Rewind: The New Pornographers - Mass Romantic

I had to look up when the New Pornographer's Mass Romantic was actually released. I can't help but associate this album with summer, but it actually came out in November of 2000. Not surprisingly, like a lot of great records it failed to chart in Canada (where the band is based) or in the US, but garnered rave reviews from critics and became a 21st century power-pop classic.

There aren't too many bands carrying the power-pop torch these days. Mass Romantic was recorded over the course of three years and could easily sound overcooked, but A.C, Newman, the one of the New Pornographers primary songwriters, is one of the few musicians for whom "more is more" is a good thing.

"I remember 'Letter From an Occupant' was a pretty belabored song. It ended up being almost minimal, but I remember there's so much shit we put on it. There's a psychedelic 12-string guitar solo, a backwards guitar, there's a kind of really cool synth that's in there but buried. At some point, you have to choose. That was the hardest part about mixing the thing: just making that judgment call. I only feel at peace with the record now because people seem to like it." (source)