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New Pornographers Audition for a Brill Building Gig in Funny or Die Spoof

AC Newman New Pornographers Funny or Die Video Brill Building Video

When the New Pornographers joined NPR at New York’s historic Brill Building for a performance last week in support of their new album Brill Bruisers, band leader Carl “A.C.” Newman apparently thought it’d be fitting to audition for a songwriting gig as well. At the building’s golden age, it was the birthplace of such ’60s singles as “Will You Love Me Tomorrow” and “Be My Baby.” But as the times a’ changed, so did the hit-factory’s success. But if Funny or Die‘s latest video is to be believed, the Brill’s got a couple of employees left and Newman had the pleasure of meeting them. See how that goes above.

Meanwhile, back in reality, Newman and the whole band (yup, Neko Case was there) brought NPR a show worth catching with new tracks “War on the East Coast” and “Brill Bruisers,” as well as old favorites “Myriad Harbour” and “Twin Cinema.” Here’s a choice quote from A.C.’s onstage banter (47:55), before the band launches into “Sweet Talk, Sweet Talk” from 2010’s Together: “This is a real throwback to those classic Brill Building basement shows. remember when, like, [Burt] Bacharach and Carol King would just jam out doing Sonics covers?”

Watch that hour-long set here: