Pages tagged “the virginia ep”

Compelling new music balances flawed film

The National is an intensely necessary band right now. Pop has, in fact, begun to eat itself, with far too many artists to retain in our all-too-brief memory loops. The National seeks to retrain us in the art of listening. Their albums are beautiful, elaborate slow-growers, articulating uncertainty and angst with a coldly wistful humor. They operate with a kind of post-rock remove—they’re slightly scruffy guys who rarely, if ever, call attention to themselves outside the confines of the stage. Making themselves the subjects of a film, then, is a dangerous scramble to the edge of a limb. For a band with music that’s often described as “cinematic,” there’s a risk that replacing the visions listeners have fabricated in their own imaginations with images mandated by the band could be an intrusive, aggressive and unwelcome gesture.