New Pornographers - APW pics, their own festival, a new AC Newman album (w/ Nicole Atkins) & tour dates

photos by Bao Nguyen

“Carl Newman is currently mixing his as-yet-untitled long-player – set for a January release – and is especially enthusiastic about the lineup of musicians who contribute to the new tunes. “My friend John Wurster, who drums with Superchunk and the Mountain Goats, did most of the drumming,” he says. “A singer named Nicole Atkins did a lot of singing on it. She’s a really killer singer; she kind of reminds me of a cross between Mama Cass and the Shangri-La’s.”

Currently in the home stretch of completing the CD, Newman admits that he is his own best friend and worst enemy when it comes to working on the project. “Every time I make a record, I sit there thinking, ‘It sounds too different,’ and then the next day I think, ‘it sounds the same as everything else,'” he says. “The next day, I’ll go, ‘It’s perfect,’ and the day after that I’ll think, ‘Its all wrong.’ I just put my head down, try to work hard, hope for the best and hope that people buy it so I can continue doing this for a living.” As soon as the solo effort is complete, Newman plans to “immediately” begin work on the next Pornographers record.

As far as their live performances are concerned, the New Pornographers plan to host a two-day, 10-band indie rock extravaganza on Labor Day weekend in Vancouver, calling it ‘The Stanley Park Singing Exhibition.’ The lineup for both nights was hand-picked by the Pornographers themselves; while their lead singer refuses to play favorites, Newman admits to being especially anticipatory about a semi-solo performance of a band he especially loves. “I saw Stevie [Jackson, of Belle and Sebastian fame] do a solo show in Brooklyn, and it was really good. Bob Kildea — who is also in the band — will be playing with him as well, which is pretty cool. Bob is the prettiest man in rock.” [AOL Spinner]

The New Pornographers played the All Points West Festival last weekend. Neither Neko or Dan were in attendance (though I’m almost positive I saw Neko in the crowd at Bob Dylan’s Brooklyn show a few days later.). AC Newman collaborator Nicole Atkins also played All Points West. More pics from the New Pornos set, all tour dates, and the whole Stanley Park Singing Exhibition lineup, below…

The Stanley Park Singing Exhibition

August 31st
Neko Case
Destroyer
Andrew Bird
Deerhoof
The Evaporators

September 1st
The New Pornographers
Black Mountain
Stevie Jackson of Belle and Sebastian
The 1900s
Visqueen

Tickets for the Stanley Park thing are on sale.

The New Pornographers – 2008 Tour Dates
Aug 30 – Slow Food Nation Festival San Francisco, California
Aug 31 – The Stanley Park Singing Exhibition – Malkin Bowl Vancouver, British Columbia
Sep 1 – The Stanley Park Singing Exhibition – Malkin Bowl Vancouver, British Columbia
Sep 19 – Street Scene San Diego, California
Sep 21 – The Hideout Chicago, Illinois
Oct 7 – The Zoo Brisbane
Oct 8 – Rosemount Hotel Perth
Oct 10 – The Gov Adelaide
Oct 11 – The Corner Melbourne
Oct 12 – The Annandale Hotel Sydney
Oct 14 – King Arms Central City, Auckland
Oct 16 – SFBH Petone, Wellington