Joy Division: Piece by Piece

The National - Sad Songs For Dirty Lovers (2003) {Talitres Records TAL-011}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 302 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 105 Mb
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© 2003 Talitres Records | TAL-011
Rock / Indie Rock / Alternative / Chamber Pop / Sadcore

For a band that's been compared to Joy Division, Leonard Cohen, Wilco, and Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds, the National sure sounds a lot more like the Czars or Uncle Tupelo on this sophomore album Sad Songs for Dirty Lovers. Where the band might lack Joy Division's angular fury, Cohen's existentialism, and Cave's vampiric attack, vocalist Matt Berninger and company whip up a murky alt country meets chamber pop vibe that's quite potent. The five-piece mostly keeps things on the country side of the fence during the album's first half, as slide guitars and fiddles overpower just about any hint of rock styling except the drumbeat, occasional feedback, and some screeching guitar freak-outs.

The appearance of the second album by Lumen Drones, ‘Umbra’, carries the status of a major event. Coming fully five years after the group’s startling, self-titled debut recording – released, in late 2015, on ECM Records – the long-awaited follow-up marks a significant leap forward. No less experimental than its predecessor, and certainly no less ‘electric’, yet in many ways a deeper and more profound expression of the trio’s interests, ‘Umbra’ is probably some sort of masterpiece.

By now, if you know the name Jamie Stewart, you either find his emotionally wracked compositions fascinating, or completely unbearable. There's no middle ground when it comes to people's opinions of the mastermind behind Xiu Xiu, just as his music has no middle ground. The man simply will never, ever play it safe: just when you're being lulled by a plaintively strummed acoustic guitar, massive shrieks of distorted synthesizers puncture your eardrums...