New Pornographers
 

Twin Cinema, heard some stuff, doesn't sound too bad. Give me a harsh and brutallay honest review. Im thinking of picking it up.

If you're a cheery type of person, I'm guessing you'd probably be content with any of their albums. These guys are such a happy, sugary group.

Oh really, is the whole CD like that?

i'm not a cheery person at all but for some reason i love them. my favorite song is the laws have changed

Mass Romantic = Awesome album, I think my favorite song so far is The Slow Descent Into Alcoholism.

It's a good cheery album, there are some real good tunes on there. I recommend it. I bought it on the fact it had 'Sing Me Spanish Techno' on it and I haven't regretted my purchase.

From Blown Speakers is a damn good song.

i think the older the album, the better the music.
mass romantic is definatley my favourite, then electric version.

My Favourites On MM:

• The Fake Headlines
• The Slow Descent Into Alcoholism
• Mystery Hours
• To Wild Homes
• The Body Says No
• Centre For holy Wars

I'm just not as keen on Dan Bejar's songs.

Can't wait for their upcoming album though.

:band:

it's just TOO pop for me... saw them live too and still couldn't get over the cheesyness...

These guys grew on me a week or so ago, but now I grew out of them once again. D=

ie - TOO pop.... not enough substance to sink yer teeth into...

Maybe your not trying, just because it's influenced by pop doesn't mean it's meaningless fluff.

i've listened to a couple albums and seen them live... that's trying in anyone's book! I stand by there is nothing to sink your teeth into...

yea, and I believe everyone is entitled to their own opinion, as long as it's justified.

I don't think this band are too 'poppy' at all. I think they have great depth. Just becuase their repertoire is mainly quite cheery and light-hearted I don't think this necessarily means cheese. Has anybody heard 'The Bleeding Heart Show'? Now that is a brilliant song and not particularly pop music at all.

^

I agree, I just don't think he is open to other people's opinions, some people are stubborn like that, so there really is no point in arguing.

What have you got against pop anyway? Whats wrong with music with a tune? Its not a laxative y'know.

ffs people... i'm much more open to music than most of you I would think. I'm not stubborn or against pop as such (I was a Pet Shop Boys fan for over 10 years...). I also like plenty of cheery music too...

They are SIMPLY BORING. Can we move on now...?

Wtf, why is everyone getting all pissy at IndieElectronica? He didn't say its poppy therefore it sucks, he said it was too poppy for his taste.

I don't see how disliking a band automatically means you're closeminded.

I first I thought they were waaay too poppy for me, but then they grew on me, and hell, how they did. Such an awesome band. =)

New album leaked

http://assets3.pitchforkmedia.com/im...ornoscover.jpg

This is very different from their other stuff, less power pop more harmonic? I don't know. I like it alot better but thats probably because this appeals to my taste more. They're going to get the whole sell out label for going in a different direction most likely.

All The Old Showstoppers seriously reminds me of Modest Mouse. I think I like My Rights Versus Yours best but I think thats because its the most familiar.

:(
i'm gutted it's apparently less power pop. i love their earlier albums the best.
i'll have to check out this new album though!

The New Pornographers
 

The Buy Now, Get Early scheme worked out really well for Matador because this album is one helluva listen even though it's slower and not as uplifting as their other work... Challengers is just as catchy and graceful.

Yep, I'm loving it after a few listens. Like you said, it's different to their previous albums, but variety is always good. To me, it won't matter what direction they take - the voices of Carl, Neko, and Kathryn will always be welcome to my ears. Great album!

I have a couple of tracks by them and like them, but have never seeked out any of their albums. This is a nice reminder.

This album is even more textured than their previous ones, and that's the main reason I think it's their best yet. Unguided is the only mediocre song.

Alright, so this is where I stand on the band. Before going further, I'll qualify what I'm to say by beginning with saying what I've heard of them: I've listened to Mass Romantic and Electric Version extremely thoroughly, and a couple of the floating mp3s from Challengers; I am yet to hear a thing off Twin Cinema.

Mass Romantic, the debut, is a tremendous album which succeeds in being considerably more than just one big splodge of cheery power pop. It gets rather more altogether complex, weird and ethereal than that, what with tracks like Execution Day and The Centre For Holy Wars, but there's even a sense of variance and eclectic diversity recurring throughout the album's poppier numbers on the first side of the record: the raw power pop of the title track, the choppiness and relentless drive of Mystery Hours, the Todd Rundgren-esque Fake Headlines...The Slow Descent has echos of David Bowie in places. In addition to these extensive attempts at various styles, the record's fuzzy, choppy, and bizarrely edgy and audacious. And that is the story of Mass Romantic.

With Electric Version, the tale is rather different. To begin, I'll state the obvious: in terms of pure hookery and catchiness this album is a winner. Newman is clearly a genius at what he does - he grabs ahold of your attention with the opening title track, and rarely lets go for the next 45 minutes. But, with that said, you cannot help feeling that there's something terribly wrong with the record.

Even on the first listen, it sticks out so sorely that one cannot help but notice. For the first 3 or 4 tracks you're thinking this is great, but then all of a sudden, as the album progresses, something dawns: track after track after track, there is simply a lack of variation in tone, in mood, in tempo, in style, even in melody (they even rehash a hook from the title track in The New Face Of Zero And One - scandalous!), almost to the point that it feels formulaic. No, I'll go further - it DOES come off sounding formulaic. It overloads with one main musical motif relentlessly until you're well and truly sick to your stomach of it. The wild experimentation of Mass Romantic is all but withered away.

Newman appears to get stuck in a niche, and isn't sure where to go next. Was this an attempt at creating a more coherent sound, or a simple lack of fresh ideas? Either way, in exchange for its relative coherence, much that was good about the band in the first place has been sacrificed.



Has anybody heard Twin Cinema? If so, what can you tell me about it? I ought to listen myself but I'm curious to hear how fans think it fares relative to the previous outing.

Um... I went backwards kinda in how I listened to them. I started at twin cinema and then went to the electric version, and then challengers, and then mass romantic. Challengers and Mass Romantic are my two favorites though. They're really different sounds, but I think I can really get into both CDs and enjoy every track. Twin cinema has some really good songs, but also some that I usually skip over. I appreciate the variety of Twin Cinema, but eh... Challengers seemed a little more conceptual. The electric version feels like Mass Romantic only polished up. and some songs stick out as being really good (The Laws Have Changed), but really I think it's a weaker CD.

Challengers and Mass Romantic = instant win though as far as I'm concerned. I don't think it hurts that they have the best album art either.

I've been enjoying the new album.. few songs are better than others but I don't skip any of them. And I think they get away with having a slight pop edge. :P

i only have challengers but i think they are pretty good

I think Twin Cinema was the one that jumped out at me. A good listen, reminiscent of some mid 60's Pop music.

Anyone ever here of the New Pornographics?
 

I just heard a song from them today and it was pretty good, but I don't much about them.. Has anyone seen them?

I believe you're talking about The New Pornographers.

Oops, typo!!! :-) Yep - what do you think of them?

Don't even pirate that band.
 

Don't waste the disk space.

i love the new pornographers my favourite song by them is letter from an occupant its awesome

Obtained Twin Cinema,will let yous know what I think

It's pretty decent the first few time around, however I relistened to it recently and I have to say I got pretty bored by third song, so this band officially has no longevity which marks it off good bands in my list.

'Challengers' > 'Twin Cinema' > 'Mass Romantic' > 'Electric Version' for me, but even EV is a 8/10 record minimum.

Utterly brilliant band, the benchmark for modern guitar pop.