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.
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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."
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