The National and Doveman

Before heading across the pond for a short stint in Ireland and Britain and returning stateside for an opening gig on the upcoming Modest Mouse/REM tour, Beggars Banquet artist and critic darling The National is gracing humble Messiah College in suburban Harrisburg, PA with a show on Saturday night. Opening the show is experimental-indie artist Doveman. You can grab your cheap tickets here.

The National - Guest Room
Doveman - Honey

Mobius Band Feels The Love

Just in time for Valentine's Day, Mobius Band has released a free EP of love themed cover songs, called Love Will Reign Supreme. The track listing is as follows:

1. Razor Love (Neil Young)
2. Baby We'll Be Fine (The National)
3. True Love Will Find You In The End (Daniel Johnston)
4. Mobius Band In A Green Cotton Sweater (Casiotone For The Painfully Alone)
5. I'll Keep It With Mine (Bob Dylan)
6. Digital Love (Daft Punk)

I'll leave you with their cover of The National's "Baby, We'll Be Fine" and the original. You can download the whole EP here.

Mobius Band - Baby, We'll Be Fine
The National - Baby, We'll Be Fine

This Week's Mix

In honor of the crappy music at the VA Tech concert featuring DMB and John Mayer, I give you ten songs that I actually would enjoy (or have enjoyed) seeing live.

The National - Green Gloves
Sufjan Stevens - Chicago
The Octopus Project - The Adjustor
The Go! Team - Bottlerocket
Massive Attack - Inertia Creeps
Modest Mouse - Education
Harrisons - Dear Constable
Kaiser Chiefs - Oh My God
Paul Simon - You Can Call Me Al
Pearl Jam - Yellow Ledbetter

Enjoy your weekend!

The National

The National are on tour again and they have several dates in the region this week. The solid bill is rounded out by The Rosebuds and Doveman. You can see them as follows:

9/4/07 TLA, Philly
9/5/07 9:30 Club, DC
9/6/07 9:30 Club, DC

The National - Mr. November
The Rosebuds - I Better Run
Doveman - Honey

The National @ 9:30 Club

It's Wednesday and there isn't a lot happening tonight. However, one of the biggest indie bands of the year is headlining 9:30 Club. Fresh off of their tour with The Arcade Fire, The National will be in town supported by Shapes and Sizes and Talkdemonic. Following the normal DC trend for indie darlings (warranted or not)*, the show is of course sold out. However, I'm sure that you can find a way to get in if you really want to. If not, you can stream the show here.

Now, I must admit that a good number of the indie darlings secretly make me cringe. With The National, that is not the case. I've been a fan since I first discovered them in 2005. Their music generally features intelligent lyrics over lush arrangements. While they aren't the most upbeat band in the world, they are the kind of band that actually make you think and there is nothing wrong with that.

The National - Fake Empire
The National - Mr. November
Shapes and Sizes - Alone/Alive
Talkdemonic - Mountaintops In Caves

*Admit it, if a band gets any sort of national indie push that makes them project coolness (even if they suck), they tend to sell out DC, while the normal array of local hipsters are always in attendance and a good portion of the local bands are intelligently standing outside waiting to hand you a promo CD as you exit. If a band is still well under the radar when they come to town, there is usually enough room to pitch a tent.