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June 22, 2005

More From Twin Cinema

The New Pornographers - "Use It" (MP3)

Posted at 1:42 PM
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33 Comments

there are a few tracks i like a lot on this album, but overall i can't really get into this album very much, which is disapointing because i'm a huge fan of their other 2

Posted by: Keith at 06/22/05 2:05 PM | Reply
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Call me old fashioned, but I'm still quite partial to the old pornographers.

Posted by: Irish Mike at 06/22/05 2:09 PM | Reply
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the old pornographers had class, charisma, character development, etc. Now it's all just "get em naked, get to the money shot..." so sad.

Posted by: Landon at 06/22/05 2:31 PM | Reply
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Wow. Um. Kind of plodding and dull, isn't it?

Posted by: Todd Dominey at 06/22/05 2:37 PM | Reply
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Not at all. Of course, I only like select songs from the first 2 and am loving pretty much ALL of this one.

Posted by: Paul at 06/22/05 2:48 PM | Reply
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Ya, I've warmed up to this album too, with a few listens.

Posted by: N at 06/22/05 2:53 PM | Reply
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Advance copy of New Pornographers due out in August:

The New Pornographers - Twin Cinema
http://rapidshare.de/files/2489956/twincinema1-7.zip.html
http://rapidshare.de/files/2489970/twincinema8-14.zip.html

check it out, report back to gummer,

Posted by: Yale Bloor at 06/22/05 3:11 PM | Reply
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I do think this new one is kind of different than the first two. A little more...subdued, maybe? Not as much complete joy radiating off the album. That said, I still love the new album, there's just a little bit of a downshift going on here.

Posted by: Puggy at 06/22/05 3:18 PM | Reply
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i like the old stuff

Posted by: Satisfied '75 at 06/22/05 3:25 PM | Reply
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Yeah, the new album is pretty sub-par. Go listen to the new Deathray Davies for your pop fix instead.

Posted by: tankboy at 06/22/05 3:35 PM | Reply
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That new DeathrayDavies is really bland

Posted by: Jason Malmberg at 06/22/05 4:11 PM | Reply
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this record is definitely a grower, i hated it when i first heard it, but now i'm playing it 8-10 times a week.

Posted by: chris at 06/22/05 4:29 PM | Reply
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Chris, you need to get out more!

Posted by: Yale Bloor at 06/22/05 4:56 PM | Reply
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From the little I've heard from the new New Pornographers, it sounds a lot more like A.C. Newman's last solo record. Not surprising.

Posted by: Billy K at 06/22/05 5:08 PM | Reply
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The new Black Eyed Peas is Phunkin' Awesome!!! Pitchfork gave it an 11.

Posted by: Doofy at 06/22/05 5:13 PM | Reply
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Well, at least Twin Cinema the song is a keeper.

Memo to A.C. Newman:
More Neko Case = Better record.

Posted by: Blu at 06/22/05 5:40 PM | Reply
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I downloaded this last night, I'm liking it a lot. Perhaps there's a little more craft, a little less of the sheer exuberance... but there's still plenty of exuberance, so that's good.

Posted by: Joey Headset at 06/22/05 5:46 PM | Reply
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the new pornographers still have the spark. this record is both exciting as it is complicated. after 2 lps and that a/c newman solo record the sugar had to go. it would be neat to see where they go from here but all in all while there are maybe 2 or 3 "eh" songs the record is pretty fucking solid and it is hard to say that about albums nowadays.

Posted by: rohan at 06/22/05 5:58 PM | Reply
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i have to agree that this is more of a grower than the previous two albums. but from the couple of times i've listened to it, it is excellent. how can you hate on the np's? seriously.

Posted by: Greg at 06/22/05 8:04 PM | Reply
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I like it.

Posted by: Justin at 06/22/05 9:30 PM | Reply
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oh for god sakes. that is a great song.
Memo to Blu:
All the NP's require is a great female singer.
I for one don't give a hot damn if that singer is Neko Case. Has it not occured to you that she doesn't give a damn either?

Posted by: L at 06/22/05 10:19 PM | Reply
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methinks this is quite a bit better than Electric Version, if not quite up to Mass Romantic. sooo tasty. can't wait to see them tonight!

Posted by: tim at 06/23/05 10:38 AM | Reply
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Great, now the song's stuck in my head.

"Use it to-ni-i-i-i-i-ight..."

Posted by: Blu at 06/24/05 12:01 PM | Reply
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well written great production, the middle section has it

Posted by: longer at 06/26/05 3:52 PM | Reply
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Mass Romantic and Electric Version have been in constant rotation in my MP3 player for the past two years...definitely on my list of "desert island" albums. So far, I'm a tad disappointed by Twin Cinema (although the title track rocks). As someone else commented, it sounds a lot like A.C. Newman's solo album, The Slow Wonder. A little melancholy and a lot more subdued than the NP's first two albums. But I'm going to give it time...these guys definitely grow on you.

Posted by: Pat at 06/30/05 10:13 AM | Reply
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This album is, song for song, so much stronger than either of the previous NP albums it makes me sick. I agree, the first listen is disppointing/confusing when you're expecting the bubblegum of Electric Version, as I was... but when I really sat down with it some, I was completely blown away. The title track may be most like the NP of old, but in the end it's probably the least interesting song on the whole album. Bejar's three are the best songs he's penned for the band (esp. "Jackie Dressed in Cobras") and Newman's hit some new songwriting peaks with "Use It," "These Are The Fables" and "Sing Me Spanish Techno." Why would you ever want another Mass Romantic when you've got a pop album this friggin' gorgeous?

Posted by: modifydbear at 06/30/05 9:08 PM | Reply
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Ahem...I'd like to revise my last review. As expected, this album has not just grown on me, but burrowed deep inside my brain, refusing to get its many hooks out of me. That disturbing image aside, there are very few disappointments here (the posted "Use It," unfortunately, is one). Standouts include:
Twin Cinema
The Jessica Numbers
Sing Me Spanish Techno
The Bleeding Heart Show

Even the Dan Bejar tunes (which I've never been wild about) are outstanding. As a reviewer once noted, somewhere there is a parallel universe where the New Pornographers rule the charts. If so, Twin Cinema should debut at #1.

Posted by: Pat at 07/07/05 3:57 PM | Reply
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yes. this album is amazing. ive listened to it twenty times or so, and its still growing, getting better. i dont understand how anyone could be dissapointed with it.

Posted by: lan at 07/14/05 11:27 AM | Reply
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i've listened to twin cinema about 20 times now, thinking it was a 'grower'...but, it's not...i know what the problem is...the lyrics. there's nothing to grab hold of here...they're so oblique and obscure, nonsense really. who can relate to any of it on a personal level? it's a style and no substance...if you're going to do melancholy there has to be an emotional center and the problem i have had with all of the nps songs is there is no emotional center...it's candy...it tastes good, but ultimately isn't that good for you.

i believe carl newman is one of the most amazing craftsmen of melody, however, lyrically...it's not all there.

it goes all the way back to superconductor.

Posted by: steve at 07/26/05 11:23 AM | Reply
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This album is really brilliant... a lot of it takes a bit longer to get into than "Mass Romantic" or "Electric Version", so I can understand the initial lackluster response to a degree. But after a few listens, it becomes clear that it's the best album they've done, and that says a lot. "The Bleeding Heart Show" could very well be the best song the band has ever recorded. "Use It" and "Star Bodies" are immediately uber-catchy, the most "Electric Version"-esque tracks on the album. I love the risks they took with songs like "These Are The Fables", "The Jessica Numbers", and "Stacked Crooked". And the Bejar songs, on the whole, are the best songs he's done for the NPs (although nothing will top "Testament To Youth In Verse", admittedly) and are much more cohesive to the album as a whole. I cannot wait to buy myself a real copy of this on the 23rd.

Posted by: katybeth at 08/12/05 8:25 PM | Reply
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"There Are The Fables" is my new favourite Pornographers song. The cd is different, but exquisite nevertheless!

Posted by: Jere at 08/25/05 12:54 AM | Reply
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i really disliked this album when i first listened to it. not at all what i was expecting. then i listened to it a lot more and stopped expecting the same old stuff, i realized that this album was new and quite extraordinary.
the lyrics are rather hard to realte to, but thats not the point, you dont have to know what the songs are about, and most hits you have no idea whats going on in the song. ever heard barenaked ladies' "one week"? do you remember that song explaining a single part? no. was it still a great song? yes.
this album is one that will probably be stuck in my playlist forever, as it is now, i cant leave the house unless ive heard oen song from the NPs, and im starting to want to hear it from this cd more and more... its good stuff.

Posted by: jared at 08/29/05 1:09 PM | Reply
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hello lindsay i am 13 i like youfilms, music, persion . my sister is a beutifull beacuse she is very same you . ilove you lindsay my adress is a sahel_haloon @yahoo.com please answer me.thank you. ilove you ilove you ilove you lindsay lohan

Posted by: sahel at 08/30/05 7:24 AM | Reply
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