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 several critics likening their sound to that of Cheap Trick.
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, 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." Many of Newman's own songs have a similar harmonic complexity. 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. 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. 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. 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). 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. Many critics, however, have assumed that the name was a reference to Jimmy Swaggart's reputed claim that rock and roll was "the new pornography." 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 2008 they contributed a t-shirt design for the Yellow Bird Project to raise money for the ALS Society of BC.
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
* Blaine Thurier, independent filmmaker.
Live albums
* Live Session (iTunes Exclusive) (2005)
* LIVE! (2006)
* LIVE from SoHo (iTunes Exclusive) (2008)
Singles
* "Letter from an Occupant" (2002, Europe)
* "Use It" (2005)
* "Sing Me Spanish Techno" (2005)
B-side: "Graceland"
* "My Rights Versus Yours" (2007)
* "Myriad Harbour" (2007)
B-sides: "Fugue State"; "Silent Systems"
* "The Spirit of Giving" (2007)
B-sides: "Joseph, Who Understood"; "Arms of Mary/Looking at a Baby" (Chilliwack cover medley)
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