Speaking of the New Pornographers, their head honcho A.C. Newman‘s second solo album, Get Guilty, now has a release date – January 20th – and a tour schedule. He’ll be hitting Neumo’s in Seattle on February 21st and the Paradise in Boston on the March 14th (full tour schedule here). Nicole Atkins and Jon Wurster – better known as the drummer for the Mountain Goats – do guest stints on the album, so I am extra-psyched about hearing the whole thing. Here’s a taste to keep you going until then.
Charmingly-named Australian website Moshcam is the go-to source for concert footage down under. They just posted video of a New Pornographers [pictured above] show at the Annandale Hotel in October, and you can also check out video of The Faint, Australia’s own Youth Group, and more. The site includes two excellent features: a clickable playlist, so impatient types can jump straight to their favourite track, and an audio-only option if you are on a low-bandwidth connection.
MP3: The New Pornographers – Sing Me Spanish Techno [amazon]
Speaking of Sloan, they made The Onion AV Club‘s recent list of ‘bands with more than one prominent lead singer,’ which also includes z=z favourites Mission of Burma (pictured above) and The New Pornographers. I’m not sure that I totally buy the pop-psych explanation of Sloan’s lack of success in the US, though:
It’s possible that perpetually underappreciated (in the States, anyway) Canadian power-pop band Sloan is too democratic. Fans tend to gravitate to bands where the members have clearly defined roles and responsibilities. In Sloan, everybody sings, writes, and trades off instruments. This means there’s no leader or star in Sloan, though a surplus of wonderful songs and killer harmonies would make up for that in a just world.
It’s especially hard to be swayed by that argument when the company they’re keeping includes, well, The Beatles (and the Beach Boys, and Fleetwood Mac, and the Clash, and Pink Floyd). You know, ‘perpetually underappreciated’ bands like that.
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