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.
― by the light of the burning Citroën, Thursday, 2 May 2019 14:38 (five years ago) link
A career career career!
― Hey Bob (Scik Mouthy), Thursday, 2 May 2019 14:38 (five years ago) link
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.
― Hey Bob (Scik Mouthy), Thursday, 2 May 2019 14:41 (five years ago) link
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
― american bradass (BradNelson), Monday, 13 May 2019 18:47 (five years ago) link
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
― ufo, Tuesday, 14 May 2019 06:40 (five years ago) link
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.
― groovypanda, Tuesday, 14 May 2019 09:30 (five years ago) link
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
― ufo, Tuesday, 14 May 2019 10:03 (five years ago) link
― american bradass (BradNelson), Tuesday, 14 May 2019 13:23 (five years ago) link
as long as it's better than the last one.
― The Pingularity (ledge), Tuesday, 14 May 2019 13:31 (five years ago) link
it's in many ways a continuation of the last one but lacks a moodbreaker like "turtleneck"
this is true but sometimes the intricate arrangements trick you into thinking they are not moody midtempo tracks cf. "the pull of you"
― american bradass (BradNelson), Tuesday, 14 May 2019 13:34 (five years ago) link
holy shit "Not in Kansas": a monologue about Berninger's reminiscing about R.E.M.'s "Begin the Begin."
― recriminations from the nitpicking woke (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Tuesday, 14 May 2019 13:37 (five years ago) link
the guest vocalists actually make this thing feel less long than it is
― american bradass (BradNelson), Tuesday, 14 May 2019 13:38 (five years ago) link
I do regret that they didn't write a song for "Her Father in the Pool."
― recriminations from the nitpicking woke (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Tuesday, 14 May 2019 13:39 (five years ago) link
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
― ufo, Tuesday, 14 May 2019 13:43 (five years ago) link
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
― american bradass (BradNelson), Tuesday, 14 May 2019 15:31 (five years ago) link
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.
― ufo, Tuesday, 14 May 2019 15:47 (five years ago) link
i'll stan for carin at the liquor store
― Larry Elleison (rogermexico.), Tuesday, 14 May 2019 15:52 (five years ago) link
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
― sean gramophone, Tuesday, 14 May 2019 16:10 (five years ago) link
wait, young galaxy?
― american bradass (BradNelson), Tuesday, 14 May 2019 18:49 (five years ago) link
"the pull of you" is absolutely perfect
― american bradass (BradNelson), Tuesday, 14 May 2019 18:52 (five years ago) link
first testament was really greatthe sequel was incrediblelike the godfathers or the first two strokesevery document's indelible
― american bradass (BradNelson), Tuesday, 14 May 2019 19:34 (five years ago) link
"not in kansas" -> "so far so fast" are like the two best national songs ever, right in a row
― american bradass (BradNelson), Tuesday, 14 May 2019 19:41 (five years ago) link
and "oblivions" is the kind of song only they could write
― american bradass (BradNelson), Tuesday, 14 May 2019 20:31 (five years ago) link
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.
― Josh in Chicago, Tuesday, 14 May 2019 21:23 (five years ago) link
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.
― Josh in Chicago, Tuesday, 14 May 2019 21:30 (five years ago) link
when "Rylan starts, I sing, "Got my mind SET. ON. YOU."
― recriminations from the nitpicking woke (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Tuesday, 14 May 2019 21:37 (five years ago) link
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"
― rip van wanko, Tuesday, 14 May 2019 21:45 (five years ago) link
The contemporary classical bent of whichever one of the brothers is into that stuff really pays off on this album's arrangements.
― Josh in Chicago, Tuesday, 14 May 2019 21:50 (five years ago) link
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)
― Simon H., Wednesday, 15 May 2019 02:09 (five years ago) link
like, there are a ton of sonic ideas here but all of them are incorporated into every single track, y'know? relax!!
― Simon H., Wednesday, 15 May 2019 02:10 (five years ago) link
Brad, you are getting me very excited about this new album. it's not on Spotify until Friday however.
― Bee OK, Wednesday, 15 May 2019 02:57 (five years ago) link
They're the most intricately boring band I've ever heard.
― recriminations from the nitpicking woke (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Wednesday, 15 May 2019 03:05 (five years ago) link
"you had your soul with you" is absolutely their best track ever
― ufo, Wednesday, 15 May 2019 03:09 (five years ago) link
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
― american bradass (BradNelson), Wednesday, 15 May 2019 11:07 (five years ago) link
i will say the album is more ballad-forward than i expected or hoped but i’ve already adjusted
― american bradass (BradNelson), Wednesday, 15 May 2019 11:08 (five years ago) link
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
― ufo, Wednesday, 15 May 2019 11:49 (five years ago) link
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.
― Josh in Chicago, Wednesday, 15 May 2019 11:52 (five years ago) link
i love every lyric and sound in "quiet light"
― american bradass (BradNelson), Wednesday, 15 May 2019 12:14 (five years ago) link
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)
― ufo, Wednesday, 15 May 2019 12:17 (five years ago) link
learning how not to cry every time there's another sad unbearable morningbut sometimes there's nothing i can doi can't help it
― american bradass (BradNelson), Wednesday, 15 May 2019 12:17 (five years ago) link
the drumming on "quiet light" is brilliant, bryan devendorf seems to get better with every album somehow
― ufo, Wednesday, 15 May 2019 12:23 (five years ago) link
So these guys are definitely going all-in on everything - strings, singers, horns, etc. - for this tour?
― Josh in Chicago, Wednesday, 15 May 2019 12:49 (five years ago) link
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
― ufo, Wednesday, 15 May 2019 12:54 (five years ago) link
wow i REALLY love this album
― american bradass (BradNelson), Wednesday, 15 May 2019 23:09 (five years ago) link
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
― ufo, Thursday, 16 May 2019 05:41 (five years ago) link
That is Bryce! His own chamber music is def worth checking out
― flamboyant goon tie included, Thursday, 16 May 2019 12:07 (five years ago) link
it's the way that you're going to stop needing to tell me you want me as much as i want you to
― american bradass (BradNelson), Thursday, 16 May 2019 15:56 (five years ago) link
Their best album.
― recriminations from the nitpicking woke (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Thursday, 16 May 2019 16:21 (five years ago) link
yep
― american bradass (BradNelson), Thursday, 16 May 2019 16:22 (five years ago) link
I've never top tenned one of their albums before.
― recriminations from the nitpicking woke (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Thursday, 16 May 2019 16:24 (five years ago) link