|
|
Post by JangoB on May 11, 2017 18:15:23 GMT
The new album will be released on September 8.
Holy fuck. 2017 promises to be an astonishing year. A whole bunch of my favorite directors are showing new stuff (including David fucking Lynch) and now my absolute favorite band drops a song and announces a new album date. Daym.
|
|
|
|
Post by DeepArcher on May 11, 2017 20:53:21 GMT
Not bad. Definitely a bit of a different sound for them. Looking forward to their new stuff.
|
|
|
|
Post by Tommen_Saperstein on Jun 10, 2017 19:00:51 GMT
finally a National song that doesn't sound like every other National song I've heard 10/10
|
|
|
|
Post by JangoB on Jun 29, 2017 7:44:44 GMT
|
|
|
|
Post by JangoB on Aug 9, 2017 7:42:54 GMT
|
|
|
|
Post by JangoB on Mar 10, 2019 20:07:19 GMT
New album along with a short film by Mike Mills starring Alicia Vikander is out May 17  |
|
|
|
Post by JangoB on Apr 4, 2019 13:24:13 GMT
|
|
|
|
Post by JangoB on May 13, 2019 15:10:04 GMT
|
|
|
|
Post by DeepArcher on May 13, 2019 19:32:48 GMT
Kinda disappointed in the film tbh. I still feel like I'm watching a trailer for a movie that I would likely adore. I guess it's just too ambitious for its own good? The caption text got annoying fast and felt largely unnecessary to me. The images on their own were often quite powerful, and I love everything Alicia's doing here including the choice to have her play the character throughout her entire life, but I wanted it all to be in service of something ... more? Oh well. The music is fucking next-level and I absolutely cannot wait for the album drop on Friday. I guess that's all that should matter. Most albums don't get accompaniment like this so I guess I should count my blessings  |
|
|
|
Post by JangoB on May 13, 2019 20:31:19 GMT
I liked the film quite a bit but I think it was even better in the condensed version in the 'Light Years' video. Without the subtitles it was somehow even more poignant - the power of the images themselves was enough for me, Vikander's performance too. The music is wonderful though. The National is my absolute favorite band and I can't wait to see what they have in store in this album. So far everything's been astonishing.
|
|
|
|
Post by DeepArcher on May 18, 2019 21:20:51 GMT
JangoB , anyone else -- Thoughts on the album? I wouldn't say I'm disappointed per se -- it's great, they're always great, no one is quite as consistent as The National honestly -- but my immediate impression is that it's one of their more underwhelming efforts. I got super excited at the prospect of an album from them that goes past the 60-minute mark, because I think they are one of the few active artists talented enough to pull off something like that, but I don't think they quite stick the landing with it. Maybe it was a bit rushed through production (not even two years since the release of Sleep Well Beast...), it does kinda sound like it, and I do think there's some fat on this album to trim down ... it's a bit long-winded, and in the middle especially starts getting too homogenous. The relatively laid-back tone of this band has always been one of the things that's appealed to me the most about them, but this album gets almost too relaxed, I think they needed more energy to some tracks to give it variation and give it the kick that it needs. In general fewer standout tracks than a lot of their albums tend to have, but I'm sick of sounding negative about this as I do really like this record a lot, so as for my favorite tracks ... "Light Years" of course, I still think is maybe one of their best songs ever, I'm still not over it ... and I really love "Oblivions" and "Rylan," and especially "Not in Kansas," which feels like one of their most ambitious songs ever. Good stuff overall, but I can't imagine listening to this all the way through as much as I do with Boxer/ High Violet/etc. Hopefully seeing them on their upcoming tour ... hopefully ... and I'm psyched as hell for that.
|
|
|
|
Post by pacinoyes on May 18, 2019 21:45:04 GMT
I just think this band has worn out its welcome for me permanently now - Alligator/Boxer are classic records........some of High Violet I enjoyed......I haven't liked anything since except some random tracks.
They are the REM of their time to me. Like REM around the time of Automatic For The People (hate it) - they thought it was their best album and I thought I wanted to stab myself in the ears. They will always get good reviews and I just won't get it at all. I don't think you can make music - or Rock and Roll at least - like they are making here and pull it off - it's sleepy to the point of exhaustion. At some point it has to seem out of control, reckless, fun, funny - so many more colors on the palette to convey than this tasteful constraint.
I'll always really like the stuff I do like from them though .....and I'm sure many people will like this one too.
|
|
|
|
Post by JangoB on May 19, 2019 1:46:40 GMT
JangoB , anyone else -- Thoughts on the album? I wouldn't say I'm disappointed per se -- it's great, they're always great, no one is quite as consistent as The National honestly -- but my immediate impression is that it's one of their more underwhelming efforts. I got super excited at the prospect of an album from them that goes past the 60-minute mark, because I think they are one of the few active artists talented enough to pull off something like that, but I don't think they quite stick the landing with it. Maybe it was a bit rushed through production (not even two years since the release of Sleep Well Beast...), it does kinda sound like it, and I do think there's some fat on this album to trim down ... it's a bit long-winded, and in the middle especially starts getting too homogenous. The relatively laid-back tone of this band has always been one of the things that's appealed to me the most about them, but this album gets almost too relaxed, I think they needed more energy to some tracks to give it variation and give it the kick that it needs. In general fewer standout tracks than a lot of their albums tend to have, but I'm sick of sounding negative about this as I do really like this record a lot, so as for my favorite tracks ... "Light Years" of course, I still think is maybe one of their best songs ever, I'm still not over it ... and I really love "Oblivions" and "Rylan," and especially "Not in Kansas," which feels like one of their most ambitious songs ever. Good stuff overall, but I can't imagine listening to this all the way through as much as I do with Boxer/ High Violet/etc. Hopefully seeing them on their upcoming tour ... hopefully ... and I'm psyched as hell for that. This will come as no surprise considering that this is my #1 favorite band ever but still - I fucking adored this album. Having lived with it for a couple of days and having given it a couple of listens I feel confident in saying that this is among my top 3 of their albums alongside 'High Violet' and 'Trouble Will Find Me'. Now, it'd be impossible for me to rank them or anything but these three are the crown jewels of The National for me. 'Sleep Well Beast' was a real step forward into something different for them while maintaining the signature sound and lyrical quality and I feel that 'I Am Easy to Find' is a continuation of that evolution, and an even more exciting one at that. Electronic sounds were the big new feature in the previous record, here it's the female voices which are not just present but are part and parcel of the record, and although initially my hardcore love for Matt Berninger made me feel sliiiiiiiiightly defensive about the new vocal parts ( how dare anyone else sing The National songs rather than him!!!111), further listens not only made me feel totally at ease with them but actually made me completely fall in love with the female vocals. Now I can't imagine these songs without them. That feels like such a bold choice for the band to make and yet it works beautifully and organically. Not to mention that the female vocalists are all their longtime friends. One of the only two concerts I've ever went to was The National (on their 'Trouble Will Find Me' tour), and their opening act was This Is the Kit with Kate Stables as the lead member and I actually got to talk to her for a little while after the concert and even took a picture, so imagine my happiness when I watched the 'Hairpin Turns' video and saw her in it! And she's on some other songs here too. That camaraderie is what probably gives the album such an organic feeling even though I can understand fans not appreciating that immediately. The songs are incredible throughout, I just can't stop thinking about them. In some cases it's about the devastating lyrics ('Quiet Light'), in some it's about the amazing energy and exuberant joy ('Where Is Her Head'), and some just transport me to places where I thought The National would never end up at ('So Far So Fast', which has a totally surprising Tangerine Dream vibe to me). And of course this record is where the vagabond 'Rylan' has finally found home in completely brilliant new shape. I get truly happy just at the thought of 'Rylan' finally being in the official studio canon, and the song itself is of course astounding. Seriously, this is a complete masterpiece to me. |
|
