The New Pornographers

1. The New Pornographers By Lina Buchanan

2. Who Are They? Canadian Indie Pop Band Collaborative in NatureThe band is composed of individual artists who are also involved in outside projects, often bringing in guest artists to play non-typical pop band instruments like the cello. Often Referred to as a SupergroupHowever, the group founder dislikes the term. Carl Newman states, “I’m really tired of that supergroup label, and I wish people would stop using it. None of us were known at all outside of Canada - I just don’t think it’s accurate.” Undeniably Talented

3. The Start of Something Good Founded in Vancouver in 1997 with six original members.Carl Newman, John Collins, Dan Bejar, Kurt Dahle, Blaine Thurier, and Neko Case. Started writing songs almost immediately in 1998. What’s in a Name? Carl got their name from a Japanese film titled The Pornographers.

4. Mass Romantic Finished first full-length album in 2000 titled Mass RomanticThe album was re-released on the Matador label in 2003. Sporadic recordings still managed to create a cohesive album. Album did not chart. “Letter From an Occupant” helped generate praise and acclaim. First concert tour was sold out.

5. Electric Version Success fuels desire to start on second album. Dan Bejar steps down as full-time band member, while Todd Fancy joins. Electric Version released in 2003. Begin to sound like a band rather than a collective. Receive continued acclaim.“To not like this stuff is like hating the sun for shining,” states AdrienBegrand

6. Twin Cinema Kathryn Calder joins to help record Twin Cinema, released in 2005. My first New Pornographers album. Slow burning tracks and unexpected U-turns make this album a little more unique.“A blast of pure pop from somewhere beyond the stars,” states Andy Brown.

7. Things on Hold In 2006 a live album was originally released as a tour-only album. The album was later made available for wide distribution via their website. Carl Newman disappears for a few months, reappearing in Brooklyn as a newly married man.

8. Challengers Fourth album, Challengersis released in 2007 More mature sound.Hayden states that “if previous … albums are the musical equivalent of Jolt Cola, Challengers is the caffeine-free diet version: less sugary, more mature, initially not as invigorating, but ultimately just as addictive.” Kathryn’s vocals stand out on their own.

9. Together Most recent album Together was released earlier in 2010. Tone is similar to the previous album. Nothing new, but a whole lot more of everything. Constantly finding new and interesting ways of expressing their style.

10. Currently Touring Touring all across the United States, Canada, and Europe. First two shows sold out. Carl Newman’s fear – not yet realized. “No one's going to be there, and everybody hates us! …It’s gotta fall apart eventually!”

11. The Meaning Behind the Music Will Parker: I really love a lot of your songs, but most of the time, I don't really know what they're about. Am I not listening properly, or would you agree they're a bit cryptic? Carl Newman: Well, some of them… They're always cryptic, because that's the kind of lyricism I like. Like Arthur Lee, from Love, or Black Francis from those old Pixies records. I think even when I'm trying to make a lot of sense, people don't understand me. I don't think I'll ever be like a Springsteen-style confessional songwriter. I just work in a different genre.

12. “Letter From an Occupant” Off of the album Mass Romantic was written by Carl Newman and Neko Case written in 1998 and recorded in Vancouver Canada. This was the song that put the New Pornographers on the radar. “Their first four-song demo went unnoticed until Newman placed the hypercharged, Case-fronted [song]” Carl Newman states, “ I don't know what a "Letter from an Occupant" is, but I'm hoping that I will figure it out at some point. It sounds like it must mean something. It simply must.”

13. Listening Guide "Letter From an Occupant" 0:00 – IntroductionThe 32 beat introduction begins with two guitars, a tambourine, and drums. You can already tell the song has a fast tempo with 4/4 timing in the major mode. It is a rather happy song that you find yourself tapping your toes along to. 0:14 – Verse 1The tambourine drops out during this verse, which totals eight lines. The lyrics are spoken rather quickly in time with the beat. The first half of the verse rhymes lines 2 and 4 ending in “restaurant” and “want” ending in an ascending pattern. The second half repeating the melody of the first rhyming alternate lines 5 and 7 with “me” and “me” and then lines 6 and 8 with “on” and “gone” ending this section with a slight variation with a descending pattern at the tail end of line 8. 0:40 – ChorusNot a very wordy chorus – containing only two lines of lyrics followed by some vocalized “ooh” sounds. Until the chorus, Neko Case has been the only vocalist in the song. Other voices come in to harmonize at “not a letter from an occupant” which seems to give the song a little more energy. Carl Newman then brings in yet another new melody for the second half of the verse along with some rapid tambourine playing at 0:48. 1:09 – Verse 2The tambourine continues to play in this verse, adding to the continually building energy of the song. The structure for this verse is the same as the first, with a few variations on the rhythm in order to fit the words correctly on the word “forever” for example. The verse ends in the same descending pattern. 1:34 – ChorusAn exact repeat of the first chorus. 1:55 – The Bridge (Number 1)Bringing a little more variety to the song, the bridge enters with some quick eighth notes ending in a quarter note rest for the next eight measures. Another melody comes in at 2:08 with the guitars playing a slight variation on the accompaniment that we have been hearing during the chorus. Which brings in the next repetition of the chorus. 2:14 – Chorus Variation 1The first half of the chorus is repeated twice at this point in the song. Substituting the lyrics by Neko for the “oohs” of Carl. 2:35 – The Bridge (Number 2)Opens with a guitar solo bringing us to another harmony at 2:48 that repeats four times creating tension. This brings us to the final repetition of the chorus. 3:13 – Chorus Add OnThesame as the original chorus except adding an additional “For the love of a god you said, not a letter from an occupant.” 3:40 – EndingThis song has a definitive ending point rather than an eventual fade out like many popular songs.

14. “The Laws Have Changed” Off of the album Electric Version, this song was written by Carl Newman. The song was recorded at The Factory and JC/DC Studios in Vancouver BC between November 2001 and October 2002. “During tunes like “The Laws Have Changed”, notions like meaning become, well, meaningless. The song is a furious rush of traded vocals between Newman and Case, shifting tempos and dynamics, hand claps and driving guitars – a perfect pop song.”

15. Listening Guide "The Laws Have Changed" 0:00 – IntroductionThe introduction begins with a four beat count and tap of the drumsticks. This particular song is quite interesting and strays from the typical form of popular music. Instead of verses, bridges, and a chorus we find four melodies in more of a ritornello form bringing us back to melody one throughout the song. The introduction is almost non-existent bringing us directly to the first melody. 0:02 – Melody 1This melody is two lines in length. The second line repeats the melody of the first, rhyming “’em” and “one” at the end of each phrase. 0:19 – Melody 2Two voices harmonize for these two lines of melody. 0:25 – Melody 3Four lines of lyrics – line 3 and 4 end rhyming “unknown” and “throne” at the end of each phrase. 0:37 – Melody 1Again two lines. Lyrics varying. The second repeats the melody of the first, rhyming “fault line” and “meantime” 0:54 – Melody 2Two voices harmonize for these two lines of melody with a variation in lyrics rhyming “bone” with “microphone” from the first introduction of this melody. 1:00 – Melody 3Four lines of lyrics with a lyrical variation in lines 1 and 2 – line 3 and 4 end rhyming “unknown” and “throne” at the end of each phrase. 1:12 – Melody 4There are two counterpoint melodies during this section of the song. One singing the lyrics “form a line through here, form a line to the throne” while the other is a humming of the second melody. Both melodies repeat for the entirety of 16 measures. 1:40 – Melody 1Again two lines. Lyrics varying. The second repeats the melody of the first, rhyming “how” and “now” 1:57 – Melody 2Two voices harmonize for these two lines of melody. No variation on first introduction. 2:03 – Melody 3The first slight variation on this melody occurs on the word “hail” repeating the lyrics from the first introduction of this melody. Repeated one more time before the next section. 2:28 – Melody 4This is an exact repetition of first introduction of this melody. 2:56 – Melody 1This melody is two lines in length. The second line repeats the melody and lyrics of the first. 3:16 – EndAnother distinct ending to a song.

16. “The Bleeding Heart Show” From the album Twin Cinemawritten by Carl Newman. Recorded and mixed at JC/DC Studios, Vancouver, BC, Canada, between November 2004 and April 2005. “The coda of this song, which confirms Newman's long-suspected interest in the Zulu choral music Isicathamiya, is something he "had around for a while, and just needed a great song to go with it.” This song is also one of Carl’s favorites on the album. “It kind of builds up, and by the end it's almost hard to believe that it's the same song that it was at the beginning. That's what we want to do. Make something that's interesting, but at the same time is infectious. You want the songs to haunt people even if they don't want them to.”

17. Listening Guide "The Bleeding Heart Show" 0:00 – Movement 1 BeginsSlow opening to 4/4 timing with strumming of guitar, piano, and drums. The beginning of this song makes the listener feel very melancholic and apprehensive. Which is appropriate given that the lyrics tend to lean towards the beginning of a story that perhaps does not end well. The first movement consists of ten lines of lyrics. Lines 1 and 2 end in rhyme along with lines 3 and 4 ending in rhyme as well. 0:31 - Line 5 alternates it’s phrasing rhyming the first and middle parts and second and last parts of the line, Neko Case also joins to provide harmony. A guitar strum joins the cymbal in the background during this last line and continues through the next 5 lines, which repeat the same rhythm and phrasing as the first 5, to continue to build tension. 1:14– Movement 2 BeginsThe rhythm of the song quickly changes to a faster pace. I believe is the accordion that enters into the song at this point to play part of the accompaniment along with the drums and bass. The lyrics of this section consist of 10 lines total. However, these are also split into two sections. The first section consists of 6 lines; each alternate line does not end in a rhyming word exactly, although, upon first listen you might not recognize it. Each last word on lines 1, 3, and 5 end in an “oooh” sound: “room”, “new”, “into”, which gives the appearance of rhyme. 1:45 - The next section consists of 4 lines, the first three end in that same trick with an “ai” sound contained in the last word of each line such as, “find”, “lives”, “mile”. This again gives the appearance of rhyme. The last line does not rhyme with any other part, but gives a sense of resolution to this section as the excitement in this story continues to build as the “oohs” enter at 2:08. 2:32 – Movement 3 BeginsThe key takes one half step down and another half step down at 2:35 to bring us into the last movement. 2:39 – This is where Carl’s love of Zulu choral music comes in with the entire band singing and mimicking each other on a series of “hey-lahs” back and forth for 24 measures. 3:11 – Is when Neko case brings a little polyphonic texture to the song at the end of that 24th measure to singing, “we have arrived too late to play, the bleeding heart show.” This repeats for 32 measures with a few drum rolls that are added at 3:21, 3:31, 3:42, and 3:53 to give a sense of arrival at the resolution of the song. 3:54– The lyrics drop to just “we have arrived” with the “hey-lahs” continuing to be sung in the background. The volume of the song starts to soften at this point until the definitive ending at 4:22.

18. “Myriad Harbour” From the album Challengersand written by Dan Bejar. Carl Newman claims that it is, "Dan's New York song.” He continues, “When I got the demo from him, I thought he purposely wrote a New York song because I had just moved to NY. Probably not, though. In this song, Dan urges me to 'look up for once and see just how the sun sets in the sky.’” Another review from NPR states that the song “[offers] an evocative snapshot of New York City…They capture the moments of epiphany that can be found by just standing still in the midst of New York's chaotic streets. You can imagine them, or maybe yourself, motionless and meditative as the city rushes by.”

19. Listening Guide "Myriad Harbour" 0:00 – IntroductionThis song is also in 4/4 time with an upbeat sound with a few guitars strumming. At 0:03 some “clicks” are introduced being played on the offbeat. 0:09 is when an acoustic guitar enters playing a strong melody. 0:17 – Verse 1The verses of this song are not sung melodically, but rather spoken rhythmically. Consisting of 9 lines, it is more like a conversation between two people. One is telling the main story as their friend interrupts and finishes their sentences. The first of this so-called interruption coming at 0:19. This back and forth continues for the rest of the verse. Because the lyrics are conversational, they do not need to rhyme in order for the listener to feel comfortable. At 0:35 the accompaniment grows from a few instruments to that of the entire band building to the chorus. 0:44 – Chorus The chorus is just a repetition of the same line “look out upon the Myriad Harbour” four times. The harmonica adds an interesting sound to the chorus. It is almost as if am looking out on the harbour with a man playing his harmonica behind me for tips. 1:07 – Verse 2 The rhythm of the lyrics in the second verse changes slightly in order to fit in more words. They also take out an entire set of lines. This one only consists of 6 versus the original 9. 1:25 – Bridge The bridge consists of 5 lines that do not rhyme. The entire band sings in a monophonic texture for the first 2 lines, almost sounding like a chant. Dan Bejar then continues his story about his sketches. A guitar enters at 1:38 to play a solo for about 14 measures. 2:27 – Verse 3 The rhythm of the lyrics in this verse also varies slightly from the first. The singer stretches them out a bit when he says, “looking for something to do”. This line also does not have the band talking back to him, which brings the total line count for this verse to 8. At 2:41 maracas are brought in for the first time as the guitar starts to build at 2:44. 2:53 – Chorus Add On The chorus is once again four sung lines of “look out upon the Myriad Harbour”. However, on the last line they add a bit of variation by stretching it out over a few beats. 3:17 – The End At this point cellos are brought in to play along side the guitar to continue to crescendo when we finally hear the strings in the forefront before the song comes to a definitive end at 3:50.  

20. In Conclusion There are far too many good songs, I suggest you take a listen to all of their music. Four lead singers helps to bring a wide variety of sounds. Eight total band members helps to produce an almost choral-like feeling to most of their music. They are coming to Salt Lake City on July 29thfor the Twilight Concert Series. Go check them out!

21. Works Cited Answers.com. (n.d.). Answers.com. Retrieved June 7, 2010, from Neko Case: Information from Answers.com: http://www.answers.com/topic/neko-case Begrand, A. (2003, May 12). PopMatters. Retrieved June 6, 2010, from The New Pornographers: Electric Version - PopMatters Music Review: http://www.popmatters.com/music/reviews/n/newpornographers-electric.shtml Blue V Productions, LLC. (2005, October). Recoil - Music Interviews. Retrieved June 5, 2010, from Interview with the New Pornographers: http://www.recoilmag.com/interviews/new_pornographers_1005.html Brown, A. (2005, September 1). Lost At Sea. Retrieved June 3, 2010, from The New Pornographers - Twin Cinema: http://www.lostatsea.net/review.phtml?id=119566377143165acd057c2 Bruno, F. (2003, June 12). LA WEEKLY. Retrieved June 6, 2010, from Poppy Seconds: http://www.laweekly.com/2003-06-12/music/poppy-seconds/ Dungan, J. (2003, Jun 11). Dusted Reviews. Retrieved June 6, 2010, from Dusted Reviews: The New Pornographers – Electric Version: http://www.dustedmagazine.com/reviews/803 Hyden, S. (2007, August 21). A.V. Club | Music. Retrieved June 5, 2010, from The New Pornographers: Challengers: http://www.avclub.com/articles/the-new-pornographers-challengers,7617/ Juzwiak, R. M. (March, 31 2001). Pitchfork. Retrieved June 3, 2010, from Pitchfork: Album Reviews: The New Pornographers: Mass Romantic: http://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/5771-mass-romantic/ last.fm. (n.d.). Last.fm. Retrieved June 1, 2010, from The New Pornographer's Biography: http://www.last.fm/music/The+New+Pornographers/+wiki LeMay, M. (2001, February 1). Pitchfork. Retrieved June 5, 2010, from Pitchfork: Interviews: The New Pornographers: http://pitchfork.com/features/interviews/5818-the-new-pornographers/ Lemay, M. (2003, May 6). Pitchfork. Retrieved June 7, 2010, from Pitchfork: Album Reviews: The New Pornographers: Electric Version: http://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/5772-electric-version/ Milzoff, R. (2007, August 19). New York Magazine. Retrieved June 6, 2010, from New Pornographers Frontman A.C. Newman on Running Canada's Greatest Rock Supergroup From Brooklyn: http://nymag.com/arts/popmusic/features/36049/ Moody, R. (2010, May 4). Matador Records. Retrieved June 5, 2010, from Matador Records | The New Pornographers Biography: http://www.matadorrecords.com/the_new_pornographers/biography.html Ochs, M. (2007, October 25). NPR.org. Retrieved June 5, 2010, from The New Pornographers, a 'Real' Supergroup: NPR: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=15630417 Parkhouse, W. (2010, May 10). Keeping It Together: The New Pornographers Interviewed. Retrieved June 3, 2010, from The Quietus: http://thequietus.com/articles/04229-the-new-pornographers-interview-together Phipps, K. (2005, August 23). A.V. Club - Music. Retrieved June 5, 2010, from The New Pornographers: Twin Cinema: http://www.avclub.com/articles/the-new-pornographers-twin-cinema,10032/ Prindle, M. (2002). Prindle Rock And Roll Record Review Site. Retrieved June 5, 2010, from Carl Newman Interview: http://www.markprindle.com/newman-i.htm Tischler, L. (2010, May 10). Obscure Sound. Retrieved June 5, 2010, from Interview with the New Pornographers -- Obscure Sound: http://obscuresound.com/?p=4451