The National

Gave it a try commuting around the city today, and it didn't stick much. But playing it loud-ish on speakers brings out a lot of nice moments. Some favourites:
  • Lisa Hannigan is sooo good on The Pull of You, her voice is all I want to follow each time I play the song. Love her phrasing so much!
  • Also, missed hearing Matt use his pipes a la old-days. The Pull of You is definitely one of my favourites.
  • the drumming is delicious again. he has a really cool style of laying patterns, reminds me a lot of herbie hankock's playing on this



  • I can only imagine that Matt's voice on Not in Kansas punches just as hard on vinyl as it does on Cardinal Song. Can't wait to hear that..
  • "it's half your fault, so half forgive me"
  • omg Lisa again ❤ remembered that awesome BBC2 live of hers with Damien Rice, and just amazed at how charmingly beautiful her voice aged
  • highly drumming along to this album is a fun thing to attempt doing
  • is it just me or the production, especially on the vocals, during their last albums were pretty soft and chorus-y, but with this they've gone back to a harsher and deeper and more upfront vocal like in their early period, maybe to better contrast the feminine half this album has ?
    which I totally love

Thanks @Bennnnn for the list, your notes were a nice guide through the album!

I can totally see how this album might seem boring. It shines when you get lost in the details of each song, but as background music it's pretty linear. But I guess that's been the case for pretty much all of their albums. I really liked it to be honest!
 
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I really wish The National would have their albums specifically mastered for vinyl by someone like Chris Bellman. I think Greg Calbi at Sterling mastered this (he does good work and has forever) in addition to a few other albums by them and it generally sounds good but I feel like it would really elevate everything to a different level if they put the time and money into it like Wilco does with their vinyl releases. And idk if my stylus is just going or what but this album is super sibilant on my system. I usually never have that problem. I’m only through the first record but especially “You Had Your Soul In You” and “The Pull Of You” (first song each side no less). More specifically, Matt’s vocals just sound terrible. Super distorted and sibilant. I’m going to try my Cherry Tree record and see if it’s any better. I’m playing the deluxe one right now. I can say that my copy is pretty quiet and seems like GZ did a good job with this one. I really like the album so far though!
 
mitchwagz said:
I really wish The National would have their albums specifically mastered for vinyl by someone like Chris Bellman. I think Greg Calbi at Sterling mastered this (he does good work and has forever) in addition to a few other albums by them and it generally sounds good but I feel like it would really elevate everything to a different level if they put the time and money into it like Wilco does with their vinyl releases. And idk if my stylus is just going or what but this album is super sibilant on my system. I usually never have that problem. I’m only through the first record but especially “You Had Your Soul In You” and “The Pull Of You” (first song each side no less). More specifically, Matt’s vocals just sound terrible. Super distorted and sibilant. I’m going to try my Cherry Tree record and see if it’s any better. I’m playing the deluxe one right now. I can say that my copy is pretty quiet and seems like GZ did a good job with this one. I really like the album so far though!
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Haven’t listened to the 3LP yet, but my CT copy sounded flawless. So much more richly detailed than the digital version I listened to earlier (which is a given I guess). But there are these beautiful layers of sound all over this album that are really enhanced with quality headphones or good speakers
 
Bennnnn said:
Haven’t listened to the 3LP yet, but my CT copy sounded flawless. So much more richly detailed than the digital version I listened to earlier (which is a given I guess). But there are these beautiful layers of sound all over this album that are really enhanced with quality headphones or good speakers
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Yeah the music itself sounds great and the other vocalists sound great but maybe it’s just Matt’s voice that’s a little hot? Or maybe he’s singing too close to the mic? Idk. Anyone else have a problem with it? It’s pretty much the whole record for me with some songs sounding better than others.
 
I'm someone who has tried to listen to The National a bit in the past and it never really caught my interest...if I were to revisit should I just pick a random album and jump on, or go in any recommended order to give it another shot?
 
krutter said:
I'm someone who has tried to listen to The National a bit in the past and it never really caught my interest...if I were to revisit should I just pick a random album and jump on, or go in any recommended order to give it another shot?
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I started with Trouble Will Find Me and worked from there, I Am Easy to Find is great but different from their other stuff vocally
 
Listened to the "film score" tonight. It is pretty weird to hear without the visuals, but it works, in a way. Hearing it in the film made it sound surreal, uneasy, and I think that retains on the standalone audio. Now I know these songs, so it's interesting to hear them in a different way, clipped, instruments added and taken out, all as one swirling piece of music.
 
krutter said:
I'm someone who has tried to listen to The National a bit in the past and it never really caught my interest...if I were to revisit should I just pick a random album and jump on, or go in any recommended order to give it another shot?
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They tend to take a bit of time to get into, honestly. I mean, for many people at least.

But, the recommendation I'd throw in would be to jump into Alligator and Boxer, and play those a few times before trying anything else. Next you can just go chronologically from Boxer through to the new one. Then go back to the beginning and listen to their first two. It'll be weird, and they may not hold up as much, but I feel like if you tried to start with those two you wouldn't get into them. Also, after that, you can do the two EPs. Then you have it all covered.

But honestly, as great as Alligator and Boxer are, a better place to start might actually be Trouble Will Find Me. I think it covers a lot of their ground, keeping the type of orchestration they do, mixed in with more rocking tracks, and some stripped down ballads. It has basically every type of National song. Maybe not a unified whole of an album as much as Boxer or even SWB are, but for a good taster of their style, I think it might work.
 
krutter said:
I'm someone who has tried to listen to The National a bit in the past and it never really caught my interest...if I were to revisit should I just pick a random album and jump on, or go in any recommended order to give it another shot?
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Go to the nearest large city, wear a suit and tie. Drink with your friends until you are three sheets to the wind. Close out the bar and walk/take public transit home alone. As you travel home assessing your life choices, pop on either Alligator or Boxer. This should do it for ya.
 
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