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The New Pornographers

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Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada (1997 – present)

The New Pornographers are a Canadian indie rock group formed in 1997 in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Their sound is influenced by that of such power pop bands as The Cars and Cheap Trick, but they use much more sophisticated keys 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 a Japanese film called The Pornographers.

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 four albums to date:
Mass Romantic (2000)
Electric Version (2003)
Twin Cinema (2005)
Challengers (2007)

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
- John Collins - bass, guitar, synthesizer, ebow, vocals
- Kurt Dahle - drums, percussion, vocals
- Todd Fancey - guitar

Tagged as:

indie, indie rock, canadian, indie pop, alternative
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Top Albums

Twin Cinema
The New Pornographers
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Challengers
The New Pornographers
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Electric Version
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Mass Romantic
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Top Tracks

1	All for Swinging You Around	1,560
2	Hey, Snow White	1,138
3	Sing Me Spanish Techno	944
4	The Bleeding Heart Show	902
5	Use It	889
6	Challengers	887
7	Myriad Harbour	838
8	Twin Cinema	751
9	My Rights Versus Yours	736
10	Mass Romantic	735
11	The Electric Version	716
12	The Laws Have Changed	674
13	Adventures in Solitude	654
14	Letter From an Occupant	652
15	All The Old Showstoppers	579

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the_ryecatcher wrote:
Monday morning

I am starting to love this band.

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srs144 wrote:
Sunday evening

According to Metacritic, TNP are the 11th most critically acclaimed musical group of the decade. I'd say that's pretty legit.

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ar99 wrote:
21 days ago

http://turningthelightbulb.wordpress.com/ m

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geekqueen wrote:
29 days ago

Every song of theirs is golden. All of A.C. Newman's too.

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Cradd wrote:
30 days ago

I've only heard one album and I'm already in love.

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trentman359 wrote:
December 2009

I can't wait for the new album!

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warmcereal wrote:
December 2009

Pornography for the ears :)

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indieinvasion wrote:
November 2009

Its the best!

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rachelrobot wrote:
November 2009

CANADA!

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LoudestMouse wrote:
November 2009

I think that's possible.

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Weemen_burger wrote:
November 2009

Could Adventures In Solitude, be the greatest song ever?

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StackedCrooked wrote:
November 2009

@bluebed, not even Neko Case?

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koula10 wrote:
November 2009

Nice band

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Gargoyle2500 wrote:
October 2009

They're missing two band members from the members list... Todd Fancey (Guitarist) and Blaine Thurier (Keyboards, other instruments)

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Ynarmousiest wrote:
October 2009

cool.

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Ynarmousiest wrote:
October 2009

Huuumm....

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Indigo-kid wrote:
October 2009

нравятся.

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andtigers wrote:
October 2009

pop for very smart people?

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warmcereal wrote:
October 2009

You guys are amazing.

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Jones82 wrote:
October 2009

I can never place the name with the face

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See all 860 shouts

Videos

Events

May 19 The New Pornographers Electric Ballroom, London, United Kingdom
1 shout | 39 attendees
May 22 The New Pornographers Molotow, Hamburg, Germany
Add shout | 19 attendees
May 23 The New Pornographers Melkweg, Amsterdam, Netherlands
3 shouts | 51 attendees

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News

Carl interviewed on Vancouver iAM

10 Sep 2008 | from blog.myspace.com/thenewpornographers

Hey guys,Check out this interview done during the recent Stanley Park Singing Exhibition. Carl talks about the joys of stepping outside the "rock n' roll rat race" for a momen. …

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Carl interviewed on Vancouver iAM
10 Sep 2008 | from blog.myspace.com/thenewpornographers
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SLOW FOOD ROCKS 2008
20 Aug 2008 | from blog.myspace.com/thenewpornographers
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SLOW FOOD ROCKS 2008
20 Aug 2008 | from blog.myspace.com/thenewpornographers
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Listeners

abx1
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Recent Activity

Brad_Phillips, corilynn, FabianKrieber and 13 other people added The New Pornographers to their libraries. 34 minutes ago
shbadr tagged The New Pornographers with ‘indie’. 20 hours ago
shbadr, msiler, maxvolume011 and 2 other people added The New Pornographers to their libraries. 20 hours ago
BeerMichael tagged The New Pornographers with ‘indie’. 21 hours ago
cassky, vmc75, bobbomo and 9 other people added The New Pornographers to their libraries. 21 hours ago
stereocassia tagged The New Pornographers with ‘canadian’. yesterday afternoon
mhfrantz, citizendangerx, dallard9 and 20 other people added The New Pornographers to their libraries. yesterday afternoon
VGoRiLLaZ wrote about The New Pornographers in a deleted journal. Tuesday evening
VGoRiLLaZ wrote about The New Pornographers in a deleted journal. Tuesday evening
leemski, euamotequila, sabtron103 and 10 other people added The New Pornographers to their libraries. Tuesday evening