward little details that are key to this band's sound, and to me they're saved from being trite by the mix of sorrow and apathy and in the delivery. The way that element was handled here is about as far from the maligned "sing-along with monosyllables" cliche as you can get. I was disappointed at first too, mainly because the band has continued in a direction far from Boxer or Alligator (still my favorites). But this album is its own thing, and I'm finding a lot to love here. My current favorite detail is that languid synth line (?) in the background of "I Need My Girl". Only song I don't really like is "Sea of Love"; it just seems kinda generic and maybe "Graceless" would have been a better single. ThatsMyBoye posted:I think Breihan's Premature Evaluation over at Stereogum has a salient point in that this album doesn't necessarily have the chorus of a Mr. November or the immediate accessibility of the first few tracks of Boxer and most of High Violet, but it's just more refinement of a style these guys do and nobody else approaches. Yeah, the album could have used a big chorus like that or a screaming moment like the end of "Slipping Husband".
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May 14, 2013 02:30
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I think it's fair to say at this point that the band's moved on from that sort of catharsis. Sea of Love is the liveliest the band's been since "Abel," and it's still sleepwalking compared to the howls that came off that track. edit: I guess what's tripping me up in this album, and it's purely my own fault, is that it doesn't quite jibe with the personal narrative I've built up re: the National's discography. Ever since Alligator I've gotten the impression that their albums depict a gradual, unwilling slide into domestic life amidst midlife anxiety and uncertainly, and High Violet sure as hell didn't do anything to disprove that (Conversation 16, anyone). This album seems to have fallen into the more free-roaming, play-the-field view on relationships of Alligator. It's also, interestingly, the only album where an actual, named woman is present across multiple songs instead of that ever-present "you" (Jo in Sea of Love, Jennifer in Fireproof, Jenny in This Is the Last Time). Maybe they're different girls! What does it meeeeaaan I know that Berninger's lyrics are meant to be more tonal than literal, no offense to all of those people whose heads are boiling while they're guns and noses, but this is the first one that, to me, actually feels like it. It's way more opaque than anything they've released so far. Oxxidation fucked around with this message at 03:29 on May 14, 2013 |
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May 14, 2013 03:08
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Oxxidation posted:I guess what's tripping me up in this album, and it's purely my own fault, is that it doesn't quite jibe with the personal narrative I've built up re: the National's discography. Ever since Alligator I've gotten the impression that their albums depict a gradual, unwilling slide into domestic life amidst midlife anxiety and uncertainly, and High Violet sure as hell didn't do anything to disprove that (Conversation 16, anyone). This album seems to have fallen into the more free-roaming, play-the-field view on relationships of Alligator. It's also, interestingly, the only album where an actual, named woman is present across multiple songs instead of that ever-present "you" (Jo in Sea of Love, Jennifer in Fireproof, Jenny in This Is the Last Time). Maybe they're different girls! What does it meeeeaaan I know what you mean. I guess because their songs seem so heartfelt I've always assumed Berninger is mostly writing about himself and his real life, but this album forced me to rethink that (unless he really did get divorced or separated from his wife since High Violet). Although he has mentioned specific girls' names a few times in past albums, I think. quote:I know that Berninger's lyrics are meant to be more tonal than literal, no offense to all of those people whose heads are boiling while they're guns and noses, but this is the first one that, to me, actually feels like it. It's way more opaque than anything they've released so far. The lyrics here seem to be a mix of the extremely opaque with totally naked admissions of sorrow and confusion, without much of the in-between. That in-between is why I like Boxer the best; the lyrics there were vague enough to leave room for interpretation and emphasize feeling over literal meaning, but specific enough that each song paints a very clear situation in my head. Parts of High Violet are a lot more opaque, though, to me. I still have not even the slightest idea what "Vanderlyle Crybaby Geeks" is supposed to be about, or even what feeling its trying so hard to evoke. Lord Krangdar fucked around with this message at 04:10 on May 14, 2013 |
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May 14, 2013 04:06
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Lord Krangdar posted:I know what you mean. I guess because their songs seem so heartfelt I've always assumed Berninger is mostly writing about himself and his real life, but this album forced me to rethink that (unless he really did get divorced or separated from his wife since High Violet). Although he has mentioned specific girls' names a few times in past albums, I think. A lot of the band's songs feature references to names that pop up multiple times and even over multiple albums- names like Ada or Jenny. I don't necessarily think of them as being pulled from Matt's life or that of another band member. I think of them as giving the National's repertoire of songs a vague sense of shared narrative- like any one song could be the thoughts of the same fictional individual (or maybe one of several) at a different point in his life. Even if it's not biographical, I find that idea really cool- probably cooler if it's not biographical, just for sheer storytelling's sake. That said, I do remember seeing them perform 'Karen' last year at the Beacon in NYC. Before playing it, Matt said that they only performed the song once every tour (or year- can't remember) because it was "too painful" so  .
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May 14, 2013 07:46
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Yep, this album is brillant. I'd place it on the same level as "Boxer", which to me is basically the best, most poignant album of the last decade. I also loved "High Violet", but the weird production kind of bothered me. I get that they were going for a more sweeping, dare I say epic sound, but that never grabbed me in the way "Boxer" did, which truly sounds as though the band were playing in your living room. "Trouble will find me" doesn't quite go back to that feel, but IMHO it does sound a lot more intimate, and some of the lyrics seem a bit less opaque too (I still don't know what the gently caress a "Vanderlyle Crybaby" is supposed be). This lends the album a liberating quality, as if the band were indulging a more straightforward aesthetic sensibility without feeling guilty about it. I love it. "Pink Rabbits", "Graceless" and "I need my girl" have become some of my favorite National tracks basically over night, and the rest is awesome too - there's not a single song I'd skip. As much as I love The National, the only other album about which I can say that is "Boxer".
Wengy fucked around with this message at 16:15 on May 15, 2013 |
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May 15, 2013 09:03
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Yeah, I have to agree. I've been listening to it pretty heavily for the past week and every song has grown on me. I think some of the writing isn't as tight as it is on the other albums, but the different things they've done with this album have more than made up with. Every song that Matt sings high makes me happy. Also, I thought the guns n' noses line was stupid, but then I heard the BBC interview saying that he thought it was silly, but Bryan and Scott begged him to leave it in and it made me appreciate it. Anything for friends! Now Humiliation is pretty much my favorite song on the album.
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May 15, 2013 15:50
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This is definitely what I was hoping the follow-up to Boxer to sound like. High Violet is still a fantastic album, but a lot of it seems a bit over-written and over-produced in the wake of the success of Boxer. Trouble Will Find Me sounds like them just totally embracing the darkness and cynicism that makes the band what it is, but this time without such a serious take on it. The songwriting isn't as polished as the last couple albums, but if there's ever an album of The National just, well, being The National, this is it.
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May 16, 2013 04:55
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Hard To Find is seriously so sad and haunting, particularly when the drums kick in at the end. It's probably the best closer they've done.
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May 16, 2013 14:52
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slogsdon posted:Hard To Find is seriously so sad and haunting, particularly when the drums kick in at the end. Though it's got some stiff competition regardless. One thing the band's kept consistent is excellent album openers and closers. I've always been a fan of Lucky You, personally, especially when the bridge kicks in: quote:You clean yourself to meet
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May 16, 2013 17:07
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This album is amazing, not that I'm surprised. I am, however, once again let down by their production. It just sounds so hollow. High Violet had the same unfortunate sound as well. Why can't they recapture (or even attempt to recapture) that fuller sound they had on Boxer? The drums on that record sounded like they were being played inside your head. Compare the album version of I Need My Girl, where the drums are hardly audible, to the really beefy performance of the same song on Fallon. It's no competition. I really wish these songs didn't sound so thin on the record. But then again... I've been listening to it nonstop, so I guess it's hard to complain.
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