In 2011, I saw more than 500 bands perform live over 265-plus days of show-going, and still I feel as if I missed a lot. Plenty of what I did see remains etched in my memory, though, from festival adventures big and small (SXSW, Coachella and FYF to the Silverlake Jubilee, the substitute Sunset Junction […]
Of all the chilling moments on the chilly evening of 9/11, one eight-minute stretch of the National’s set at the Hollywood Bowl rattled the spine. It came when the Cincinnati-bred, Brooklyn-based indie rockers played an obscure 2003 album track “Thirsty,” followed by 2007’s “Fake Empire.” ||| Photos by Nick Carranza, PlanetSpeck.com With a full moon […]
The 411 on 911: ‣ Summer nights at the Hollywood Bowl keep getting better every week. The National headlines tonight with Neko Case and Sharon Van Etten as extraordinary support. ‣ Puerto Rican rockers Dávila 666 return to the Echo (early show) with their 60s and 70s inspired sound. (That’s that video for ‘Tu” above.) […]
Who: The National at the Outdoor Theatre In 3 or Fewer Words: National’s anthem: Perfection. I’ll Remember This Forever Because: It was, quite simply, the finest performance of Coachella 2011. Forget Kanye West, forget the Strokes – the National’s hourlong set played less like a concert and more like an exorcism, as imposing frontman Matt […]
It was not a surprise to see “High Violet” appear on many Best of 2010 lists after the New York indie rockers released one of their finest albums to date. However, with Matt Berninger’s baritone voice and stoic manners in the midst of instrumental flourishes, the National isn’t considered to be a band who often […]
[My overall Top 20 albums in a year informed by a mountain of good music and an avalanche of trying times, based purely on how much they resonated with me. I was lucky this year to have seen all but 4 of these artists live. With my 4-word reviews:] 1. Arcade Fire, “The Suburbs.” Sonically […]
Buzz Bands LA is pleased to host a live webcast of the Decemberists (tonight) and the National (Sunday) from MusicfestNW in Portland. Tune in at 7:30 p.m. today and tomorrow.
Sunday’s Lollapalooza was what music festivals are all about: quality, variety and … well, quality and variety. It rained early in the day, then turned sunny and mercilessly muggy. Only the Windy City’s breeze and Lolla’s generous portions of shade kept this geezer from wilting. But my schedule had me too excited to notice my […]
Clogs are a chamber quartet that makes experimental-minded, mostly instrumental music and share members – Bryce Dessner and Padma Newsome – with the acclaimed indie-rock band the National. Earlier this year, the foursome released “The Creatures in the Garden of Lady Walton” (which I nabbed based on eMusic’s tout), and they just followed with the […]
Matt Berninger has always taken a more professorial approach to his role as ascendant poet laureate of rock noir. Suit-coated and intense, he lets the gravitas of his baritone – rising as if imperiled by claustrophobia above the National’s clattering orchestrations – speak to the tragic foibles and life-changing moments in his song’s characters. ||| […]
