Trollheart

Title: Boxer
Artiste: The National
Genre: Indie Rock
Familiarity: Zero

1. Fake empire: Singer reminds me of Nick Cave. Piano is nice, sort of counterpoint to his voice. Like the drumming a lot. Trumpet at the end is really good too, adds something.
2. Mistaken for strangers: More guitar driven, more uptempo. Vocal's a bit subsumed in this, kind of muddy. Overall I don't like this as much as I did the opener. Good beat, but the whole thing sounds sort of fuzzy?
3. Brainy: This one is much better. Hangs together well, good fast uptempo beat, drumming is again excellent. Actually I hear more Ric Ocasek here now in the vocals.
4. Squalor Victoria: Cello? We got cello? And the slow, mournful sound contrasts really well with the upbeat, happy drumbeat. Piano then adds another dimension.
5. Green gloves: Nice really laidback acoustic track, has a sort of folk/Country feel to it. Like the vocal and the whatever-is-making-the-clicking-noise.
6. Slow show: This is one of the best tracks so far. Love this. Is that accordion?
7. Apartment story: And now I think he sounds like Neil Hannon! Yeah can't really decide; he's a great singer though. Like this one too. Again the drumming is great. Super guitar work too.
8. Start a war: Other than the sort of muddiness of the second track, there hasn't been anything here that I haven't enjoyed. And there still isn't.
9. Guest room: More uptempo with a really nice guitar line and again great percussion.
10. Racing like a pro: Nice work from Sufjan Stevens on the piano, and some great violin and maybe clarinet?
11. Ada: But he really shines on this one.
12. Gospel: And a great closer too.

End result: Thoroughly enjoyed this album. I don't quite see why it gets all the accolades it does --- it was great but album of the decade?? But it's certainly worth listening to and I'm glad I did. Nothing bad to say about it really.

So, Love or Hate? Well, it would be a Love, wouldn't it?

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Trollheart: Signature-free since April 2018