New Pornographers - Electric Version

In an effort to get away from dating myself, I figured I'd throw up something more recent before I end up talking about nearly every CD I stole...ahem..."forgot to return" to the University's radio station.

The New Pornographers started in 1997 as essentially an Indie-Rock-Canadian Supergroup/side project featuring AC Newman, Neko Case and Dan Bejar (among several others). For lack of a better term, their music sounds like fun. Riding in the car with the windows open on a perfect summer day fun. While their first LP, Mass Romantic, is good, on Electric Version, they really kick it into the stratosphere. Just looking at the track list, you can sense some of the goofyness contain within (songs like: Miss Teen Wordpower and Testament to Youth in Verse). It just feels like a bunch of talented musicians sitting around and spitballing things that sound fun. This album is best listened to loudly.Since it's difficult for me to pick just one song, here's two:

New Pornographers - Blown Speakers

New Pornographers - All For Swinging You Around

Recommended Listening: If you like Electric Version, definitely pick up Mass Romantic, as it is very good. Their third album, Twin Cinema, is good, but it doesn't have the same "unf" that the first two releases do. It almost feels like they changed their mind-set from being "fun side-project" to "full-on-band" so they felt compelled to include slow, meditative and navel-gazing, quasi-experimental tunes as well. They also have a new album coming out in August that I'm looking forward to.