I originally found these tracks on Muzzle of Bees in 2005, listened to them incessantly, and then promptly misplaced them…until now. Consider the following required listening for National fans with material taken from the Cherry Tree EP and, mainly, Alligator, which they were touring in support of at the time. Download: MP3: The National :: [...]

Caveat Emptor: The National’s third LP, Alligator, remains my favorite album of the past two years. Nothing has touched it. The National craft mood music. In the span of four albums and an EP they have created a niche of elegant and dark atmospheric rock bolstered by vocalists Matt Berninger’s languid baritone and everyman poetics. [...]