The National - Trouble Will Find Me

http://i2.cdnds.net/13/12/618x618/music-the-national-trouble-will-find-me.jpg

Trouble Will Find Me is the sixth album by Brooklyn-based indie rock band The National, to be released on May 20, 2013 in Europe and May 21 in North America via 4AD records. The album was self produced with mixing by Peter Katis, who worked on their previous albums High Violet, Alligator, and Boxer at Clubhouse studio in Rhinebeck, NY. The album will be released digitally, on CD, 180gm vinyl, and in a limited edition deluxe boxed vinyl set.

The tracklisting for Trouble Will Find Me is below:

1. I Should Live in Salt
2. Demons
3. Don't Swallow the Cap
4. Fireproof
5. Sea of Love
6. Heavenfaced
7. This is the Last Time
8. Graceless
9. Slipped
10. I Need My Girl
11. Humiliation
12. Pink Rabbits
13. Hard to Find

hope this is good, they have been away long enough.

what is it with aging nyc indie bands and terrible cover art this year

cannot get over how terrible this album cover is

I have an ominous feeling about this one.

Are any of these songs on Youtube in live format anywhere?

lol I was just about to comment that I love the cover art, but it's already been slammed twice.

High Violet progressively gave me that feeling where your favorite band releases a dud that makes you re-consider all their previous stuff

I overlooked 'High Violet' at first. I think I was a bit put off by the hype and the overwhelming championing from the Q/Mojo crowd. Revisited it recently and it’s as good as ‘Boxer’ for sure. ‘Alligator’ will always have a special place in my heart. Going to try and be a little less prejudiced towards the new one.

Boxer for me was like a younger more urban Bad Seeds record, while High Violet seemed like a somewhat edgier Coldplay album.

she's looking at you

I quite enjoyed High Violet and I kinda dig the cover. So ha.

And is Don't Swallow the Cap about ShRoOmZ?

European dates:

31 Oct Helsinki, Ice Hall
2 Nov Copenhagen, Forum
4 Nov Berlin, Max Schmelling Halle
5 Nov Dusseldorf, Mitsubishi Electric Hallen
6 Nov Luxembourg, Rockhal
7 Nov Amsterdam, Heineken Music Hall
9 Nov Belfast, Odyssey Arena
10 Nov Dublin, O2 Arena
11 Nov Manchester, O2 Apollo
13 Nov London, Alexandra Palace
18 Nov Paris, Le Zenith
20 Nov Madrid, Palacio Vistalegre
21 Nov Lisbon, Pavilhao Atlantico

Pre Sale - Tuesday 9th
General - Thurs 11th [although site says 13th]

More info

http://www.americanmary.com/tour.php

In terms of design, the album art is fine, but distorted or severed faces are just viscerally disgusting.

lol I was just about to comment that I love the cover art, but it's already been slammed twice.

― Johnny Fever, Wednesday, April 3, 2013 1:02 AM (2 days ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Yeah this looks pretty cool imo. Would be better without the copy, especially the widow. Why would the designer do that?

So here's this

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N527oBKIPMc

it's generous and easy, which aren't qualities i would typically use to describe a national song. looking forward to hearing the rest of the album.

it probably makes them feel better that it's in 7 at least

this song makes me look forward to hearing the album, which is a good way to feel after adoring Alligator/Boxer and being pretty disappointed by HV. should probably revisit HV, tho

Six new songs here:

http://consequenceofsound.net/2013/04/watch-the-national-perform-six-new-songs/

"Demons" is good, will wait to hear the rest.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=bFnA-8H-5lo

There's a fine line between knowing your strengths as a band and just doing the same thing over and over and over. I think The National used to practice the former and are now (and have been for a minute) victims of the latter.

Hm. So they're a minor band? ain't nuthin wrong with it

There was a definite progression on the first three records, but I feel like beginning with Boxer they kind of found a sweet* spot and haven't left it since 2007.

(*Some people love it and that's cool. Bores me, though.)

these two songs have had more melody/hooks than the ones on high violet, i'm hopeful

i agree with you JF but in the same way that the new daft punk snippets sound like a retread of 'harder better' i'm all for this being a retread of boxer

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yIWmRbHDhGw

h/t brad

oh man i was just about to update this thread

so yeah i'm not one of the people who hates high violet and like alligator and boxer hit sweet melancholic spots that basically no other indie rock does for me; i was kind of bored by "demons" but "sea of love" is great

and you know this is a band who have a really specific groove, who know how to play with each other, and they have a great drummer, and i am really easily thrilled by unusual time signatures so i am basically prepared to love this album

Hey, whatdoyaknow...that one's REALLY good.

hey joe sorry i hurt you but
they say, love is a virtue
don't they?

Graceless and the one with salt in the title are the standouts. This sticks to their tried and true.

so yeah i'm not one of the people who hates high violet and like alligator and boxer hit sweet melancholic spots that basically no other indie rock does for me; i was kind of bored by "demons" but "sea of love" is great

― emo canon in twee major (BradNelson), Wednesday, May 8, 2013 12:42 PM (17 minutes ago) Bookmark

heh i love alligator / boxer and didn't cotton to high violet; the national are at their best for me when they construct their songs around two, three, really strong hooks; basically all of alligator is like that, parts of boxer. for these new songs, really seems they've found their ear for melody again, and have tightened up the song structures; nothing as meandering and rambling as high violet, i really only fuck with bloodbuzz ohio off that one

I love "England," though -- it sounds like John Cale in orchestral mode.

Vanderlyle! Stuffed with melody and hooks.

in the wrong mood I want to throttle these guys

'throttle' eh

Vanderlyle Crybaby Cry is awesome, I don't really get how ppl can love Alligator and Boxer and hate HV... It's not like it was that much of a departure. Anyway, I hope this one is different somehow because they've mined their goth springsteen with expressionistic lyrics schtick for about as much as its worth, which was a lot (3 classic albums.) i hope this is a disco record in the mode of lcd soundsystem, or something. Their "Some Girls." hate the cover.

If a bunch of tracks already leaked and what i said makes no sense, sorry

a bunch of tracks have been released and they essentially mine the same sound but they're all more complicated

And still no mention of my favorite, 'Sad Songs for Dirty Lovers'. Guess you had to be there? :)

Fwiw I liked High Violet a lot, too. I am refraining from listening to all these songs dripping out though, I am holding out for the album so I can take it in in one go, which seems to be how I enjoy the National the most.

could never get into SSFDL much beyond "Lucky You" which is one of their best songs

That is a beautiful song, yes

agree, that's a good one. my favorite song by them is "slow show" off boxer. i think all their album covers have been borderline disasters though, with this one being the worst. why can't they find a visual aesthetic that fits with their highly developed, distinctive sound?

The text element on the cover of Alligator is awesome fuiud

haha i really love this album cover, and i liked all the high violent variations. v pretty photo on boxer too? idk

i've liked all of them except high violet

I love the s/t one and it's cover

Звуки Му - грубый закат (1995)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WfKqjHLdetM

http://youtu.be/WfKqjHLdetM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WfKqjHLdetM

lmao

Thanks :)
"Simply paste in the URL of the YouTube web page containing the video you wish to embed" – not so simple!

it used to be

It doesn't work with the new "convenient" short urls, and it doesn't work if it's https instead of http. Youtube is on crack.

This has leaked btw

it's nice but nothing as striking as the last album

Much, much preferring this to High Violet on the first several listens. It sustains its mood beautifully, without silly production choices or songs about zombies or clunky financial crisis references. The National's sound is such a delicate thing that even small missteps break the spell completely, and this one doesn't have any missteps.

Berninger's never sung better, but the paradox of this record is how listening to Berninger puts renewed attention on lyrics, which I never wanna do with these guys. I mean: “If you lose me I’m gonna die,” “There’s a science to walking through windows,” and “Don’t tell anyone I’m here/I’ve got Tylenol and beer.”

On first listen: It's very subdued, introvert. Solemn almost. At first I thought it's not really 'waking up', but I agree with Evan that it 'sustains the mood'. It's seems they really carved away the odds 'n sodds and focused on perfecting this one sound. I need to hear it a lot more, but I for one think that is a very admirable approach.

yeah i'm feeling this so far

The album really hit me hard on maybe my third passive listen. Like, really bummed me out in a way most sad music doesn't (and in a way it didn't on my first few active listens to it). I can't wait to take a long, late drive with it and see how it plays.

which I never wanna do with these guys

haha i love the lyrics on alligator and boxer.

I'm put together beautifully
Big wet bottle in my fist, big wet rose in my teeth
I'm perfect piece of ass

lyrics were always integral to my experience of this band

^

i do notice tropes though, he always wants to be carried by something

bc he is drunk

i probably wouldn't listen to this band as much as i have were it not for the lyrics

Wow, just starting in on this and this album sounds about as good as this sort of music gets. Really sad and gorgeous. Def. of a piece with their past, which means, basically, like U2 had U2 taken a different, darker, less populist path.

"Demons" reminds me of "Drive" by the Cars.

"i should live in salt" is a really unassuming opener compared to "fake empire" and "terrible love"

better for it, imo

the national are at their best for me when they construct their songs around two, three, really strong hooks

feel like geese of beverly hill / city middle from alligator are the best examples of this for me, and the lyrics make them, "serve me the sky with a big slice of lemon" / "you were parking your car, you said i'm overwhelmed, you were thinking out loud"

probably the second one is a lil' too on the nose about what a sad sack indie loser finds poignant but *looks in mirror* *laughs nervously*

I'm amazed that (the to all appearances well adjusted) Berninger can so easily shift into this mode. Well, I mean, maybe it's not easy, but he's not dead, so clearly he's got a system.

xxxxp Many, many years ago, when Boxer came out, I asked him about all his lyrics about drinking and pouring a drink and being drunk, etc, because they seemed to reflect the kind of desire to escape from reality and responsibilities that songwriters typically condemn or demonize. But his reasoning for all the drinking references is that he just really enjoys drinking. For him, drinking is a romantic impulse, not a shameful one.

“In songwriting, there aren’t any rules. You don’t have to grow up and be responsible. When I’m sitting, writing lyrics and drinking wine, I don’t want to have to solve the issues in my life or anything else’s, or write a political song. That’s the last thing I wanted to do: I just want to get kind of drunk. And so, for me, the band is the place to do that. The rest of my life is what I take seriously.”

That always stuck with me for some reason. I think a lot of the band's appeal is that the create this safe space where it's ok to just have a drink, consequences be damned

oh so now it's Berninger who wants to start a fight about what's a political song

Let's talk about wine baby, let's talk about you and me

it's ok to just have a drink, consequences be damned

or even have a drink, consequences are then experienced but aren't mediated with any kind of judgment

The other theme I always linked to the Nationals is finance/workplace, which is something I always found refreshing somehow.

For some reason, I've been listening to Berninger as Id (or Super Ego?) to Gregg Dulli's Ego.

Ohio etc.

relistened to high violet and i think the production lets it down; comes off as a nothing-y wash. but i love "lemonworld" and "england"

"England" is grand.

Also, this group epitomizes the maxim that a band is only as good as its drummer.

OTM. It's even more palpable at concerts.

Their drummer is their lead guitarist imo

their drummer is their not-so-secret weapon mos def

duh

for real

god i hope i never have to go through a break up again but at least i know the national and this album will be there for me...
this thought is among my first impressions

finally heard this all the way through; was all ready to yell about the length and yet, i guess bc of how well they sustain the mood, it feels shorter than it is

"pink rabbits" is tremendous

when we finally meet you can buy me a pink rabbit and we can determine whether it produces effects and scenarios like Berninger describes.

Speaking of which, does that refer to this beer? Hadn't heard of it before.

http://www.idrink.com/v.html?id=50190

that sounds revolting

Can't picture Berninger drinking such a thing.

re drummers felt this was about tindersticks. they had an amazing drummer. and then they didn't, and their music stopped being very good.

well the drummer came back and they reformed as 'the national' have you checked them out?

felt this way

cover of this album has that "by virtue of the hype and the market this record should be a Big Record with a Big Concept but we don't know what it is so we're just going to give you this kind of bombastic minimalist cover image to ponder" thing

see also coldplay and a lot of other british bands

i'm trying to not let that aspect of it spoil my enjoyment

For sure, cover reminds me of:

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/4/45/A_Rush_of_Blood_to_the_Head.jpg/220px-A_Rush_of_Blood_to_the_Head.jpg

well it's someone trapped in a mirror which to be fair is what most national songs are about

?

"i need my girl" is devastating

that arpeggio?

?

idk feel like a lot of national songs are like a fall of details + feeling extremely lost in self-reflection

im goin thru the glass again/come and find me
god loves everybody/don't remind me

yeah it's one of their catchiest little guitar riffs in a minute, al

on a scale of one to ten how depressing is this?

Brad Nelso otm

Brad Nelso

this is your new name

easier to type

when i walk into a room
i do not light it up.

fuck.

remember when you lost your shit and drove the car into the garden?
you got out and said “i’m sorry” to the vines and no one saw it.

yeah this album is a return to a heavier focus on lyrics (verses at least) compared to HOOKS ONLY m.o. of high violet

that might explain my reluctance

it's okay to be sad, alfred

don't turn into the lex on me here.

I'd trim this a bit - "Don't Swallow the Cap," "Humiliation" and "Slipped" don't add much, at least based on the first few listens.

ahhh i really like humilation and slipped

yeah this album is a return to a heavier focus on lyrics (verses at least) compared to HOOKS ONLY m.o. of high violet

― bish (bosch), don't kill my vibe (rennavate), Friday, May 10, 2013 3:54 PM (2 hours ago) Bookmark

feel like HV had barely any hooks :/

Hmmm... Listened to the new one seven times now... And even though I really love it's mood, I somehow do miss the immediacy and, indeed, the "hooks", of High Violet.

I love the singular mood on the new record, as it is very focused on a particular sadness/subdued vibe. But I just switched to High Violet and noticed I do relish the "urgency" on that record, that seems to be lacking on the new album.

Something about the track order that does not really appeals to me on the new one. It is quite bland? I still stand by my earlier remarks, that I love the focus on the new one. But after playing it seven times, the switch to High Violet seems like a pretty big step backwards? I miss the dynamics, most of all.

I will have to hold out on a definitive judgement...

There seem to be no standouts on this new album. I have songs I prefer, but there aren't any 'Sorrows''s, 'Lemonworld's' or 'Englands''s...

Conflicted.

i really love sad music, might be my favorite type of music. the Cure being my number one and the Boo Radleys being my number two. after reading this thread i'm really, really looking forward to hearing this new album. not even going to listen to this leak and will buy it. nice, coming in out in just over a week.

That's a great top two bands Bee!

Does someone not like England?! Wow.

thanks Kitchen Person.

cover of this album has that "by virtue of the hype and the market this record should be a Big Record with a Big Concept but we don't know what it is so we're just going to give you this kind of bombastic minimalist cover image to ponder" thing

― flesh, the devil, and a wolf (wolf) (amateurist), Friday, May 10, 2013 11:11 AM (4 days ago)

Good thread idea.

http://thatdoesntsoundright.files.wordpress.com/2010/05/591px-the_mars_volta-de_loused_in_the_comatorium-2003-cover.jpeg

^right

yeah all those hypgnosis (sp?) covers are definitely the major source point for this

u2 and coldplay are basically the paragons of this, since their lyrics being mostly meaningless bombast is at the heart of both of their aesthetics

but yeah new thread i think

I don't like "England," either.

I think I like my 10-track reshuffled edit of this new one quite a bit, though I do think next time around they might consider bringing in an outside producer to mess with their sound a bit.

I never made one, did you? Xpost

and if you want to see me cry then let it be or nevermind

Pink Rabbits is my favorite. Slays me.

You didn't see me I was falling apart
I was a white girl in a crowd of white girls in the park
You didn't see me I was falling apart
I was a television version of a person with a broken heart

Loving this album more with every spin. It's so harmonious and singular in the feeling it wants to channel.

Only 'Heavenfaced', the sixth song, I just cannot listen to, because of my allergy to all things U2, and it really comes too close to being U2. Other than that, fantastic album.

Pink Rabbits: Morrissey reference alert ("Bona Drag was still on")

hahaha, they posted a link to Target on their Facebook, who will have it on sale for $8.99 tomorrow. Reminds me of back in the 90s when Best Buy started carry 4AD CDs for crazy loss leader prices and I bought just about everything available.

http://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/18030-the-national-trouble-will-find-me/

Is the lack of discussion about this new release in any way a passive aggressive kinda thing??

There's a new National album !?!

"This Is The Last Time" is the first track to really get my attention. Though I still like everything else so far...

alfred's review of this in spin is totally otm

Kudos for linking this band to the John Cale of Paris 1919. There's something to that, whether or not it is actually there.

"don't swallow the cap" is an early standout

Some words here - http://sickmouthy.com/2013/05/26/albums-from-may-part-1/

Good read, Nick. I like the idea of Jim O'Rourke behind the mixing table on this one. I really, really enjoy this National album, they are so good at what they do. But now you spoiled it all by presenting me with what could have been ;)

Nah, I do think O'Rourke in particular could have helped them to be more 'sparse' at times, which makes you listen more closely, with even more attention.

this bands shite

Listened to the boxer on repeat in the cleanroom today. That album is still the best. High violet is ok but the first track sounds terrible, and I don't understand. Excited to hear new one if spotify ever gets it.

go carl co!

http://www.slate.com/articles/arts/music_box/2013/05/the_national_s_trouble_will_find_me_reviewed_too_many_crescendos.html

i had to point out to carl that i employed the term "Crescendo Rock" as early as 2006. and that it IS an actual genre of sorts with last fm tags and everything. but surely there are cases of even earlier coinage.

alfred's review of this in spin is totally otm

― emo canon in twee major (BradNelson), Thursday, May 23, 2013 11:13 PM (5 days ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Kudos for linking this band to the John Cale of Paris 1919. There's something to that, whether or not it is actually there.

― Josh in Chicago, Thursday, May 23, 2013

aw thanks!

Alfred-nice catch on Berninger utilizing his head voice more. and, eek, I guess that's the highlight of the album for me thus far. Making HV look rather strong in comparison, and I thought that was a but of a letdown. Especially lyrically. 'I was afraid I'd eat your brains'?! They seem to be treading water a bit with the crescendo rock trick, works great on a fantastic riff like England, not so well on a mediocrity like This is the last time.

Appreciate the Sad Songs shout out above-my favorite track of theirs may be Murder Me Rachael. I miss the really loud songs they used to do.

I really love This Is The Last Time.

I got invited to see these guys tomorrow night in Brooklyn, at the Barclays Center. Such an odd band to become an arena headliner.

Trying to like this... But it's not working.

Do I need to look up the lyrics and sit down with it top really get it? I'm prepared to do that if ILX thinks it wise.

There's too much going on on this record, too many ideas, too many layers, too many instruments. It blurs together as a consequence, and the songs lose a sense of individuality; live they were more discernible as separate entities, Graceless had far more energy and punch, for instance. For that reason, for me, this is inferior to High Violet and Boxer by quite some way. My wife adores it though, but she likes them far more than me in general.

Its too tasteful. They're very tasteful generally, obviously, but this over-stepped, I think.

Agreed, and I think it's just too long a record to maintain this sound successfully. Boxer has a similar consistent sound & feel, but is the perfect length for an album (IMHO) so it never drags ...

no surprise this has appeared on a few EOY lists.

As maximalist as it is, Boxer has a certain economy in the way it's mixed; there's never too many elements.

This album is... not for me. Sends me to sleep.

I see all your points and don't disagree with 'em, but fuck it, I love this record anyway. I think Berninger's writing is good enough that I can overlook the goopiness.

This is The National's best record. Funny that the band has this reputation as so uptight, because this album feels so loose and free to me. The lyrics have a free-association feel to them at times, but they're also pointed and funny, and littered with music-geek references. It doesn't feel like a sad album to me as much as it does an album about the joys of listening to sad records. I just unabashedly love it.

So I've listened to this a few times, and originally I didn't find much to latch onto. I'm not a lyrics guy, but on previous National albums, I could usually find one or two songs with an undeniable hook, and that was good enough. This one, not so much. But God help me, the more I listen to this, the more I kind of dig the ~vibe~ of it. Like, my favorite experience with the National was seeing them live at Pitchfork a few years ago, and they were all clad in suits, and it was night-time, and that sort of literate, leather-voiced, boozy-warm miserabilism worked really well in that setting. So maybe I just need to pour myself some scotch and sit in an armchair in a dimly lit room and just soak it up, you know?

like Matt Berninger himself!

Problem is, I'm a bourbon guy.

Listen again to Pink Rabbits: maybe my favorite lyrics of any of their songs.

Never paid attention to these guys but a bad breakup and deciding to give this band a go coincided fortuitously.

This album is amazing. 2013 was an amazing year for music i don't care what the actual music critics on this board say.

it is only a great year for music when paris hilton releases an album.

Finish your pink rabbits, fellas.

they were on Saturday Night Live last Saturday night and it was really good.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ack4cJry0as&list=UUzB3VrTOjAStUvaLPMDjHDw

The National are a dark hole to go down when you're going through a breakup

Good luck, Gukbe

<3 to Gukbe

this record along with others serve a similar function for me although i think theres a risk of "indulging" too much in sadness with music like this, at least for me. certain lines in this record really get to the heart of things though. it's self-indulgent and sentimental but there isn't an ounce of bullshit anywhere, if ounces are even the right unit to measure bullshit.

To me the National fill the same role the Cure once played. Not depressing/sad so much as a certain mood that can apparently be conjured at will.

Yeah. I had picked up their last three albums on the rec of a friend last year but never bothered to give them more of a once over. When relationship collapsed and I found myself suddenly moving cities in a rental car for a 16 hour drive, I couldn't bear to listen to anything I knew so I put them on because the mood felt right. Can't tell if listening to them on a loop for all those hours made things worse or better, but I certainly appreciate them now when I never did before.

(truth be told if I had any tindersticks on my ipod I probably would've reached for them)

...I don't know why I'd never connected Tindersticks and The National until you did just just now but otm

They have their similarities but I would never confuse them. Tindersticks more soulful and ... wry? Dry?

why?

To me the National fill the same role the Cure once played.

― Josh in Chicago, Saturday, March 15, 2014

http://fogsmoviereviews.files.wordpress.com/2012/10/blasphemer.jpg

Note the past tense, man. The Cure hasn't done anything I've liked even the slightest bit since "Bloodflowers," and that was back in ... 2000? Not coincidentally, the same year the National more or less kicked off, though still a good 5 years before "Alligator."

Re: Tindersticks, I always thought the band was going for, or has been going for for some time now, this moody formalist soul thing, and that also its sense of humor was so deliberately subsumed into this morass of delirious melancholia. The National are a lot artier, more inclined toward amorphous ambient guitar shading, both funnier yet also, strangely, heavier in terms of mood. That is:

certain lines in this record really get to the heart of things though.

This is really key to the National, I think. Tindersticks is more explicit in its ennui or whatever. The National, lyrically, is goofier, more surreal and/or stream of conscious, tossed off, but they somehow convey (at their best) something really powerful.

I was teething on roses/I was in guns and noses

I have noticed that this album features more than its share of references to hanging at the pool, however obliquely. "I’ll try to call you from the party/It’s full of punks and cannonballers." "All the L.A. women/Fall asleep while swimmin'." Etc.

The LA women verse is one of my favorites in any song ever. "She said babe you're better off..." A hypercondensed short story.

i like that verse too. "i got paid to fish 'em out and then one day i lost the job" is a lil tangled up in blue.

This album is so perfect I almost don't want them to follow it up.

it's their best record but i think they can better it, or at least make it shorter

^ could almost agree

to me it's surprising they had this in them after the misstep of high violet

And frankly, I think that was a pretty subtle misstep.

a misstep disguised as a great The National record. very clever!

i can't get my head around it
i keep feeling smaller'n'smaller

Not a big fan but I love Pink Rabbits. Such a gorgeous and sad song.

like the cocktail, you can only order it monthly

Love the Nationals. Really do. But hell is a party with them as the only soundtrack.

that's why they're hangover music. the musical echo of a long headache.

good fall music

http://www.danshort.com/pl/b/Paradise0001.jpg

This might be my favorite indie-rock album of the last five years. I still listen to it all the time and I'm always floored by its wisdom and wit and replayability.

the chord changes in Pink Rabbits are so great, and i love the unusual structure of the song. great lyrics, too. "I was a white girl in a crowd of white girls in the park"

If anything I think the band's more-of-the-same reputation has lead people to underrate this record, which is at the very least gorgeous and powerful and moving and funny.

I heard this album in full a couple of times, and right now I'm struggling to remember anything about it, bar the fact it didn't leave enough of an impression while I was listening to it to warrant sticking with it. A boring record, in other words. 2013 is my favourite year of the decade for music so far, too.

There is no such thing as boring music, just boring people.

I kid. If you can't remember it, give it another listen!

Nah, I'll pass. There's so much music out there and so little time, that I think it's better to check out something you haven't heard that you may like instead of revisiting something that you know didn't make any kind of great impression to begin with... and of course, there is such a thing as boring music.

gave it 2 spins yesterday since thread was bumped and this album r00lz, very mature, well produced, good songs

sad to find out is in fact boring, must be a heavy reality distortion field around my stereo

very mature, well produced, good songs

Yeah but what else does it have going for it, zzzzzz.

unique song structures and dope drumming keep it from being boring imo

Yeah, honestly, even if someone hated the National, he's such a great drummer I can't imagine him not holding your attention. But hey, maybe some people think drums are boring.

"sea of love" has the most lopsided groove and they sorta make it rock anyway

also the "what did harvard teach you?" line is super funny

lotsa funny lines on this. i like "god loves everybody / don't remind me"

I don't even remember any of the drumming. What I do remember is morose American indie rock.

feel like his drumming was a bit subdued on High Violet, maybe the new style didn't leave much room for all his variations, so I was happy to find him let more loose on this - not like Alligator, but a v good match for their new direction

lol i remember when i first heard the drum intro to "bloodbuzz ohio" and was like "oh i get this band now"

i don't think the "graceless" video was ever posted in here but it's sort of the ultimate national video

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jpz_gUyImhw

i took the medicine then i went missing

i mean, the national imo are a really interesting band bc from a distance they do embody everything that's boring and morose about modern american indie rock but in terms of composition and interplay they're one of the tightest bands around and they are always pushing at their own boundaries and their lyrics are super funny but also very sharp and can do great suggestive things in the space of a couplet, and basically none of these things are immediately accessible from the surface

otm

yup^^

like, I'm sure Turrican is a perfectly nice person and I'm not interested in starting a fight but this is so, so dumb:

I don't even remember any of the drumming. What I do remember is morose American indie rock.

― the hair - it's lost its energy (Turrican), Wednesday, September 7, 2016 11:22 AM (thirty-six minutes ago)

oops, forgot to block quote

like if you come to me and say "check out this music that's not normally up your alley, the guitar playing is incredible" and I come back and say "i didn't notice the guitar playing, what I did notice is the music isn't really my thing" i think it'll be time to fold up shop

For what it's worth, I don't recall anyone saying to me, three years ago, "Check out the new National album. Amazing drumming."

If they had, and I'm basing this on what little I actually remember about hearing this record and also bear in mind I did listen to this album in full more than once, I'd return the favour by asking 'em to check out a Rush record.

there is one kind of amazing drumming and its avatar is neil peart

bookmarked

seriously bryan devendorf is incredible turrican i'm sorry but obv u lack two ears and a heart

also god forbid an album should be a grower

it's OK to dislike morose American indie rock, but that doesn't make this a boring record or The National a bad band, that's all.

This band sucks so much it's breathtaking

love that turrican's response to the idea that this band has a great drummer was to bump a bunch of prog and hard rock threads with the phrase "amazing drumming"

huh "i should live in salt" is in 9/8, wild

Turrican's schtick is boring as fuck.

It's rather fitting that a hardcore fan of a band so terminally dull as Embrace should be in this thread, then.

Having irritated a dozen posters in the last month, Turrican has become the morose indie band of ILM.

If people are getting wound up that I find their favourite band/artist/album unmemorable and/or crap, that's not my problem.

Saying the National suck because the drumming isn't as good as Neil Peart or Alan White's is like saying New Order suck because Sumner doesn't play guitar as well as Richard Thompson.

(as this thread shows I'm no National fan either)

we get it, amazing drumming is about insane fills and pyrotechnics

Saying the National suck because the drumming isn't as good as Neil Peart or Alan White's

Except I didn't once say these exact words. Good try, though.

xp and xylosynths

they had, and I'm basing this on what little I actually remember about hearing this record and also bear in mind I did listen to this album in full more than once, I'd return the favour by asking 'em to check out a Rush record.

― the hair - it's lost its energy (Turrican),

This is no different. Keep slithering away though.

In fact, I don't recall saying that The National suck, either. I said that I listened to their album, more than once, and found it extremely unmemorable. People brought up the drumming, and I mentioned that nothing even stuck out on that front and that what I do remember was listening to a morose American indie rock record. Cue wahhh.

love that turrican's response to the idea that this band has a great drummer was to bump a bunch of prog and hard rock threads with the phrase "amazing drumming"

― who is extremely unqualified to review this pop album (BradNelson), Wednesday, September 7, 2016 9:11 PM (thirty-nine minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Did it not occur to you that I'm actually talking about music that I've been listening to recently? The fact that those bands have legitimately amazing drummers is mere coincidence.

This is no different. Keep slithering away though.

― The burrito of ennui (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Wednesday, September 7, 2016 9:55 PM (nineteen seconds ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

It's completely different. You're implying that I think The National suck because of the drumming, which is something I never once said. What I did say is from what little I remember about the record, that if someone asked me to check the record out for its drumming, then I likely wouldn't have much to say about it. That Neil Peart is a world renowned world class drummer, though, is without dispute.

I'm just saying that if someone asked me to check the record out for cigar-lighting cgi dragons on jumbotrons, then I likely wouldn't have much to say about it. Neil Peart is a world renowned receptacle for cigars lit by cigar-lighting cgi dragons on jumbotrons.

you definitely don't have much to say about the drumming of a record that you don't really remember anything about from three years ago

I have to say, it is most curious how it's always the fans of morose indie rock that get the most butthurt when people imply the artist/album is unmemorable or dull. Radiohead, The National... there should be a name for this condition, tbh.

there are so, so many much more generic / less distinctive bands to single out for derision

i for one support turrican in his claim that Lars Ulrich is a better band than the national

lol

turricans posting style itt vs drum sound on st anger

Now you're just making yourselves look ridiculous, guys, but whatever floats your boat.

As I said before, if people can't handle someone saying they find their favourite artist/album dull/unmemorable, then that's not my problem.

no your problem is being a dullard

ps the national suck

Then in three years time you'll struggle to remember anything about this post.

i cannot think of anything that would rile me up less than someone saying The National are boring

wow, butthurt

A lot of online tabs peg "I Should Live in Salt" as 17/8, which at first seems ... unlikely. But I guess I can hear how someone could count that.

Anyway, anyone got any information on the new album?

All I can find is that it's being recorded now, unlikely to come out this year and that they've "gone electronic" (whatever that means)

arab strap is a good band to enjoy while waiting for a new national release

I kind of get the spirit of why people think the National are dull. I was at some music thing where I met a girl who told me the National were her favorite band and when I asked her why she replied "They romanticize the ordinary." Like it's the poetic stream of consciousness of the average intelligent thirty something who is falling deep into ennui.

But there is something there lurking under the surface that makes them just interesting enough for me to not skip some of their tracks when they show up on shuffle. A subtle mythos that makes their songs become more than they are.

i think what's lurking beneath the surface is a killer band full of killer players who mostly write songs that are interesting and good

Trouble Will Find Me is probably in my top ten in favorite of albums of the decade, so far.

It was my favorite of 2013 for sure.

when I asked her why she replied "They romanticize the ordinary."

this is okay but the correct answer is bryan devendorf

New album soon?

Sleep Well Beast. pic.twitter.com/3IpxpigJlj

— The National (@TheNational) May 9, 2017

promising tease

New album September 8th

New track now:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2O6duDDkhis

guitar solo!

That was a shock! Is it their first?

the title drop is a bit clumsy but I like everything else about this

That's excellent.

damn what a band

The title sounds like an Adam Curtis film.

This new track fuckin' rules.

Bought tickets for the London Monday gig. Anyone else going?

Not for £40 I ain't.

the local "event" show is over 100 bucks, ick.

Anyway, new song and album. 16 tracks on this motherfucker

https://youtu.be/lBcVrb-snPk

new song sounds exactly like what i expected the last record to sound like. cautiously hyped

the STRINGS, wow

yeah, when they said SWB was going to be "electronic" and "experimental" or whatever I was surprised at how conventional it ended up sounding, this is a little more adventurous. hoping the tidy length is a sign of more Boxer-like economy as well.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M2Uow9aNCRU

album trailer featuring another song that sounds really great

fuck, the guest vocals on "you had your soul with you" are gail ann dorsey?

the national are the only good indie rock band

album is apparently 68 minutes long

i always want them to make shorter records but given how many times i've listened to this new song this morning, maybe this time it won't matter

i got it worse than anyone else and
i just can't find a way to forgive myself

i had only one thing to do
but i couldn't do it yet

i guess it's early to say this but this is the best national song i've ever heard

also this is definitely a live, unedited drum track that is meant to *sound* cut-and-pasted and it's one of the most dazzling devendorf performances, i can barely wrap my head around it

oooh well spotted

oh wow i'm pretty astounded they've done something as good as this. hopefully the rest of the album delivers because last album had a promising lead single too but was a bit underwhelming overall

Alligator is still by far their peak.

trouble is their best album until further notice imo

Brad i love your enthusiasm

I'm not sure that drum part is *entirely* live - I think I hear some subtle hi-hat programming in there, at least - but it is entirely awesome.

yeah on further listens there's a drum machine exporting tiny hi-hat fills every few seconds

Pretty sure that second new song is this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i8yehVUF8h0

Extra drums explained by extra drummers (cf. Radiohead, Fugazi). Devendorf is still a monster/machine.

wait are there two drummers on this song

I dunno! But that live video just above feature at least two people drumming along with Devendorf. So ... maybe? Or maybe just a little here and there? I still think it's largely him plus a minimal programming assist.

glad The National finally decided to make a concept album about the dearly departed FX series Justified

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gY22IpVkQp0

here's a compilation of recordings of the unreleased songs they played on the last tour - all of them are on the new one except "sometimes i don't think" but i expect it'll be there under a different title.

"so far, so fast" is nearly 8 minutes and has an extended sax solo that reminds me of the blade runner soundtrack

xpost idk "light years" is pretty crushing

New video/track

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5FQtSn_vak0

The National is Arab Strap for dummies, discuss

idk sounds like you're the one who needs to make a case

yeah i'm having trouble with this one. drunk maudlin radiohead for dummies maybe.

as whole-band composers, the national are way not for dummies so uh yes please elaborate.

the deep register voice detailing personal events and the attendant feelings all within a downbeat, melancholic musical framework.

although the national's lyrics are more abstract.

I like this formula, and want to like the national, but there's something too explicit or on the nose about the words, idk

I listened to Alligator, Boxer and Trouble Will Find me the other day, and boy do I like this band, and in particular so many specific aspects of the band. Like, obviously, the drummer, who is always interesting, or the lyrics, which are sort of abstract and elliptical but still cut to some accidentally truths once in a while, to the fact that no one personality dominates the group, not even Matt, who, for that matter, has been quietly writing his lyrics with his wife for a while now, and she's not even in the band (shades of Tom Waits' work process). Had some flashbacks to all the great shows I've seen them play. Looking forward to this new album and the tour. .

I have never been able to get into The National in spite of some interesting aspects of their music and lyrics. I think that I was poisoned by reading, before I ever heard a note of The National, Carl Wilson’s article in Slate that introduced the term "crescendo rock". Once I knew Wilson’s critique, I couldn't <i>not</i> hear those things in the songs.

Another big turnoff was seeing the making-of video for "Bloodbuzz Ohio" where the camera turns to Matt Berninger’s wife, and she was such a ordinary 30-something bourgeois white family woman that it completely punctured any rock 'n' roll aura (freedom, a certain rebelliousness) around the band. I know that many rock stars have conventional family lives at the time they are producing their meaningful work, but I for one would rather not hear about it or see it. Thankfully, Matt Berninger doesn’t write cringeworthy paeans to his own children – as he stated in a 2013 interview, "When I listen to rock 'n' roll, I don't want to hear people singing about their kids – but just seeing that wife was enough to spoil it for me.

what the fuck

Well that certainly took a direction

a critique of crescendo rock followed by a crescendo of what the fuck

wave after wave

I was offering a counterpoint to Josh in Chicago’s suggestion that the involvement of Matt Berninger’s wife might be a good thing. I don’t think that the situation is comparable to Tom Waits and Kathleen Brennan. Brennan is known to be a quirky, eccentric personality and their relationship has always had an artistic quality to it; it doesn’t seem like dull conventional family life. Carin Besser, on the other hand, just comes across as so ordinary that, as I said, it just punctures any rock 'n' roll aura around her spouse and, by extension, the whole band.

Counter-counterpoint: You don't - I assume - know Tom Waits or his wife or Matt Berninger or his wife or anything about any of their relationships or their lives.

What a bizarre thing to judge a band on!

> What a bizarre thing to judge a band on!

Rock 'n' roll is all about image. People judge bands all the time based not only on the actual music those bands play but also the image that the musicians give off. Why do you think that so many rock 'n' roll musicians since the 1960s have not revealed much of their ordinary family lives to the public? It is because that settling down to an ordinary family life with a wife (or husband) and kids clashes with the traditional image of rock 'n' roll as a certain freedom, craziness, rebellion, bohemianism, whatever. Now, in the case of a band like The National, apparently this doesn’t bother many of its fans. They might even think it is something cool. But the glimpse that the band has offered into ordinary family life (first the Berningers in the "Bloodbuzz Ohio" making-of, then press coverage in the years since) was a turnoff to me personally, just like when artists sing about their kids. I just thought I would throw it out here as one more reason this band can be problematic to certain people. That’s all, I didn’t intend to go on hating on them. I’ll retreat now and let the thread return to the more positive comments that the band’s fans would like.

when I need that low-down, dirty ass rock and roll with a rockin' 'tude, I know I can always reach for The National....or at least I thought I could...

xpost wtf?

I don't know anything about Kathleen Brennan, but I brought her up as an example of an external creative entity contributing to a band they're not in, which in turns adds even more to the mystery of a band with no clear fulcrum/leader. I don't know a single thing about Kathleen Brennan other than she's apparently real, but Berninger's wife Carin Besser is a former fiction editor at the New Yorker, which (not that she needs any defense) earns some boho credit. Anyway, her involvement is *definitely* a good thing, since she helps him write good lyrics, including lyrics not about children. On the last album she even helped him write a song about the breakup of their marriage (they were not breaking up).

And, yeah, the National might be cathartic but they're pretty conventional smarty-pants "indie" a la Radiohead or something, not some crazy monster rock explosion that one turns to for Dionysian release or whatever. I would be shocked if they were anything less than conventional in their private lives.

no squares allowed

Rock 'n' roll is all about image. People judge bands all the time based not only on the actual music those bands play but also the image that the musicians give off. Why do you think that so many rock 'n' roll musicians since the 1960s have not revealed much of their ordinary family lives to the public? It is because that settling down to an ordinary family life with a wife (or husband) and kids clashes with the traditional image of rock 'n' roll as a certain freedom, craziness, rebellion, bohemianism, whatever. Now, in the case of a band like The National, apparently this doesn’t bother many of its fans. They might even think it is something cool. But the glimpse that the band has offered into ordinary family life (first the Berningers in the "Bloodbuzz Ohio" making-of, then press coverage in the years since) was a turnoff to me personally, just like when artists sing about their kids. I just thought I would throw it out here as one more reason this band can be problematic to certain people. That’s all, I didn’t intend to go on hating on them. I’ll retreat now and let the thread return to the more positive comments that the band’s fans would like.

― Melomane

Well, I'm glad to see Jann Wenner knows about ILM.

lol

This band is problematic
The singer has a wife
And I have a problem with that

wait til this guy hears about Kim Thayil and the bookstores

Brazen rebellious board members criticizing musicians for *gasp* having age-appropriate spouses.
Crescendo rock is pretty spot on - I absolutely loved Boxer but I feel I don't really need to hear more from them.

If you absolutely loved Boxer I don't see why you wouldn't *want* to hear more from them?

Someone tell me about Kim Thayil and bookstores!!! Does he own bookstores? Can he read?!

Many, many layers of weird unpleasantness to unpack in those posts about Berninger's wife and whateverthefuck rock'n'roll is in 2019. Would anyone have deigned to make that initial post if it was about any other demographic than a white woman of a certain age? And who subscribes to rock'n'roll mythology in 2019, especially with regards a band like The National? Bizarre.

lol wilson's article literally has this aside: "On “Pink Rabbits,” he admits, “I was a television version of a person with a broken heart … I was a white girl in a crowd of white girls in a park” (OK, so he hasn’t altogether left Cohen’s sexism behind)."

JiC, if you dig up the Taking Sides: Metallica vs Soundgarden thread, there’s an anecdote about an interviewer eager to hear about how wild Soundgarden gets on the road and Kim’s like “I actually just visit a lot of bookstores...”

RIP bookstores

Hah, that wouldn't surprise me. Then again, all rock stars are liars.

thayil has a philosophy degree iirc? the white wife of degrees

Chris Cornell shares a last name with an Ivy League school.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W_aN81SBI3A

this is a pretty typical National ballad but the arrangement is so gorgeous, feels like the best version of them as a band

I've noticed lately a trend of indie rock bands, who've already had basically a full lifespan by rock standards, ie multiple successful album/tour cycles across a decade plus, attempting to navigate a subsequent phase of being older and more low key, but also with stable home lives and families. I like it! It's interesting. The cliches have been done, and anyway will continue to be performed in perpetuity.

Incidentally, a good example of the converse would be Arcade Fire, who've insisted they approach every album like their first, and are commensurately self serious.

With diminishing returns!

I guess there's a spectrum between constant reinvention (AF, Arctic Monkeys) vs continual refinement (The National, Spoon maybe?)

Late Spoon >> late The National imho.

I reckon Spoon are underrated as experimenters. Traditionalists in many ways, sure, but every album has a very distinct sonic flavor. That said I'm a spoon fanboy so yknow.

I can't think of a single Spoon album I'd rather not hear ever again. I'm afraid I can't say the same for The National.

love their cover of Terrapin Station w/2 guys from Grizzly Bear that Man Alive posted the other day. a long song I can put on repeat.

A career career career!

But yes, as someone who is about to turn 40, I have a great deal of time for any musician - band, solo artist, mum, dad, whatever - who is continuing to make music and avoiding reliving cliched rock-n-roll fountain-of-youth cliches.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ifElv18k2O8

this is v good

apparently all the new national songs heard in this have been dramatically remixed for the film

i think this might be the best National album

unfortunately there's not much more in the way of upbeat art-rockers like "You Had Your Soul With You" and the moody midtempo tracks they've always preferred still dominate

Not In Kansas seems a standout on first listen but there's a lot to take in, especially with all the guest vocalists.

Must be a couple of their longest ever tracks on this record too.

i really like "where is her head", the way it builds with all the overlapping vocals is wonderful

the interpolation of thinking fellers union local 282's "noble experiment" in "not in kansas" was quite unexpected but it's nice to be reminded of that

i think this might be the best National album

as long as it's better than the last one.

it's in many ways a continuation of the last one but lacks a moodbreaker like "turtleneck"

unfortunately there's not much more in the way of upbeat art-rockers like "You Had Your Soul With You" and the moody midtempo tracks they've always preferred still dominate

this is true but sometimes the intricate arrangements trick you into thinking they are not moody midtempo tracks cf. "the pull of you"

holy shit "Not in Kansas": a monologue about Berninger's reminiscing about R.E.M.'s "Begin the Begin."

the guest vocalists actually make this thing feel less long than it is

I do regret that they didn't write a song for "Her Father in the Pool."

xps yeah the arrangements are what i like the most about this album, it's probably not their strongest collection of songs but the arrangements are all their best and most interesting they've ever been

"turtleneck" was the worst thing about sleep well beast, completely out of place and also just not very good

the guest vocalists are all very welcome and provide a nice foil for berninger, but none of them have quite the same impact as when gail ann dorsey first comes in on the bridge of "you had your soul with you"

i am probably going to attempt to edit this and sleep well beast down to a single album to finally make a national album that i love the whole way through

sleep well beast is a great record imo, i was disappointed at the time with how conservative at least half of it feels, and "turtleneck" sucks, but "empire line" -> "i'll still destroy you" -> "guilty party" is maybe my favorite sequence on any national record, and the new one is kind of like that sequence as a whole album

i revisited sleep well beast today and that was the sequence that really stood out to me so i'm really glad they went further in that direction this time. "the system only dreams in total darkness" is one of their absolute bests and "dark side of the gym" is a really lovely melody too. the rest of the album is just fine except "turtleneck" yeah, and the title track feels like a dry run for some of the more abstract parts of the new album but those highs are all wonderful.

i'll stan for carin at the liquor store

oof, i love the orchestration on this but the way they've done the vocals (and, frankly, the melodies) makes it feel like a second-rate attempt at what Young Galaxy do so well

wait, young galaxy?

"the pull of you" is absolutely perfect

first testament was really great
the sequel was incredible
like the godfathers or the first two strokes
every document's indelible

"not in kansas" -> "so far so fast" are like the two best national songs ever, right in a row

and "oblivions" is the kind of song only they could write

There's some lovely stuff on this record. I don't know if it is their best album, but on first listen there is nothing that stands out as a reason why it couldn't be.

Man, "Not In Kansas." It's been ... I don't know how long since I heard a song that made me want to focus on and figure out its lyrics so badly.

when "Rylan starts, I sing, "Got my mind SET. ON. YOU."

i like the "flowers of guatamala" reference ("the flowers cover over everything") a couple of verses after "i'm listening to r.e.m. again"

The contemporary classical bent of whichever one of the brothers is into that stuff really pays off on this album's arrangements.

this is so long and so unified in its approach that I'm having a hard time parsing individual songs as opposed to a constantly alternating set of peaks and valleys. which I guess for some will be sort of an apotheosis of Their Thing but I'm not really finding any points of entry beyond a few standout ideas here and there. "You Had Your Soul With You" had me hoping this wouldn't be the case. (as always I reserve the right to change my mind later lol)

like, there are a ton of sonic ideas here but all of them are incorporated into every single track, y'know? relax!!

Brad, you are getting me very excited about this new album. it's not on Spotify until Friday however.

They're the most intricately boring band I've ever heard.

"you had your soul with you" is absolutely their best track ever

simon i have a feeling you’ll like this the more you spend time with it. it wasn’t billed as a double album but it works like one: the songs talk to each other, and it works itself into weird subspaces. oddly i think watching the movie is a way in too, it enriches specific lyrics

i will say the album is more ballad-forward than i expected or hoped but i’ve already adjusted

yeah same

the only real dud for me is Rylan which i know is apparently a fan favourite because it's been floating around for 8 years or something but it's still them at their most middle-of-the-road even though the arrangement is a lot better than it would have been a decade ago

I think the album is a bundle of good contradictions. It's not really a double album but feels like one, it's ballad heavy but not necessarily chill, it's got some of Matt's best lyrics and singing but he often takes a back seat to other singers and singing, it's got some pretty jarring experimental elements but it's totally MOR. And so on.

Oh, and needless to say, the drumming is incredible.

i love every lyric and sound in "quiet light"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S37thEwlWPA

good performance of "you had your soul with you", with string section and second drummer (no gail ann dorsey though)

learning how not to cry every time there's another sad unbearable morning
but sometimes there's nothing i can do
i can't help it

the drumming on "quiet light" is brilliant, bryan devendorf seems to get better with every album somehow

So these guys are definitely going all-in on everything - strings, singers, horns, etc. - for this tour?

they've had a horn section forever but idk whether the strings etc. are sticking around for the tour or are only around for the run of album/film premiere dates they've been doing over the last month

wow i REALLY love this album

https://www.nme.com/news/national-rockier-songs-leftover-may-get-freezer-2488317

apparently they've got a bunch of rockier material left over from the Sleep Well Beast sessions that didn't make this album either since it didn't fit the mood of the film etc. so i hope that'll be more "the system only dreams"/"you had your soul with you" than "turtleneck" whenever it sees the light of day

The contemporary classical bent of whichever one of the brothers is into that stuff really pays off on this album's arrangements.

That is Bryce! His own chamber music is def worth checking out

it's the way that you're going to stop needing to tell me you want me as much as i want you to

Their best album.

yep

I've never top tenned one of their albums before.

me neither, and it usually takes me a while to figure out how i feel about them, cf. the album this thread is named after

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CbXnnn8z1tE

i get why people would dismiss "rylan," feels like it's borrowed most of its rumble from "apartment story" to create the most national national song ever, but... it's so catchy

I just thought of perfect "feat. female guest singer" example that kind of pulls off what this album does: "My Curse," by fellow (can it be a coincidence?) Cincinnati sons Afghan Whigs.

Also, maybe "You're Still Standing There" by Steve Earle, when previously more or less AWOL Lucinda Williams suddenly pops up.

I didn't realize that the album was made in such close collaboration with Mike Mills, who even produced. Has he produced anything else?

Marcy Mays on "My Curse" feels to me like much more direct and successful attempt at a counterpoint/perspective change than anything here.

anyway I can already tell this is going to be yet another one of those albums where I stick to listening to my own resequence/edit and get a lot more out of it that way

i made a thread: thread for i am easy to find, the 2019 album by the national and film by mike mills

There are lots of candidates, but this really is the best album by them, isn't it? So sad and pretty.

it is

This is by far my favourite album of theirs. There's real sadness but also exaggerated sadness (played for humour, I think?), similar to what Tindersticks used to do. It's a perfect balance that they haven't managed to duplicate since.