Customer Reviews

Skin a Night & The Virginia Ep (2pc) (W/CD)

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Vincent Moon's impressionistic take on the making of Boxer is less a documentary about the National than it is an intimate look into the process of making music. Anybody familiar with the techniques Moon uses in his "Concerts A Emporter" series will be glad to see his natural gifts on display here. While Moon's relationship with the band does help us get to know the individuals better, his main purpose is to provide remarkable insights into the relationships these guys have with their songs. Emphasizing the music as the main character, Moon reveals the immensity of experiences that can be found within a few notes magically strung together.

Providing further insight into the creative process, The Virginia EP collects nearly all of the b-sides and demos (a rare extended version of "Brainy" is missing), as well as select live recordings from this fruitful period for the National. Songs like "Santa Clara", "Tall Saint", and "Forever After Days" show that even the tossed-aside material from Boxer is staggering. Meanwhile, the lighthearted "Blank Slate" and "Slow Show" demo illustrate the ways in which the songs change, grow, and find identities of their own. The EP tells a story of creative exploration parallel to "A Skin, A Night" that reveals even more about the band and their journey from studio to stage.

"A Skin, A Night/The Virginia EP" is a perfect companion to the intricately detailed beauty of Boxer that I would highly recommend to any fan of the National.

Let me state upfront that I am coming to this, having only the "Alligator" and "Boxer" albums from these guys. I have come to love those albums ("Boxer" was in my "best albums of 2007" list), and when I saw this, I had to just get it.

As to the "A Skin, A Night" DVD (62 min.) (I rate it 3.5 stars), please be aware that this is not a documentary, or a concert DVD, but instead a deeply subjectve FILM by Vincent Moon. It brings mostly behind the scenes looks of the band working on the "Boxer" album, interspersed with comments from the band how they got started and how long a road it has been to finding success (only with the "Alligator" album did they climb out of debt from earlier ventures, comments one of the guys). This being a film, I don't expect I'll be watching this again and again, as you wouldn't most movies. But it stands well on its own, a subjective mood reflection on the National.

As to "The Virginia EP" (12 tracks, 49 min.) (I rate it 4.5 stars), it brings a collection of B-sides, demos and live tracks, and it is fantastic. The initial three tracks are awesome: "You've Done It Again, Virginia", "Santa Clara" and especially "Blank Slate" are all tracks that would've fitted nicely onto "Boxer". The demos are surpisingly well-fleshed out for being demos, and my favorites are "Forever After Days" and "Slow Down". As to the live tracks, "Fake Empire" and "About Today" are fantastic, and I can't help but notice they were recorded at the Ancienne Belgique in Brussels (in November, 2007), where I saw many a show in my early years before moving to the US.

I've had the good fortune to catch these guys live a number of times now (most recently at the Langerado Festival in South Florida in March of this year) and they are electric live. If you have a chance to see them in concert, don't hesitate! Meanwhile, I guess this release is a "tie-over" between "Boxer" and their next album, but a true treasure for the fans. I can't wait to see where the National goes from here.

If you love The National, you should buy it too...but only for the EP. The DVD is absolutely terrible and a waste of an hour.

Vincent Moon is trying desperately to make The National a legend. It's almost like he's hoping either the lead singer will die early or the band will become really famous eventually, and he can claim dibs on their first documentary. Moon does the right thing in bringing the music to the forefront, but it hurts the interviews, which I could barely hear or understand. Tons of time is wasted on meaningless scenes of NYC or nearly empty rooms. They hyper saturated color is annoying to watch. No one is as dramatic as Moon makes The National out to be. It's absolutely dreadful as a rock doc, a film, and a document of recording one of the great albums of 2007.

Moon should have watched "I Am Trying to Break Your Heart" to learn how to make a movie about making a great album.

I am definitely not alone when I say that I'm "into" The National. They are very unique; their music is hard to describe, as is the slow and steady nature of their popularity. It is this mysterious quality about the band that made me so excited about this film. I wanted a look at the people who made the great album that is "Boxer". I wanted a peek into certain things that many fans like myself tend to desire to see: the process of the songwriting and the history and stages of the songs I've come to love, the creative methods and ideas that were utilized during recording, as well as the dynamics of the band-for example, the ratio of creative input amongst its members, or the personal relationships between band members. I thought of finally seeing these things first hand, and I was thrilled, but honestly this film disappointed me.

I do not blame the band in disappointing me with this film. Call me blindly loyal to The National, but the fact of the matter is that they did not create this film - Vincent Moon did. And what about it disappoints me?

I feel that any documentary about a band has a certain responsibility to the fans of the music. Obviously the director has the right to create whatever film he wants to create, but people aren't watching A Skin, A Night because Vincent Moon filmed it. They are watching for the same reason I am watching, and that is to receive the pleasure of learning more about the band and the album that we love. Instead, Moon gives us what I believe to be a somewhat self-indulgent, abstract film that consists of dull "artsy" shots from a gritty camera, sprinkled with enough valuable clips of the band to keep me watching, but that ultimately leave me dissatisfied and simply pissed off.

If you are a fan of the band, I honestly don't suggest picking this up because it will most likely do little more than making you hate Vincent Moon.

As far as the good aspects of the film go, it does offer a glimpse at early versions of songs and the stages that the songs took. And although the valuable moments (band members talking about their music, their feelings about the creative process, etc.) are less than plentiful, they are still interesting enough to make me feel like I didn't totally waste my money. Odds are that, if you are a fan of The National, you are to some extent more than just a casual fan, and you will probably pick this up regardless of my review. Just don't expect what I did, which was a film that is mindful of the fans of the music, rather than one that is mostly concerned with itself.

Over the past year, The National have quickly become one of my favorite bands. I was very excited about this film and EP and was not disappointed. The Virginia EP included b-sides and demos from Boxer, which were very enjoyable. The film, however, may not be enjoyed by everyone. It seems more like an art film than a documentary, which was fine with me. If you like David Lynch movies, you will like A Skin, A Night.

I love The National and was excited to see some behind-the-scenes stuff in the documentary. Unfortunately, it's just lame, art school dropout stuff.

I am a huge National fan. have met the band, drank with the band, watched the band more times then i can remember and so i say this . . . unless you're a huge fan of this band, do not get this CD/DVD. it's quite mundane and the music is subtle. 3 of the B-sides that are available on this CD are also available on others that you can get form iTunes or Amazon. the other 'unreleased' songs are not quite up to par as compared to the songs from Boxer, but like i said, if you are a huge fan/audiophile, then you will enjoy this package/songs.

The DVD is purely a montage of the making of the Boxer album and blurred, artsy snippets of the recording sessions and travel as done by the band while making the album. It is very cool to see how the recording process takes place, but it is fairly predictable. It's kinda like U2's Rattle and Hum, but completely the opposite.

If you're a huge National Fan or simply a big fan of lo-fi indie music and/or the making of . . . this will be a great buy.

I really love The National which is why i sat through this video. This disjointed amature film is irredeemable. Seriously this is what I imagine art school hell is like. At the very end of it I thought we would get to see the national perform "about today" which is 80% true. Vincent Price decided to start filming them on stage, then decides to take an illuminating walk to backstage where the real grit is happening i.e. the caterers are cleaning up. A REAL CINEMA VERITE. Look at the cover artwork for this dvd. NOW IMAGINE IT FOR ONE HOUR AND A HALF. Hynotic? Interesting? Gritty? Compelling? the answer is no. At some point I watched it on doublespeed which was not that different than single speed.This film makes matt berringer out to be a sad proto-alcoholic. I am pretty sure that's his wife in the background who helped him write two songs off of boxer but she isn't mentioned. I mean I'm sure writing and creating an album is kind of dull, this film makes the process unwatchable. You learn nothing from this film. The beginning of this film starts out with matt complaining that the director has a lot of "power" over his subjects, which I am pretty sure any reality television star tells his director but then it's edited out of any Real Wives of Orange County because that point is probably too TRITE for even them.

Do not buy this "film" if:

1.You hope to see complete performances by The National.

2.You like to watch interviews that aren't drowned out by other sounds.

3.You enjoy quality audio/video recordings.

I really love The National, but this was horrible. There are no extras on the DVD either.

If you're a fan of the band, you owe it to yourself to pick up this set if only for the CD. While I too was exasperated by A Skin, A Night, frustrated by the Doug Liman-esque shaking camera and art-school ethos of the direction, it offered rare glimpses of the band at work, and for that I'm grateful.

But the music -- oh, man! If you're thinking this is Matt with a Corona and an 8-track recorder against his better judgment at 1AM, you've got a big surprise awaiting you. These are rather B-side masterpieces, alternative-take musings and stunning live tracks to add to your collection. It's like finding an affordable Japanese import or a sound-board boot of songs you wouldn't have access to otherwise.

I popped in the CD without high expectations after riding the roller-coaster highs and lows of the film. But the whole drive home after a trip to used book stores and Amoeba Records in LA (an institution) and a concert at the Troubadour (ditto) was punctuated with gasps of exhilaration and amazement.

Granted, I LOVE the band, but I couldn't believe I hadn't heard these songs before, some of them, and definitely not these versions. Trust me, you WANT these. They aren't slushy remixes and throwaways. Most bands would trade in their amps for even one of these gems.

Time and again, I kept muttering, "Ok, if only for that one track, this purchase was worth it." By the time the disc wrapped up with a trio of mesmerizing live tracks, I was ecstatic, literally thrilled the way you do when you go antique hunting and find the rolltop desk that's been waiting for you to come along, browse the swap meet and come back with a gently used baseball glove that slips onto your hand as if custom fit.

A detour of constant surprises, The Virginia EP is the road you'd rather be on, the wending tour through Amish farm country and Vermont cottage towns rather than the Super Highways that most bands take you down.

Finding this album feels like somebody discovered it was my birthday and knew just what to give me, a present I'll open again and again in joy and gratitude.

Thanks, guys. You've done it again!