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| Track list: 1. Fake Empire 2. Mistaken For Strangers 3. Brainy 4. Squalor Victoria 5. Green Gloves 6. Slow Show 7. Apartment Story 8. Start A War 9. Guest Room 10. Racing Like A Pro 11. Ada 12. Gospel Running time: 42 minutes Released: 2007 |
I saw this around everywhere before I finally picked it up. Can't for the life of me remember why I chose to grab it though, but I seem to recall liking it, and I bought the follow-up too so I must have had an affection for the way The National went about things. I can't really remember any of their songs though (save Rains of Castermere, of course).
We begin with a bouncy piano in isolation, but as soon as the vocal starts I am reminded why I liked this. The deep resonant tones of the singer give a really nice round sound, convey a sense of distance and space and... yeah. One aspect of music that made it over the pond, which is rarer in material of these shores, is that big sky feeling. Its the same sense of openness that drew me to Willard Grant Conspiracy, Grand Drive (though they were based in Blighty) and... someone else I was going to mention specifically but who I have completely blanked on now.
The second track is pacier, more constrained and percussion led. It sort of works, but I feel that it probably is not playing to their strengths as I perceive them; there are better proponents of this kind of song though again I fail to bring any to mind at the point where that would be helpful! I am taking a quick (well... 45 minute I guess!) break from cleaning - a chore that was very desperate and will carry on into tomorrow; part of the need for a week off, and it is nice to have a relatively bite-sized album to dive into. The tune has grown on me whilst I have been digressing and I find myself enjoying it more as it fades. Brainy keeps a similar pace and percussive bent, but lets the vocal free again. It is like Mistaken For Strangers was stuck in a tunnel whilst before and after the songs have clear sky above. My problem with tracks that are driven by rhythm like this one is that the beat pattern becomes so front and centre that my mind can't tear away from it. This poses me issues in true enjoyment because I then inevitably latch on to how repetitive that sound is (let alone that that is the point of rhythm) and grow tired of the track because I followed the wrong thread. This is my issue, not the song's.
I like the interplay between forceful drums and soft, understated keys - but I would, ideally, favour the keys more than the drums in the balancing. Not so the production on Squalor Victoria, or maybe that is me grabbing the wrong straw again; either way the track breezes by and we get a very different feel on Green Gloves. The percussion is noticeably missing or stripped right back early on, nice little riffs replacing it, it gives a much more relaxed air to the piece.
The vocals really are the star though. Drawl. Tone. Atmosphere. In the right place and right time... I wouldn't want to listen to this style all the time but when paired well with sounds to support it, that easy, lazy sound of a throat I imagine wetted with whisky and parched by tobacco (whether that applies to this frontman or not) has an appeal. I think The National do a pretty decent job of fitting their music around the distinctive voice and approach. One thing that surprises me a little - but shouldn't do when looking at the number of tracks and total running time - is that each song is over very fast. I tend to associate Americana like this with longer tracks, more time to go with the sense of space. Not so here. Unlike Lambchop (they were whom I was to reference earlier and forgot), here that openness is conveyed whilst still sticking pretty closely to a radio-friendly song structure. I find this to be a plus point, because it takes a fair amount of craft to create time and space when so limited, and I find myself appreciating that. Limits are good for creativity, not bad for it. They may be bad for vision, mind.
Start a War is more subdued, tired, and it enervates me. Suddenly I just want to sleep. That unfortunate effect aside I like the tune, but my heavy eyelids disagree. It's the middle of the day for hell's sake. Guest Room returns to the previously established standard and I find myself wondering if a whole album isn't a little too much of a good thing. There is a touch of samey-ness about it that builds a sense of ennui - or perhaps that ennervation just switched me off their wavelength.
It was a choice between listening or shaving as a break from the cleaning (bathroom next - joy), and this won out. I do desperately need both shave and haircut though; I'm feeling decidedly unkempt. Hopefully the half term haircuts are mostly out of the way by now and Friday wont see a massive queue at the barbers. Find out tomorrow. On the record, we have another softer, percussion-light piece and I am not really engaged. Perhaps it is just the repeated lyric "You're dumbstruck baby" grating; I am anything but. I suspect on its own it would have come across better. That said, I really like the tune on Ada, and when the piano, and horns join the appeal reaches peak. This is a really nicely crafted song, though the vocal is less appealing here than it was on the first few tracks of the disc. Some of that might be the clarity of the lyrics and how trite I find them, so I try to tune out the singing and just follow the flow of the track. I enjoy it more that way.
Final number now. Gospel is slower, voice and guitar base, support added. It feels a little weak compared to what I was hearing half an hour ago. This just makes me appreciate the short songs more, though; shuffle isn't so different to radio, and these feel radio-friendly. I don't really begrudge these last tracks even though I have found them less engaging than the early ones and I can see them being more enjoyable in a different context. So, silence falls and I must depart to get the rubber gloves on...
We begin with a bouncy piano in isolation, but as soon as the vocal starts I am reminded why I liked this. The deep resonant tones of the singer give a really nice round sound, convey a sense of distance and space and... yeah. One aspect of music that made it over the pond, which is rarer in material of these shores, is that big sky feeling. Its the same sense of openness that drew me to Willard Grant Conspiracy, Grand Drive (though they were based in Blighty) and... someone else I was going to mention specifically but who I have completely blanked on now.
The second track is pacier, more constrained and percussion led. It sort of works, but I feel that it probably is not playing to their strengths as I perceive them; there are better proponents of this kind of song though again I fail to bring any to mind at the point where that would be helpful! I am taking a quick (well... 45 minute I guess!) break from cleaning - a chore that was very desperate and will carry on into tomorrow; part of the need for a week off, and it is nice to have a relatively bite-sized album to dive into. The tune has grown on me whilst I have been digressing and I find myself enjoying it more as it fades. Brainy keeps a similar pace and percussive bent, but lets the vocal free again. It is like Mistaken For Strangers was stuck in a tunnel whilst before and after the songs have clear sky above. My problem with tracks that are driven by rhythm like this one is that the beat pattern becomes so front and centre that my mind can't tear away from it. This poses me issues in true enjoyment because I then inevitably latch on to how repetitive that sound is (let alone that that is the point of rhythm) and grow tired of the track because I followed the wrong thread. This is my issue, not the song's.
I like the interplay between forceful drums and soft, understated keys - but I would, ideally, favour the keys more than the drums in the balancing. Not so the production on Squalor Victoria, or maybe that is me grabbing the wrong straw again; either way the track breezes by and we get a very different feel on Green Gloves. The percussion is noticeably missing or stripped right back early on, nice little riffs replacing it, it gives a much more relaxed air to the piece.
The vocals really are the star though. Drawl. Tone. Atmosphere. In the right place and right time... I wouldn't want to listen to this style all the time but when paired well with sounds to support it, that easy, lazy sound of a throat I imagine wetted with whisky and parched by tobacco (whether that applies to this frontman or not) has an appeal. I think The National do a pretty decent job of fitting their music around the distinctive voice and approach. One thing that surprises me a little - but shouldn't do when looking at the number of tracks and total running time - is that each song is over very fast. I tend to associate Americana like this with longer tracks, more time to go with the sense of space. Not so here. Unlike Lambchop (they were whom I was to reference earlier and forgot), here that openness is conveyed whilst still sticking pretty closely to a radio-friendly song structure. I find this to be a plus point, because it takes a fair amount of craft to create time and space when so limited, and I find myself appreciating that. Limits are good for creativity, not bad for it. They may be bad for vision, mind.
Start a War is more subdued, tired, and it enervates me. Suddenly I just want to sleep. That unfortunate effect aside I like the tune, but my heavy eyelids disagree. It's the middle of the day for hell's sake. Guest Room returns to the previously established standard and I find myself wondering if a whole album isn't a little too much of a good thing. There is a touch of samey-ness about it that builds a sense of ennui - or perhaps that ennervation just switched me off their wavelength.
It was a choice between listening or shaving as a break from the cleaning (bathroom next - joy), and this won out. I do desperately need both shave and haircut though; I'm feeling decidedly unkempt. Hopefully the half term haircuts are mostly out of the way by now and Friday wont see a massive queue at the barbers. Find out tomorrow. On the record, we have another softer, percussion-light piece and I am not really engaged. Perhaps it is just the repeated lyric "You're dumbstruck baby" grating; I am anything but. I suspect on its own it would have come across better. That said, I really like the tune on Ada, and when the piano, and horns join the appeal reaches peak. This is a really nicely crafted song, though the vocal is less appealing here than it was on the first few tracks of the disc. Some of that might be the clarity of the lyrics and how trite I find them, so I try to tune out the singing and just follow the flow of the track. I enjoy it more that way.
Final number now. Gospel is slower, voice and guitar base, support added. It feels a little weak compared to what I was hearing half an hour ago. This just makes me appreciate the short songs more, though; shuffle isn't so different to radio, and these feel radio-friendly. I don't really begrudge these last tracks even though I have found them less engaging than the early ones and I can see them being more enjoyable in a different context. So, silence falls and I must depart to get the rubber gloves on...
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