The New Pornographers

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Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada (1997 – present)

The New Pornographers are a Canadian group formed in 1997 in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Their sound is influenced by that of such bands as The Cars and Cheap Trick, but they use much more sophisticated rhythms and chord changes. Although it was widely reported that the New Pornographers got their name from a pamphlet put out by televangelist Jimmy Swaggart condemning rock ‘n’ roll as “the new pornography,” Carl Newman has stated that he came up with the name after watching Shohei Imamura’s The Pornographers (1966).

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.”

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 band has released five albums to date:
Mass Romantic (2000)
Electric Version (2003)
Twin Cinema (2005)
Challengers (2007)
Together (2010)

The band members include:
- Carl Newman - vocals, guitar, ebow, synthesizer, harmonica, pump organ, xylophone
- Dan Bejar - vocals, guitar, synthesizer, melodion
- Kathryn Calder - vocals, piano
- Neko Case - vocals, tambourine
- John Collins - bass, guitar, synthesizer, ebow, vocals
- Kurt Dahle - drums, percussion, vocals
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Top Albums

  • Together
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  • Twin Cinema
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  • Challengers
    The New Pornographers Play
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  • Electric Version
    The New Pornographers Play
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Top Tracks

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  • alexjohanssen

    not bad

    Friday morning

  • bigbadapplejax

    Summer is the perfect season to listen to The New Pornographers

    Wednesday evening

  • imyouaholic

    I've always been fond of Sing Me Spanish Techno, and Myriad Harbour! I wish my band eventually gets the opportunity to cover one of their songs <3 @CaseyDeAnn: I know right?!

    10 days ago

  • CaseyDeAnn

    Every time I listen to this band, I can never understand why I don't listen to it more.

    17 days ago

  • Gargoyle2500

    JODisBack: I say don't be afraid about what their initial reactions will be, Be afraid they won't have the opportunity to check the band out if you don't recommend them.

    last month

  • JODIsBack

    Is it just me or is this the happiest band I've ever listened to? I want to introduce this band to other people but I'm afraid they'll be like "oh god no" just because of the name.

    last month

  • hotwheels47125

    Who cares? They're all different, and they're all good albums.

    March 2012

  • WarriorJones

    Depends on what you mean by 'before that', because they used to be doing a looot better than this. Early 2000s

    March 2012
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Last Chance For the Holiday Sale at The New Pornographers' Online Store

28 Nov 2011 | from blog.myspace.com/thenewpornographers

Today is your last chance to order the official movie poster for "Moves - The Rise And Rise Of The New Pornographers" ($10), and get any shirt in the band's online store for just $10. …

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