The Benja-man Is Verbose

The National's annoying refusal to release many official live recordings means that last year's Rome is the first traditional "live album" from them, taken from, as the title suggests, a portion of a 2024 gig in Genoa. *   Obviously YouTube and the like exist, but sticking with official releases, it's been slim pickings until now. The National did do an NPR "Tiny Desk Concert" in 2013 - not on-brand for them at all, right? - playing acoustic versions of a few songs from the then newly-released Trouble Will Find Me . Setlist 1)  This Is The Last Time 2)  I Need My Girl 3)  Pink Rabbits 4)  Sea Of Love This format is a good showcase for Matt leaning into the role as frontman because so much of what they can do comes down to the volume and inflection of the singer; his range goes from wispy whimsical indie stuff to a gritty, bluesy delivery that reminds me a little of Ben Ottewell. **   Without meticulous studio editing, how do the National sound as ...

It took forever to come up with a big summary statement about Laugh Track .  (Spoiler:  I like it.  But if you don't want eighty-three thousand words attempting to articulate exactly why, then why are you reading this blog?)  It's been some time since I've had this hard a time putting my finger on my exact opinion of a record, though.  Even late listens vary as far as which songs connect more or less with me. Interestingly, another listen to First Two Pages Of Frankenstein helped clarify things.  First Two Pages feels kinda unified in having a big open sound, all the more to fill with heavily orchestrated things, guest vocalists, and so on.  Which can be fine, if many of the songs are good, which they are.  Having that as a unifying element does kind of get in the way of their attempts to bring a little more grit, as "Grease In Your Hair" sounds tame despite trying to be big.  So, not a perfect system.   Returning to Laugh Track , d...

According to Wikipedia, the reason Laugh Track exists is that the band wanted to find a home for "Weird Goodbyes," the thing they did with Bon Iver that I guess was felt not to fit in with the material on First Two Pages Of Frankenstein because reasons.  So, to a degree, one could say that the band released two records in the same year because of "Weird Goodbyes."  But to be clear, it also does sound like they had some half-written songs kicking around too, and got to road-test them, the way rock bands used to write, back in a different era.  I guess there could be an essay in that point, too, dissecting the fact that the National are enough of an institution that their place the music world is totally secure.  You know you're a legacy act when you talk about writing on the road and during soundchecks as a change-of-pace choice; that's the only way to work when you're a hungry up-and-maybe-comer using touring to sustain your music habit.  I'm not...

Never particularly wanted there to be such a long gap between writing about First Two Pages Of Frankenstein and Laugh Track , especially since they came out so close together.  Part of it is that life gets in the way, and blogging takes time.  I gotta admit, though, one thing that's never changed about this particular project is that I'm listening more out of a sense of commitment to the bit than because, at any given time, I'm not really that excited to hear any more new music from the National.  Usually once I get to know a National record I do get in the mood to hear more of it.  It's the getting started that actually requires a little bit of motivation.  Is the National doomed to be one of those bands that I spend a fuckton of time with but am just not excited about? To the extent that I'm a National fan, it's that I've come to find their records comforting rather than exciting.  Once I actually started listening to Laugh Track , it felt... homey....

Although pop songs by definition each are self-contained pieces, I have become something of an album person, like many of us (virtual ink elsewhere has been spilled about the unexpected ways in which streaming has pushed people towards, rather than away from, listening to whole albums).  When getting to know a piece of music, I almost always listen to and digest it as a single work, with its tracks played in order.  Certainly these posts reflect that.  Some people are real nerds for track sequencing, and think about how alternative tracklistings might enhance a record, help some songs be their best, and so forth, while others - and I've usually been one of them - tend to figure if a song is good, it'll be good no matter what's before or after it.  If it sucks, same thing.  Specifically in regard to the National, discussing the moody unsettled run that makes the second half of Sleep Well Beast so special is really the only time I've ever considered the sequencing...

I've devoted paragraphs in multiple previous posts to the idea that National songs have layers.  They have the knack for adding in just enough elements to inspire the listener to take a deeper look at what seemed to be just another mid-tempo song with a guy mumbling about relationship issues.  Well, we have a record that could be a bunch of mid-tempo songs with a guy mumbling about relationship issues.  In my mind, my early impression is that most songs on First Two Pages have one element that makes them a little bit more than they first appear, and just might be that last missing ingredient that puts a song over the top to becoming a favorite.  Or not.  But here's a list of the potential special sauces: "Once Upon A Poolside" - The aah-aah-aah backing vocals during the climax. "Eucalyptus" - Actually gonna go with the lyrics!  At first I was turned off by the device of starting every line with "what about the..." until halfway through the second ...

First Two Pages Of Frankenstein opens with a sparse song built around a repeating piano riff because, well, of course it does, they always do that.  As I was listening to "Once Upon A Poolside" I found myself wondering if during the inevitable second half shift of the song (of course there's a complementary second half, they always do that) would have the whole band come in, or whether they'd show a little restraint.  I was digging the simpler song and was hoping it wouldn't get washed out in a flood of atmospheric synths and guitars.  And it didn't!  Given that the National have added all of the elements and have gotten to the point where even other singers randomly popping in is pretty business as usual, is restraint their next bold frontier?  Going out of their way not to add extra ideas to a song?  To make that work, obviously the songwriting has to be there - and I do recall that the National, early in their career, did more often try for minimalist tr...

(I'm not sure exactly which number listen this was.) I know I recognized about five records ago that I'd be a lot happier if I spent less brain power trying to decipher National bullshit word salad lyrics.  Sometimes I can't help it.  I'm a lyrics guy; it's not an absolute but I really do prefer if songs are about something.  I Am Easy has a lot of quiet songs that allow the singing to be prominent, plus all of my time listening to and writing about Fish has my mind primed to dive into the words.  Basically, there are some songwriters who can directly explain what's on their mind and make the listener care, often with some clever turns of phrase, like, for example, certain singer-songwriters whose stage name rhymes with "ish." *   We've established that, for one reason or another, direct isn't the style of Matt Berninger et al , for the most part.  Except that there are exceptions.  He has the ability to write a very evocative and easy to under...

When listening to music with which I'm not familiar, knowing that I'm going to have to write about before listening again, it helps to mentally jot down notes of major things.  When there are a lot of songs and a lot of music (and while I'm walking or whatever I may also be getting distracted by other things), only a few notes can be held in a brain at a time.  On this particular occasion, though, I'm actually in front of a screen while sitting and doing my second listen to I Am Easy To Find .  So this is about the closest to a "reaction video" that I'm capable of doing as a blog post.  These are the most prominent thoughts and impressions, only lightly filtered, that pass through my mind. You Had Your Soul With You:  Closer to a rocker than I usually expect from a National opener.  I like the frenetic strings, but that start-stop distortion used throughout the song is pretty distracting. Quiet Light:  Not only does the track sound like it could have b...

Two general points that relate to the record before I make a few very preliminary comments about I Am Easy To Find - presumably a different person than the one who was so "Hard To Find" a couple records ago. *   First of all - yes, I know it's an obvious thing to say - art can only be partially divorced from the context in which it was first experienced.  I deliberately came into this record blind, knowing only that it's somehow connected to a short film of the same title and that it has a lot of duets with female vocalists.  [I'm now led to believe that some of the songs started as  Sleep Well era outtakes and were used to track a film, and that the film then inspired more songs.]  Audiences listening to the record in 2019 would have known it was coming, would have known about the film and possibly seen it, and would have known who was performing on which track.  When you put something out into the world, though, it has to stand on its own.  Five...

Say what you will about Sleep Well Beast , it is a National record through and through.  This means that many of the things I think about the National in general I think about this record.  I think I've been clear about what I think this band's biggest strengths are.  Well, more of them here.  For example, despite the lack of musical vocabulary, we've discussed that a certain type of chord simply sounds really good to my ears.  Since I normally emphasize the vocal melody, instead I'll highlight the bridge in "Day I Die" after the second chorus as my example to represent the whole record.  So far the song has been running on a  basic guitar-and-keys groove, punctuated by the drums.  After Matt stops singing, the pace slows down, one guitar starts playing a two-note figure, and then a second guitar suddenly drops in a four note "do do DO do" thing.  That bit is delivered at basically the same place in the bar that the song's main U2-esque guita...