You know you love me. XOXO, The National.

Last night's "Gossip Girl" had a brilliant closing montage, set to "Afraid of Everyone" by The National - a band that a lot of people lose their shit over. I won't go so far as to say that they're the greatest thing since sliced bread, but they've got a knack for creating lovely harmonies and it's hard not to enjoy Matt Berninger's impossibly low voice. Plus, they're from Ohio.

You might also recognize their song "So Far Around The Bend" as that one song from the 'Charlie St. Cloud' trailer (58 seconds in). You know, that one movie with Zac Efron (squee!), boats, and a ghost brother? Yeah, that one.

Now that I've sufficiently spread the word about The National, I'm going to get (sort of) serious for a brief moment.

People scoff at television-- especially shows on The CW. I won't sit here and say that they're full of the highest caliber actors nor are the plots usually all that deep or meaningful, but having watched three seasons of "90210," I've gotta say that they're doing a good job of covering some pretty serious stuff that people shouldn't be ignoring.

This season alone (which is only into the fourth episode) has dealt with the following: homophobia/homosexuality, HIV, rape, and the whole "am I ready to have sex?" thing. I know that this blog is about music and film and how they go together, but I really just wanted to address the fact that there's a lot of shit going on in the world and I appreciate that a show like "90210" is willing to go there.

As tempting as it is to think about shows on The CW or any show that seems like a trashy teen show (and don't get me wrong, there are plenty of those) they're not all bad and might actually be striving to send a good message to viewers.

Okay, you're free to go. Thanks for hearing me out. Now go listen to The National and find out if you like them or if you like like them.

Let's start dancing and never stop

It's Friday and Dance or Die is tonight (speaking of that, check out the Scene and Heard blog I'll be writing for it!) so you know all I want to do is shake my ass and get ready to work it out on the dance floor. In honor of that, I bring to you some sexy, groovy music that will inspire you to bust a move.

I could never get down with Passion Pit for some reason. Perhaps it was Michael Angelakos' over the top vocals that I just couldn't handle. Or maybe I just consider myself to be holier-than-thou, as has been pointed out to me. Who knows. Either way, Empire of the Sun makes for a great replacement or addition to electronic dance music!

Empire of the Sun (I'm guessing they're named after the film?) hails from Australia and is made up of Luke Steele of The Sleepy Jackson and Nick Littlemore of Pnau. Their song "Walking on a Dream" was recently featured in the trailer for Accidents Happen.

So, will you like Empire of the Sun? Let's see... do you enjoy any form of dancing? This can be swaying, grinding, shimmying or hopping around. Do you enjoy groovy tunes? Are you into both ABBA and MGMT, and you wish there was some way that you could enjoy both at the same time?

If yes to any of the above, I suggest you click on a link or listen to their album Walking on a Dream. It's conveniently embedded directly below for your listening pleasure!

Walking On A Dream (Special Ed...