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The New Pornographers is a Canadian/American indie rock supergroup formed in 1997 in Vancouver, British Columbia. Their music is often described as power pop, with some critics likening their sound to that of Cheap Trick.[1]
[edit] OverviewCarl Newman, who writes most of the band's material, has said, "When I seriously started to try to write songs, my main influences were, like, Burt Bacharach, Jimmy Webb, and Brian Wilson. Those were the guys I kinda looked at their music and went, 'What the hell are they doing here?' I was just fascinated by the structures and the harmonics."[2] Many of Newman's own songs have a similar harmonic complexity.[3][4] For instance, the titular songs of the band's first two albums use at least six distinct major chords each, suggesting two or three different keys.[5][6] The melody of the second of those songs, "The Electric Version", begins with an arpeggiated diminished triad—a rare opening flourish for a pop song. Newman shares the lead vocal duties with Dan Bejar and Neko Case. The band's songs are generally written by either Newman or Bejar, and vocal responsibilities are decided once the songs are written. The band's first three albums each ranked in the top 40 on The Village Voice's Pazz & Jop year-end poll of hundreds of music reviewers. From 2000 to 2006, either a New Pornographers' album or a solo album from one of the band's members ranked in the top 40 on the list each year.[7] In 2007, Blender magazine ranked The New Pornographers' first album, Mass Romantic, the 24th best indie album of all time. It is the second-highest Canadian album on the list, behind Arcade Fire's Funeral (which came in sixth).[8] In 2009, Rolling Stone magazine ranked the band's second studio album, Electric Version, #79 in the "100 Best Albums of the Decade".[9] The name of the band was chosen by Newman, who has said that he came up with it after watching a Japanese film called The Pornographers.[10] Many writers have assumed that the name was a reference to Jimmy Swaggart's reputed claim that rock and roll was "the new pornography."[11] The band has released four albums to date: Mass Romantic (2000), Electric Version (2003), Twin Cinema (2005), and Challengers (2007). A live album recorded on their 2006 tour is available only at concerts and on the band's website. In 2009, the band contributed the song "Hey, Snow White" to the compilation release Dark Was the Night. The band is "hard at work" on a new album scheduled for release in 2010.[12] All of the band's original members were prominent within the Vancouver music scene prior to forming The New Pornographers. Kathryn Calder, who is also Newman's niece, joined the band in 2005 largely as a live replacement for Case, whose solo career often left her unavailable to perform with the band. Calder's first lead vocals for the band were on 2007's Challengers, singing the lead on "Failsafe" and sharing the lead with Newman on "Adventures in Solitude".[13] The band is currently at work on a new album, due to be released in 2010.[14] [edit] Members
[edit] Discography
[edit] Contributions
[edit] See also[edit] References
[edit] External links
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