The National have released their latest live album, Juicy Sonic Magic, digitally online. Stream it below via Apple Music or Spotify.
Recording took place in the fall of 2018 over two sold-out nights at Berkeley’s Greek Theatre, marking the conclusion of the band’s touring behind their excellent 2017 studio LP Sleep Well Beast. The 45-track effort was initially released last month as a special triple-cassette boxset for Record Store Day: Black Friday. Now, 4AD has brought the full thing to online streaming platforms.
Erik Flannigan produced and engineered the live album, utilizing The Mike Millard Method. More specifically, Flannigan utilized the same analog equipment used by concert taper “folk hero” Millard to record shows in the ’70s and ’80s. Juicy Sonic Magic comes accompanied by a short documentary from director David DuBois that digs deeper into the Millard Method and what early taping was like.
(Read: Ranking Every Album by The National from Worst to Best)
In an interview with Relix, The National frontman Matt Berninger spoke about Millard’s style, and how “there’s something about Mike’s recordings that just really feel like you’re in the sync of it a little bit more.”
He continued,
“It feels like the the room is right up to your neck, you’re kind of soaking a little deeper inside the space. It sounds like you’re in something, either in an arena or an amphitheater or a club. Some things just have a sense to them, and it’s probably audio and it’s hard to define what it is. Even the tapes themselves, the cassettes, in his handwriting, has a sense to it, has some sort of more cosmic presence. The detail he took to do all that stuff creates a greater whole than just the one or the two.”
(Read: Top 50 Songs of 2019)
Stream The National’s Juicy Sonic Magic and watch the aforementioned documentary below. Also keep an eye out for the band member’s side projects, like Bryce Dessner’s soundtrack for the biographical drama The Two Popes, and Berninger’s forthcoming solo debut, Serpentine Prison. The band also has multiple upcoming 2020 tour dates, including a big Homecoming show in Cincinnati with Patti Smith, Sylvan Esso, and more. Grab all those tickets here.
Juicy Sonic Magic Artwork:
Juicy Sonic Magic Tracklist:
NIGHT 1 – Sept. 24th 2018
01. Nobody Else Will Be There
02. The System Only Dreams in Total Darkness
03. Walk It Back
04. Guilty Party
05. Don’t Swallow the Cap
06. Bloodbuzz Ohio
07. I Need My Girl
08. Green Gloves
09. Brainy
10. Slow Show
11. All the Wine
12. I’ll Still Destroy You
13. Dark Side of the Gym
14. Day I Die
15. Carin at the Liquor Store
16. Graceless
17. Rylan
18. Fake Empire
ENCORE
19. Light Years
20. Mr. November
21. Terrible Love
22. Vanderlyle Crybaby Geeks
NIGHT 2 – Sept. 25th 2018
01. Light Years
02. The System Only Dreams in Total Darkness
03. Walk It Back
04. Guilty Party
05. I Should Live in Salt
06. Don’t Swallow the Cap
07. Afraid of Everyone
08. I Need My Girl
09. This Is the Last Time
10. Wasp Nest
11. Born to Beg
12. Sorrow
13. Apartment Story
14. Pink Rabbits
15. England
16. Day I Die
17. Rylan
18. Fake Empire
19. About Today
ENCORE
20. Lemonworld
21. Mr. November
22. Terrible Love
23. Vanderlyle Crybaby Geeks