If you’ve not yet heard it or purchased it or whatever, The National’s latest album “High Violet” should be on your “to do” list in the coming months. It’s an excellent record, one of the best this year has had to offer so far, which is only part of the reason why I’m featuring the band this week on Live Friday. Additionally, The National will be playing Lollapalooza in a couple weeks, and I’m using these live sessions leading up to the festival to help give you some insight into how various bands might perform. The National are, of course, great. This session was recorded a week ago and the band plays 4 songs off of “High Violet”. There’s also an interview available for you to stream below. In it, Bryce Dessner talks a little about the creation of the indie all-star charity album “Dark Was the Night” and his various side projects. Singer Matt Berninger also gets on topic about his writing process and how that relates to the recording of a National album. It’s worth a listen if you really like the band and are interested in hearing about that sort of stuff.
Note: Due to some small hosting issues, you’ll need to download the song “Runaway” via YouSendIt or ZShare. Sorry about that, I’m trying to get the problem fixed.
The National, Live on WXPN 7-16-10:
The National – Bloodbuzz Ohio (Live on WXPN)
The National – Afraid of Everyone (Live on WXPN)
The National – Runaway [YouSendIt] [ZShare]
The National – Terrible Love (Live on WXPN)
