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Challengers [CD]

New Pornographers Audio CD
4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
Price: £4.67 & this item Delivered FREE in the UK with Super Saver Delivery. See details and conditions
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Music

Image of album by New Pornographers

Photos

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Biography

THE NEW PORNOGRAPHERS Together
We Are Together, by Rick Moody
For what purpose the popular song? Does the popular song have a purpose? Is it just a sequence of auditory gestures, desperate acts, adrift in the bigger broader silence of an unforgiving cultural landscape? In what follows, we will assume that the purpose of the popular song is to unite warring disputants and to repair the ... Read more in Amazon's New Pornographers Store

Visit Amazon's New Pornographers Store
for 9 albums, photos, discussions, and more.

Frequently Bought Together

Challengers + Together + Twin Cinema
Price For All Three: £23.29

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  • Together £9.06
  • Twin Cinema £9.56

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Product details

  • Audio CD (20 Aug 2007)
  • Number of Discs: 1
  • Format: CD
  • Label: Matador
  • ASIN: B000S9KSC8
  • Other Editions: Audio CD  |  Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
  • Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 54,510 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Listen to Samples and Buy MP3s

Songs from this album are available to purchase as MP3s. Click on "Buy MP3" or view the MP3 Album.
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         

Samples
Song Title Time Price
Listen  1. My Rights Versus Yours 4:17£0.79  Buy MP3 
Listen  2. All The Old Showstoppers 4:08£0.79  Buy MP3 
Listen  3. Challengers 3:31£0.79  Buy MP3 
Listen  4. Myriad Harbour 4:00£0.79  Buy MP3 
Listen  5. All The Things That Go To Make Heaven And Earth 3:09£0.79  Buy MP3 
Listen  6. Failsafe 2:37£0.79  Buy MP3 
Listen  7. Unguided 6:33£0.79  Buy MP3 
Listen  8. Entering White Cecilia 3:28£0.79  Buy MP3 
Listen  9. Go Places 4:32£0.79  Buy MP3 
Listen10. Mutiny, I Promise You 4:12£0.79  Buy MP3 
Listen11. Adventures In Solitude 4:16£0.79  Buy MP3 
Listen12. The Spirit Of Giving 4:01£0.79  Buy MP3 


Product Description

BBC Review

Canadians always seem able to create music that falls right off the end of the epic scale. Perhaps it's because so many of Canada's bands cram in as many musicians as they possibly can. Vancouver based New Pornographers are no different. The octet have been together for ten years and 2007 sees the release of album number four; but the slightly slow production rate is no reflection on their ability to compose lyrically and instrumentally inspiring music; with an album as multi-layered as Challengers, you can forgive this reluctantly tagged 'supergroup' for taking their time.

The album gets to the nitty-gritty of feel good folk-pop immediately. 'My Rights Versus Yours' clicks into gear with that unmistakable laidback Beach Boys sensibility and hooks similar to Belle and Sebastian. But while comparisons to the Scottish musical troupe are inevitable, (sunny harmonies and catchy melodies with emotive chord changes are a favourite of both), the New Pornographers are clearly their own band.

For, while Newman conveys life's ups and downs with a perceptive lyrical clarity, he avoids sounding overly profound. Instrumentally, saccharine flourishes and swells are vetoed resulting in a sound, while still clearly pop, that avoids irritating superficiality. 'Challengers', perhaps the most rousing track on the album, is one example - heavily strummed echoey bass slowly builds while delicate banjo and thoughtful piano chords are gradually introduced. It's a simple but effective combination.

New Pornographers never linger in wistful territory long. 'Myriad Harbour' with a Go-Betweens vision and defiant Pixies-ish surf rock guitar riff has more attitude, while 'All The Things That Make Heaven And Earth' powered by crazed melodian and Wurlitzer races off in a cloud of smoke. Challengers is what you could call a 'travelling' album - it's packed full of the kind of musical metaphor songs that explore life as a 'journey'. But the ability of music to emotionally 'move' never tires, especially when it is done as unpretentiously as this. --Gemma Padley

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Product Description

CD

Customer Reviews

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars Mellower, subtler but just as wonderful 15 Aug 2007
Format:Audio CD
As its early reactions prove, 'Challengers' will be a divisive record. Some will see this fourth album as betraying the giddy pop thrills of their earlier albums, while many will see it as the most mature and heartfelt offering of new pornography yet. It's a natural follow-up to 2005's Twin Cinema, which leant towards ballads as well as the upbeat indie-rock numbers. Its highlight was 'The Bleeding Heart Show', the melancholy spirit of which is all over 'Challengers', especially in its opening track, the beautiful 'My Rights Versus Yours', which sets the sensitive, emotional tone of the rest of the album perfectly.

'Challengers' offers as many delights as every other New Pornographers album, just different kinds. While there's no instant classic like 'Letter From An Occupant' or 'Sing Me Spanish Techno', we are spoilt with slow-burning love songs. The wonderful 'Unguided', at a whopping six and a half minutes, is their longest song yet, gently building up to its climax of clattering guitars and glockenspiels, in which the wide-eyed Pornographers repeat the line "there is something unguided in the sky tonight." It gloriously shows off how mature their songwriting has become. Similarly, the two Neko Case-fronted songs - 'Go Places' and the title track - are their most moving yet.

The album also sounds like the band's most coherent effort. Dan Bejar's idiosyncracies in his songwriting and voice which he fully explores in his solo work as Destroyer are on display in the three songs he contributes here but, more than on previous New Pornographers albums, they fit in perfectly - check out the glorious backing vocals on the chorus of 'Entering White Cecilia', for example. His holiday-themed 'The Spirit Of Giving', too, closes the album on a suitably melancholic note. The days of The New Pornographers making instantly loveable upbeat pop songs may well be over, but 'Challengers' is a fine example of a band maturing and honing their songwriting. This year has seen The Shins and Modest Mouse jump from the fringe to the US charts. The New Pornographers could easily do the same, and this record is certainly up to the challenge.
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9 of 10 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars Beige? 12 Sep 2007
Format:Audio CD
So far, this album's only review on amazon.co.uk describes it as "beige". Hey, the guy is entitled to his opinion, but he's wrong. I am entitled to my opinion, and I am right. I'm joking, of course. But I am right. And he is wrong. "Challengers" (once you get past the admittedly hideous cover art) is rather good. Like all NP albums, it takes its sweet time about winning you over. But win you over it will. Complex, hook-packed, funny, catchy, surprising stuff from Canada's finest. Yeah, that's it. No different from their previous albums, but just as good as their previous albums. How can you not love these people? Carl, Neko, Dan, and, um, the other nineteen... making excellent 21st century indie rock. Listen. I am right.
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5.0 out of 5 stars It just keeps Growing And Growing 29 Jan 2012
Format:Audio CD|Amazon Verified Purchase
First listen, I thought, yeah, couple of standout tunes and the rest is reasonable. Over time, those standout tunes brought me back, my ears acclimatised, and I realised pretty much everything on this album was an absolute gem. Catch the title track in the right frame of mind and it's a heartbreaker.
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