Comments on: reflection: the national on the big stage

By: joe

joe — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 12:23:17 +0000

I actually don’t think the two sound alike at all, so it’s safe to say you can dislike OR but like Shearwater. Maybe try a track or two on Rook to see if you warm up to it? Like I said, it took me several listens. But once I was in, I was hooked.

By: Daniel, Esq.

Daniel, Esq. — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 23:17:15 +0000

I like both of those (and I love Roxy Music). OTOH, I can’t stand most Okerville River, and I consider Shearwater a close cousin of that band.

So if I dislike OR, would you still recommend Shearwater? If you say ”yes,” I’ll have heard enough and I’ll go ahead and download it.

By: joe

joe — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 22:20:40 +0000

Man, if you at all tilt toward Scott Walker or Roxy Music, spend more time with that thing. If not, then you can safely pass!

By: Daniel, Esq.

Daniel, Esq. — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 19:38:16 +0000

“The Shearwater is a great example of patience yielding huge dividends. I did not like that record when I first heard it — I thought it was way too pretentious, theatrical and self-consciously ‘arty.’”

And, let me add, dreary and flat-sounding and what I think of when I hear someone describe the kind of music I normally like as “indie-schmindie.” To be fair, though, I’ve given Shearwater as much of a chance as I’ve given Okerville River (i.e., almost none).

By: adam (not beaugh)

adam (not beaugh) — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 15:15:38 +0000

Back in March, the Walkmen were scheduled to play a show here in Florida with Vampire Weekend opening. The show sold out quickly, but VW was subsequently booked for SNL on the same night, so they cancelled their appearance at this Florida show– but the Walkmen still came…and 12 people showed up.

By: joe

joe — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 01:43:34 +0000

The Shearwater is a great example of patience yielding huge dividends. I did not like that record when I first heard it — I thought it was way too pretentious, theatrical and self-consciously “arty.” As sometimes happens, though, something kept pulling me back. Now, I can’t imagine I ever disliked it 𔃉 it’s, like, Scott Walker Tilt good; really unsettling and mystic and weird, and all the operatic vocal flourishes feel more ominous and doomy than pretentious.

By: Sheila

Sheila — Sun, 29 Jun 2008 16:48:27 +0000

Joe - I have the same exact problem that you have — specifically I can’t stop listening to the new Shearwater.

But I agree with all that there is so much music out there that it can be difficult to spend the necessary time with certain artists. I have found that most of my friends that are true music lovers stick with the artists through their career trajectory. There are definitely a handful though, that like the new hot artist and then move onto the next relatively quickly.

I saw the National/MM/REM tour in Chicago — people were loving the National by the end and I too was very impressed with their ability to play to an arena.

By: BeGee

BeGee — Sat, 28 Jun 2008 21:21:26 +0000

Love the post, but I think it’s a little off to consider this take on The National in the context of eMusic.

The affair you describe (and which many of the posters are recollecting from their own pasts) is of sitting with an album, listening, getting to know it, forming a relationship with it. That model is harder to replicate in an eMusic-like environment. It is, I agree, related to volume: coming home from a store with 1 record and focusing on it is harder to replicate when you’re downloading lots of stuff at once from a swath of artists, genres, etc. No one is going to build a relationship with Boxer if they just download 2 of the tracks, stick it in a mix with Okkervil River and Spoon and El-P and whatever else and let it shuffle through.

By: boy howdy

boy howdy — Sat, 28 Jun 2008 16:28:00 +0000

i think you’re a bit off with the REM analogy - I remember when Murmur came out and it was truly an underground sensation. A defining moment of the ’80s underground that just about every left-of-center, college radio-listening kid who was remotely clued-in knew about. They had the kind of success that today’s up-and-coming indie bands dream about right out of the gate. when REM got “big” - it was major label, mainstream baby-boomer big - the kind of success that most of today’s indie bands will, sadly, never see. It’s just a different world out there today, narrowcast and microsegmented all to hell.

By: ruadork

ruadork — Sat, 28 Jun 2008 11:49:49 +0000

I opted not to see the REM/MM/National tour because I was lukewarm on seeing REM, didn’t want to see MM at all, and thought I’d be disappointed to see The National for only 30 minutes or so. Fortunately, like Michelle said, they played Messiah College a few weeks before the big tour started and I was able to see them in a small venue, 10 minutes from home, for an hour and a half show.

I can’t tell you how many albums I have now that I haven’t listened to many times. Some might be decent but I’ve downloaded something else and have moved on (and rarely will I go back to do more than just listen to occasionally); others get a listen or two and then I go back to an album that I actually am getting into.

When Boxer cam out, I listened to it pretty much non-stop for a few months. That’s not an exaggeration. What happened to the other albums I downloaded during that time? I definitely use all of my dl’s each month, so they fall into the “didn’t receive a fair chance” category, most likely. The Hold Steady’s “Boys and Girls in America” is another album that pushed other albums out of rotation for a long time. And they, like The National, have become a band that I devoted time and money to so that I could explore back catalog, see them live, look up lyrics/possible song meanings online. I just don’t have the time to do that with all of the albums I get each month.