| | New Pornographers Challengers CD New Pornographers Discography of CDs
 (1 Customer Review)
One of the many things that make the New Pornographers an excellent band is their ability to turn power pop, a genre characterized by its bubblegum orthodoxy and instant appeal into complex, durable art. The Vancouver collective comprising several singer-songwriters with solo careers of their own successfully mined this territory over their first three albums; their fourth finds them delving deeper. 2007's CHALLENGERS brims with the band's usual sterling melodies and meticulous songcraft, while expanding their range sonically and conceptually.
With "My Right Versus Yours" and "All the Old Showstoppers," among others, primary songwriter A.C. Newman pens some of the album's best tunes, striking a fine balance between pop directness and heady unpredictability. Dan Bejar's tracks contrast Newman's with their dark, glam-tinged eccentricity (he even glosses hip-hop on "Myriad Harbor"). As usual, the angelic voice of alt-country singer Neko Case plays a starring role; her treatment of the title cut is one of CHALLENGERS' highlights. All this variety mixes with an intriguing instrumental palette (Farfisa organ, strings, harp), and the usual blast of guitars, harmonies, and infectious hooks, to create an album that invites and rewards repeated listening.
The New Pornographers: Neko Case (vocals); Danny Bejar (guitars); John Collins (baritone guitar); Todd Fancey (banjo); Kathryn Calder (piano); Blaine Thurier (Fender Rhodes piano); A.C. Newman (bass guitar); Kurt Dahle (drums).
Additional personnel: Phil Palazzolo (guitar); Eileen Gannon (harp); Tara Szczygielski, Olivier Manchon (violin); Marla Hansen (viola); Benjamin D. Kalb (cello); Leslie Kubicka (flute); Brendan Ryan (accordion); Alan Hampton (double bass).
Rolling Stone (p.71) - 3 stars out of 5 -- "[S]lower and more thoughtful, but mostly it keeps up the hook-pumped, harmony-chocked power pop..."
Spin (p.136) - 3.5 stars out of 5 -- "[M]ost of CHALLENGERS trades the fuzzy synths and galloping drums of the outfit's past records for acoustic-based ruminations on matters of the heart."
Alternative Press (p.162) - 3.5 stars out of 5 -- "[With] brain-teasing melodies and majestic orchestration..."
Magnet (p.106) - "CHALLENGERS' 'The Spirit Of Giving' finds the Pornos on the inside, victorious and sitting pretty." Challengers Music | List Price | $12.97 (You save $3.08) | | Category | Rock/Pop Albums, Rock CDs | | Label | Matador (record label) | | Orig Year | 2007 | | All Time Sales Rank |  16479  | | CD Universe Part number | 7473519 | | Catalog number | 10770 | | Discs | 1 | | Release Date | Aug 21, 2007 | | Studio/Live | Studio | | Mono/Stereo | Stereo | | Producer | Phil Palazzolo; A.C. Newman; Kurt Dahle; John Collins | | Engineer | Brandon Cherrington; Shawn Pennner; Chad Lupo | | Recording Time | 48 minutes | | Personnel | Neko Case - vocals
John Collins - baritone guitar
Blaine Thurier - Fender Rhodes piano
Kathryn Calder - piano
Kurt Dahle - drums
Todd Fancey - banjo
A.C. Newman - bass guitar
Danny Bejar - guitars
Also: Olivier Manchon, Olivier Manchon, Marla Hansen, Tara Szczygielski, Alan Hampton, Brendan Ryan, Benjamin D. Kalb, Eileen Gannon, Leslie Kubicka, Phil Palazzolo |
Challengers Music Review Average Rating: (4 out of 5 stars)  Softer songs are as charming as the "rockers" here
The New Pornographers is one of my favorite indie rock bands, so read this review with that in mind. Along with review sites like PopMatters, I too noticed that the album "Challengers" has a higher percentage of downtempo/ballad songs than their previous albums. Their longest album song so far at 6:30, "Unguided" gently glides along, but the touching lyrics by Newman and Case have made this one of my favorite ballads by any 2000s band. I applaud Bejar's three contributions to the album, especially the quirky, driving "Myriad Harbour" and the folky "Entering White Cecilia." Songs like "All the Things That Go to Make Heaven and Earth" are as catchy as any of the Newman-led songs on previous efforts. If you haven't heard this band before, I suggest listening to the songs "Chump Change" and "Sing Me Spanish Techno" (from other albums), but once you know you like the band, this album has its share of great songs.
Submitted by Stephen (Baltimore, MD, USA) 
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Purchase Challengers CD To buy, Click on price to add to cart | Arcade Fire Funeral CD (2004)
Challengers
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This Montreal ensemble's fiery debut is marked by surging guitars, soulful strings, driving drums, brilliant bass lines, and the quavering vocals of married couple Win Butler and Regine Chassagne. The group's song structures careen through a vast territory of musical and personal history, with lyrics warm with memories of childhood neighborhoods and deceased loved ones, resulting in an alternating current of joy and sadness.
Favorably compared to the Flaming Lips, Mercury Rev, and Broken Social Scene, the Arcade Fire's sound seems to come from a lifetime of listening to the Cure, Talking Heads, Elvis Costello, and many others--even a dose of soul gets worked into these grand anthems. Chassagne delivers some spellbinding vocals on "Haiti," while the tinkling piano and strings on "Crown of Love" conjure up a heartbroken surfside prom. In 2004, this made many critics' year-end lists, and it's no wonder--the songs on FUNERAL are so ...
| | New Pornographers Twin Cinema CD (2005)
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The follow-up to indie-rock collective New Pornographers' lauded ELECTRIC VERSION, 2005's TWIN CINEMA expands on that album's power-pop sound. Here the group, masterminded by singer/multi-instrumentalist A.C. Newman, has added a new member--vocalist/pianist Kathryn Calder (Newman's niece)--while both the songwriting and arrangements have become more adventurous.
The energetic title track sounds like an unlikely collaboration between Wire and Big Star, while "The Bones of an Idol" recalls mid-1970s Brian Eno. As always, alt-country star Neko Case steals the show, particularly on "These Are the Fables," an urgent, piano-based tune that spotlights her potent Patsy Cline-on-caffeine vocals. Destroyer's Dan Bejar also contributes a handful of songs, including the quirky T. Rex-meets-New Wave track "Broken Beads." The New Pornographers have enough talent and imagination to weave their various influences into their own unique sound, and the result is a buoyant, engaging collection of songs. Although some might have doubted ...
| | Yo La Tengo I Am Not Afraid Of You And I Will Beat Your Ass CD (2006)
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With 2006's cheekily titled I AM NOT AFRAID OF YOU AND I WILL BEAT YOUR ASS, the beloved indie-rock trio Yo La Tengo presents a dynamic set of songs that echo the band's past, while notably downplaying the soporific atmospherics of preceding discs (the lauded AND THEN NOTHING and SUMMER SUN). The New Jersey-based group opens with "Pass ...
| | National Boxer CD (2007)
Challengers
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On 2007's BOXER, the National's second full-length album for the venerable Beggars Banquet label, the Brooklyn-based indie-rock act follows up the lauded ALLIGATOR with another round of melancholy guitar-driven tunes. Led by deep-voiced vocalist Matt Berninger, who often sounds hung-over yet disarmingly articulate, the band excels at brooding mid-tempo songs, as exemplified by the world-weary "Fake Empire," which combines political and personal themes, and "Mistaken for Strangers," a track that recalls NYC peers Interpol, thanks in part to the punchy approach of shared producer Peter Katis.
And ...
| | M I A Kala CD (2007)
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Even before M.I.A. (Maya Arulpragasam) debuted in 2005 with ARULAR, the blogosphere was already abuzz about her, engaging in the kind of discourse normally reserved for academic dissertations. Whether hailed as a canny postmodern pastiche or dismissed as inauthentic cultural pirating, the music, a lively pan-global mash-up of regional dance music styles, seemed to be emanating simultaneously from every ghetto, favela, and council-flat within earshot. As if to call out her detractors, M.I.A. returns for another shot of explosive, politically charged and globally conscious dance music on her second album, KALA.
Lacking the patchwork quality of the debut, KALA is a more cohesive and polished affair, though it matches its predecessor for shear visceral thrills. Recorded across several different continents, and featuring the production talents of Timbaland, Switch, and Blaqstarr, as well as longstanding collaborator Diplo, the globetrotting beat makers mine sources as varied as funk carioca, Baltimore bounce, and the occasional ludicrously placed sound-effect (a squawking chicken). ...
| | Rilo Kiley Under The Blacklight CD (2007)
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L.A.'s cuddliest indie-rockers go for the gold on their fourth album and major-label debut. The warm and fuzzy country/folk-inflected sound that made Rilo Kiley an underground sensation is shunted aside in favor of a more ...
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| | Stroller Six Inches Off The Ground CD (2003)
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Stroller's sound is truly unique. Blend each of the members' previous experiences playing the "rock scene" and incorporate musical influences like The Beatles, Sly And The Family Stone, JJ Cale and a touch of Pink Floyd and you have this individual sound that Stroller likes to describe as "kickin' your ass while laid back in a lazy boy rock and roll." Front-man Jon Nicholson is a Madison, Wisconsin native who journeyed to Nashville in 1997 to hone his writing skills. Jon wanted to collaborate with other songwriters and work on his own musical direction, "To me as long as your making true honest music that comes from your soul it can't be wrong," says Nicholson. While recording a demo session for his publishing company, Windswept-Pacific, Jon met the guys that would eventually become Stroller. From the beginning, the guys felt a creative brotherhood. "The collaboration of these guys has been mind blowing," says Nicholson. "Our music together is tight and our respect for each other is endless." And with a built-in fan base these guys already have a cult-like following. The perfectly coordinated and creative rhythm section of Dean Tomasek (bass) and Tommy Williams (drums), join Stroller after stints with Bare, Jr., Will Hoge and Mathew Ryan. They both express how easy this band works together, "Our songs are just feel-good music that hopefully people love listening to as much as we love playing them", describes Dean.The guitar player is a young rock virtuoso named Adam Shoenfeld. Adam has quickly established himself as a sought after player for recording sessions in a town that is already crowded with some of the best guitar players in the world. After seeing him live, many established acts such as Radney Foster have approached Adam with opportunities to join them on the road, but Adam's heart is in the music and brotherhood of Stroller. "There's no pressure, we get together and each bring our own thing to the table. We each write songs that seem to meld together beautifully and we allow each other to be individually creative in the presentation of those songs."From the moment you see and hear this band for the first time, it is obvious that they have something special.Their music marries meaningful lyrics with soulful vocals and pop sensibilities. Take a walk on a musical journey with Stroller.
Stroller is more of an all-star lineup featuring members who have supported Kim Richey, Josh Rouse, and Radney Foster, among others. And this debut EP soars with the title track, a no-nonsense roots rocker that ...
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| | Paolo Parrella Classical Piano 1 CD (2008)
Challengers
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Classical Piano I Volume is the first classical piano album by Paolo Parrella aka Musilosophy.--The album has been recorded in Summer 2008 and it is the result of a musical research study begun some years ago.Composing quality classical piano music at is not so simple because you need to know the classical style. However creating piano works in a classical style should have been useless and not so without adding something new and original.So Paolo has composed these piano classical tracks improvising on some chords with the style of Frederic Chopin or Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, for example.A rebirth of classical music with modern contaminations originated above all by jazz piano music has been the result.The piano pieces has been composed improvising on classical accompaniments or bases. Thank ...
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