Sporting 12 songs and coming in at 48 minutes The National's new EP, is longer then the majority of albums released these days and I can't say I'm complaining. It's being released may 20th with A Skin, A Night a documentary about the making of Boxer. It consists mostly of demos, live sessions and b-sides, but it's still The National.

One word. Nice.

Just listened to this for the first time today and loved it. Once again the National have put out a collection of stunning and beautiful songs. The two songs from the iTunes version of Boxer, "Santa Clara" and "Blank Slate," are on here, as well as an early version of "Slow Show" (which contains some "Blank Slate" lyrics) and a live version of "Fake Empire." "Santa Clara" has always been a favorite of mine and I hope if you haven't heard it yet, you'll hear it on this EP. A few of the songs, such as "You've Done It Again, Virginia" and "Mansion on the Hill" are more alt-country sounding than the songs on Boxer. My favorite might be the live closer, "About Today," which is just fantastic. This is definitely worth getting if you're a fan of Boxer. I'm finally getting into their earlier albums and the more I hear, the more I just continue to fall in love with this band.

About Today, Slow Show, and Fake Empire I skip. I skip redundant tracks on principle. The rest is beautiful.

What was "About Today" from? I guess the National's self titled first album?

Oh, and it's kind of embarassing how an EP of b-sides and live performances can put to shame almost everything else released this year.

From the Cherry Tree EP actually. Which was good, but massively inferior to their Sad Songs and on work. As was their debut.

I'm really hoping to pick this up tomorrow. Everyone is talking about the tracks that have already been around for a while. Am I to assume the new tracks are nothing special?

The Slow Show alternate version is so hard to make out. Can't figure out what the new verses could be.

Also I'm not sure which tracks are new and which have been around the whole time, but I think almost everything is solid, save "Rest of Years" which is just sort of there.

I'm pretty sure everything has been fairly available for a while except for "Without Permission" and "Forever After Days". I'm looking forward to having some real copies of them though. I wish now that I had never hunted them down, I thought they would never surface. This EP would be a great listen if I hadn't heard these before.

On a side note. I was excitedly listening to The Cherry Tree EP today, and was pleased that it still makes me feel awesome. I love it when he says "Don't interupt me." and the whole "Loose Lips Sink Ships" thing is genius.

So Cherry Tree EP comes heavily recommended?

quote:

Originally posted by Chamberk:
So Cherry Tree EP comes heavily recommended?

To be honest I'd say it was better than the Virginia EP.

What about the DVD, Skin a Night? I already have most of the songs from the Virginia EP thanks to Shadrach , but wouldn't mind buying them legitimately, since that's what I'm all about these days.

I bought the Virginia EP today. It's actually really really good. "Tall Saint" is still one of their best songs. I'm really excited about watching it. I love Vincent Moon of course.

By the way, The Cherry Tree EP is a must own for any National Fan. It's a lot more Boxer than Aligator.

The Cherry Tree EP is my favorite EP ever...

Now I'm not much of an EP-fan/listener, so take it for what you will, but it is truly great.

As for the Virginia EP, I haven't listened to it yet, but I will tomorrow, and I'm really looking forward to seeing the movie.

The movie was good. Don't expect a documentary. It's very much Vincent Moon's work. It's all about the linking of music and interesting imagery. You get to know the band a little bit, and get to see the struggles and efforts they put into making Boxer, but it doesn't really fit together well as a story. And there isn't a lot of personality that comes out. It is very beautifully shot though, and it's interesting to pick up little hints and clues as to the development of some of the songs.

I was surprised that there were some major songs off the album that were never even mentioned or sampled. "Mistaken For Strangers" and "Apartment Story" just never made an appearance.

Also, did anyone else have a sometimes have a hard time hearing the "interviews" because the music was playing over it so loud?

Most Pitchfork hating is contrived and ignorant, but the Virginia EP review was perfectly inane.

Pitchfork is correct more than any other single online reviews source (what's the alternative? Tiny Mix Tapes? CMG? Fuck outta here). The real deal is like this:

Pitchfork is often wrong in reviews when they forget to consider how good the music is.

Everyone else is often wrong when they forget to consider how bad the music is.

And there's a bit of crossover both ways. Where DOES someone who doesn't know me personally go for sound musical opinion these days? Bleak.

quote:

Originally posted by BlackGravel:
Most Pitchfork hating is contrived and ignorant, but the Virginia EP review was perfectly inane.

Pitchfork is correct more than any other single online reviews source (what's the alternative? Tiny Mix Tapes? CMG? Fuck outta here). The real deal is like this:

Pitchfork is often wrong in reviews when they forget to consider how good the music is.

Everyone else is often wrong when they forget to consider how bad the music is.

And there's a bit of crossover both ways. Where DOES someone who doesn't know me personally go for sound musical opinion these days? Bleak.

No offense, but, what are you trying to talk about?

Pretty much all of this conversation took place before Pitchfork's review, and I can't tell from your comments whether you felt Pitchfork was for or against the EP.

I'd be willing to discuss this with you if you clarified a little bit.

They gave it a 4.3, hence it was inane. I think what blackgravel isn't realizing is that the pitchfork reviewer reviewed it on how good the National is. While it is a pretty a good listen, it is indeed subpar with respect to the National. I mean listen to Alligator or Boxer and then listen to the Virginia EP, its just not up to their standards.

That being said I enjoy it and it is a lot better then most of the releases this year and it may or may not have deserved a 4.3, but looking at what the National is capable of perhaps it does. Have to remember how subjective music reviewing is.

Well he started out by trying to say he didn't agree with the low score pitchfork gave to the EP. I think. Unless he was saying the review was aptly inane, as to say the writing was dumbed down to properly reflect an inane album. But I think the former is the case here. But then he goes on into a wholly different subject (defending pitchfork), just as a way to ultimately wind his way to a big juicy self-aggrandizement. He's got a good formula. He's a genius.

It's embarrassing when the people who decide, for whatever reason, to attempt to take shots at me, have to try to adopt my vocabulary and my phrasing.

I mean - I'm guessing that it's embarrassing. It would have to be.

The review was inane because it didn't account for how good many of the songs on the EP were. Instead, it was whining about how the material was somehow redundant or unnecessary, even threadbare. On a twelve track. EP.

He begins talking about how the documentary is not very good. Utterly immaterial.

Then he begins talking about the songs - three of them are assigned adjectives: "stately" "tougher" "brooding" - and are said to have been potentially "fine singles" - already we've got three "fine singles." On an EP. This is 4.3 stuff? Next the live cover. It's an "odd" selection, but the band "does a nice job rearranging the song to suit its strengths."

Then there's another cover, he calls "unremarkable." Alright. Then live songs and radio sessions (which I mostly skipped myself). "Lucky You" is called a "welcome reminder" about the band before Alligator. The two other live songs are said to "capture the mix of poignancy and pathos that make the National so thrilling live" - right, and since you review almost ENTIRELY redundant but "live" albums with 8's and 9's, HOW are we down in 4.3 territory here again?

Then he goes on to say that somehow the "thrills" are missing (which doesn't quite make sense if the two live songs he described evoked the bands "thrilling" live performance (!?)). And he describes it as an anti-climax relative to the other things that have gone on with the band lately.

First of all, a FUCKING EP is never meant to be a "climax." It's an EP. It's a stopgap.

Secondly, judging a band, as somebody up there suggested "on how good The National is" is patently retarded. What the fuck is that, we grade a band's records lower because they're BETTER than most other bands? I don't think I've ever, ever heard a worse idea.

That's why the review was inane. Please, take more awkward and forced potshots at me now. The wounded egos limping around here are a little bit irritating. I don't even remember what I've done to make some of you feel so hurt and/or threatened (goathouse). You should move on.