The National (band)
| The National | |
|---|---|
 The National performing in May 2010 |
|
| General information | |
| Genre (s) | Indie rock , alternative |
| founding | 1999 |
| Website | www.americanmary.com |
| Current occupation | |
| Matt Berninger | |
| Aaron Dessner | |
| Bryce Dessner | |
| Bryan Devendorf | |
| Scott Devendorf | |
The National is an American band formed in 1999 . The band's lyrics are described as "dark, melancholy and difficult to interpret". The National's style is attributed to indie rock and compared to Joy Division , Leonard Cohen , Wilco and Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds . The baritone voice of the singer Matt Berninger gives the band its recognition value . The group is completed by the two brothers, Aaron and Bryce Dessner and Scott and Bryan Devendorf.
The members are from Cincinnati , Ohio and live in New York .
Band history
The beginnings
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In 1991 Matt Berninger met Scott Devendorf, both of whom were studying at the University of Cincinnati . There they met Mike Brewer, Casey Reas and Jeff Salem and formed the lo-fi garage band Nancy, which was named after Matt's mother. The band was together for five years, but only recorded one album during this time, entitled 3429 Ruther , which was released on the Wife Records label. The group broke up when Matt, Scott, Jeff, and Casey moved to Brooklyn .
Bryan, Bryce and Aaron were friends from childhood who played together in different bands. When their Project Nim broke up in 1998, they joined Matt and Scott in Brooklyn.
They called their new band The National. Several members continued to work in civil professions during the first few years and experienced the dot-com bubble of New York in the late 1990s up close .
The debut album: The National
Her first album The National was released in 2001 on Brassland Records. The label belonged to band members Aaron and Bryce Dessner and a friend, Alec Hanley Bemis. Their debut album laid the foundation for the band's career. They had played a few live shows before it was released.
Sad Songs for Dirty Lovers
The Nationals second album Sad Songs for Dirty Lovers was released in 2003. For the first time the band worked with Peter Katis as producer, who later also contributed to the two following albums Alligator and Boxer . Uncut magazine and Chicago Tribune named Sad Songs for Dirty Lovers one of the albums of the year.
Cherry Tree EP
In 2004 The National released the EP Cherry Tree , which already contains live versions of About Today and All the Wine , two tracks from the following album. The release of the EP was considered a success, The National went on tour with the band The Walkmen .
Also in 2004 the band members gave up their secondary jobs and signed a contract with their new label Beggars Banquet Records because running their own label was "too complicated".
The song About Today was used in the soundtracks of the films Warrior and The East .
alligator
Their first album at Beggars Banquet is called Alligator , it was released in 2005. The album received widespread critical acclaim and reached a high spot on the Los Angeles Times and Pitchfork Album of the Year charts .
Alligator brought the band numerous new concert-goers. She has now played sold-out shows at the Troubadour in Los Angeles and the Webster Hall in New York . The National toured with Clap Your Hands Say Yeah and the Editors and played at numerous festivals, including the 2006 Pitchfork Music Festival and the Reading and Leeds festivals .
Alligator has sold 75,000 copies in the United States.
boxer
The National released their fourth album, Boxer, on May 22nd, 2007. Like Alligator, it received much praise from music critics. The album contains contributions from various guest musicians, including Sufjan Stevens and Doveman (Thomas Bartlett). It was voted the second best album of the year by Stereogum.com and the best album of the year by Paste Magazine .
The National Fake Empire played on the Late Show with David Letterman on July 24, 2007 and Apartment Story on Craig Ferguson's Show on September 26, 2007 .
In summer 2008 the band opened the promotion tour for the REM album Accelerate together with Modest Mouse . She also played many festivals in Europe and North America including Coachella , Sasquatch, Glastonbury , Haldern Pop , Rock Werchter , Optimus Alive! , Oxegen, Benicassim, Lowlands , T Wireless O2, Rock im Park , All Points West and Lollapalooza .
Over 180,000 Boxers have been sold in the United States since its inception .
A Skin, a Night and the Virginia EP
In May 2008, the band released their first full-length documentary entitled A Skin, a Night on DVD. The film by director Vincent Moon documents the life of the band during the production of Boxer and shortly before a show in London's Koko Club. Along with the DVD release, a CD collection of B-sides and rarities was released under the title The Virginia EP .
The collaboration with Vincent Moon began long before the DVD was shot. Vincent Moon discovered the band after the release of their first album and made friends with the band members after a show in Paris. Soon after that meeting, Moon was making music videos for the national songs Daughters of the Soho Riots and Lit Up . It was his first ever music video.
High Violet , Trouble Will Find Me and other publications
On December 17, 2008, the band informed their mailing list members that they were in the early stages of recording a new album. In an interview with Pitchfork at the end of March 2009, Aaron Dessner said that the album does not yet have a name, but it is likely that it will begin with a “C” in the tradition of the previous two albums.
On February 17, 2009, Aaron and Bryce Dessner released a compilation with various artists under the title Dark Was the Night on the 4AD label (the original Beggar's Banquet Records label previously merged with 4AD). The double CD with 31 songs was released for the benefit of the Red Hot Organization. It includes a new song from the band called So Far Around the Bend .
On March 10, 2010, The National played Terrible Love on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon . On March 25th, the band Bloodbuzz Ohio released the first single from their new album High Violet and posted the song for free download on their website. The album came out on May 11, 2010.
On April 19, 2011, the band released the Portal 2 soundtrack Exile Vilify , which had to be rewritten due to changes in the gameplay before it was released.
In 2012 the band recorded the song The Rains of Castamere for the soundtrack of the second season of the Game of Thrones series .
On 20./21. May 2013 (UK / North America) the new album Trouble Will Find Me was released .
In August 2013 the band announced their next project. Accordingly, they want to record a cover album in honor of the Grateful Dead together with various guest musicians .
On April 17, 2013, the band documentary Mistaken for Strangers by Tom Berninger, brother of frontman Matt Berninger, premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival. He had accompanied The National on the High Violet tour.
Sleep Well Beast and I Am Easy to Find
In May 2017 the band announced that the new album Sleep Well Beast will be released in September, the first single being The System Only Dreams in Total Darkness . The album was released on September 8, 2017. At the Grammy Awards 2018 it was named " Best Alternative Album ".
A year and a half after the release of their last album, The National released the single You Had Your Soul with You in March 2019 as the first harbinger of their eighth album I Am Easy to Find , which was released in mid-May. In addition to the album, a 24-minute short film of the same name was released. Directed by Mike Mills , who was also involved in the production of the album, the leading role took on Oscar winner Alicia Vikander .
Political support
The band supported Barack Obama's 2008 presidential nomination. In July of that year, members sold T-shirts with an Obama's picture and the words Mr. November as a double reference to one of the songs on Alligator and the month of the US presidential election. All proceeds were donated to Obama's election campaign.
Her song Fake Empire was featured at many campaign events and was screened on August 28, 2008 as the soundtrack for a video during the Democratic National Convention in Denver .
art
Under the project title "A Lot Of Sorrow" by the artist Ragnar Kjartansson, The National played the song "Sorrow" in 100 repetitions live in front of an audience for six hours at MoMA on May 5th, 2013.
A video by the artist documents the performance.
Discography and filmography
Studio albums
| year | title |
Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, rankings, weeks, awards, notes) |
Remarks | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 DE
|
 AT
|
 CH
|
 UK
|
 US
|
|||
| 2007 | boxer | - | - | - |
UK57  (1 week)UK |
US68 (6 weeks) US |
First published: May 22, 2007
Sales: +60,000 |
| 2010 | High violet |
DE10 (7 weeks) DE |
AT20 (7 weeks) AT |
CH14 (7 weeks) CH |
UK5  (8 weeks)UK |
US3 (21 weeks) US |
First published: May 10, 2010
Sales: + 180,000 |
| 2013 | Trouble Will Find Me |
DE11 (7 weeks) DE |
AT7 (5 weeks) AT |
CH6 (7 weeks) CH |
UK3 (12 weeks)UK |
US3 (25 weeks) US |
First published: May 17, 2013
Sales: + 185,000 |
| 2017 | Sleep Well Beast |
DE4 (4 weeks) DE |
AT5 (4 weeks) AT |
CH4 (3 weeks) CH |
UK1 (5 weeks)UK |
US2 (4 weeks) US |
First published: September 8, 2017
|
| 2019 | I am easy to find |
DE2 (6 weeks) DE |
AT2 (4 weeks) AT |
CH2 (4 weeks) CH |
UK2 (3 weeks) UK |
US5 (2 weeks) US |
First published: May 17, 2019
|
More studio albums
- 2001: The National
- 2003: Sad Songs for Dirty Lovers
- 2005: alligator
Live albums
| year | title |
Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, rankings, weeks, awards, notes) |
Remarks | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
DE
|
AT
|
CH
|
UK
|
US
|
|||
| 2018 | Boxer (Live in Brussels) | - | - |
CH85 (1 week) CH |
UK70 (1 week) UK |
- |
First published: April 21, 2018
|
| 2019 | Juicy Sonic Magic (Live at Berkeley) | - | - | - | - | - |
First published: November 29, 2019
|
EPs
- 2004: Cherry Tree
- 2008: The Virginia EP (digital only or together with A Skin, a Night , see below: Films )
Singles
| year | Title album |
Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, album , rankings, weeks, awards, notes) |
Remarks | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
DE
|
AT
|
CH
|
UK
|
US
|
|||
| 2005 | Abel alligator |
- | - | - |
UK83 (1 week) UK |
- |
First published: March 14, 2005
|
More singles
- 2003: Slipping Husband
- 2005: Abel
- 2005: Secret Meeting (released as download only)
- 2005: Lit Up
- 2007: Mistaken for Strangers
- 2007: Apartment Story
- 2008: Fake Empire
- 2010: Bloodbuzz Ohio
- 2010: Anyone's Ghost
- 2010: Terrible Love
- 2011: Wake Up Your Saints
- 2011: Conversation 16
- 2011: Exile Vilify (released as download only)
- 2013: Demons
- 2013: Don't Swallow the Cap
- 2013: Sea of Love
- 2013: Graceless
- 2014: I Need My Girl
- 2017: The System Only Dreams in Total Darkness
- 2017: Guilty Party
- 2017: Carin at the Liquor Store
- 2017: Day I Die
- 2019: You Had Your Soul with You
Movies
- 2008 A Skin, a Night ( documentary about the making of Boxer )
- 2014 Mistaken for Strangers (Documentary)
Awards for music sales
|
Note: Awards in countries from the chart tables or chart boxes can be found in these.
| Country / Region |
silver |
gold |
 platinum
|
Sales | swell |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Awards for music sales (country / region, awards, sales, sources) |
|||||
 Australia (ARIA)
|
- |
gold1
|
- | 35,000 | aria.com.au |
 Belgium (BEA)
|
- |
gold1
|
- | 15,000 | ultratop.be |
 Denmark (IFPI)
|
- |
gold1
|
platinum1
|
30,000 | ifpi.dk |
 Canada (MC)
|
- |
3 × gold3
|
- | 120,000 | musiccanada.com |
|
United Kingdom (BPI)
|
2 × silver2
|
2 × gold2
|
- | 320,000 | bpi.co.uk |
| All in all |
2 × silver2
|
8 × gold8th
|
platinum1
|
||
Web links
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- ^ Alan Williamson, The National Interview. Sixeyes, August 6, 2005, accessed March 22, 2013 .
- ↑ Joshua Klein: The Top 200 Albums of the 2000s: 50-21. Pitchfork , October 1, 2009, accessed March 22, 2013 .
- ↑ Alligator - The National. Metacritic , accessed March 22, 2013 .
- ↑ Boxer - The National. Metacritic , accessed March 22, 2013 .
- ↑ Exile Vilify. Sector W, accessed March 22, 2013 .
- ↑ Laura Snapes: The National Announce New LP Trouble Will Find Me. Pitchfork , March 21, 2013, accessed March 22, 2013 .
- ↑ musikexpress.de
- ↑ berliner-filmfestivals.de
- ↑ Yes, The National just announced their new album and tour. In: Musikexpress . Axel Springer Mediahouse Berlin , May 11, 2017, accessed on September 8, 2017 .
- ↑ The National: 'Sleep Well Beast'. In: 4ad.com. 4AD , 2017, accessed September 8, 2017 .
- ↑ The National: The new song "You Had Your Soul With You". laut.de, accessed on May 10, 2019 .
- ↑ The National - "Mr. November" - T Shirt - Men's. Mercho Online, archived from the original on September 12, 2008 ; accessed on March 22, 2013 (English).
- ↑ a b c Chart sources: DE AT CH UK US