The National – Boxer

So yeah, fall is coming soon. It’s colder, everyone’s getting allergies, people start going through mood swings, football makes people bicker, work becomes a constant wear just to get by, life seems a grind that always seems to hurt, etc. OK, so maybe that’s just for some of us but nonetheless, this all feels interesting. The National are another fall band to take note of: swelling chords, a baritone vocalist, creative drumming and gorgeous progressions. Boxer was their breakthrough in 2007 that everyone still loves to this day – it’s affecting and moving and most of the time, breathtaking. I’m counting down the days before I see them live on Sunday at ACL but it seems too far away.

I mean, “Slow Show” still remains as one of my all time favorite songs – even just simply for that ridiculous coda. The lyrics are forebodingly mesmerizing and everything seems to just fall into place. While the strings come from the sides, at the core is this lulling, lifting, lovely melody about being with your beautiful lover and having fun spending nothing but each other’s time. You know, like hurrying home to her, cracking her up and just being near her and oh yeah, the ending I mentioned earlier: “I missed you for 29 years.” Here is a fan-made video to the song:


I wanted to post about “Fake Empire,” too, because this is an awesome rendition of it on the Letterman show. There was still a quiet buzz about this album before it hit the scene in 2007 but just through moments like these, it was all the more astounding. The growth of the song, the pounding of the drums and the way it all hits together is brilliant but even more so, the sheer cacophony of sounds at the end has to be worth something right? I mos def think this is some of the best music of the past five or so years, don’t you? I don’t know, maybe I’m crazy, maybe. – Bryan