THE NATIONAL - Sad Songs For Dirty Lovers (2003) - Listens #3 and 4
So far I've rambled a few times - okay, pretty much in every goddamned post to this little blog - about vibe music, where one either catches the groove and gets into a song or not. And I've talked about why I'm not as into vibes. Maybe my whole vibes-vs-melody distinction is completely artificial and I'm just trying to come up with a way to explain why a lot of National songs from these first two records I don't find catchy, at least not in that "want to listen to over and over" way that makes everyone who writes about music using words fumble around for the right terms and talk in platitudes. Whatever it is that makes a song hit well, when it hits, everything in it, from the cord changes to the specific choices the lyricist makes seems brilliant. The Beatles or whomever are called musical geniuses despite making 3-8 minute collections of guitar and bass parts and singing much like their peers, except somehow doing it better and in a more interesting w