i warned you that o, canada month might go on for a while. (time is pretty relative up there. heck! the sun doesn't even go down in the summer... at least that's what i've been told)
(oh, and if you want to stop the boombox for some video action, the buttons are really tiny on this one- but right under the cassette tape- you'll see a little square. yes, put your glasses on)
today we look at the vancouver, BC group "the new pornographers." no, not kidding. yeah, probably one of the lamest band names ever. some lame names are fitting. like "scraping fetus from the wheel." or "cannibal corpse" that sums them up rather nicely. but "heavy vegetable"? "new pornographers"!? you see those names without other context and..... you move on. (as much as i love rob crowe and heavy vegetable, i'm glad he moved on to "pinback." although "thingy" "optiganally yours" and "lactose adept" are other pretty retarded names he's used...) some people just suck at picking band names. but dang, if some of these people can't also make sweet sweet music.
TNP are a collective (not the animal variety) of creative hooligans that are were all drawn from other bands/solo efforts forming what is often referred to as a SUPER-GROUP. i guess you could call them a "power pop" super-group. not sure if many bands would openly brand themselves as such, but the wikipedia definition of the form is fitting: power pop "combination of musical devices such as strong melodies, crisp vocal harmonies, economical arrangements, and prominent guitar riffs. instrumental solos are usually kept to a minimum, and blues elements are largely downplayed. it draws its inspiration from 1960s British and American pop and rock music."
SUPERGROUP
power pop or not, TNP has a distinct, yet freely meandering sound. though red-headed stepchild Carl Newman is the defacto gang leader, the other band members all hailing from other groups or solo projects make this one potent potpourri. Dan Behar (destroyer, swan lake) Neko Case (maow, cub), Carl Newman (superconductor), John Collins (the evaporators), Kurt Dahle (limblifter), and Kathryn Calder (the immaculate machine) bring their skills to the table. (swan lake, coincidentally is Dan Behar's other supergroup- spencer krug (sunset rubdown, wolf parade) and carey mercer (frog eyes) collaborate in that tchaikovskian namesake.
i think my favorite album is twin cinema, but it's tough to call. each album is distinctly TNP, but very different from the last. every album since 'mass romantic' has fans whining and pining for the good old days. go listen to 'mass romantic,' then! this is mostly foot-tapping stuff, sometimes a little too saccharine, but there are definitely moods i'm in when i've got to listen to it. nothing wrong with a well made pop song.
the music on ye boom box (right click, save as...):
1) stacked crooked (twin cinema)
2) jackie (mass romantic)
3) the electric version (electric version)
4) the jessica numbers (twin cinema)
todays videos are from albums not represented in the emailed mp3s ("myriad harbour" up top from the latest CHALLENGERS and down below: "use it" from their second album, "electric version")
(look for david cross! aka tobias from arrested development)
2 comments:
Bart, the music didn't play automatically, but as soon as I pressed play it came on.
Pretty cool post. I've heard of them before, but never heard the music.
my old hosting site joined forces with somebody else and my old account and stored files were rather unceremoniously deleted. the new company doesn't provide you with a URL for your files.... so i went looking. tough to find much that's free AND gives you URLs. i'm using Ripway right now, but they have a max 150mb download/day limit. as long as everybody doesn't get on and try to listen all at once, it should work. and i probably shouldn't post 4 songs either...
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