Three years after the sonic honey of Mass Romantic, the New Pornographers come up smiling once more with their sophomore effort and Matador debut, Electric Version. These beloved indie rockers stick with the syrupy goodness found on their first album, but opt to turn the amps up for a brighter, slicker sound, hence the title. It's a kitschy play on the band's power pop, and Carl Newman and secret member Dan Bejar keep their clever lyrical twists in tune. Twiddling riffs and organs dance with Neko Case's sunny harmonies on the rollicking "It's Only Divine Right" and "From Blown Speakers." The energy is there, but Electric Version captures a new kind of energy from the New Pornographers. While Mass Romantic was a little more quirky in spirit, Electric Version is more polished. They took just under a year to create this album, so naturally a fresh confidence would transpire and "The Laws Have Changed" highlights the New Pornographers' musical growth. This album standout is bold as brass, drenched in Case and Newman's perky vocals. "All for Swinging You Around" takes things further with wacky synth beats and tripped-up percussion, Velocity Girl-style, but its the band's own glossed-over ock & roll on "Miss Teen Worldpower" that truly represents the smooth emotion and might behind the New Pornographers' sound. Electric Version is an enjoyable and easy listen, chock-full of hungry hooks and brimming with indie rock's classic humility.
I've been trying to tweek my computer speakers to get the best sound output. I don't have crappy speakers (Harman/Kardon shielded sticks with a pretty good sub-woofer), but they are almost too fancy. There's presets that I can tweek with the speakers, and then there's the iTunes equalizer that I can also play with. Given all those choices, I ended up with a pretty good bass sound, but the voc...
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This song really got me going this a.m. on my ride to work.I have been riding my bike to and from work for the last couple of weeks. What with gas prices hitting...ouch...$3.75 a gallon. And what with global warming and all.Yes, I wear headphones and listen to music...No, I don't wear a helmet.I got priorities man.I heard that this song made the cut on the "Heros" soundtrack. It was used in ...
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I had an interesting conversation with my boy while driving home in the car…There is a whole convoluted backstory about how we got to the conversation, I just don’t have the patience or energy to get into that much detail, nor do you, I suspect.To sum it all up, the conversation was about SWEARING…Cuss words & foul language.Stewart, my husband, and I both understand that kids swear. Part of
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Hey fellow Californians, the new hands-free cellphone law went into effect today. Perfect opportunity to share this infectious littel pop ditty by a great band (F.Y.I. you don't have to be from CA to enjoy the MP3).The Law
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I'm one of those who think that the first New Pornographers album was quite good but each subsequent one has been successively worse. But my hat goes off to the band's recent "challenge to the YouTube nation" (their wording) which is part of the promo campaign for their most recent album Challengers. The challenge (see it here) was: "Sing a New Pornographers song in the style of Michael McDonal...
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We flow thru the streets, big city streets.The way you do.
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So maybe the occasional great track slips past my careful ear. Maybe I don't always catch on to what is hip and new right away. I mean, I like to give things time. Like this whole MOG thing. I knew it was out there. I knew all the cool kids were doing it. I just like to ease into things. And I guess that's like the New Pornographers for me. Sure, I adored Twin Cinema when it came out, like ever...
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 "Electric Version")
