Watch Anand Wilder’s take on The New Pornographer’s “Challengers” Ft. Maia Friedman
New York, NY (February 5, 2025) - 2024 marked the 20th anniversary of Last Gang Records but the party continues into 2025 as the independent record label continues to roll out a series of covers from its original artist signings, including today’s release of Anand Wilder’s (of Yeasayer) take on the New Pornographer’s classic “Challengers,” feat. Maia Friedman (of Dirty Projectors, Coco). Watch + share the visualizer via YouTube.
Discussing his cover of “Challengers,” Wilder notes, “I had a lot of fun interpreting ‘Challengers’, one of my favorite New Pornographers songs with Maia Friedman in my studio last March. The other cover track we did (‘Love Is A Place,’ by Metric) was super sparse so we decided to make this one a little more full and uptempo with some chimey guitars and drum machines. Maia sang fantastic harmonies as always and ripped a great Frippy guitar solo for the instrumental breakdown which I stitched together for kind of a psychedelic spiraling canon effect over the descending chords. Tested the top of my singing range stacking Fleetwood Macesque harmonies late into the night for the final chorus, for a real anthemic sounding resolution. Thanks to Eric Zeiler for the mix and I hope we did the song justice."
Anand Wilder and Maia Friedman kicked off the cover series last May with Maia’s take on Metric’s “Love Is A Place,” followed by Low Hum’s reinterpretation of Death From Above 1979’s “Romantic Rights,” Alice Ivy’s take on MSTRKRFT’s “Easy Love,” and most recently Dear Boy’s cover of Metric’s “Combat Baby.”
Concurrent with the cover series, has released a series of limited edition 20th anniversary merch items via their shop, along with vinyl re-pressings of Metric’s Old World Underground, Where Are You Now?, Mother Mother’s The Sticks, Emily Haines & The Soft Skeleton’s Knives Don’t Have Your Backs and Death From Above 1979’s You’re A Woman, I’m A Machine and The Physical World (Eleventh Anniversary Deluxe Edition) with more to be announced. Shop here - https://shop.lastgang.com.
Last Gang Records was founded in 2003 by music industry lawyer Chris Taylor and concert promoter Donald K. Tarlton as a home to the music they loved and believed in. The label was a passion project while the two focused on their day jobs. Last Gang’s first two signings, Metric and Death From Above 1979, released albums in 2004. Both quickly caught fire and turned what was intended to be a hobby into something far more.
Over the past two decades, Last Gang has served as a home to an incredibly diverse array of artists, with the motto of individuality, originality, and an us against the world mentality. Releases from Chromeo, MSTRKRFT, K-os, Ryan Hemsworth, The New Pornographers and A.C. Newman, Stars, Sango, Crystal Castles, and so many more, earning the label multiple gold and platinum-certified records, along with multiple Polaris Prizes, and 20 JUNO Awards, and the independent music sector globally.
“Having joined in 2015 and guiding the label through massive changes since then, it is accurate to say that Last Gang is firmly built into my DNA at this point in my career,” notes SVP MNRK/GM of Last Gang, Chris Moncada. “I am both honored and humbled to have played a part in the label hitting this sensational milestone.”
Today, Last Gang Records is part of MNRK Music Group, and home to artists such as Mondo Cozmo, The Ghost Club, Maia Friedman, Anand Wilder, Stars, Keys N Krates, Low Hum, Noble Oak, Mobley, Loving, Dear Boy, Harrison, Sango, along with Emily Haines & The Soft Skeleton and more.
Stay tuned for more!