Stars (Canadian band): Difference between revisions

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Stars is a Juno Award nominated Canadian indie pop band. Originally formed in Toronto by vocalist Torquil Campbell and keyboardist Chris Seligman, the band relocated to New York City and then subsequently to Montreal.

Sound

Stars' music has been described as "beautiful, eloquent indie pop", characterized by lush instrumentation, nimble production and mixing, narrative lyrics, and soft but nuanced vocals.^[1]^[2] The band's style has evolved from an electronic-pop sound as heard on Nightsongs (released on the Le Grand Magistery record label) to more rock-based instrumentation on their last two full-length albums, reflecting the permanent additions of singer-guitarist Amy Millan and bassist Evan Cranley on Heart (released on Paper Bag Records), and eventually drummer Pat McGee on Set Yourself on Fire.

Career

The band's breakthrough single was "Ageless Beauty", from their 2004 album Set Yourself on Fire. Millan, Cranley and Campbell are also members of the indie band Broken Social Scene, with whom they currently share a record label, Arts & Crafts. Campbell is also an actor and has appeared on the television shows Sex and the City and Law & Order. Millan released a solo album in 2006. Several of the band's songs, such as "The Vanishing", "Your Ex-Lover Is Dead", and "The Big Fight", have appeared on the Fox Network's The O.C. and CTV's Degrassi: The Next Generation. Their single "Ageless Beauty" was also featured in a promotional trailer for Vh1's So NoTORIous.

On their website, the band has noted that their name was chosen without prior knowledge of the short-lived project by Syd Barrett.^[3] They have cited a wide variety of musical likes and influences ranging from Berlioz to Outkast, citing among others Barrett, Paddy McAloon, New Order, The Smiths, Brian Wilson, Momus, and Broken Social Scene. They covered The Smiths' "This Charming Man" on 2001's Nightsongs and The Pogues' "Fairytale of New York" in 2005. Other indie artists have been guest collaborators on many of their tracks, especially for an early period including the release of their first LP.

They recently surprised their fans by releasing their latest studio album (In Our Bedroom After the War), on July 10, 2007, a full two months ahead of its expected release date, onto iTunes. When Stars released In Our Bedroom After the War to online retailers weeks before the CD's actual release date to circumvent the album's inevitable leak, part of their reasoning touched on the increasingly blurry line between critics and listeners. The band believed indie-rock fans should be able to review and provide opinions of the band's albums similar in a way to the so-called critics, but soon realized that the outcome could be very far from their ideal expectation. Soon after the music site Pitchfork Media gave the new album a 7.4 out of 10, Torquil Campbell offered up a rant that not only tore into the music site and the reviewer but lamented the death of art and criticism, which as a result prompted much scoffing from some critics and bloggers, as well as approval from others.^[4] The band contributed a T-shirt design to the Yellow Bird Project^[5] to raise money for Le Chainon, a women's shelter located in Montreal, Quebec.

Discography

Studio albums

Album	Record Label	Year
Nightsongs	Le Grand Magistery	2001
Heart	Paper Bag Records/Arts & Crafts/Setanta	2003
Set Yourself on Fire	Arts & Crafts	2004
In Our Bedroom after the War	Arts & Crafts	2007

EPs and singles

Single	Record Label	Year	Format
"A Lot of Little Lies for the Sake of One Big Truth"	Le Grand Magistery	2001	EP
"The Stars Are Out Tonight"	Le Grand Magistery	2001	12"
"The Comeback"	Le Grand Magistery	2001	EP
"Dead Child Stars"	Paper Bag Records	2002	EP
"My Radio" (B-Side: Romantic Comedy)	Setanta Records	2003	7"
"Elevator Love Letter"	Setanta Records	2003	CD-Single
"Petite Mort" (B-side: "What the Snowman Learned about Love [Montag Remix]"	Arts & Crafts	2004	7"
"Ageless Beauty" (B-sides: "Petite Mort" & "Ageless Beauty [Most Serene Mix]"	City Slang Records	2005	CD-Single, 7"
"Your Ex-Lover Is Dead" (B-side: "Fairytale of New York")	City Slang Records	2005	CD-Single, 7"
"Reunion" (B-sides: "Drive By [KCRW Live Version]" & "He Lied about Death [North Hatley Version]")	City Slang Records	2005	Digital download Single, 7digital
"It's Alchemy!"	Le Grand Magistery	2005	Digital download Single
"Take Me to the Riot" (B-side: "Division")	Arts & Crafts	2007	7"
"The Night Starts Here"	City Slang	2007	CD-Single, 7"

Compilations

Compilation Name	Record Label	Year	Stars song
Was It Him or His Music?	Le Grand Magistery	1999	"My Radio"
Reproductions: Songs of the Human League	March Records	2000	"Stay with Me Tonight"
Sounds Eclectic	Palm Pictures	2000	"Going, Going, Gone"
Siblings Soundtrack	Unknown Label	2004	"Golden Chain"
'DET Live! Vol. 3	WDET-FM 101.9 Detroit	2002	"Driveby (Live version recorded 10/27/2000)"
Music from the OC: Mix 5	Warner Bros. Records	2005	"Your Ex-Lover Is Dead"
A Very Magistery Christmas	Le Grand Magistery	2005	"Christmas Song", "A New Year (Live)"

Remix albums

Album	Record Label	Year
Do You Trust Your Friends?	Arts & Crafts	2007

Awards and nominations

Heart - Nomination: Alternative Album of the Year Juno Award, (2004).
Set Yourself on Fire - Nomination: Alternative Album of the Year Juno Award, (2005).

References

^ Stars: Heart
^ Stars: Set Yourself on Fire
^ Official Website
^ "Sweet n' Sour: Stars vs. Pitchfork". Retrieved September 22. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
^ Yellow Bird Project: Charity T-Shirts, Wolfmother, Stars, Devendra Banhart, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, Rilo Kiley

[1] Stars: Heart

[2] Stars: Set Yourself on Fire

[3] Official Website

[4] "Sweet n' Sour: Stars vs. Pitchfork". Retrieved September 22. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)

[5] Yellow Bird Project: Charity T-Shirts, Wolfmother, Stars, Devendra Banhart, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, Rilo Kiley

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[2]

[3]

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[5]

@@ Line 196: / Line 196: @@
 * [http://www.arts-crafts.ca/stars/ Stars] (official site)
 * {{MySpace-music|stars|Stars}}
+* [http://www.studio360.org/episodes/2008/03/14/segments/94937 Inteview with Stars on Studio360]
 * [http://www.setantarecords.com/ Setanta Records site]
 * {{imdb name | id = 0132904 | name =  Torquil Campbell }}

v t e Stars
Torquil Campbell Amy Millan Evan Cranley Chris Seligman Patrick McGee
Studio albums	Nightsongs (2001) Heart (2002) Set Yourself on Fire (2004) In Our Bedroom After the War (2007) The Five Ghosts (2010) The North (2012) No One Is Lost (2014) There Is No Love in Fluorescent Light (2017)
Other albums	Do You Trust Your Friends? (2007)
EPs	A Lot of Little Lies for the Sake of One Big Truth (2000) The Comeback (2001) Dead Child Stars (2002) Sad Robots (2008)
Singles	"Ageless Beauty" (2004) "Your Ex-Lover Is Dead" (2005)
Record labels	Le Grand Magistery Paper Bag Records Setanta Records Arts & Crafts City Slang Records Vagrant Records ATO Records
Related articles	Discography Memphis Big Rude Jake Broken Social Scene Da Gryptions