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Matt Berninger Takes the Mic Solo on 'Serpentine Prison'

Serpentine Prison gives the National's baritone crooner Matt Berninger a chance to shine in the spotlight, even if it doesn't push him into totally new territory.

                                      
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PopMatters is moving to WordPress. We will publish a few essays daily while we develop the new site. We hope the beta will be up sometime late next week.

Serpentine Prison gives the National's baritone crooner Matt Berninger a chance to shine in the spotlight, even if it doesn't push him into totally new territory.

Journey back to 2010 for 60 slices of musical greatness highlighted by one of the most delightful expletive-ridden hits in pop music history.

"Indie rock" is a term as amorphous and hard-to-pin-down as some of its associated lingo. But for our purposes here, we'll go with a line of demarcation strangely omitted from the discussion much of the time: the rock portion of the equation.

From forward-looking electronic and experimental to new approaches in the ever-evolving R&B scene, from hip-hop and punk to rock and pop, 2019 bestowed an embarrassment of musical riches upon us.

Days four and five of the Sziget Festival saw some great shows with Macklemore leading the way, big crowds, and an even bigger drug bust.

As we head into a brief summer publication break to enjoy the summer sun for a few days, it's the perfect time to take stock of the year in music so far. PopMatters returns to our normal publishing schedule on Monday, 8 July.

The National's eighth album is not as easy to locate or to live with, as its title suggests, but it contains passages of sublime beauty and grace.

Inspired by their collaboration on Mike Mills' film I'm Still Here, the National are releasing I Am Easy to Find in May.

Young bands like Alvvays and Hozier get their chance to shine at ACL, but it's legends like David Byrne and Paul McCartney who dazzle the most.

The fourth installment of what is now Germany's biggest music festival, Lollapalooza Berlin, kicks off with fireworks and in great spirits, with loads of great pop performances.

In its fourth year since inception, the first festival to mark Lollapalooza's expansion in Europe is big enough to be placed among the greatest events on the Old continent.

After the National's Citi Sound Vault show, I caught one of the Root' tremendous nights of special jams.

The indie rock genre is wide and unwieldy, but the musicians selected here share an awareness of one's place on the cultural-historical timeline.

The National 2.0 have been given a slightly modern makeover but have managed to make it sound like a natural progression

A Grateful Dead founding member collaborates beautifully with Josh Ritter and the National on his first album of all original material in 30 years.

Stellar sets from the Julie Ruin, Foals, Kendrick Lamar, the National and more made for an exciting second day of the inaugural Panorama Music Festival.

Painting of a Panic Attack is Frightened Rabbit dressed up as the National for Halloween. It’s a nice change, but still very much the band fans have come to love.

EL VY aim to be more than a side project, but this relaxed collection of songs falls frustratingly short of that goal.

From 27-29 March, Knoxville, Tennessee music fans were treated to a world of daring and avant-garde music at the latest installment of the Big Ears festival.

Rewriting the rules of Americana, the Lone Bellow are ready for their mainstream moment, working with Aaron Dessner of the National and releasing one of 2015's most anticipated albums.

These top 20 records of the '00s feature some familiar faces, but also several that, over time, have grown more fondly in memory.

The National's seminal 2005 album Alligator shows the band, like America, to be lit up by white lights even as it is surrounded by darkness.

San Fermin's strange mix of genres and lyrical ideas makes for an enticing and fantastic listen.

It was a year of thrilling comebacks from legends like My Bloody Valentine and David Bowie as well the launch of major new talents like Lorde and Kacey Musgraves. These artists had the biggest impact on the shape of music in 2013.

This is the kind of record that gives rise to lots of associations -- intentional, unintentional, whatever -- and while for some bands that kind of provocational association can be a good thing, it is bad news for Young Rebel Set.

The National is now up to six videos from 'Trouble Will Find Me', released earlier this year.

The National and Beach Fossils both released new records in early 2013, each effort playing like the inverse of the other.

The National returned to "where it all began" when they played the biggest headlining show of their career in Brooklyn.

It's time to question how relevant these large gatherings are as the multi-band concert industry continues to expand to obnoxious heights.

To celebrate the National's new record, Trouble Will Find Me, we count down frontman Matt Berninger's best lyrics.

The National's eagerly-awaited new album 'Trouble Will Find Me' releases on 21 May and the group shared two new songs ("Sea of Love" and "I Need My Girl") with the world in live performance last night as a web exclusive.

In Tramp Van Etten found the sort of catharsis that only rock music can afford. These early recordings show her thoughts not yet turned to scorn, and with their own fascinting privacy.

The National's "Bloodbuzz Ohio" stays relevant and touching as the Great Recession continues.

On her debut album full of indie-rock covers, this 15-year old proves that she can really sing; but Birdy's appeal may depend on how much you enjoy desperate, aching piano ballads, because there are a lot of them here.

The National are impressed they get more women in the audience than Radiohead does.

New vocals takes dancing in the streets to different level.