The New Pornographers biography
The New Pornographers is a Canadian indie rock band formed in 1999 in Vancouver, British Columbia.
History
The band's first four albums each ranked in the top 40 on
The Village Voice's Pazz & Jop year-end poll of hundreds of music reviewers. From 2000 to 2006, either a New Pornographers' album or a solo album from one of the band's members ranked in the top 40 on the list each year. In 2007,
Blender magazine ranked The New Pornographers' first album,
Mass Romantic, the 24th best indie album of all time. It is the second-highest Canadian album on the list, behind Arcade Fire's
Funeral (which came in sixth). In 2009,
Rolling Stone magazine ranked the band's second studio album,
Electric Version, #79 in the "100 Best Albums of the Decade".
The name of the band was chosen by Carl Newman, who has said that he came up with it after watching a Japanese film called The Pornographers. Many writers have assumed that the name was a reference to Jimmy Swaggart's reputed claim that rock and roll was "the new pornography." The band has released five albums to date: Mass Romantic (2000), Electric Version (2003), Twin Cinema (2005), Challengers (2007), and Together (2010). A live album recorded on their 2006 tour is available only at concerts and on the band's website.
All of the band's original members were prominent within the Vancouver music scene prior to forming The New Pornographers. Kathryn Calder, who is also Newman's niece, joined the band in 2005 largely as a live replacement for Case, whose solo career often left her unavailable to perform with the band. Calder's first lead vocals for the band were on 2007's Challengers, singing the lead on "Failsafe" and sharing the lead with Newman on "Adventures in Solitude".
In 2009, The New Pornographers contributed a cover of the song "Hey, Snow White" to the AIDS benefit album Dark Was the Night, produced by the Red Hot Organization.
The band released their fifth album-Together-on May 4, 2010, on Matador Records. The album includes collaborations from St. Vincent, Beirut's Zach Condon, and Okkervil River's Will Sheff.
Members
- Dan Bejar of Destroyer, Swan Lake, and Hello, Blue Roses
- Kathryn Calder, solo artist and of Immaculate Machine
- Neko Case, solo artist, also of Maow, The Corn Sisters, and Cub
- John Collins of The Evaporators and Destroyer
- Kurt Dahle of Limblifter and Age of Electric
- Todd Fancey, solo artist (as Fancey) and of Limblifter
- Carl Newman, solo artist (as A.C. Newman), also of Superconductor and Zumpano
- Blaine Thurier, independent filmmaker
Carl Newman shares the lead vocal duties with Dan Bejar, Neko Case and Kathryn Calder. The band's songs are generally written by either Newman or Bejar, and vocal responsibilities are decided once the songs are written.
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