The National

In this season's political climate, why WOULDN'T you show your support for the presidential candidate of your choice. The National have quietly voiced their allegiance with a new Barack Obama/Mr. November T-Shirt, available on their website. Maybe the song being referenced is not the most politically correct in The National's catalog, but it does have that certain "je ne sais quoi" to it. "I WON'T fuck us over, I'm MR. NOVEMBER! I'm MR. NOVEMBER!!" ---------------... MORE

About ten years ago, I was sitting in my elementary school cafeteria with my friends.  We were just learning about the government and how it works when the topic of Presidents came up.  We, being the wise 8 year olds we were, decided that while it would be extremely cool to have a black president, that would never happen, at least in the near future.
A decade later, I proved myself wrong.  I am so glad I did.
This was my first election, Mr. Obama.  I spent some of my wee... MORE

"you get mistaken for strangers by your own friends
when you pass them at night under the silvery, silvery citibank lights
arm in arm in arm and eyes and eyes glazing under
oh you wouldn’t want an angel watching over
surprise, surprise they wouldn’t wannna watch
another uninnocent, elegant fall into the unmagnificent lives of adults

make up something to believe in your heart of hearts
so you have something to wear on your sleeve of sleeves
so you swear you just saw a feathery woma... MORE

A couple weeks back, on a hot and steamy day in Brooklyn, I met Matt Berninger from The National at a quiet bar with a permanent all-day happy hour. Matt had just returned that week from an extensive European tour and he was just recovering from jetlag and months of bus living. We grabbed lemonades and brews and chatted about things most people don't already know about his album "The Boxer", his first band named after his mom( "Nancy", how sweet), his thoughts on Nirvana, ... MORE

After a slow start 2007 turned into a pretty good year in music. True, there were few true masterpieces. There certainly were disappointments: Arcade Fire, Interpol, New Pornographers, Nine Black Alps, Queens Of The Stone Age, Radiohead, Shins, and White Stripes all can do better than the records they released this year. (And please don't bring back the painful memory of the new Stooges record.) There certainly was a lot of Brit pop the only question concerning which is ju... MORE

  This boy in college, as a parting gift, bought for me Bruce Springsteen's Nebraska. We were in love but the world wouldn't let us be together sort of thing. I peeled off the plastic wrapping and picked away at the spine sticker till it tore off in little slivers and cracked open the jewel case. You remember what it's like to open a brand new cd. Inside I found not Nebraska, but Heart's Greatest Hits. Some clerical or manufacturing error. This has been one of the most ... MORE

I basically started 2007 by missing Jarvis in Paradiso. I recall saying then “Well, I already have had my biggest disappointed and made my dumbest mistake of the year!” Warning, don’t say that ever, because it will come back and bite you in the ass. This last year, I reached new highs and lows, I felt things I had never felt, both as part of the ups and of the downs. I came to a lot of realizations which kind of knocked the naivety right out of me. In short, I encoun... MORE

I was listening to random songs by The National tonight, when this one came on.  As I was listening to it, I thought, "Gee, I'm sorta in the mood to listen to some Springsteen."  I wasn't really paying attention to this song as I was listening to it, and it didn't occur to me right away that deep somewhere in the recesses of my brain I knew that Bruce Springsteen also did a version of that song. And for good measure, the Bruce Springsteen version:  

The National has released a combo DVD/EP called A Skin, A Night/The Virginia EP which thusfar I am very impressed with (not a surprise considering the source of the music). I haven't watched the DVD yet, but plan to soon. Anyway, posted with this is the first song on the EP called "You've Done It Again, Virginia," and if you listen real closely (actually it's not that hard) to some of the accompanying music to Matt Berninger's baritone, you might hear Sufjan Stevens con... MORE

The National are heavy hitters for 2007's "Best Of" lists for their album The Boxer. Looking through MOG posts for the band, I didn't see one for the video for "Apartment Story," so here it is.

The big Idolator poll (http://pop.idolator.com/tag/idolator-pop-07/) went up today, agglomerating the results of some 454 critics. I was a participant, and if you have somehow missed my several-month-long pontification on 2007, you can check my ballot here: http://pop.idolator.com/331581/ballot-jennifer-kelly I have mixed feelings about these averagings of critical preferences, since all the interesting oddities get cancelled out and we learn, quel surpise, that a lot... MORE