Sad Songs for Dirty Lovers is the second album by indie rock band The National. Released on September 2, 2003, this is the first album that the band worked with Peter Katis, who would produce the band's next albums Alligator and Boxer.

Credits

* Produced by Nick Lloyd.

* Co-produced by Paul Heck and Peter Katis.

* "Murder Me Rachael" produced by Peter Katis and Paul Heck; recorded and engineered by Peter Katis.

* Basic tracks recorded by Hugh Pool at Excello.

* Additional recording and engineering by Nick Lloyd at Gretchen's Kitchen, and by Dan Long at Hedgewear.

* Mixed by Peter Katis at Tarquin Studios.

* Mastered by John Loder at Abbey Road.

* Design by Distant Station Ltd.

;Additional musicians

* Padma Newsome – viola, violin, orchestration

* Nick Lloyd – piano, keyboards

* Luke Hughett – vocals on "Thirsty"

* Nate Martinez – guitar on "Cardinal Song"

* Steve LoPresti – French horn and mellophone on "Sugar Wife"

Category:2003 albums

Category:The National albums

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Artist/Band Information

The National are a Brooklyn-based indie rock band formed in Cincinnati, Ohio in 1999. The band's lyrics are written and sung by Matt Berninger in a distinctive baritone. The rest of the band is composed of two pairs of brothers: Aaron and Bryce Dessner and Scott and Bryan Devendorf. Aaron plays guitar, bass and piano, Bryce plays guitar, Scott plays bass and guitar, and Bryan is the drummer. Padma Newsome, from sister band Clogs, often contributes strings, keyboards, and other arrangements and instrumental flourishes. The band's influences range from Bruce Springsteen to Joy Division.

History

Beginnings

In 1991, Matt Berninger and Scott Devendorf met while attending the University of Cincinnati. There they met Mike Brewer, Casey Reas, and Jeff Salem to make the lo-fi garage band Nancy, which was named after Matt's mother. The band was together for five years, but only released one album, titled 3429 Ruther, on Wife Records. The group slowly dissolved when Matt, Scott, Jeff, and Casey moved to Brooklyn.

Bryan, Bryce, and Aaron were childhood friends who played in several bands together over the years. When their last effort Project Nim broke up in 1998, they joined Matt and Scott in Brooklyn via the Devendorf relationship.

When the band was formed in 1999, it was called The National (although the domain name of the band's website is americanmary.com because, according to Matt Berninger in an interview with Better Propaganda, "t's a song off our first record. We never thought of changing the (website) name, although we should have.") Several of the members continued to work day jobs throughout the early years, including being involved in New York's dot-com boom in the late 1990s. The National performed their first shows, often on Sunday nights, at Luna Lounge on the Ludlow Street in New York City's Lower East Side.

Debut album

Their first album The National was eventually released in 2001 on Brassland Records, a label founded by band members Aaron and Bryce Dessner, along with their friend Alec Hanley Bemis. Their debut album launched the band's career, as they had performed few live shows before its release.

Sad Songs for Dirty Lovers

The National's sophomore album Sad Songs for Dirty Lovers, released in 2003, was the first album with Peter Katis, who would produce the band's critically acclaimed next albums Alligator and Boxer. In France, renowned DJ Bernard Lenoir invited them to perform on his Black Sessions twice on France Inter. Publications such as Uncut and the Chicago Tribune named it an album of the year.

Cherry Tree EP

In 2004, they released the Cherry Tree EP which included live favorite "About Today," as well as "All the Wine," which would appear on their next record. The release of the EP garnered further success and landed them on a successful tour with The Walkmen.

Also in 2004, the band quit their day jobs and signed to a new label, Beggars Banquet Records, because the process of running their own label was becoming "too complicated."

Alligator

Their first album on Beggars Banquet, Alligator, was released in 2005. The album was met with much critical acclaim and featured highly in "Album of the Year" charts in the Los Angeles Times, Insound, Uncut, and many other publications.

The album allowed the band increased exposure. NME and Pitchfork Media ranked Alligator as a top album of the 2000s.

Alligator brought the band increased attendance at concerts, including sold-out shows at The Troubadour in Los Angeles and Webster Hall in New York. They shared tours with Clap Your Hands Say Yeah and Editors, and played at numerous festivals including the 2006 Pitchfork Music Festival, Reading and Leeds Festivals, Pukkelpop, and more.

Alligator went on to sell over 80,000 copies in the United States.http

Boxer

Matt Berninger (The National).jpgthumbrightVocalist Matt Berninger in 2007

Their fourth album, Boxer, was released on May 22, 2007, and also received widespread critical praise.. metacritic.com. Retrieved on July 30, 2009. The album features contributions from various guest artists, including Sufjan Stevens and Doveman (a.k.a. Thomas Bartlett). It was voted as the #2 best album of the year by Stereogum.com and the #1 album of the year by Paste Magazine.Paste Magazine issue #38 The song "Slow Show" from Boxer was featured on the NBC series Chuck and Southland, as well as on The CW's One Tree Hill in its fifth season. "Fake Empire" featured in the 2008 film Battle in Seattle, and "Start a War" was featured on the tenth episode of the international science fiction series Defying Gravity.

On July 24, 2007, The National performed "Fake Empire" on the The Late Show with David Letterman, and on September 26, 2007, the band performed "Apartment Story" on The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson.

In the summer of 2008, along with Modest Mouse, they opened for R.E.M. on the promotional tour for the R.E.M. album Accelerate. That summer they also played many festivals in North America and Europe, including Coachella, Roskilde, Sasquatch, Glastonbury, Haldern Pop, Rock Werchter, Optimus Alive!, Oxegen, Benicàssim, Lowlands, O2 Wireless, T in the Park, All Points West, and Lollapalooza.

Boxer made numerous "album of the decade" lists, including Pitchfork Media, Aquarium Drunkard, Paste, and more.

A Skin, a Night and The Virginia EP

In May 2008, the band released their first feature-length documentary film entitled A Skin, a Night on DVD. The film, directed by filmmaker Vincent Moon, documents the lives of the band surrounding the recording of Boxer and just before a show at the London venue Koko. Along with the release of the DVD was a CD collection of B-sides and rarities titled The Virginia EP.

The National's collaboration with Vincent Moon began long before the filming of A Skin, a Night. Vincent Moon discovered the band after the release of their first album and became friends with its members after a show at Paris's La Guinguette Pirate. Soon after this meeting, Moon filmed his first music videos ever, which were for The National's songs "Daughters of the Soho Riots" and "Lit Up". Moon's photography also appears on the cover for Alligator.

High Violet and recent activity

On December 17, 2008, the band released a letter to members of their mailing list letting it be known that they were in the beginning stages of recording a new album that could be expected in late 2009 or early 2010. During a Pitchfork interview in late March 2009, Aaron Dessner said the album was still unnamed, though lightheartedly suggested it would start with a "C" in the tradition of their previous two albums., pitchfork.com, March 31, 2009. Retrieved on July 30, 2009. During this time, tracks that were performed live prior to the new album were "Wake Up Your Saints," "England," "Bloodbuzz Ohio," "Vanderlylle Cry Baby" (later retitled "Vanderlyle Crybaby Geeks"), "Terrible Love," "Conversation 16," "You and Your Sister" (later retitled "Lemonworld"), "Sorrow," "Anyone's Ghost," "Believe Me" (previously called "The Blue Sky" and "A Thousand Black Cities"), and "Karamazov" (a reference to the novel by Fyodor Dostoyevsky called The Brothers Karamazov, a favorite of the band's members), which was retitled on the album as "Runaway".

On February 17, 2009, a compilation album titled Dark Was the Night was produced by Aaron and Bryce Dessner and released by 4AD (the band's new label after Beggars Banquet Records merged into 4AD). The two-disc, 31-track compilation was released for the benefit of the Red Hot Organization, and featured a new song by The National and Nico Muhly titled "So Far Around the Bend." In the same year, The National collaborated with St. Vincent to contribute a cover of Crooked Fingers' "Sleep All Summer" to the Merge Records compilation Score! 20 Years of Merge Records: The Covers!. On May 6, 2009, The National performed "So Far Around the Bend" on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon.

The National contributed a track to Ciao My Shining Star: The Songs of Mark Mulcahy in September 2009, an album in support of the former Polaris frontman, who lost his wife. They covered the Polaris track "Ashamed of the Story I Told", from their album Music from The Adventures of Pete & Pete.

On January 25, 2010, the band released a letter to members of their mailing list stating that their new album, later announced as High Violet, would be released on May 11, 2010 in the US, and a tour supporting the new album would take place in Spring/Summer 2010.http On March 10, 2010, the band performed "Terrible Love", the lead track from High Violet, on Late Night With Jimmy Fallon. On March 25, the band released "Bloodbuzz Ohio", the first single from the album, for free download at the official High Violet website.http

High Violet was released to widespread critical acclaim. The album also debuted with first week sales topping charts across the world, ranking #3 in the US, #2 in Canada, #5 in the United Kingdom, and #3 in Portugal, among others.http

On May 11, 2010, the band performed songs from High Violet on Later...with Jools Holland.http On May 13, 2010, the band appeared on the Late Show with David Letterman, performing "Afraid of Everyone".http On June 16, 2010, The National performed at Radio City Music Hall.

Political and social support

The band supported Barack Obama's presidential candidacy in 2008. In July of that year, the band designed and sold a t-shirt featuring Obama's image above the words "Mr. November," a reference to both their song from Alligator and the month of the U.S. presidential election. All proceeds were donated to Obama's campaign.http

Their song "Fake Empire" was used by the Obama campaign at many high-profile events during the election. On August 28, 2008, "Fake Empire" was used as the soundtrack for a video shown at Invesco Field during the Democratic National Convention. On November 4, 2008, "Fake Empire" was used again as part of a video shown in Grant Park prior to Barack Obama's victory speech on election night.

On October 16, 2008, The National played a rally for Barack Obama on Fountain Square in their hometown of Cincinnati with The Breeders. Buses for early voting were available before the show to take voters to the Hamilton County Board of Elections. On February 3, 2009, The National played at a benefit show for Philip Glass' Tibet House at New York's Carnegie Hall.

Dark Was the Night

On February 17, 2009, Dark Was the Night, the twentieth Red Hot Organization compilation, was released by 4AD. Curated by Aaron and Bryce Dessner, this album comprised songs by bands and artists such as Arcade Fire, Grizzly Bear, Beirut, David Byrne, Sufjan Stevens, Spoon, The Dirty Projectors, Feist, and The National, among others. All proceeds from album sales were donated to the Red Hot Organization which is an international organization dedicated to fighting AIDS.

On May 3, 2009, Aaron and Bryce Dessner curated a concert for Dark Was the Night at Radio City Music Hall in New York City. Performers included David Byrne, The Dirty Projectors, Feist, The National, and several other artists who contributed to the compilation.

On October 26, 2009, it was announced on 4AD's website that profits raised by the compilation for the benefit of AIDS/HIV awareness and prevention amounted to £423,212 ($668,358), a sum that represents all the profits from worldwide sales for the first half of 2009. Red Hot Organization founder and director John Carlin was quoted as saying "Dark Was the Night encapsulated the spirit and creativity of a new generation of musicians whose work struck a chord and got people to actually purchase the album and raise hundreds of thousands of dollars to fight AIDS."

Discography

Studio albums

EPs

* Cherry Tree EP (Brassland Records, July 20, 2004)

* The Virginia EP (Beggars Banquet, May 20, 2008)

Singles

* "Abel" (Beggars Banquet, March 14, 2005)

* "Secret Meeting" (Beggars Banquet, August 29, 2005)

* "Lit Up" (Beggars Banquet, November 14, 2005)

* "Mistaken for Strangers" (Beggars Banquet, April 30, 2007)

* "Apartment Story" (Beggars Banquet, November 5, 2007)

* "Fake Empire" (Beggars Banquet, June 23, 2008)

* "Bloodbuzz Ohio" (4AD, May 3, 2010)

* "Anyone's Ghost" (4AD, June 28, 2010)

Film and home video

* A Skin, a Night, a film by Vincent Moon (Beggars Banquet, May 20, 2008)

Music videos

References

Category:American indie rock groups

Category:Musical groups from Ohio

Category:2000s music groups

Category:Musical groups established in 1999

Category:Post-punk revival music groups

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