Twin Cinema
Encyclopedia
Twin Cinema is the third album by Canadian indie rock
group The New Pornographers
. It was released on August 23, 2005. The album was shortlisted for the 2006 Polaris Music Prize
.
(which assigns to reviews from mainstream critics a normalized
rating out of 100), the album has received a score of 85, based on 32 reviews. Online music magazine
PopMatters
ranked the album at #1 on their Best Music of 2005 list. Pitchfork Media
placed Twin Cinema at number 150 on their list of top 200 albums of the 2000s.
Additional personnel
and eMusic
. "Use It" is the theme song
of the CBC Television
newsmagazine
series The Hour. The song's video included appearances by David Cross
, Nardwuar the Human Serviette
and Shane Nelken.
Indie rock
Indie rock is a genre of alternative rock that originated in the United Kingdom and the United States in the 1980s. Indie rock is extremely diverse, with sub-genres that include lo-fi, post-rock, math rock, indie pop, dream pop, noise rock, space rock, sadcore, riot grrrl and emo, among others...
group The New Pornographers
The New Pornographers
The New Pornographers is a Canadian indie rock band formed in 1997 in Vancouver, British Columbia.-History:The band's first four albums each ranked in the top 40 on The Village Voices Pazz & Jop year-end poll of hundreds of music reviewers. From 2000 to 2006, either a New Pornographers' album or a...
. It was released on August 23, 2005. The album was shortlisted for the 2006 Polaris Music Prize
2006 Polaris Music Prize
The inaugural edition of the Canadian Polaris Music Prize presented on September 18, 2006, at Toronto's Phoenix Concert Theatre. The winning album was Final Fantasy's He Poos Clouds.-Nominees:...
.
Critical reception
Initial critical response to Twin Cinema was very positive. At MetacriticMetacritic
Metacritic.com is a website that collates reviews of music albums, games, movies, TV shows and DVDs. For each product, a numerical score from each review is obtained and the total is averaged. An excerpt of each review is provided along with a hyperlink to the source. Three colour codes of Green,...
(which assigns to reviews from mainstream critics a normalized
Standard score
In statistics, a standard score indicates how many standard deviations an observation or datum is above or below the mean. It is a dimensionless quantity derived by subtracting the population mean from an individual raw score and then dividing the difference by the population standard deviation...
rating out of 100), the album has received a score of 85, based on 32 reviews. Online music magazine
Online magazine
An online magazine shares some features with a blog and also with online newspapers, but can usually be distinguished by its approach to editorial control...
PopMatters
PopMatters
PopMatters is an international webzine of cultural criticism that covers many aspects of popular culture. PopMatters publishes reviews, interviews, and detailed essays on most cultural products and expressions in areas such as music, television, films, books, video games, comics, sports, theater,...
ranked the album at #1 on their Best Music of 2005 list. Pitchfork Media
Pitchfork Media
Pitchfork Media, usually known simply as Pitchfork or P4k, is a Chicago-based daily Internet publication established in 1995 that is devoted to music criticism and commentary, music news, and artist interviews. Its focus is on underground and independent music, especially indie rock...
placed Twin Cinema at number 150 on their list of top 200 albums of the 2000s.
Track listing
All songs by A.C. Newman except where noted.- "Twin Cinema" – 2:59
- "The Bones of an Idol" – 2:51
- "Use It" – 3:26
- "The Bleeding Heart Show" – 4:27
- "Jackie, Dressed in Cobras" (Dan BejarDan BejarDaniel Bejar is an independent singer-songwriter from Vancouver renowned for his challenging and often cryptic lyrics and unorthodox vocals featured in many of his songs. Bejar has gained widespread popularity through his musical collaborations with Vancouver indie-rock band The New Pornographers,...
) – 3:06 - "The Jessica Numbers" (Newman, John CollinsJohn Collins (Canadian musician)John Edward Collins is a member of The New Pornographers, Destroyer, and The Evaporators. He plays the bass, guitar, synthesizer, ebow and sings....
) – 3:06 - "These Are the Fables" – 3:29
- "Sing Me Spanish Techno" – 4:16
- "Falling Through Your Clothes" – 2:53
- "Broken Beads" (Bejar) – 3:00
- "Three or Four" – 3:07
- "Star Bodies" – 4:07
- "Streets of Fire" (Bejar) – 2:41
- "Stacked Crooked" – 4:18
- "High Art, Local News" (bonus track on Japanese release and iTunes version) – 3:02
Personnel
The New Pornographers- A.C. Newman – vocals, guitarGuitarThe guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
, ebow, synthesizerSynthesizerA synthesizer is an electronic instrument capable of producing sounds by generating electrical signals of different frequencies. These electrical signals are played through a loudspeaker or set of headphones...
, harmonicaHarmonicaThe harmonica, also called harp, French harp, blues harp, and mouth organ, is a free reed wind instrument used primarily in blues and American folk music, jazz, country, and rock and roll. It is played by blowing air into it or drawing air out by placing lips over individual holes or multiple holes...
, pump organ, xylophoneXylophoneThe xylophone is a musical instrument in the percussion family that consists of wooden bars struck by mallets... - John CollinsJohn Collins (Canadian musician)John Edward Collins is a member of The New Pornographers, Destroyer, and The Evaporators. He plays the bass, guitar, synthesizer, ebow and sings....
– bassBass guitarThe bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
, guitar, synthesizer, ebow, vocals - Kurt DahleKurt DahleKurt Dahle is a Canadian musician best known for his work as a drummer with the rock bands Age of Electric, Limblifter, and The New Pornographers....
– drumsDrum kitA drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....
, percussionPercussion instrumentA percussion instrument is any object which produces a sound when hit with an implement or when it is shaken, rubbed, scraped, or otherwise acted upon in a way that sets the object into vibration...
, vocals - Dan BejarDan BejarDaniel Bejar is an independent singer-songwriter from Vancouver renowned for his challenging and often cryptic lyrics and unorthodox vocals featured in many of his songs. Bejar has gained widespread popularity through his musical collaborations with Vancouver indie-rock band The New Pornographers,...
– vocals, guitar, synthesizer, melodeonDiatonic button accordionA diatonic button accordion or melodeon is a type of button accordion where the melody-side keyboard is limited to the notes of diatonic scales in a small number of keys... - Neko CaseNeko CaseNeko Case is an American singer-songwriter, best known for her solo career and her contributions as a member of the Canadian indie rock group The New Pornographers....
– vocals - Blaine ThurierBlaine ThurierBlaine Thurier is a Canadian musician and film producer. He plays synthesizer with the Canadian indie pop supergroup The New Pornographers. Thurier also directs the band's music videos, and he has released films of his own.-Links:*...
– synthesizer - Todd FanceyTodd FanceyTodd Fancey is a Canadian guitarist, keyboardist and solo artist. He is most widely known as the guitarist for Vancouver-based indie rock band The New Pornographers and the bassist for the band Limblifter...
– guitar - Kathryn CalderKathryn CalderKathryn Calder is a Canadian indie rock musician, who performs as a solo artist, and is a member of the band The New Pornographers. She is a former member of Immaculate Machine. Calder started with The New Pornographers by filling in for Neko Case for live performances and was made a permanent...
– vocals, pianoPianoThe piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...
Additional personnel
- Nora O'ConnorNora O'ConnorNora O'Connor is an American musician. She sings and plays guitar with numerous bands and individuals from the U.S. and Canada, her primary involvements being Andrew Bird's Bowl of Fire and the Blacks...
– vocals - Dave Carswell – slide guitarSlide guitarSlide guitar or bottleneck guitar is a particular method or technique for playing the guitar. The term slide refers to the motion of the slide against the strings, while bottleneck refers to the original material of choice for such slides: the necks of glass bottles...
, vocals - Shaun Brodie – trumpetTrumpetThe trumpet is the musical instrument with the highest register in the brass family. Trumpets are among the oldest musical instruments, dating back to at least 1500 BCE. They are played by blowing air through closed lips, producing a "buzzing" sound which starts a standing wave vibration in the air...
- Todd MacDonaldTodd MacDonaldTodd MacDonald is an Australian actor who is best known for his roles on the soap opera Neighbours and the drama series The Secret Life of Us and Rush....
– mandolinMandolinA mandolin is a musical instrument in the lute family . It descends from the mandore, a soprano member of the lute family. The mandolin soundboard comes in many shapes—but generally round or teardrop-shaped, sometimes with scrolls or other projections. A mandolin may have f-holes, or a single... - Tyr Jami – celloCelloThe cello is a bowed string instrument with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is a member of the violin family of musical instruments, which also includes the violin, viola, and double bass. Old forms of the instrument in the Baroque era are baryton and viol .A person who plays a cello is...
- Amy Tuyn – art work
- Sarah Pedersen – photographyPhotographyPhotography is the art, science and practice of creating durable images by recording light or other electromagnetic radiation, either electronically by means of an image sensor or chemically by means of a light-sensitive material such as photographic film...
- Howard RedekoppHoward RedekoppHoward Redekopp is a Vancouver, British Columbia-based Canadian music producer/mixer/engineer.In 2009, Rolling Stone ranked one of Howard's projects, The New Pornographers' Electric Version, #79 in the "100 Best Albums of the Decade".-Discography:...
– engineer
Songs
"The Bleeding Heart Show" is featured in television advertisements for the University of PhoenixUniversity of Phoenix
The University of Phoenix is a for-profit institution of higher learning. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of Apollo Group Inc. which is publicly traded , an S&P 500 corporation based in Phoenix, Arizona...
and eMusic
EMusic
eMusic is an online music and audiobook store that operates by subscription. It is headquartered in New York City with an office in London and owned by Dimensional Associates. As of September 2008 eMusic has over 400,000 subscribers....
. "Use It" is the theme song
Theme music
Theme music is a piece that is often written specifically for a radio program, television program, video game or movie, and usually played during the title sequence and/or end credits...
of the CBC Television
CBC Television
CBC Television is a Canadian television network owned by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, the national public broadcaster.Although the CBC is supported by public funding, the television network supplements this funding with commercial advertising revenue, in contrast to CBC Radio which are...
newsmagazine
Newsmagazine
A news magazine is a typed, printed, and published piece of paper, magazine or a radio or television program, usually weekly, featuring articles or segments on current events...
series The Hour. The song's video included appearances by David Cross
David Cross
David Cross is an American actor, writer and stand-up comedian perhaps best known for his work on HBO's sketch comedy series Mr...
, Nardwuar the Human Serviette
Nardwuar the Human Serviette
Nardwuar the Human Serviette is a Canadian celebrity interviewer and musician from Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. He is the lead singer and keyboardist for The Evaporators and plays in Thee Goblins....
and Shane Nelken.
External links
- Twin Cinema at Matador RecordsMatador RecordsMatador Records is an independent record label, with a roster of indie rock artists and bands.-History:Matador was started by Chris Lombardi in 1989 in his New York City apartment. The following year, Lombardi was joined by former Homestead Records manager Gerard Cosloy, and the two of them have...