« Now, when I say "Hello, Mr Thompson," and press down on your foot, you smile and nod. | Main | Totally Budget »

August 18, 2005

X-rated

Update re: this post: The New Pornographers' Twin Cinema is indeed earth-shatteringly terrific. It is looser, more shambling, and harder-edged than their first two, and it's certainly the best album I've heard this year.

The success is due in great part to the re-emergence of Dan Bejar as a "real" member of the band. Bejar has an amazing and as far as I know unique knack for writing songs that sound halting and clunky and useless for one minute, make perfect cosmic sense after three, and then don't leave heavy rotation for a month — "Jackie, Dressed in Cobras" is such a song, but "Broken Breads" is stratospheric, a real individual breakthrough for Bejar's pop persona. His songs remain instantly distinguishable from Carl Newman's, as indeed Destroyer (Bejar's solo moniker) is instantly distinguishable from Newman's solo work, but Twin Cinema sees both Bejar and Newman being "influenced" by the New Pornographers even as they create it. Their writing grows more alike even as it collectively soars away from what few competitors it has.

Twin Cinema is miles further out there as the New Pornos have ever been — it's almost Fiery Furnaces territory (note: I hate the Fiery Furnaces) in comparison to sugar rushes like "Letter from an Occupant" and "All for Swinging You Around" — but it was time for them to branch out, and everything is still as catchy as all hell. In all seriousness, if someone wanted to suggest that Twin Cinema was the greatest Canadian pop record of all time, this die-hard Sloan fan wouldn't object in the slightest.

Oh, and I retract my earlier, somewhat qualified opinion about "Use It". This song is the best thing I've heard yet this year bar absolutely none. My ears are currently ringing from it, and yet I maintain that it's impossible to play the "second chorus" loud enough. This could very well be my favourite band in the world right now. And given that they're Canadian, and this is the center of the freaking universe and all, I hereby state my objection to their Sunday night show at Toronto's appalling Docks complex.

Posted by Chris Selley at August 18, 2005 11:50 PM

Trackback Pings

TrackBack URL for this entry:
http://www.tartcider.com/cgi-bin/mt-tb.cgi/43

Listed below are links to weblogs that reference X-rated:

» Jennifer Davis from Richard Miller
The sweet life stories. [Read More]

Tracked on April 6, 2006 09:39 AM

» Jennifer Davis from Richard Miller
New interesting theme [Read More]

Tracked on April 13, 2006 03:56 AM

» Jennifer Davis from Richard Miller
New fay site [Read More]

Tracked on April 23, 2006 05:34 AM

» Jennifer Davis from Richard Miller
Live sex [Read More]

Tracked on April 26, 2006 12:14 AM

» Jennifer Davis from Richard Miller
Sex on web [Read More]

Tracked on April 26, 2006 04:24 AM

» ohio hotel from
[Read More]

Tracked on April 28, 2006 11:49 PM

» las vegas hotel casino from
[Read More]

Tracked on April 29, 2006 02:06 AM

» Jennifer Davis from Richard Miller
Shemale stories [Read More]

Tracked on April 30, 2006 12:04 AM

» hotel from hotel
[Read More]

Tracked on April 30, 2006 01:24 AM

» Jennifer Davis from Richard Miller
Soma [Read More]

Tracked on May 4, 2006 04:48 PM

» Jennifer Davis from Richard Miller
Cheap ambien [Read More]

Tracked on May 8, 2006 08:17 AM

» Jennifer Davis from Richard Miller
Buy clonazepam online [Read More]

Tracked on May 10, 2006 06:07 AM

» Jennifer Davis from Richard Miller
Fat sex [Read More]

Tracked on May 24, 2006 11:46 AM

» Jennifer Davis from Richard Miller
Chart live sex [Read More]

Tracked on June 3, 2006 05:36 PM

» buy valium from buy valium
[Read More]

Tracked on June 5, 2006 05:31 PM

Comments

Posted by: mgl at October 6, 2005 12:50 AM