a.c. newman
the slow wonder • matador records • 2004
describe this cd in three words: (1) new, (2) pornographers, (3) the
judging a book by its cover: there's a kitty nose on the cover. there's a kitty nose on the cover!!!
who this reminds me of: uh, the rockin', sometimes folky, but always poppy sound of...the new pornographers!
the most new pornographer-y song of the bunch: the very poppy and fun "Secretarial"
the least new pornographer-y song: "Come Crash", which I'm sure most people will rank as their least favorite song, as well, but for me, its melancholy feel is right down my alley!
more non-new-pornographer surprises: the trumpet and elegant piano on songs like "The Cloud Prayer" actually remind me of Belle & Sebastian...
but it is like the new pornographers, right?: oh, hell yeah.
Carl Newman, the Richie Cunningham-esque leader of you-know-who, has released his first solo album. According to
The Stranger, Carl started working on this right after he finished recording The Pornographers'
Electric Version...he claims that he "just began working on a load of songs that [he] didn't really see working for New Pornographers...", but frankly, I see this CD as more of a natural extension of
Electric Version. Listening to songs like "On The Table" and "The Town Halo", I found myself wondering why he didn't just save those up for the next NP album. And on backing vocals, he recruited one
Sarah Wheeler, whose clear-as-a-bell girlish voice is a dead ringer for NP's
Neko Case! What's up with that?! But, hey, as long as he can keep writing these amazing pop songs that stick in your brain like peanut butter, he can release them any ol' way he pleases! The important thing is that he keeps on releasing them...
(janice.09.04)
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