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jueves, septiembre 20, 2007

Minutos Musicales: The New Pornographers

Estimados,
The New Pornographers (en inglés: Los Nuevos Pornografos) son un grupo de rock indie canadiense formado en 1997 en Vancouver. Su música ha sido altamente influenciada por bandas de power pop como The Cars, aunque sus canciones son más melódicas y complejas.

The New Pornographers suele ser referida como una superbanda, ya que casi todos sus miembros han pertenecido o siguen perteneciendo a otras bandas populares solamente en Canadá. El líder de la banda, Carl Newman, seleccionó el nombre de la misma, haciendo eco del predicador de televisión Jimmy Swaggart, quien aparentemente dijo que "la música era la nueva pornografía".

De acuerdo a los créditos, casi todas las canciones han sido escritas por Carl Newman, aunque Dan Bejar ha contribuido con varias canciones suyas. John Collins colaboró en el último álbum "Twin Cinema" en "The Jessica Numbers".


The New Pornographers formed in 1997, almost immediately recorded the classic "Letter From An Occupant," and it was on. Their three full-lengths (as well as Newman's 2004 solo debut The Slow Wonder) received wild critical and public acclaim, and they continue to enjoy bigger (and taller and smarter) audiences.

A.C. Newman
Vocals, Guitars, Piano, Wurlitzer, Casio, Mandolin, Percussion, Bass, Melodion

John Collins
Bass, Baritone Guitar, Glockenspiel, Mandolin, Guitars, Casio, Tambourine

Blaine Thurier
Fender Rhodes, Sampler

Dan Bejar
Vocals, Shakers, Guitars, Piano

Kathryn Calder
Vocals, Piano, Wurlitzer
Kurt Dahle
Drums, Vocals, Percussion

Neko Case
Vocals
Todd Fancey
Guitars, Banjo, Mandolin

A.C. ("Carl") Newman, for all the good-times vibe of his band The New Pornographers, likes his alone time. Last year he disappeared from Vancouver without a word, reappearing four months later in Brooklyn, where he has stayed ever since. He resurfaced with a mystery scar, an extra blush to one cheek, and an armload of songs which tell tales of his last two years.

Challengers continues along the lines of 2005's Twin Cinema, whose "relative melancholy makes it the band's best album yet" [Blender]; indeed, the first track, "My Rights Vs. Yours," is almost a cross between that album's beloved "Use It" and "The Bleeding Heart Show". Dialing back the frantic, these are songs with dynamics and epic sweep. While it's still a "top-down summer power-pop classic" (or any variation thereof that the band's enjoyed over the last several years), this is something more personal, more lasting.

Recorded for the first time largely outside John Collins' Vancouver JC/DC Studio, Challengers is their most organic-sounding record, reflecting a conscious decision to use less "beepy synth" and almost entirely "real" instruments (in addition to those listed above, they recruited an entire string section, plus harp, flute, and more). And Newman is slightly more scrutable this time around; his lyrics still ring with wry perception and political metaphor, but betray some of the magnanimity that comes with new love - "our arms fill with miracles", he writes in "Go Places," his most beautiful love song since "My Slow Descent Into Alcoholism."

Grupo: The New Pornographers
Disco: Challengers
Año: 2007
Web oficial: http://www.thenewpornographers.com

Canciones destacadas: Adventures In Solitude, All the things that go to make heaven and earth, My rights versus yours y Unguided

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