Monday, February 02, 2009

AC Newman - press so far....
























“Like all Newman records, it shows off his smarts and maintains a strong hook quotient…” –Rolling Stone

“The Canadian power-pop ace unleashes another battery of hooks with blasts of vocal harmonies (‘Like a Hitman, Like a Dancer’) and dabs of organ (‘Elemental’).” –Spin

“Get Guilty is a baroque-pop gem, on which he displays remarkable tonal control via crafty arrangement.” –Paste

“Nobody weaves melancholy into melody the way he does, and these new songs have a sprawling, beguiling calm.” –Elle

“[Newman summons] a collective grandeur from guitars, moaning cellos, and shimmering cymbals in songs like ‘Changeling,’ whose bitter musings sting like a fresh slap.” –Marie Claire

“Get Guilty is a stirring set of memorable power-pop…” –The Onion

“In his lyrics, arrangements, and delivery, there’s always much more going on than can be viewed at a distance… Newman’s singularity as a songwriter lies in more than histrionics. Like Wonder, Guilty has its share of up-tempo tracks, yet its real pleasures are idiosyncratic, revealing themselves the more attentively and often you listen.” -Pitchfork

“The defacto leader of the New Pornographers treats back-up refrains and big-beat percussion as conduits to Brill Building grandeur and breathless romanticism. [Get Guilty] attests to this continuing quest for tuneful bliss.” –The Absolute Sound

“Another collection of infectious pop songs.” –SOMA Magazine

“[In New Pornographers] Newman pens precisely arranged confections. Here, on his solo material, he lets the ink spill… The great pleasure is in hearing how all the elements cohere.”—Time Out Chicago

"Get Guilty is not just a lastingly great album. It is that rare kind of pop record that you live in and get to know, that reveals its depth the more you listen, without losing an ounce of its infectious energy." –PopMatters

"It has become increasingly easy to take a new album of his for granted, to mistake steady craftsmanship for complacency. To do that with his second solo album Get Guilty would be a huge mistake as it's loaded with songs that are the equal of his best work." –St. Louis Post-Dispatch

“Get Guilty is the first great album of 2009 and solidifies Newman as one of the best pop practitioners today.” –The Bergen Record

“Newman’s gift as a songwriter has always been nuance – scalpel over ax. His melodies don’t kill, they infect… Get Guilty is Newman’s best release as a solo artist and even tops the most recent New Pornographers record, further building on a body of work that is one of the most impressive in the ever-expanding ‘indie’ rock catalogue.” –Aquarium Drunkard

“Get Guilty’s a record that should be in the ears of every pop lover…” –Aversion

“As in The Slow Wonder, Newman practices a spinning plate sort of complexity, juggling big rock sounds on fragile sticks of melody, heaping difficulty upon difficulty, without a single crash (or even a grimace).” –Dusted

“Concise, intelligent pop music…” –The Kansas City Star

“Get Guilty boasts more hooks than any dozen records, and none of them are cheap. It has the playfulness Newman showed with Zumpano in the 1990s, the literate quality of his Pornographers’ songs and a greater self-assurance than either” –Louisville Courier-Journal

“[Newman] retains his enviable gift for wedding elliptical narratives to memorable melodies…” –Washington Post Express