The New Pornographers

有那么一类乐队，我们经常称之为Supergroup，翻译过来可以叫精英团体。这说的就是乐队每个成员过去都在各自的领域中取得过非同一般的成绩，现在聚到一起，组建的另外一个乐队。 来自加拿大温哥华的the New Pornographers就是这么一支Supergroup，成员包括Thee Evaporators的John Collins、Destroyer的Dan Bejar、独立制片人Blaine Thurier和一直在乡村摇滚领域里混事儿的女主唱Neko Case（其第三张专辑《Blacklisted》是在the Bad Seed帮助下完成的），还有乐队的主脑以及发起人AC Newman。 这个叫AC Newman的人和其它成员一样，都有自己的一摊子事儿。1996年，他同自己的另外一支乐队Zumpano完成了专辑《Goin’ Through Changes》的录制和宣传工作之后，闲的没事儿干，就找来这些人组建了the New Pornographers。当时还没人用“Supergroup”这个词形容他们，直到乐队首张专辑《Mass Romantic》发表之后的一次演出中，与英国60年代的著名乐队the Kinks的主唱Ray Davies一同登台，唱了一首他们当年的经典之作Starstruck之后，才被最有话语权的美国媒体所重视。 《Twin Cinema》是他们的第三张专辑，和略带New Skool Punk气质的前两张专辑相比，这张专辑更贴近60年末或者70年代初的迷幻色彩，灵魂人物AC Newman将专辑中最主要的吉他和Organ风琴部分编写得比以往更加复杂。对于这种复杂的编曲，就算是再细致，也难免会有突兀的转折，不过在鼓手Kurt Dahle的帮助下，用快节奏的鼓击将这些突兀成功的掩盖。所以听起来在旋律上并没有失去一如既往的流畅。 很多乐队在完成一张优秀的专辑之后，经常会把以前成功的和弦走向以及演奏方式拿到新专辑的创作当中，为的是把那些曾经的优秀继续发扬光大，成就新的唱片，让歌迷在这种耳熟能详的感觉当中产生错觉。但the New Pornographers没有采用这种较为保险的方式，而是拿来许多新的元素放在这张专辑里（以及2004年Newman的个人唱片the Slow Wonder当中），所以这张唱片听上去更像the Zombies或者是Bee Gees早期作品Every Christian Lion Hearted Man Will Show You的绚丽和舒适。 另外，Newman还找来他的侄女Kathryn Calder与主唱Neko Case共同参与演唱。专辑中最值得推荐的是Neko Case写就的民谣作品These Are the Fables，以及描写夫妻之间生活平淡，急需一点儿新的话题为之改变的Sing Me Spanish Techno。尤其是后者，恐怕是the New Pornographers历年来最出色的一首作品了，纵使他们发表下一张唱片时，恐怕也写不出这么好的歌，因为它已经达到了一个极致。
by Heather Phares & MacKenzie Wilson
The Vancouver indie rock supergroup the New Pornographers features the talents of Zumpanos Carl Newman, the Evaporators John Collins, Destroyers Dan Bejar, cartoonist/filmmaker Blaine Thurier, drummer Fisher Rose, and guest vocalist Neko Case. Newman began the band in 1996 as a lark after releasing Zumpanos Goin Through Changes; one by one, the other members joined the fold, and the New Pornographers first official rehearsal took place in 1997. By the following year, the group had completed four songs, but then Case left Vancouver for Chicago, Thurier began work on his film Low Self Esteem Girl, and the other members attended to their other bands and projects. Rose left in 1999, and Limblifter/Age of Electric drummer Kurt Dahle and guitarist Todd Fancey joined the Canadian supergroup. With a solid lineup in tow, the New Pornographers reunited and began recording again in early 2000, completing their debut album, Mass Romantic, in time for a fall release and critical acclaim. Ray Davies joined the band at SXSW in fall 2001, performing the Kinks classic Starstruck for the first time ever. After a brief North American tour, each member returned to their respective projects by 2002. Bejar recorded with Destroyer, and Case headed out on the road with Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds in support of her second solo album, Blacklisted. Nobody strayed too far, however, for the New Pornographers headed back into the studio before the years end to work on a follow-up to Mass Romantic. The pop-powered Electric Version, which appeared in spring 2003, marked their first for Matador. Twin Cinema followed in 2005 and garnered a good deal of critical praise, receiving near-perfect rankings from such influential outlets as Rolling Stone and Pitchfork. Bolstered by such a positive reception — as well as the success of Neko Cases Fox Confessor Brings the Flood in 2006 — the group went in a mellower direction with 2007s Challengers.