Blogovision 2019 best albums of the decade, no.08: The National - High Violet

And I won't follow you

Into the rabbit hole

I said I would, but then I saw your shivered bones

They didn't want me to

It's a terrible love and I'm walking with spiders

It's a terrible love and I'm walking in

It's a terrible love and I'm walking with spiders

It's a terrible love and I'm walking in

It takes an ocean not to break

Lyrics from Terrible Love by The National, from their album High Violet

Blogovision 2019, no.19: The National - I Am Easy To Find

Is it easy to keep so quiet?

Everybody loves a quiet child

Underwater, you're almost free

If you wanna be alone, come with me

Is it easy to live inside yourself?

All the little kids are high and hazy

Everybody's got nowhere to go

Everybody wants to be amazing

Lyrics from Rylan by The National, from their album I Am Easy To Find

Blogovision 2017, no.06: The National - Sleep Well Beast

I don't need you, I don't need you

Besides I barely ever see you anymore

And when I do it feels like you're only halfway there

Young mothers love me even ghosts of

Girlfriends call from Cleveland

They will meet me anytime and anywhere

The day I die, the day I die

Where will we be?

Lyrics from Day I Die by The National, from their album Sleep Well Beast

Blogovision/My top-20 albums of the year - no.20: EL VY - Return To The Moon

Went to bed and woke up inside another man's head
Nobody noticed

Lyrics from Return To The Moon by EL VY, from the album Return To The Moon

Top-20 Albums of 2013, no.7: The National - Trouble Will Find Me

The National keep on releasing one great album after another. their creative powers seemingly never depleted, their muse always urging them on to produce more and more great songs. To many, their work sounds repetitive, even boring. But if you listen carefully to their music, something that today's listener rarely does, you keep on finding stuff that makes it exciting, immersing you into their musical universe. They are talented craftsmen of exquisite music, their moody, gloomy lyrics sometimes hiding in upligting, soaring music and vocals. Oh yes, THAT voice. Welcome to my top-ten again guys, always nice to see you again.

no.08: Anna Calvi - One Breath
no.09: James Blake - Overgrown
no.10: Poliça - Shulamith
no.11: Scott Matthew - Unlearned
no.12: Phosphorescent - Muchacho
no.13: Laura Mvula - Sing For The Moon
no.14: The Ballet - I Blame Society
no.15: Son Lux - Lanterns
no.16: Gustaf Spetz - Saknaden
no.17: Daughter - If You Leave
no.18: Larry Gus - Years Not Living
no.19: Pan Pan - Missing Two Trains On Purpose 
no.20: inc. - No World

Top-20 Countdown - No.01

Stratos - no.01: The National - High Violet

What to write about this one? That it was the soundtrack of my life this year? That it defined so many of my sleepless nights and groggy mornings? That it took me by the hand and helped me get through a difficult period of my life not by supporting me or whispering soft sweet nothings in my ears but by entering me and inhabiting every vein and every cell of my body, making me feel all emotions stronger, clearer, more thorough. Oh and yes, I think this is their best one yet.

Here is my review for High Violet as published in Screw magazine issue 19:

Ever since 2001, The National have been gifting us with one wonderful song after another. Songs that mark personal moments for everyone, that carve themselves deep in our hearts whether we want it or not. Their new album is not an exception. From the first track of this record you understand that once more you will cry, scream, beat up yourself, smile, love, separate and The National will be there, next to you, writing the soundtrack of your life. And of course Matt Benninger's characteristic voice is simply unsurpassed. It's difficult to pick songs that stand out, because they are all exceptional.

Selections: Conversation 16, Terrible Love, Anyone’s Ghost

Giannis - no.01: The National - High Violet