The National informed fans of the leak and stream via their Tumblr earlier this week.
This is the first time the Times has ever debuted an album, but hardly the first time a band has streamed a leaked album live before the official release (High Violet goes on sale on May 11). For example, after MGMT's Congratulations fell victim to illegal file-sharers, they chose to stream it on their website, saying: "Hey everybody, the album leaked, and we wanted you to be able to hear it from us. We wanted to offer it as a free download but that didn't make sense to anyone but us."
It remains to be seen what effect leaks like this and preemptive streams will have on album sales, although a prominent place on the NYT's website seems like mighty good promotion for the band. (I know I'll be glued to the Times online for the next few hours, myself.) The move also seems smart on the Times' part: It will attract a younger audience and demonstrate that the site has content worth clicking on -- an assertion that will become more important when the paywall goes up in 2011.
For now, you can check out the National's new jams here, as well as a feature on the band that will run in this weekend's New York Times Magazine. The stream will be available until April 27.