The National (Band)

Most Likely Outcomes of The National Playing One Song For Six Hours at MOMA

Tilda Swinton sleeping in a box at MOMA PS1 was an artistic feat that many around the world thought could never be topped by anyone anywhere ever. But The National are not afraid, and on Sunday they will be playing their song "Sorrow" for six-hours straight. What could happen over those six hours? W ... More >>

The National Premiere New Songs and a New Movie at Tribeca Film Fest

Last night, Mistaken for Strangers, a film that's sort of about the National and their tour for High Violet, but really turns into something else, debuted at the opening night of Tribeca Film Festival. It's a funny year for the band -- in June they'll headline Barclays Center, and tonight they hobno ... More >>

Tribeca Lives! Ten Films to See at a Fest That's All Grown Up

Nearly All the Big Acts Playing Lollapalooza 2013 Have Played Lollapalooza Before

Thanks to Greg Kot of the Chicago Tribune, Lollapalooza's headliners have been revealed, and it appears that Perry Farrell & Co. are dipping into the past few years of the Chicago-based festival's lineup history for a little inspiration. Mumford & Sons, Vampire Weekend, Phoenix, and the Killers have ... More >>

Local Natives on New Album Hummingbird: "It's A Very Personal Record For Us"

Mushrooms and vines: those were the things poking through cracks in the walls and crawling out from underneath the sink when Local Natives began to clear out the abandoned bungalow on Sunset that would eventually become their new studio space. Formerly a tattoo parlor, the seemingly forsaken spot ... More >>

Man Forever+Nymph

The Crossing Brooklyn Ferry Festival, Starring The Walkmen, St. Vincent, Beirut, And A Bunch Of Other Bands, Is Happening In May

The Brooklyn Academy of Music has announced the inaugural running of Crossing Brooklyn Ferry, a three-day music, film, and art extravaganza put together by the National's Bryce and Aaron Dessner, and set to take over BAM from May 3 to 5. Named after a poem by Walt Whitman, the festival has a lineup ... More >>

RIDING HIGH

The National play the second of six shows

Live: Beirut And Sharon Van Etten Beat The Rain At McCarren Park

​ Beirut w/ Sharon van Etten, Yellow Ostrich McCarren Park Friday, June 17 Better than: The rainout that at one point seemed likely. It was hard to see Yellow Ostrich through all of the umbrellas when they first took the McCarren Park stage on Friday. By the time the band finished their fir ... More >>

Live: Steve Reich Brings "WTC 9/11" To Carnegie Hall

© Stefan Cohen​ Music of Steve Reich Bang on a Can All-Stars and Friends (feat. Bryce Dessner), eighth blackbird, Kronos Quartet, So Percussion Carnegie Hall Saturday, April 30 Better than: The ritual, anniversary replay of news broadcasts from the morning of 9/11. There is no other way to ... More >>

The 5 Best (Free!) Shows at River to River Festival 2011

​This year's River to River Festival, which runs from June 19 to July 17, marks the 10th time that its mix of free shows takes over Lower Manhattan for the summer. The 2011 bill has a decidedly New York-centric bent, with Patti Smith, Laurie Anderson, Rufus Wainwright, and the New York City Op ... More >>

The 10 Best Original Songs From 21st Century Films

Earlier today, the National released a video for the song "Think You Can Wait," from the "quirky" Paul Giamatti film Win Win. The video is a misguided combination of film dialogue transposed over a staged performance (the YouTube comments have already begun trashing it, and Matt Berninger's voice ... More >>

NEW CLASSIC

Nico Muhly takes inspiration from the history books

Pazz & Jop Voter Comments: Rick Ross Lies, the Rolling Stones Plunder, and Taylor Swift Triumphs

White Lies+Asobi Sesku

Download The National's Opening Set For Yo La Tengo At Maxwell's

What they looked like, just for reference. So the big whoop during this year's slate of Yo La Tengo Hanukkah shows was the final night's long-rumored opening set from the National, deigning to play a venue just ever so slightly smaller than what they're used to these days. Even if you're still way ... More >>

Was 2010 The Best Year For Music Ever? Defending Taylor Swift And Hailing The-Dream

Welcome to Sound of the City's year-in-review rock-critic roundtable, an amiable ongoing conversation between five prominent Voice critics: Rob Harvilla, Zach Baron, Sean Fennessey, Maura Johnston, and Rich Juzwiak. We'll be here all week! Happier times for us all​My friends, It's the confl ... More >>

Was 2010 The Best Year For Music Ever? Five SOTC Critics Discuss.

Great song, at least​Welcome to Sound of the City's year-in-review rock-critic roundtable, an amiable ongoing conversation between five prominent Voice critics: myself, Zach Baron, Sean Fennessey, Maura Johnston, and Rich Juzwiak. Let us acknowledge at the onset that we are ripping this off fr ... More >>

Was 2010 The Best Year For Music Ever? Redeeming M.I.A.

Welcome to Sound of the City's year-in-review rock-critic roundtable, an amiable ongoing conversation between five prominent Voice critics: Rob Harvilla, Zach Baron, Sean Fennessey, Maura Johnston, and Rich Juzwiak. We'll be here all week! ​Dear Rob, Sean, Rich, and Maura, I believe, as per ... More >>

The 10 Biggest Music Stories of 2010

Ah M.I.A., it just wasn't your year, was it? Photo by Rebecca Smeyne.​In 2010, Vampire Weekend and Arcade Fire both had #1 records. LCD Soundsystem, Spoon, MGMT, the National, M.I.A, and Sufjan Stevens all had albums debut in the top ten. Kanye West joined Twitter. Drake started a riot in New ... More >>

Download: Victoire, "A Song For Mick Kelly"

Yes In My Backyard is a semiweekly column showcasing MP3s from new and emerging local talent. Victoire (left to right): Eleonore Oppenheim, Eileen Mack, Missy Mazzoli, Olivia De Prato, Lorna Krier​Brooklyn five-woman chamber-rock collective Victoire is a wistful tuft of wailing strings, sombe ... More >>

Live: James Achieve Jubilant Transcendence At Webster Hall

Tim Booth, a/k/a Skeletor the Barista. Pics by Sarah Sellars, more below.​James Webster Hall Tuesday, September 28 Better Than: Pretty much any other band from the '90s the general public would regard as a One-Hit Wonder. Tim Booth began his band's Tuesday-night show at Webster Hall in the b ... More >>

Let's Critique Some Other "Play Guitar With Pavement On Jimmy Fallon" Contest Entries

​So Pavement, in celebration of the five-night NYC stand that is (almost) finally upon us, are playing Jimmy Fallon later this month, and held a contest to determine their third guitarist -- submit a video of yourself playing a Pavement song, submit yourself to whatever online-voting scheme Fa ... More >>

Spoon

What This Year's Bizarre Chart Results (Arcade Fire! #1!) Say About the State of Music in 2010

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!​If the band Spoon can be trusted, then Billboard is about to announce (and here we are!) that the Arcade Fire and their label, Merge, have the #1 record in the country. (They've already done it in the UK.) The Suburbs sold 156,000 copies its first week out, ... More >>

Live: The National Salute The Dead Geese Of Prospect Park

The National Prospect Park Bandshell Tuesday, July 27 It's great fun, actually, to watch National frontman Matt Berninger get steadily more and more intense during his 90-or-so minutes onstage, pacing the stage manically, jumping up on his monitors even though he's like seven feet tall, wielding ... More >>

Bros Icing Alt Bros: The National, Coolio Get Got Smirnoff-Style

​Bros Icing Bros has already swept the bro nation and now innocent people are getting caught in the crossfire. Innocent people like Matt Berninger (right) of indie rock superstars and Village Voice cover subjects The National -- definitely dudes more inclined to sip red wine -- and rap has-bee ... More >>

The National Is Uncomfortably Fun

Matt Berninger makes awkward look cool and despair sound hilarious

Presenting The Ultimate Record Store Day Guide: See Some Music, Buy Some Music, Or Make Your Own

​It's that special time of the year again: Record Store Day, which is like Teacher Appreciation Day for independent record stores. Saturday, to celebrate their tenacity, among other things, record stores around the city are holding performances, releasing exclusives, and offering once-in-a-blu ... More >>

THE DAY THE MUSIC LIVED

Mp3s take a hike!

Tonight! Oh No Ono, Black Lips, Julian Casablancas, And Clogs

​Never pass up the opportunity to see a self-proclaimed group of Danish "Internet Warriors" who have specifically branded themselves as human-headed "Lion Fish." That'd be Oh No Ono (to your left), performing their springy, game-show post-punk at Mercury Lounge tonight. Meanwhile, at Bowery Ba ... More >>

Live: The National Debut Most of High Violet at a "Secret" Bell House Show

The National The Bell House Thursday, March 11 "We're gonna play a couple of new songs...flawlessly," National frontman Matt Berninger laughed, standing onstage at the Bell House last night for the first of two short-notice, "secret" shows in Brooklyn this week. Which they did. The kicker, of co ... More >>

Tonight! The Long Winters, TMBG, The Wrens (Well, One Of 'Em), and The Long Count

So if the idea of Ben Gibbard and Jay Farrar singing songs inspired by a Jack Kerouac novel fills you with delight, than by all means, hit Webster Hall tonight. If you're hostile or indifferent, though, go anyway: The Long Winters are opening. John Roderick is perhaps the finest purveyor of sensit ... More >>

Venue Profile: Touring the Sycamore, Brooklyn's Coziest Covert Concert Space

All photos by Sam Horine.​"This is our neighborhood joint -- we want to make the best of it!" Such is the brightly unpretentious way Jessica Dessner, the show booker for the bar/tiny concert space/flower-shop-by-day The Sycamore, describes the motivation behind the venue (which her architect h ... More >>

GOOD VIBRATIONS

Your favorite compilation is now a live show

FAKE EMPIRE

Brooklyn takes Manhattan’s big stage

HOMETOWN ADVANTAGE

Brooklyn indie rockers get BAMmed

Marathon Men

Eno's Music for Airports at a 26-hour fete; Bright Eyes triumphantly caps a seven-night run

The National's Anthems

If Springsteen is right, the glory days for Brooklyn's best rock band may lie just ahead

Plugged In

Plug Awards push play; Bright Eyes wins Artist of the Year

Staking a Claim Among World's Most Beautiful Swindlers