×

370
371

Download: Demos, Rarities, and Covers - a compilation of unreleased songs you may not have heard...Fan Content (self.TheNational)

submitted by coffee_and_flowersdaisy fresh and arrow straight[M]10216132& 17 more

Hello everyone! This is your friendly neighborhood moderator u/coffee_and_flowers, bringing you a real treat! I've been compiling various demos, rarities, b-sides, covers, and non album tracks since about 2007 and would like to share them with this wonderful community!

None of this material is commercially available, and much of it has been very hard to track down until now, lucky you ;)

I've worked very hard putting this material together over the past week, making sure everything was assembled neatly, fixing metadata, and creating album artwork. This is my gift to the r/TheNational I sincerely hope you all enjoy, I really think you will!

There are two compilations available for you to download, the first is Demos & Rarities, the second is Covers. Below you will find lists of what is contained in each compilation.

Demos & Rarities:

  1. Halo Chagrin (Demo)
  2. Robyn de Sade (Demo)
  3. Magdalene (Demo)
  4. No Professionals (Demo)
  5. High Beams (Demo)
  6. Big Man (Demo)
  7. Brilliant Man (Demo)
  8. Pretty Forever (Demo)
  9. Minor Star Of Rome (Demo)
  10. All the Wine (Early Version)
  11. Lit Up (Demo)
  12. Warm Singing Whores (B-Side)
  13. Brainy (Alternate Version)
  14. Sometimes I Don't Think (Demo)
  15. Dynamite Walls (Hayden feat. The National As Backup Band)
  16. Jazz Brunch (Instrumental)
  17. San Mateo (Instrumental)
  18. Cooper (Instrumental)
  19. Orourke (Instrumental)
  20. Leo (Instrumental)
  21. Olive (Instrumental)
  22. Nova (Instrumental)
  23. Ingrid (Instrumental)
  24. Leah (Instrumental)
  25. Soglio (Instrumental)
  26. Give It To Teddy (Soundtrack)
  27. Save the Bird (Soundtrack)
  28. Thanksgiving Song (Soundtrack)
  29. Silver Bells (feat. Stephen Colbert & Gregg Allman)

Covers:

  1. Clampdown (The Clash Cover)
  2. Heaven (Talking Heads Cover)
  3. I Want To Break Free (Queen Cover)
  4. Love Vigilantes (New Order Cover)
  5. Maybe Not (feat. Lisa Hannigan) (Cat Power Cover)
  6. Memories (feat. Sufjan Stevens) (Leonard Cohen Cover)
  7. My Backwards Walk (feat. Lauren Mayberry) (Frightened Rabbit Cover)
  8. Not In Kansas/Devil Town (Daniel Johnston Cover/Tribute/Mashup/Thing)
  9. Ohio (Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young Cover)
  10. Pretty In Pink (The Psychedelic Furs Cover)
  11. The KKK Took My Baby Away (Ramones Cover)
  12. What Goes On (The Velvet Underground Cover)

You may notice that quite a few "rare" songs are not included here, this is because they are available to purchase and we do not allow the sharing of copyrighted material. I will be updating this post with a list of other "rare" tracks that are available to purchase when I get a chance (honestly need a break from working on this lol). Also not included are The Tarquin Roughs as the band has requested they not be shared, and we respect their wishes.

One more small note, I would like to thank u/davebro747 for helping me confirm I had all the available material before making this post, and for just being super awesome through the whole process :)

And finally what you've all been waiting for, I present to you...

The National / Demos & Rarities

The National / Covers

Thank you everyone for making this community what it is today, we love you all...

Also if you have any non copyrighted songs not listed here please let me know!

all 78 comments
sorted by:
best
topnewcontroversialoldq&a

[–]coffee_and_flowersdaisy fresh and arrow straight[S,M] [score hidden] stickied comment (1 child)

New download link for the Demos & Rarities compilation is here: https://www.mediafire.com/file/a9hpg4ujfyvd41l/Demos\_%2526\_Rarities.zip/file

[–]b0xcard 38 points39 points  (1 child)

You know I dreamed about this... for 29 years... before I saw it.

[–]rusted_wheel 11 points12 points  (0 children)

I missed it, for 29 years.

[–]coffee_and_flowersdaisy fresh and arrow straight[S,M] 21 points22 points  (1 child)

To everyone thanking me you are welcome! Go thank the band themselves by buying some other music or perhaps some merch, they made this beautiful art after all, and all the thanks should go to them.

[–]_Fudge_Judgement_ 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I love you anyway. I believe these are my jets.

[–]diver79An extra ordinary man 7 points8 points  (8 children)

This is fantastic, thanks so much for the effort to collate it all. I hadn't heard the cover of Queen's I want to break free, I love it.

I don't see Devil Town by Daniel Johnston there, any chance it could make the cut?

[–]coffee_and_flowersdaisy fresh and arrow straight[S] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Let me see if I can find it, didn't know it existed honestly. Also you are welcome!

[–]The_Grizzly_Bear_be brave and be kind 4 points5 points  (2 children)

@diver79 Not too long ago I played around with their cover of "Devil Town", I managed to separate it from "Not in Kansas" (The National made a mashup of Not in Kansas and Devil Town) and I removed the crowd sounds (which were so loud on that cover) Tomorrow morning I'm going to send the file to coffee_and_flowers!

[–]coffee_and_flowersdaisy fresh and arrow straight[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Excited to hear what you did dude :)

[–]diver79An extra ordinary man 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Nice one thanks I'll take a look for it too

[–]coffee_and_flowersdaisy fresh and arrow straight[S] 2 points3 points  (3 children)

Added it :)

[–]diver79An extra ordinary man 3 points4 points  (2 children)

Excellent, thanks for that. One last request?

Have you heard the cover of Ashamed of the story I told? It was a song by Mark Mulcahy and the cover is stunning. Studio quality also.

[–]coffee_and_flowersdaisy fresh and arrow straight[S] 3 points4 points  (1 child)

No problem, thanks for contributing! Oh yeah I have it, it's copyrighted though, so I can't add it. I see it on iTunes for .99 if you don't have it.

[–]diver79An extra ordinary man 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Ah that's a pity, I didn't even think about that. Cracking song though.

[–][deleted] 7 points8 points  (0 children)

Thanks u/coffee_and_flowers

[–]AverageJoe-72 3 points4 points  (0 children)

this is great!! thank you so much!

[–]10PJW3 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Cheers!

[–]beangardener 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Amazing, thank you!

[–]jordaniel15 3 points4 points  (0 children)

awesome. thanks so much!

[–]hersheybeagle 2 points3 points  (3 children)

I had gone looking for this particular recording a couple of years ago, and u/thelastomishi was kind enough to share a link.

Hayden - Dynamite Walls (live w/ The National as his backup band)

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1-25p1KpQ-PSOBlPD2NVFRdJoWoL_4iRM/view

[–]coffee_and_flowersdaisy fresh and arrow straight[S] 2 points3 points  (2 children)

I have that one, I didn't include it because it's not Matt, and because I have never been able to confirm that it actually had anything to do with the band. Thanks for mentioning it though!

[–]hersheybeagle 5 points6 points  (1 child)

Fair point. I'm not sure exactly when this recording was made, but I was able to find an absolutely atrocious video of them playing this song together with Matt on backing vocals (not that you can really hear him).

https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x3iop1

[–]coffee_and_flowersdaisy fresh and arrow straight[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Holy shit that's confirmation enough for me lol, and that video is terrible quality lol. Thanks for posting it! I got a couple mistakes to fix later today so I'll add it :)

[–]concord_7 2 points3 points  (1 child)

Thank you, this is incredible and such an effort!

[–]coffee_and_flowersdaisy fresh and arrow straight[S,M] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

No problem! It sure was an undertaking, 13 years of searching for material, and about 10 hours in the last week putting it together and packaging it up all nice and neat.

[–]AleWatcher 2 points3 points  (5 children)

I hope this is still available in a week when I get home from vacation!!!

[–]coffee_and_flowersdaisy fresh and arrow straight[S,M] 4 points5 points  (4 children)

The goal is to keep it pinned to the top of the subreddit indefinitely and to reupload as necessary so people will continue to have access to this material. If I come across new material I'll be adding it too. Hope you are having a nice vacation! Jealous!

[–]AleWatcher 2 points3 points  (3 children)

Thanks!
Just hit Yosemite National Park today-- it was great!
You don't happen to be related to the eponymous podcast of your user name, do you?

[–]coffee_and_flowersdaisy fresh and arrow straight[S] 4 points5 points  (2 children)

I do not, though I get asked that a lot. I suffer from a myriad of mental health issues and could never keep up on a project like that. I just really like Conversation 16 :)

[–]rusted_wheel 4 points5 points  (1 child)

In that case, thank you for holding it together until our friends are gone. :)

[–]coffee_and_flowersdaisy fresh and arrow straight[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Thanks for making me smile :)

[–]IgneelSysyphusLives in a lemonworld 🍋 2 points3 points  (2 children)

Thank you so much for this work! I'm willing to listen it this days. Only one question, what is the deal with The Tarquin Roughs? I've been following the band since 2015 and never heard of that.

[–]coffee_and_flowersdaisy fresh and arrow straight[S,M] 1 point2 points  (1 child)

No worries! Enjoy! The Tarquin Roughs are leaked demos from the Boxer recording sessions, I believe they were obtained from Peter Katis' bit torrent, I think he was seeding the material by accident and someone downloaded it. The band and their management have asked that it not be shared and we respect their wishes.

[–]divingoffthebalcony 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Which is a shame because I heard them and they’re solid gold material for National nerds.

[–]Studdzi'm binging hard on Annette Bening 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Incredible, thank you!

[–]sweetas314 1 point2 points  (1 child)

Pretty Forever is one of my all time favorites by them. TON of energy.

[–]coffee_and_flowersdaisy fresh and arrow straight[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Absolutely, energy through the roof. Would love to see them perform it live!

[–]SudoPi 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thank you :)

[–]houseofechoes 1 point2 points  (0 children)

That Talking Heads cover is so beautiful

Edit: Thanks for sharing this with us <3

[–]jahnkeuxo 1 point2 points  (3 children)

I was going to ask weren't the Bob's Burgers songs on the soundtrack? But then I checked and apparently they weren't. Love Give It To Teddy, which went on to evolve into Taylor Swift's Hey Dorothea and consequently may never get a proper release.

[–]coffee_and_flowersdaisy fresh and arrow straight[S] 0 points1 point  (2 children)

Yeah I checked those vs. what was released on the soundtrack first :) Kind of a grey area, but they have never been officially "sold" in any context I'm aware of...

[–]jahnkeuxo 1 point2 points  (1 child)

Checked again, Gravy Boat actually is on the soundtrack: "Sailors in Your Mouth"

[–]coffee_and_flowersdaisy fresh and arrow straight[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Well shit. I'll fix it... Thanks for pointing that out. I got it way before the soundtrack came out and back then it was referred to as Gravy Boat...

Edit: Fixed. Thanks again!!!

[–]The_Grizzly_Bear_be brave and be kind 1 point2 points  (1 child)

Thank you so much❤️ Now I'm going to give you an award! You're too kind

[–]coffee_and_flowersdaisy fresh and arrow straight[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

You're very welcome :)

[–][deleted]  (2 children)

[deleted]

    [–]coffee_and_flowersdaisy fresh and arrow straight[S,M] 0 points1 point  (1 child)

    It is not unfortunately, Anthem was from The Tarquin Roughs which can't be shared here...

    [–]MECHEN51 0 points1 point  (0 children)

    Figured...

    [–]Lucky_Beat_8550 1 point2 points  (0 children)

    Holy moose tits

    Thx

    [–]rhpot1991 1 point2 points  (1 child)

    Thank you so much, you wouldn't happen to have any of these in FLAC would you?

    [–]coffee_and_flowersdaisy fresh and arrow straight[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

    No FLAC unfortunately, sure wish I did though...

    [–]Itsalwaysblu3 1 point2 points  (0 children)

    It's super cool that you put this together and shared it with everyone. :)

    [–]252jhr 1 point2 points  (3 children)

    Thanks for uploading. Having a hard time with the first download though. Any tips/tricks?

    [–]coffee_and_flowersdaisy fresh and arrow straight[S] 2 points3 points  (2 children)

    Here is a new link: https://www.mediafire.com/file/a9hpg4ujfyvd41l/Demos\_%2526\_Rarities.zip/file

    [–]252jhr 0 points1 point  (1 child)

    Thank you so much!

    [–]coffee_and_flowersdaisy fresh and arrow straight[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

    No problem! I'm not sure why the old link stopped working, sorry about that!

    [–]rusted_wheel 1 point2 points  (2 children)

    Thank you! "Sleep All Summer" (Crooked Fingers cover feat. St Vincent is my favorite cover. FYI, if you are concerned about including commercially available tracks, this song is part of the compilation "Score! 20 Years of Merge Records: The Covers!" Also, are you including any side project tracks? El Vy used to do a cover of "She Drives Me Crazy" (Fine Young Canibals) at their shows. It was fun to hear, but I have yet to find a recording of it.

    [–]coffee_and_flowersdaisy fresh and arrow straight[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

    Thanks for letting me know, I was bound to miss something lol. I'll remove Sleep All Summer and reupload. I'll probably work on a compilation of songs featuring Matt at some point.

    [–]coffee_and_flowersdaisy fresh and arrow straight[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

    Fixed! Thanks again!

    [–]thfcspurs88 0 points1 point  (3 children)

    Anyone who hasn't heard their cover of Memories with Sufjan please listen, you'll be a cool, happy genius hero.

    [–]coffee_and_flowersdaisy fresh and arrow straight[S] 2 points3 points  (2 children)

    Oh shit that is a cover isn't it lol, I make mistake.

    [–]thfcspurs88 1 point2 points  (1 child)

    The BEST cover, I didn't even realize the mistake on your post. You don't think So Far Around the Bend is a rarity? Edit: Nevermind ha, I read your whole post, finally. Ha.

    [–]coffee_and_flowersdaisy fresh and arrow straight[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

    Leonard is disappointed in me... F... Gonna fix it up later today, I really do appreciate you pointing that out :) I want this shit perfect! Also yeah my post was kinda a novel lmao. Also So Far Around the Bend was for charity so that would be an even bigger no no than any copyright for me personally. Something about stealing from AIDS patients doesn't sit well with me at all lol.

    [–]Hugohc13 0 points1 point  (0 children)

    This is amazing, thank you very much for sharing!

    [–]Mr-VanderlyleI missed you for 29 years 0 points1 point  (0 children)

    Thank you very much!

    [–]Daysleepers 0 points1 point  (2 children)

    Ingrid is the track from tis the damn season By Taylor Swift.

    Nice!

    [–]coffee_and_flowersdaisy fresh and arrow straight[S] 1 point2 points  (1 child)

    Ingrid is an instrumental song from the album/ep Songs Without Words by The National, self released just over 3 years ago. It may have become a backing track to a Taylor Swift song but that is not where it began its life.

    [–]Daysleepers 0 points1 point  (0 children)

    For sure, wasn’t suggesting it was TS first by any means.

    Thanks so much for putting this together.

    [–]Yunohavenickname 0 points1 point  (0 children)

    Thank you very much !

    [–]northbynorthwest78 0 points1 point  (0 children)

    Just saw this... amazing... thank you

    [–]miiomii 0 points1 point  (0 children)

    the cover of Sleep All Summer ft. St Vincent, I can only find it on Youtube but not Spotify. Anyone knows why? And where can I get the offline version?

    [–]SexMayonnaise 0 points1 point  (0 children)

    30 years from now I envision The National as a jazz-rock band with Matt's now raspy baritone doing some kind of spoken word old man poetry

    [–]clockworkwinding 0 points1 point  (0 children)

    Just found out about this! Thanks for sharing

    [–]TheSugarMouse 0 points1 point  (0 children)

    Any chance of another season for the National Podcast?

    [–]SeanRyan1990 0 points1 point  (0 children)

    MAY 30TH Greek - Section A ROW C Seat 113 (close to center) 255 is my cost..ticketmaster made me buy 3. If anyone wants it let me know! Better than any price online and without ludicrous fees on top

    [–]gravity_is_right 0 points1 point  (0 children)

    That demo of Lit Up is lit

    [–]water_under_it 0 points1 point  (0 children)

    Would it be possible to add the live tracks from the Uncut magazine CD here? I bought a copy but don’t have a CD drive to rip the tracks from and don’t want to buy one for just this. Thanks!