Aug 16 2007
Oh, You Wouldn’t Want An Angel Watching Over
‘Bout time for a post on The National! or “The National Post” as my girlfriend referred to it.. thinks she’s witty, see?
In my opinion, The National are among the top three bands going right now, in this thing I’m forced to call “the indie rock scene”. While many people think that “Alligator” was their first album, they had released two prior to that, and when you listen to them in sequence it’s the ultimate example of an band growing stronger with every album. And if they haven’t reached their pinnacle with “Boxer” their next album will be among the best of all time. I know, that’s strong, but seriously, this band has another level for me that not many artists have reached. The listener’s experience can range from a dark ambiance to an urge to get drunk and dance in the streets. Both very satisfying.
On the menu tonight is the White Sessions show from this year. In the coming posts I’ll try to get the two Black Sessions’ up as well. The Black and White Sessions are a product of the fabulous France radio station, France Inter. These sessions have produced some of the finest radio sets of the 90’s up to today.
Just a note: you’ll find a few imperfections in this recording (a couple skips and digital noise), it is very minor, and this is the best rip of the show out there, to my knowledge.
Enjoy!
- Start A War
- Brainy
- Slow Show
- Squalor Victoria
- Apartment Story
- Racing Like A Pro
- Ada
- You’ve Done It Again Virginia
- Mistaken For Strangers
- Fake Empire
- About Today
Or just download the entire thing!
Also, I have this short acoustic radio set to offer. This one is from the Gideon Coe Radio Show, April 20th, 2007.
A video for good measure. Here’s the boys performing an amazing version of “Fake Empire” on Letterman.
And be sure to check out the great teaser site for Vincent Moon’s upcoming film about The National, “A Skin, A Night”. (Vincent Moon runs the amazing site, Blogotheque)
Great stuff! I really liked the version of Fake Empire that they did on Letterman.
One point for clarification though.
When you say ‘The National are among the top three bands going right now, in this thing I’m forced to call “the indie rock scene”’ does this mean that they are one of the three best selling? Most highly recognized? or is this just your opinion? It seems like a subjective thing that is being stated as fact.
Keep the posts coming duke!
thanks liam!
and you have a good point, so i altered my words a little.
Hello Ryan, I do enjoy your site, dig the layout, and also, the acoustic set, is friggin’ amazing.
kthxbye
You’re girlfriend must be really awesome
So, do they have a date set for the release of “A Skin, A Night”? I can’t find anything on either site.
I’m really excited about this film, listening to all of their albums, from their self-titled cd to “Sad Songs for Dirty Lovers”, to “Alligator”, and then to a mind blowing “Boxer”, I really hope that this film can capture what I love about this band.
-Trev
hey trevorpants..
i’m fairly certain that the film is a documentary of the making of “boxer”. i haven’t been able to find a release date though.. everywhere i look just says “soon”.
we’ll be sure to keep the readers posted.
[…] Boxer ile yılın unutulmaz albümlerinden birine imza atan The National can yaktıkca yakıyor. Radio France‘da kaydettikleri White Session‘da kasvet devam ediyor. Bilhassa Matt Berninger‘ın içe işleyen sesi görkemi daha da kuvvetlendiriyor. MP3: Start A War MP3: Brainy MP3: Slow Show MP3: Squalor Victoria MP3: Apartment Story MP3: Racing Like A Pro MP3: Ada MP3: You’ve Done It Again Virginia MP3: Mistaken For Strangers MP3: Fake Empire MP3: About Today Via: Trendwhore […]