The New Pornographers
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| The New Pornographers | ||
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| Background information | ||
| Origin | Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada  |
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| Genre(s) | Indie rock | |
| Years active | 1997-present | |
| Label(s) | Matador, Mint | |
| Website | www.thenewpornographers.com | |
| Members | ||
| L to R - Standing: Todd Fancey, Carl Newman, John Collins. Seated: Blaine Thurier, Neko Case, Kurt Dahle Not pictured: Kathryn Calder, Dan Bejar |
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The New Pornographers are a predominantly Canadian indie rock group formed in 1997 in Vancouver, British Columbia. Their sound is highly influenced by such power pop bands as The Cars and Cheap Trick, although their songs are generally of a greater melodic and harmonic complexity. Carl 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, Jim 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."[1] The melody of the first and eponymous track on their second album Electric Version, for instance, begins with an arpeggiated diminished triad—a rare and strange opening flourish for a pop song.
The New Pornographers are frequently referred to as a supergroup—or an indie supergroup—because of the members' associations. Newman, however, doesn't care for the term, explaining: "I'm really tired of that supergroup label, and I wish people would stop using it. None of us were known at all outside of Canada—I just don't think it's accurate." [2]
The name of the band was chosen by Newman. It would seem to reflect a quotation attributed to Jimmy Swaggart, who once called music "the new pornography," although Newman did not know of the quote at the time. [3]
The band has released three albums to date: Mass Romantic (2000), Electric Version (2003), and Twin Cinema (2005), along with a live album recorded on their 2006 tour only available at concerts and on the band's website. They are currently at work on their fourth album, with a target release date of June 2007.[4]
Contents |
[edit] Members
- Dan Bejar of Destroyer and Swan Lake;
- Kathryn Calder of Immaculate Machine;
- Neko Case, solo artist, also of Maow and cub;
- John Collins of The Evaporators;
- Kurt Dahle of Limblifter and Age of Electric;
- Todd Fancey, solo artist (as Fancey) and Limblifter;
- Carl Newman, solo artist (as A.C. Newman), also of Superconductor and Zumpano;
- Nora O'Connor of The Blacks and Andrew Bird's Bowl of Fire; and
- Blaine Thurier, independent filmmaker.
[edit] Discography
 Mass Romantic |
 Electric Version |
 Twin Cinema |
 Untitled 4th album |
[edit] Live albums
- LIVE! (2006/2007)
[edit] Singles
- "Letter from an Occupant" (2002, Europe)
[edit] Contributions
- FUBAR: The Album (2002) - "Your Daddy Don't Know"
- Matador at Fifteen (2004) - "Graceland"
- The Office (US TV Series) Episode 13: "The Client" (2005) - "Use It"
- Weeds (TV series) (2005) - "The Laws Have Changed"
- The Hour Main Title Theme Season 3- (2006-) - "Use It"
- University of Pheonix Commercial - (2006) - "The Bleeding Heart Show"
