Finally, I get some agreeance. I really feel the National could very well be one of our biggest and most important bands. Since the release of Boxer, I was hoping. Since the release of newer LP High Violet, I was believing. Q readers have called High Violet the album of the year. More here via Neil McCormick and LHB:
I think the National are one of those groups (like REM and Radiohead in their moment) who have stumbled into a zone where the magical confluence between genuinely poetic language and the songcraft of melody, arrangement and performance creates something actually greater than the sum of its parts. The rise of High Violet reminds me of how albums like REM’s Automatic For The People and Radiohead’s The Bends just sort of floated up to the pop surface, with a texture of originality and depth and melodious purposefulness that was all but irresistible to anyone exposed to it, with the result that very left-field arty bands became household favourites.
Remember remember Mr. November.
