The National (band)

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The National

Matt Berninger (2007)
Background information
Origin Cincinnati, Ohio; Brooklyn, New York
Genres Indie rock
Post-punk revival
Years active 1999–present
Labels 4AD, Beggars Banquet, Brassland
Website americanmary.com
Members
Matt Berninger
Aaron Dessner
Bryce Dessner
Bryan Devendorf
Scott Devendorf

The National are a Brooklyn-based indie rock band formed in 1999. The band's lyrics are written and sung by Matt Berninger in a distinctive, deep baritone. The rest of the band is composed of two pairs of brothers: Aaron and Bryce Dessner and Scott and Bryan Devendorf. Aaron plays guitar, bass and piano, Bryce plays guitar, Scott plays bass and guitar, and Bryan is the drummer. Padma Newsome, from sister band Clogs, often contributes strings, keyboards, and other arrangements and instrumental flourishes. Influences range from Bruce Springsteen to Joy Division.

Contents

[edit] History

[edit] Beginnings

When the band was formed in 1999 by a group of Ohio friends, it was called The National (although the domain name of the band's website is americanmary.com because, according to an interview with Better Propaganda, "[i]t's a song off our first record. We never thought of changing the (website) name, although we should have."[1] Several of the members continued to work day jobs throughout the early years, being involved in New York's dot-com boom in the late 1990s.

[edit] S/T

Their first album The National was eventually released in 2001 on Brassland Records, a label founded by band members Aaron and Bryce Dessner, along with their friend Alec Hanley Bemis. Their debut album launched the band's career, as they had performed few live shows before its release.[citation needed]

[edit] Sad Songs for Dirty Lovers

Released on September 2, 2003, Sad Songs for Dirty Lovers is the first album that the band worked with Peter Katis, who would produce the band's critically acclaimed next albums Alligator and Boxer. In France renowned DJ Bernard Lenoir invited them to perform on his Black Sessions twice on France Inter. Publications such as Uncut and the Chicago Tribune named it an album of the year.

[edit] Cherry Tree EP

In 2004, they released the Cherry Tree EP which included live favorite "About Today", as well as "All the Wine" which would appear on their next record. The release of the EP garnered further success and landed them on successful tour with The Walkmen.

[edit] Signing to Beggars Banquet

In 2004 the band quit their jobs and moved to a new label, Beggars Banquet Records, because the process of running their own label was becoming "too complicated".[2]

[edit] Alligator

Their first album on Beggars Banquet, Alligator, was met with much critical acclaim and featured highly in "Album of the Year" charts in the LA Times, Insound, Uncut, and many other publications.[3] The album allowed the band increased exposure. Pitchfork Media and NME ranked Alligator as a top album of the 2000s.[4]

Alligator brought the band increased attendance at concerts including sold out shows at the Troubadour in Los Angeles and Webster Hall in New York. They shared tours with Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, Editors, and played at numerous festivals including Pitchfork Festival, Reading Festival, Leeds Festival, Pukkelpop, and more.

Alligator has sold over 70,000 copies in the United States.[5]

[edit] Boxer

Their latest album, Boxer, was released on May 22, 2007, and has also received widespread critical praise.[6] The album features contributions from various guest artists including Sufjan Stevens and Doveman (aka Thomas Bartlett). It received #2 best album of the year by stereogum.com and #1 album of the year by Paste Magazine.[7] Their song "Fake Empire" from Boxer was featured on NBC's new series, Chuck, and Southland, the CW's One Tree Hill in its current fifth season and the 2008 film Battle in Seattle. In addition, their song "Start A War" was featured on the tenth episode of the international science fiction series "Defying Gravity".

On July 24, 2007, The National performed the song "Fake Empire" off their release boxer on the The Late Show with David Letterman.

On September 26, 2007, The National performed "Apartment Story" off their release boxer on The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson.

In the summer of 2008, along with Modest Mouse, they opened for R.E.M. on the promotional tour for the new R.E.M. album Accelerate. That summer they also played many festivals in North America and Europe, including Coachella, Sasquatch, Glastonbury, Haldern Pop, Rock Werchter, Optimus Alive!, Oxegen, Benicàssim, Lowlands, O2 Wireless, T in the Park, All Points West, and Lollapalooza.

Boxer has made numerous "album of the decade" lists including Pitchfork Media[8], Aquarium Drunkard [9], Paste [10], and more. Since its release, it has sold over 170,000 copies in US.[5]

[edit] A Skin, A Night and The Virginia EP

Released on May 20th, 2008, A Skin, A Night is a documentary filmed by Vincent Moon. Along with the release of the DVD was an EP of B-Sides and Rarities called The Virginia EP. The film documents the lives of the band surrounding the recording of Boxer and just before a show at the London Venue Koko.

The National's collaboration with Vincent Moon began long before the filming of A Skin, A Night. Vincent Moon discovered the band after the release of their first album and became friends with them after a show at Paris' La Guinguette Pirate. Soon after this meeting, Vincent Moon filmed his first music videos ever, which were for The National's songs "Daughters of the Soho Riots" and "Lit Up"[11]. Also, Vincent Moon's photography appears on the cover of the album Alligator.

[edit] Recent Activity

On December 17, 2008, The band released a letter to members of their mailing list letting it be known that they were in the beginning stages of recording a new album and it could be expected some time in late 2009 or early 2010. During a Pitchfork interview in late March 2009, Aaron Dessner said the album was still unnamed though lightheartedly suggested it would start with a "C" in the tradition of their previous two albums [12] Tracks that have been performed live, to be featured on the album, are "Wake Up Your Saints," "England," "Blood Buzz, Ohio," "Vanderlylle Cry Baby," "Believe Me" (earlier called The Blue Sky and A Thousand Black Cities), and "Karamazov" (a reference to the novel by Fyodor Dostoyevsky called The Brothers Karamazov, a favorite of the band's members) which has also been known as "Runaway."

On February 17, 2009, an album titled Dark Was the Night was released by 4AD, and was produced by Aaron & Bryce Dessner and is a 31-track compilation to benefit the Red Hot Organization. It also contains a new song by The National titled "So Far Around the Bend". In the same year, The National collaborated with St. Vincent to contribute a cover of Crooked Fingers' "Sleep All Summer" to the Merge Records compilation Score! 20 Years of Merge Records: The Covers!.

On May 6, 2009, The National performed "So Far Around the Bend" on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon.

The National contributed a track to Ciao My Shining Star: The Songs of Mark Mulcahy, an album in support of the former Polaris frontman, who lost his wife. They covered Polaris's track "Ashamed of the Story I Told", from their album Music from the Adventures of Pete & Pete.

[edit] Political and Social Support

The band threw their support behind Barack Obama's presidential candidacy in 2008. In July of that year, the band designed and sold a t-shirt featuring Obama's image above the words "Mr. November", a reference to both their song from Alligator and the month of the U.S. presidential election. All proceeds were donated to Obama's campaign.[13]

Their song "Fake Empire" was used by the Obama campaign at many high-profile events during the election. On August 28, 2008 "Fake Empire" was used as the soundtrack for a video shown at Invesco Field during the Democratic National Convention.[14] On November 4, 2008, "Fake Empire" was again used as part of a video shown in Grant Park prior to Barack Obama's victory speech on election night.[14]

On October 16, 2008, The National played a rally for Barack Obama on Fountain Square in their hometown of Cincinnati. Buses for early voting were available before the show to take voters to the Hamilton County Board of Elections.

On February 3, 2009, The National played at a benefit show for Philip Glass' Tibet House at New York's Carnegie Hall.

On February 17, 2009, Dark Was the Night, the twentieth Red Hot Organization compilation, was released. Curated by Aaron and Bryce Dessner, this album comprised songs by bands such as Yeasayer, The Dirty Projectors, Feist, The National, among others. All proceeds from album sales were donated to the Red Hot Organization which is an international organization dedicated to fighting AIDS.

On May 3, 2009, Aaron and Bryce Dessner curated a concert for Dark Was the Night at Radio City Music Hall in New York City. Performers included David Byrne, The Dirty Projectors, Feist, The National, among others.

On 26 October 2009, it was announced on 4AD's website that profits raised by the compilation for the benefit of AIDS/HIV awareness and prevention amounted to £423,212 ($668,358), a sum that represents all the profits from worldwide sales for the first half of 2009. John Carlin was quoted as saying "Dark Was the Night encapsulated the spirit and creativity of a new generation of musicians whose work struck a chord and got people to actually purchase the album and raise hundreds of thousands of dollars to fight AIDS."[15]

[edit] Discography

[edit] Albums

[edit] EPs

[edit] Singles

[edit] Film and home video

[edit] References

  1. ^ Better Propaganda Interview with Matt Berninger
  2. ^ Tom (6 August 2005). "The National – Interview". Sixeyes.blogspot.com. http://sixeyes.blogspot.com/2005/08/national-interview_06.html. Retrieved 2009-02-20. 
  3. ^ "The National: Alligator (2005): Reviews". Metacritic.com. http://www.metacritic.com/music/artists/national/alligator?q=the%20national. Retrieved 2009-02-20. 
  4. ^ "The Top 200 Albums of the 2000s: 50-21". Pitchfork. 2009-10-01. http://pitchfork.com/features/staff-lists/7709-the-top-200-albums-of-the-2000s-50-21/2/. Retrieved 2009-10-01. 
  5. ^ a b http://en-us.nielsen.com/tab/industries/media/entertainment
  6. ^ Boxer by The National. metacritic.com. Retrieved on July 30, 2009.
  7. ^ Paste Magazine issue #38
  8. ^ [1]
  9. ^ [2]
  10. ^ [3]
  11. ^ "[4]
  12. ^ "The National's Aaron Dessner on Dark Was the Night, New National album". pitchfork.com, March 31, 2009. Retrieved on July 30, 2009.
  13. ^ http://www.merchco-online.com/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=506_518
  14. ^ a b Martinez, Chris. "Oh, What A Night: Chicago celebrates with President-elect Obama in Grant Park :: Local:Chicago :: Articles :: Paste". Pastemagazine.com. http://www.pastemagazine.com/articles/2008/11/oh-what-a-night-chicago-celebrates-with-president-.html. Retrieved 2009-02-20. 
  15. ^ 4AD - News - Reveal amount raised for charity from Dark Was the Night, retrieved 27 October 2009
  16. ^ Billboard, Allmusic
  17. ^ Pitchfork, Pitchfork

[edit] External links

[edit] Interviews

v • d • e
The National
Matt Berninger · Aaron Dessner · Bryce Dessner · Bryan Devendorf · Scott Devendorf
Studio albums
EPs
Singles
"Abel" · "Secret Meeting" · "Lit Up" · "Mistaken for Strangers" · "Apartment Story" · "Fake Empire"
Related articles
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_National_(band)"