High Violet

2007年『Boxer』が世界的なロング・ヒットとなり、数々の年間ベスト・アルバム＆2000年代ベスト・アルバムに選出された、NYはブルックリン最後の大物、ザ・ナショナルによるの5枚目のアルバムが、ライヴ音源や未収録曲を収録した2枚組エディションで登場！2005年の『Alligator』のブレイクをきっかけに、欧米で人気を広げてきたブルックリンの5人組。2007年に発表した『Boxer』は、その抑制されたなかにもドラマティックさを湛えたロック・サウンドと、ロマンティックな歌詞により、Pitchfork、Rolling Stoneなど、多くの年間ベスト・アルバムに選出された他、収録曲が人気ドラマ『ゴシップ・ガール』の挿入歌に使用されるなど、じわじわとその浸透度を高めてきた彼ら。ヴァンパイア・ウィークエンドやアニマル・コレクティヴなど、ブルックリンの天然系人気バンドから、スフィアン・スティーヴンスやルーファス・ウェインライトと言った個性派ソングライターたちまで、現在のアメリカ・シーンを面白くしているバンド達を繋ぐ“ブリッジ”的存在。
Hostess

Rolling Stone (p.66) - 3.5 stars out of 5 -- "The music is some of their lushest and darkest, especially the ghostly, droning 'Afraid of Everyone.'" Spin - "[I]ncredibly seductive and impossibly cool....Even the catchy, perfect-world hit single 'Bloodbuzz Ohio' weds dusky grit to its sticky verses." Entertainment Weekly (p.75) - "The National are masters of a baroque and somber indie-rock subgenre...defined by dirgelike guitars and elegiac imagery." -- Grade: B+ Uncut (pp.78-79) - 4 stars out of 5 -- "At the peak moments of HIGH VIOLET, The National are magnificent. The transatlantic lament 'England' broods amid gloomy strings before erupting into the sort of ecstatic coda surely written in anticipation of being illuminated by the light of thousands of mobile phones..." Uncut (p.36) - Ranked #14 in Uncut's "The 50 Best Albums of 2010" -- "[H]andled with a grandeur that posited them, belatedly, as their generation's very own R.E.M." CMJ - "The National allows itself to lose a little control, but the music gains a more honest portrayal of the harried character of heartbreak." Billboard (p.36) - "'Conversation 16' offers a bruising portrait of discontent over Bryan Devendorf's pounding drums....HIGH VIOLET synthesizes the best parts of the National's past into a fantastic present." Mojo (Publisher) (p.104) - 3 stars out of 5 -- "[T]hey fill the erstwhile emptiness with distorting guitars, strings, brass, keyboards: an ambient tangle." Paste (magazine) (p.80) - "The band's impeccably nuanced song-arranging instincts are one of their most remarkable gifts, and HIGH VIOLET certainly bolsters this reputation." Pitchfork (Website) - "HIGH VIOLET is the sound of a band taking a mandate to be a meaningful rock band seriously....[With] anxious, personal songs projected onto wide screens..." Clash (Magazine) - "[A] tight, no-nonsense follow-up....Bleak as you like, but strangely cathartic in many places."

The National have worn a lot of hats since their 2001 debut, but they’ve never been able to shake the rural, book-smart, quiet violence of the Midwest. The Brooklyn-groomed, Ohio-bred indie rock quintet’s fifth full-length album navigates that lonely dirt road where swagger meets desperation like a seasoned tour guide, and while it may take a few songs to get going, there are treasures to be found for patient passengers. High Violet begins to take shape on “Afraid of Everyone,” a slow-build, midtempo rocker that expertly utilizes the Clogs’ (guitarist Bryce Dessner’s other chamber pop band) prickly orchestrations, but it’s the punishing “Bloodbuzz Ohio” that serves as the record's centerpiece. Built on a foundation that fuses together TV on the Radio’s “Halfway Home” and Arcade Fire’s “No Cars Go,” its refrain of “I still owe money to the money, to the money I owe” seems both relevant and nostalgic, resulting in a highway anthem that feels like the anti-“Born to Run.” Other standout cuts like “Conversation 16,” “England," and the darkly funny/oddly beautiful closer, “Vanderlyle Crybaby Geeks,” trumpet Violet’s second-half supremacy, but even they tremble beneath the "Bloodbuzz" intoxication. ~ James Christopher Monger