the national - a lot of sorrow

[Mudfuzz]

From Dirge's clip they sound like Morrissey… which says to me no further listening is required...

[lapsteel]

I love the national.
Alligator and boxer are great albums.
Their drummer is fantastic, and I like the vocals.
So whatevah.

However, why the hell did they just hit one song for six hours? How is that fun? Different versions or something?

[backwardsvoyager]

I think at least analytically it would be interesting to listen to how things change over the six hours based on a lot of factors even though it's the same song. I'm not really into them anyway but criticizing the fact that they played it in the first place is kind of unwarranted.
Releasing this on vinyl however, is the most ridiculous thing I've heard in a long while. If anyone was excited to listen to this properly you're kind of fucking them over having to change sides 17 times and pay 150 dollars just to listen to it. What a fucking joke. I hope they realize how worthless it is and are just exploiting megafans into raising money for charity. That would be kind of cool i guess.

[Seance]

Well. There is a fine line between duration art and endurance art
and bullshit.

I have watched lots of experimental films where it was basically like
"watching paint dry". This kind of Duchamp shenanigans is sometimes
good, sometimes super indulgent. At best it can be like being on acid and
somebody points out something mundane to you and in the moment you
see it "in a new light" and find deep meaning in it and it resonates with
implication like a motherfucker. At worst, it can be like being on
acid and some douchebag is waving their arms around your head and
saying "Isn't it weird!"

I've actually watched (and even enjoyed) several of those extremely
long Andy Warhol movies. Like Sleep, which is five hours long.
Of course everybody knows that a good night's sleep is on average
eight hours. I also watched Empire by Andy Warhol.
Which is basically an 8-hour shot of the Empire State building.
So obviously Warhol fucked that one up. The running times of
those two should have been reversed. Anyhow. The experience
of watching that kind of film is like a guided meditative exercise
in mind-wandering. There is something concrete to look at, but
it's so opaque that your mind wanders. Then comes back. Repeatedly.
Depending... that can be a really enjoyable and interesting experience.

Or total bullshit.

Six hours of a short song about sorrow on repeat? Okay. But once it's recorded
onto vinyl that part makes no sense whatsoever. Clear vinyl? Why? How does
that relate to anything?

Are we supposed to feel "sorrow" about the death of the music industry?
Or about the career choices of The National? Or about modern art museums?
Does the clear vinyl indicate how transparent of a bullshit con artist the artist is?

The thing about this type of art stunt is that the form of it (opaque, not much happening)
acts as a theoretical justification for the artist not to communicate anything
or actually put any emotion or thought (outside of how it relates to art theory) into
their work. Those who watch the paint dry and have little ecstatic frissons of theory-recognition
"get it" and everybody else, who just sees the paint drying and thinks of it as a waste of time,
can then be written of by the artist as a bunch of philistines who just "don't get it".

[coldbrightsunlight]

I do like The National but this is really stupid. The original performance could maybe be sort of interesting to dip in and out of and see how things were changing (though you wouldn't catch me watching the whole thing), but releasing it on vinyl seems like a waste of time and a waste of vinyl.

[D.o.S.]

Well. There is a fine line between duration art and endurance art
and bullshit.

I have watched lots of experimental films where it was basically like
"watching paint dry". This kind of Duchamp shenanigans is sometimes
good, sometimes super indulgent. At best it can be like being on acid and
somebody points out something mundane to you and in the moment you
see it "in a new light" and find deep meaning in it and it resonates with
implication like a motherfucker. At worst, it can be like being on
acid and some douchebag is waving their arms around your head and
saying "Isn't it weird!"

I've actually watched (and even enjoyed) several of those extremely
long Andy Warhol movies. Like Sleep, which is five hours long.
Of course everybody knows that a good night's sleep is on average
eight hours. I also watched Empire by Andy Warhol.
Which is basically an 8-hour shot of the Empire State building.
So obviously Warhol fucked that one up. The running times of
those two should have been reversed. Anyhow. The experience
of watching that kind of film is like a guided meditative exercise
in mind-wandering. There is something concrete to look at, but
it's so opaque that your mind wanders. Then comes back. Repeatedly.
Depending... that can be a really enjoyable and interesting experience.

Or total bullshit.

Six hours of a short song about sorrow on repeat? Okay. But once it's recorded
onto vinyl that part makes no sense whatsoever. Clear vinyl? Why? How does
that relate to anything?

Are we supposed to feel "sorrow" about the death of the music industry?
Or about the career choices of The National? Or about modern art museums?
Does the clear vinyl indicate how transparent of a bullshit con artist the artist is?

The thing about this type of art stunt is that the form of it (opaque, not much happening)
acts as a theoretical justification for the artist not to communicate anything
or actually put any emotion or thought (outside of how it relates to art theory) into
their work. Those who watch the paint dry and have little ecstatic frissons of theory-recognition
"get it" and everybody else, who just sees the paint drying and thinks of it as a waste of time,
can then be written of by the artist as a bunch of philistines who just "don't get it".

The other important thing to keep in mind about performance art or experimental things like this is that the designation does not preclude them from being bad.

[lapsteel]

I guess it is for charity and all, and a worthy one at that....maybe cd would have been a more manageable format.

[Seance]

Well. There is a fine line between duration art and endurance art
and bullshit.

The other important thing to keep in mind about performance art or experimental things like this is that the designation does not preclude them from being bad.

I agree. Which is why there is a fine line between duration art and bullshit. If I had a white room inside of a museum
with nothing inside of it, that could be a super interesting "art piece". Or... maybe it would just be bullshit. People
who walked in and paid money would sure have some ideas on that score.

And when you reduce your work to just a concept or construct... often reading about it is enough. To endure it is pointless.
So the conceptual under-rigging helps the artist feel like it's working because A + B = C in art theory mathematics. But
that doesn't account for how the work actually might be stupid, devoid of merit and annoying.

[D.o.S.]

Well said.

Also, the title is kind of clever in a "ha ha" sort of way.

[Gone Fission]

So am I wrong about this or is Recordstore Day as to record stores as St. Patrick's Day is to bars?

[Mudfuzz]

So am I wrong about this or is Recordstore Day as to record stores as St. Patrick's Day is to bars?

I think so.. I normally have to skip it because it's always on a day I work on plus oly has two record shops… and I know what I can find in them…

[casecandy]

I love The National, but you'd have to be a pretty committed fan to actually listen to this.

If I can be honest, my favourite song by them is their version of "The Rains of Castamere." Go figure.

[blindrabbit]

Definitely a weird idea. I absolutely love The National, one of my top 10 bands of all time, but this particular thing doesn't interest me at all.