The National: Sad Songs for Dirty Lovers โย compact disc
$9.99
The National: Sad Songs for Dirty Lovers โย compact disc
$9.99
"A genuine treasure, Sad Songsโฆis one of those records that seem...to become an instant obsession... Livid as a bruise, this is brave, desperate and desperately beautiful music." - Uncut
๐๐ช๐ฌ-๐ฌ๐ฌ๐ฏ 'Sad Songs for Dirty Lovers' by The National
๐ฅ๐ฒ๐น๐ฒ๐ฎ๐๐ฒ ๐๐ฎ๐๐ฒ: September 1, 2003
๐ฆ๐๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ ๐๐ถ๐๐ต "Cardinal Song"
๐ฅ๐๐ฌ๐: canonical indie rock ~ Nick Cave fronting U2 with an American twang
The National were still five displaced Ohioans living in NYC not yet "the stuff underground legends are made of" (Kerrang!). Their second album is an omnibus of rock songwriting both upbeat and downcast, electric and acoustic, raging and atmospheric. Jesus is mentioned in "Cardinal Song"; "Available" and "Murder Me Rachael" may be the loudest moments in their discography; "Lucky You" among their most sincere ballads.
With this LP, the band began to receive critical praise, but a mass fanbase was still developing. For the press release drummer Bryan Devendorf wrote them an open letter, a selection of which we'll post here:
Dear _______,
The history: We came from Cincinnati (home of Pete Rose and the first Filet-O-Fish) to New York and ever-more expensive cigarettes. We started a band and recorded an album, never playing a gig. This time around we played and played and then recorded and recorded, and recorded some more, with Nick Lloyd again, at seven studios altogether: 1) Excello in Brooklyn. 2) overdubs in the penthouse of the Puck Building, whose panorama includes David Bowie's, Thurston Moore's, and Moby's lofts-cum-homes. 3 & 4) two locales in and around New Haven, one a 17th-century salt box house in the woods (note: the crickets on "Sugar Wife" are aleatoric). 5) another Brooklyn studio, Headgear, where the ghosts of GISH and HOUSES OF THE HOLY haunt the boards. (They were inherited from Butch Vig. That's right, B-u-t-c-h.) 6) in Bryan's basement (w/working fireplace). And finally, 7) mixing and recording still more with Peter Katis at Tarquin Studios* in Fairfield, Conn. Think: acres of strip malls, sexy mothers in SUVs, etc. There we exhumed dying tracks in Pro Tools; others we just let die.
Many thanks for your time and consideration.
