You might know A.C. Newman as Carl Newman, the spry redheaded leader of The New Pornographers. That band puts Newman’s brilliant songs in the hands of a varied crew of insanely talented pals; with 'The Slow Wonder,' Newman’s own talents take center stage, showcasing him as an classic, if eccentric, songwriter, part of a lineage that includes Ray Davies, Johnny Rivers, Harry Nilsson, Colin Blunstone, Dave Edmunds, Andy Partridge, Wayne Coyne, Ben Folds, Britt Daniel, or any other number of guys he doesn’t exactly sound like but with whom Carl could readily match wits. [...]

News
8/16/06 — Discography Updated
A.C. Newman's discography page has been updated. We're trying to be completists here, so if anything is missing, let us know. Check it out here.

10/05/04 — Carl's October favorites
1) Arcade Fire- Funeral. So good.
2) The WB. They have been throwing thousands and thousands of dollars at me in the past few weeks. Best station ever.
3) Classic Pineapple and Coconut Juice from Voila Juice in Emeryville, CA. I can only find it at Mollie Stones on California St. here in SF. I couldn't feel that 6.0 quake near Paso Robles. I'm a little disappointed.
4) Stroopies. They're this Dutch syrup waffle trashy delicacy. They only have them at Andronicos.
5) Getting recipes online. It seems so obvious now.
6) The Croque Monsieur at Zazie on Cole St., and the gingerbread pancakes too.
7) Frog Eyes- The Folded Palm
8) Neil Hamburger live at the Hemlock Tavern.
9) Almost anything at Mama's On Washington Square in North Beach, but be prepared for some lines at this popular SF breakfast institution.
10) The Zagat restaurant guide, although they want a ridiculous $8 for the Zagat restaurant map. It's a pamphlet. Pamphlets are free.
11) "Butterflies Are Free" by The Free Design.
12) SeaLab 2021. It's actually really funny. Laugh out loud funny.
13) Freaks And Geeks DVD box set.

09/03/04 — Video news
Carl says, "We promise the "miracle drug" video will be finished soon. In the meantime, these guys are back home waiting for their american counterparts to send them a vhs copy of their performance on the John McEnroe show. Let's pray for better ratings and re-runs."

07/19/04 — Tour, TV appearance
Carl Newman's band are currently on a 6-week North American tour, with possible European dates to follow this autumn. There's an exclusive AC/NP t-shirt for sale at these shows, and while that sounds like copyright infringement to me, you might wanna buy one anyway. A video for "Miracle Drug" will be finished very soon.

Listen to A.C. Newman's live performance on KEXP Seattle on their web archive at kexp.org.

You can catch AC Newman making his US TV debut on CNBC's "McEnroe", August 11.

06/01/04 — Album release
June 8 (June 7 in Europe) is our release date for 'The Slow Wonder,' a stunning, multi-dimensional collision of words & music from A.C. Newman, aka Carl Newman of The New Pornographers. Carl has assembled a touring ensemble for A.C. Newman dates later this summer, and following a brief European promo trip this May, a return visit for live dates is planned for Autumn.

The AC Newman website,Ý acnewman.net, has been launched, and you can preview 'The Slow Wonder' once you're there.

05/26/04 — Official website
Carl's official website has opened. Right now it only has a (very nice) e-card, but there will be more on the wide launch on June 8th. It's at acnewman.net.

05/05/04 — Second MP3 posted
We have posted the second MP3 from the album. It's entitled "Miracle Drug."

04/19/04 — Gallery, biography
The A.C. Newman biography has been posted, as have photos in the gallery.

04/07/04 — Tour, festival
- as clearly noted in the thrilling last update, the solo debut from Carl Newman of The New Pornographers will be unleashed on June 8. A full slate of US and Canadian dates featuring a full band are planned throughout the Summer. And speaking of the New Pornographers, they're playing the Sasquatch! Music Festival May 29 in Quincy, WA along with some other quality artists. Though we don't actually believe in Sasquatch, this seems like a fine event.

Listen to the first MP3 from the A.C. Newman album, "Drink To Me, Babe, Then".

03/10/04 — A.C. (aka Carl) Newman signs to Matador
In June of the year 2004, Matador will be releasing the debut CD/LP from A.C. Newman, 'The Slow Wonder.' Recorded with a Canadian government grant, this might be the most efficient use of public funds since the time NYC paid Survival Reseach Labs to shower the Shea Stadium parking lot with counterfeit money.

A.C. Newman is Carl Newman. Carl writes at least 80% of the material for The New Pornographers, a band you should be very familiar with right about now. If Carl was 20 in 1978 in England he would have been in a band called the Soft Boys. If Carl was 20 in 1984 in Ohio he would have been a founding member of Guided By Voices. If Carl was 20 in 1965 in LA Brian Wilson would not have needed Van Dyke Parks, and a few years later in the same town Richard Harris would not have needed Jimmy Webb. Nancy & Carl? Probably. Music would have taken a turn for the better, it would have been more interesting, more intricate, more exciting ad nauseum. Though we can't change the past, we'll settle for changing the future. This is 34 minutes of the best power pop you have ever heard, an incredible breath of fresh air in a hostile era for genuine hand-crafted music.

There are only two annoying things about this record. 1) you can never decide which is the best track on the album and 2) the record is just too goddam short.

The following is Carl's helpful summation of the mysterious recording process:

"Okay, here's the deal. I'm going to let you all in on a little secret. Here's how New Pornographers records are made: I practice with Kurt for a few weeks to get skeletal arrangements down. We go record the bed tracks at a big studio. I sit with John at his studio for a few months and we brainstorm and experiment, throw shit down, erase a lot of stuff, keep a lot of stuff. Some songs we start with a click track and build the song around it, adding Kurt's drums later. Dan comes in to sing his songs. Blaine, Todd, and Kurt come in periodically to record, and Neko comes in for a few days at the end to do her parts. Kurt, John, and I then spend a couple of weeks mixing it, with our pal Howard Redekopp at the helm.

"Okay, now here's how A.C. Newman records are made: I practice with Shane and Fisher for a few weeks to get skeletal arrangements down. We go record the bed tracks at a studio. I sit with John and Dave at their studio for a few months and I brainstorm and experiment, throw shit down, etc...

"Some songs I start with a click track and build the song around it, adding Pete's drums later. Dan and Fisher come in to play ping pong. Shane, Megan, Sarah, and Shaun come in periodically to record, and Fisher and Dan come in for a few days at the end to play more ping pong. John, Dave, and I then spend a couple of weeks mixing it, with our pal Howard Redekopp at the helm.

"These are all of my secrets. Guard them well."