New Music Tuesday: Broken Social Scene and the New Pornographers

This New Music Tuesday left me with a lot to choose from. (Seriously, check out Hello May! There are a lot of albums coming out this month from a lot of amazing bands and artists).

And when it came down to it, I still couldn't choose only one. So, Canada, I thank you. Today, the two albums you really need to check out are Forgiveness Rock Record by Broken Social Scene and Together by the New Pornographers. Neither band is new to the music scene by any means, and as any music lover knows, they certainly know how to make fantastic albums!

For one thing, both bands have noteworthy lineups. Depending on the album, Broken Social Scene can have as few as six and as many as nineteen members. For Forgiveness Rock Record, the group is on the "smaller" size, still boasting 7 members: Kevin Drew (KC Accidental), Brendan Canning (By Divine Right, Blurtonia, Valley of the Giants, hHead), Charles Spearin (The Happiness Project, Do Make Say Think), Andrew Whiteman (Apostle of Hustle, Bourbon Tabernacle Choir), Justin Peroff (Junior Blue), Lisa Lobsinger (Reverie Sound Revue), and Sam Goldberg. Past members make appearances on the album as well. This will be the fourth studio album for the band, who has also released Feel Good Lost (2001), You Forgot It in People (2002), and Broken Social Scene (2005).

And if it weren't enough that they're making beautiful music, they're giving it away for free! Head over to Broken Social Scene's Myspace to Download "World Sick"

On the other hand you have the New Pornographers. The band has released four albums to date: Mass Romantic (2000), Electric Version (2003), Twin Cinema (2005), and Challengers (2007). And the band has an amazing lineup with lead vocals from A.C. Newman (besides solo work, also of Superconductor and Zumpano), Dan Bejar (Destroyer, Swan Lake, and Hello, Blue Roses) and Neko Case (besides her solo work, also of Maow, The Corn Sisters, and Cub). Other members of the band also include Kathryn Calder (Immaculate Machine), John Collins (The Evaporators), Kurt Dahle (Limblifter, Age of Electricz), Todd Fancey (solo artist as Fancey, Limblifter, and Blaine Thurier). And if that weren't enough, the album also features guest appearances by musicians such as Zach Condon (Beirut), Annie Clark (also known as St. Vincent), Will Sheff (Okkervil River), and the horn players from Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings. Clearly the New Pornographers aren't holding anything back!

So stream them online (Broken Social Scene here, New Pornographers here) at NPR, then go out, buy them, and support good music!

Check out the tracklistings for both albums after the jump!



Broken Social Scenes Forgiveness Rock Record Tracklisting:
01 World Sick
02 Chase Scene
03 Texico Bitches
04 Forced to Love
05 All to All
06 Art House Director
07 Highway Slipper Jam
08 Ungrateful Little Father
09 Meet Me in the Basement
10 Sentimental X's
11 Sweetest Kill
12 Romance to the Grave
13 Water in Hell
14 Me and My Hand

The New PornographersTogether Tracklisting:
01 Moves
02 Crash Years
03 Your Hands (Together)
04 Silver Jenny Dollar
05 Sweet Talk, Sweet Talk
06 My Shepherd
07 If You Can't See My Mirrors
08 Up in the Dark
09 Valkyrie in the Roller Disco
10 A Bite Out of My Bed
11 Daughters of Sorrow
12 We End Up Together