Vampire Weekend - Father of the Bride

No tracklisting or official release date yet

Here are the first two songs

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yfGEq0JWxGM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZWmnjkZEkiA

Koenig revealed some other details about the record in a Beats 1 interview with Matt Wilkinson. Koenig said that ex-VW member Rostam Batmanglij contributed production to “Harmony Hall,” and that there’s another track that they “worked very closely on.” He also said that guitarist Greg Leisz plays the solo on “Harmony Hall” and is “all over the record,” while Dave Longstreth contributed another guitar part to “Harmony Hall.” Danielle Haim is also credited on the track. Jenny Lewis sings the “boy” motif in “2021,” Koenig revealed to NPR.

Speaking about “2021,” Koenig said that the track samples Japanese music icon Haruomi Hosono. “This is music that he composed in the ’80s to be played in Muji stores in Japan,” Koenig explained. “And when I first heard it, I was so struck by it and I immediately started looping it and I started writing this song on top of it. So anyway, shout out to Haruomi Hosono, who has graciously cleared the sample for us, and I guess shout out to Muji, too. They don’t own it anymore, he does, but, you know.”

Elsewhere in the interview, Koenig confirmed that the Internet’s Steve Lacy is on FOTB.

That piano in "Harmony Hall" has my name written on it. A minute too long, though.

'Harmony Hall' is a reference to Owenism: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Owenism

I'm beginning to really feel the lyrics:

Anger wants a voice / Voices wanna sing
Singers harmonize / Til they can’t hear anything
I thought that I was free / From all that questioning
But every time a problem ends / Another one begins

And the stone walls / of Harmony Hall / bear witness
Anybody with a worried mind could never forgive the sight
Of wicked snakes / Inside a place / You thought was dignified
I don’t wanna live like this / But I don’t wanna die

There's something really frightening about 'Singers Harmonize til they can't hear anything'. And of course the harmonizing on 'can't hear anything'.

'Harmony Hall' is a reference to Owenism: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Owenism

Or maybe just the name of a dorm at Columbia

there's a dorm named Owenize?

'Harmony Hall' is a reference to Owenism: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Owenism
Or maybe just the name of a dorm at Columbia

― jaymc, 24. januar 2019 15:21 (nine minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Lol, that makes it even better.

2021 samples that Hosono meme song.

This comment section is gold by yt standards

https://youtu.be/34UutDrXV2Q

HH sort of sounds like grateful dead no?

solo sounds so much like "Touch of Grey" yeah

"Finger Back" is one of my favorite VW songs but even I find the extensive quoting of the song - lyrically & musically - very strange. Don't know what to make of it.

Harmony hall kinda country

so far these sound like the parts of ‘modern’ that i wasn’t crazy about

I dig 2021 but it’s 99% because of the sample.

HH is too MOR music for my taste hope the whole album isn’t in this vein.

it's too dense with musical touches for MOR.

kinda deflated that this is where their production ended up after modern vampires tbh

That's what happens after six years. Imagine if they'd issued their Aerial.

i've seen a few folks around the internet suggesting that HH sounds too MOR or commercial

what specifically is it about the older records that kept them from feeling commercial/MOR? the highlife guitar? the synths on contra? the distortion on MVOTC?

i think the song rules personally but i'm also fascinated by the social baggage certain sounds accumulate in peoples' minds

kinda disappointed by both. HH leaning on recycling a previous song's refrain is just distracting.

Dig both of these songs. Can't wait to listen again when I'm not at my work computer with mediocre headphones.

I didn't hear "Finger Back" until someone pointed out, actually.

Aw... I was so excited to hear new stuff from them AT LAST !
But very disappointed... HH sounds like the opening song for a 90s romcom...

kinda disappointed by both. HH leaning on recycling a previous song's refrain is just distracting.

rappers do it all the time

the problem with it in this case is that now Fingerback is stuck in my head, not HH

xpost on Ottoman, Ezra recycled the "feels so unnatural, Peter Gabriel too" line from Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa

this is a much better pair of singles than the first two we got for MVOTC

uh neither of these touch “step”

otm

Who ever said HH sounded like Touch of Grey is way too otm

Seriously that solo tho

Like both these songs

xpost on Ottoman, Ezra recycled the "feels so unnatural, Peter Gabriel too" line from Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa

I’m not annoyed just perplexed, and as a meta touch within the context of the double LP might be cool

whether or not it works is up for debate but it seemed pretty obvious to me that that was done for artistic effect

i actually really liked "Harmony Hall" on first listen. not sure why it's so unlike around here.

i think everything everyone is picking out in harmony hall (the solo, the dead vibe, the piano, the meta chorus) has been done with extreme intent. it's an incredible song and i hope the rest of the album is this worked over because that's what vw does really well.

it's very pretty

yeah i'm liking it despite going in skeptical that they could make me care again

i don't hate it!

I expected to not care one bit about this, but HH is a very nice song that I might listen to a dozen times over the course of my life.

"harmony hall" is a little fractured structurally and some of the vocal parts are not his best, but i personally love the production

that said i like "2021" better

it all kinda reminds me of dirty projectors a bit, at least as far as the guitars go

& i guess longstreth played on hh

After a few more plays of HH, it's not as bad as I first thought.
I still don't find it great (nowhere near their previous singles) and am still disappointed after 6 years but the production/arrangements are more vivid than on MVOTC and it does sound good (especially the bass/drums with a kinda madchester groove !).

Loving 'Harmony Hall', like you know how when bands try and do a 'You Can't Always Get What You Want' thing and it's usually rubbish? This actually pulls it off.

I liked 'Modern Vampires' a lot as well but I feel like another indie pop record with multicoloured synths and huge clattery drums is the last thing the world needs right now.

re: madchester and "you can't always get what you want" i definitely thought of "movin' on up" on first listen

"harmony hall" feels exactly where they should be at this point in their career - a little more relaxed & not as frantic or with as much of the tightly wound baroque flourishes, a good way to mature

Yeah MVOTC lacked the baroque keyboards/strings as well as the afro guitar licks and a general lightness.
It's good if they go back to these key aspects of their sound.

MVOTC still had some of the baroque aspect ("step" and "don't lie" especially, which were some of the stronger tracks) but lacked that general lightness from the afro guitar etc. and i think that contrast was fairly key to the first two albums. "harmony hall" is a return to that lightness but not quite to the same degree which is what i like about it

yes, I totally agree.

All I can think about is how Brad Paisley married the actress from Father of the Bride and then wrote a song about how he married the actress from Father of the Bride and titled it Back to the Future.

Liking "Harmony Hall" a lot. It hits enough positive touchstones for me ("Movin' on Up" was the one that immediately came to mind) and combines them in an interesting and catchy enough way to stand apart. I also didn't notice the "Finger Back" quote until reading it here, but that's not one of my favorite songs on MVOTC. "2021" doesn't do much for me, but seems like a song that may have more purpose for the flow of an album

k nvm i love both of these. excited for the rest of the album!!!

2021 sounds kinda 1975

Feels like a slight move back towards the bubbly synthetic touches of Contra. Is it me or has his voice/singing changed (seems a bit more generic somehow)?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QkPWqnTWj38

Wow he still looks so juvenile. I could say he’s like 22 or something !
Will watch the whole intw later, thanks for posting it.
As for his singing/voice on HH, I find it’s the same as it was. Same inflexions and even melodic touches.
But the generic/MOR impression might come from the melodies that I find a bit lazy (hence my initial comparison with a 90s romcom opening song !).

what happened to his hair and sartorial sense :(

The intro and verses are very nice (both melody and guitar licks). The chorus and instrumental chorus are feel good enough and by the final it’s groovy/fun. The piano and guitar solos are great. The prechorus is the part I don’t enjoy much.

I think it’s just his « radio » look !

his hair looks the same

he once believed in gel

He probably knew he'd be wearing headphones that day, and planned accordingly.

He's 34 years old and has a brand new baby. He's probably past the hair gel and boat shoes? (Also, who cares?)

I actually think he wears his pyjamas in that radio intw !
Especially as they say it's very early in the morning...

(Also, who cares?)

ahem

To stay on sartorial issues : the baggy flashy sweatpants here are a strange combination with the with shirt/overcoat...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hDLZ90Oc8FY

Harmony Hall is gorgeous and amazing and it should/will have a place on every Wes Anderson-core film soundtrack till the end of time

listened to the singles from the s/t last night and goddamn what a perfect group of songs. I still get such a thrill from A-Punk.

Long version !
https://youtu.be/qa1t5bjJbms

I still haven't heard the new songs - will probably just absorb the LP as a whole when it comes out.

They plan to release 2 songs/month until April apparently.
So it’s like getting an LP first then a regular album.

just got tickets for philly!!!!! :D::D:D:D:D:D:D

Just came here to say that "Harmony Hall" is a fucking jam. The second new song I enjoy while it's playing, but can't remember how it goes when it's off... it's just kinda forgettable. Got tickets for Red Rocks on the last date of their fall tour. Hope the next couple songs draw out more of the relaxed, Grateful Dead-esque vibe from "Harmony Hall."

A friend just surprised me w/tix for the Houston date!

i am jazzed for this record

Maybe just me but every time I hear the chorus of Harmony Hall I think it's Jeff Tweedy.

It's you.

ready for 2 more songs

Are they good live?

Saw them at Barclays in fall 2013 and they were fucking great. Obviously can't speak for the new lineup but I really loved that show - can't beat this setlist:

Cousins
White Sky
Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa
Diane Young
Unbelievers
Holiday
Step
Horchata
Everlasting Arms
Finger Back
California English
A-Punk
Boston (Ladies of Cambridge)
Ya Hey
Don't Lie
Song 2 (Blur cover)
Campus
Oxford Comma
Giving Up the Gun
Obvious Bicycle
---
Hannah Hunt
One (Blake's Got a New Face)
Walcott

so they played all their songs lol

haha almost! no problem for me, they don't have a bad song imo. would've loved to have heard Bryn tho but I can't complain.

Sky Ferreira and Solange opened. I got there for SF and there were maybe 300 people in the whole arena. this was a month before Night Time, My Time came out. she was great, I saw her perform again two months later to a rapturous sold out 9:30 Club. Barclays crowd was still kinda thin during Solange but VW packed it, pretty sure they sold it out.

Saw them in 2008, 2011, 2012, each time fantastic, even in 2008 when I was scowling at the idea of "Vampire Weekend" seconds before they went on stage.

I love that they’ve kept the same stupid name this whole time

Each time I listen to "Harmony Hall" I like it about twice as much as I did before, and I've listened to it 5 times so I'm really high on it right now

I haven't caught up with the thread yet, but I just heard the single for the first time and I'm assuming I'm not the first to comment that it sounds like Paul Simon fronting Happy Mondays. And yet it works! (Or, alternatively, of course it works.)

yeah this is one hell of a grower

yeah, it's similar to "step" in that way for me, which i was mystified by when i first heard it (souls of mischief?), but it eventually fell into place.

I mean, a lot of people are saying "this song sounds great despite recalling the corny piano work of Movin' On Up and Bittersweet Symphony and etc." but I still unironically love that stuff so this is pretty much hitting the spot for me

Bittersweet Symphony has pianos?

oh maybe not but it does that same kinda thing with the chords rising and falling, i'm not a music theorist maaaaaaaaan

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IlkTVMMkCP4

Ezra's pancakes look delicious.

The lyrics seem a bit nothingy by Koenig standards, and the recycling of the "I don't want to live like this..." line is distracting. But musically it sounds pretty nice. B+

more open-shirted Ezra, please

Alfred, please, he’s a married man.

These guys are ironically kind of cool in how effortless and disinterested they are about being cool. They are making dadrock, nay grandparock at this point and it’s so sincere that you can’t bring it down.

o. nate:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9L2PLEUlOuM

I can't fully explain it but I am really creeped out by Ezra Koenig, it's a very visceral reaction. I don't know why but I get very passive-aggressive vibes from him, like he's unerringly nice but actually a shit. maybe he just reminds me of some asshole I knew in college. I can't pin it down. I actually listened to this band for a few years before I even saw a photo or video of him, and someone afterward it hasn't been the same. I recognize this is irrational.

He looks like a fratboy and a nerd at the same time.

Also has some man/boy features to his face... like some greek statue.

video is worth it for the shot of ariel rechtshaid using a vibraslap

Koenig definitely carries himself like a person who’s never had a single bad thing happen to him in his entire life, I understand how that could be unnerving.

Ah ! I’m not sure about this video but that vibraslap shot is great indeed ! The shirtless/hairy chest is disturbing though. A hairy rock aspect that doesn’t compute with his clean/pop image or something !

By the way, if it’s a couple of new tracks each month, we should be close to getting new ones within a few days.

And also about that video, at first I was expected him to start making sushis or some other japanese cooking like in the cooking scene in Isle of Dogs. Maybe because of the initial japanese influence around the album...

https://media.pitchfork.com/photos/5c7fed805cd269479978da50/master/pass/VWCover.jpg

hideous

That can't be real

is Sony Music the title?

jfc

Wow

so i guess they decided to have a purposefully butt-ugly cover as a joke? commentary? on how stylish all of their previous covers have been?

honestly the kerning/font size of the album title is the most offensive thing to me here

ahah the super basic/lo-fi earth picture.
the cover has a 80s world music style though.

Can't get the two new songs to stream yet :(

they seem to be here https://www.stereogum.com/2034317/vampire-weekend-sunflower-feat-steve-lacy-big-blue/music/

They’re on spotify

"Big Blue" is great. "Sunflower" sounds like a B-side.

The production on « Sunflower » is pretty low-fi too !

These two songs sound more like album tracks than singles and the production is nowhere near « harmony hall ».
I might miss the lush production approach of Rostam...

find it really hard to feel anything about any of the songs released so far except that "sunflower" seems bad

i know y'all love "harmony hall," it's cool

i think this release strategy was a bad idea

these are fun imo

these are ok and i like "big blue" a fair amount but they're both pretty weird single choices

they’re clearly having fun w the rollout and not taking it too seriously. im here for vdubs‘ dgaf era

For anyone who bought compilation CDs in longboxes in the late 1980s, the cover of the new @vampireweekend album is the BIGGEST MOOD POSSIBLE. pic.twitter.com/VTLtyqIapr

— Andy Greenwald (@andygreenwald) March 6, 2019

English, please?

I like both songs, short and nice! I think this is gonna be my kind of album, except for the cover

whoa, finally listened to these new songs and they fucking rule. Much more excited about them and this album than HH & 2021. which I thought were fine, but these songs confirm my suspicions this is going to be a double album in spirit, discursive and messy, mannered but much more relaxed, 'dgaf' Is otm

Ugh they’ve never been particularly interesting in their artwork, but I hate that album cover.

"biggest mood possible"

Looks like The Simple Truth-era Chris de Burgh

Or a 1991 Simple Minds remix album

idk the visual aesthetic they're referencing in this stuff is pretty obvious to me... i guess ezra & i are roughly the same age and prob grew up around a lot of the same ppl (upper middle class suburban jews) but ironic riffing on the iconography of boomer hippies-turned-settled down adults and their kids (life is good brand clothes, tevas, fonts on the first wave of organic products, environmentalism, jam bands etc) is pretty in the sweet spot of the kind of social milieu this band has always occupied itself with

i like "big blue" a lot ... a little psychy and twangy. i remember ezra saying he was influenced by seeing a kacey musgraves show & tho i thought that was prob bullshit i can kinda see it here. "sunflower" feels a little...... jaunty to me in a way that perhaps pushes the irony a little too far. i do like the lyrics a lot tho.

none of these 4 songs have blown me away -- 2021 is pretty sick tho -- but i do think they're doing some cool things productionwise on these songs... they still sound like vampire weekend but are all over the place in a lot of ways & have a certain depth that has been building throughout their discog. i think the album will be good.

https://turn5.scene7.com/is/image/Turn5/J128532?wid=810&hei=608

(life is good brand clothes, tevas, fonts on the first wave of organic products, environmentalism, jam bands etc)

adbusters magazine

i think they’re (wisely) saving the major slammers for the album

jordan otm although it irks me to think of them surrounded by label managers helping them pick the perfect peace frog t shirt from ebay for the upcoming tour or w/e

idk man if you listen to his time crisis radio show ezra's pretty deep in this shit

i love harmony hall but hvaent gotten into any of the others yet

think i'll just wait for the record at this point

"Big Blue" is a nice ballad. "Sunflower" eh... let's say I agree with "pretty weird single choices" !

Is "Big Blue" meant to be a minute and a half long or is it a truncated version that was put up on Spotify?

That album cover is dorky af but 100% fits the aesthetic. Like it looks like the logo for an 80s benefit concert headlined by Paul Simon, Sting and Peter Gabriel with some touring world music acts further down the bill for the boomers to drink and talk through.

(life is good brand clothes, tevas, fonts on the first wave of organic products, environmentalism, jam bands etc)

adbusters magazine

― flopson, Thursday, March 7, 2019 4:21 PM (yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

no, no, *Utne Reader*

Santa Cruz Organic sodas

The album cover is just as half-assed at evoking the aesthetic y’all are (accurately) name-checking, as these two songs are when it comes to evoking their apparent musical touchpoints. Actual crunchy Phish/jamband dudes in an East Coast college in 1992 might nod and say “ok, cool” if you played these tunes for them, but wouldn’t give them a second listen.

Saw this via a Hipinion thread about FOTB:

https://www.are.na/blog/the-global-village-coffeehouse-aesthetic

Also apparently Ezra recently interviewed the designer of the Jokerman font:

https://i.pinimg.com/originals/e3/b2/aa/e3b2aa2fdbf0ac15653a1b0c11b8cb9c.png

All of this to me is more interesting than the new VW music.

Actual crunchy Phish/jamband dudes in an East Coast college in 1992 might nod and say “ok, cool” if you played these tunes for them, but wouldn’t give them a second listen.

is that supposed to be a bad thing....

Third time listening to “sunflower” and I’ve decided I actively hate it and it might be the most annoying VW song ever, and this is coming from a band with a certain amount of those.

I was very much into their last album and was really anticipating this new one but these 4 songs released so far are weak as fuck

they don't have a bad song

Taking the Global Village Coffeehouse discussion to a new thread

lol zabar's, barney greengrass and jerry seinfeld
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sKDesEcDrcc

this song reminds me of Vulfpeck

That's a VERY annoying video !
Like when a kid starts using a camera and finds it "interesting" to turn it all around...
indeed lol Seinfeld.

And in this case the kid is Jonah Hill.

split screen + constant rotation is also like a kid using ALL the effects on the camera at once !

So apparently Jonah Hill is not ready to direct a movie...

he already did

this song reminds me of Vulfpeck

― mizzell, Wednesday, March 13, 2019 9:22 AM (thirty-three minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

ugh yeah it does

xpost really ? what movie did he direct ?

aw ok I just checked and his movie hasn't been released in France, yet...

Well, video is as annoying as the song.

Sunflower sounds neutered, incomplete, and thin. A rather boring tune from a band who could rarely be described as such.

My first impression of Sunflower was that it reminded me of The Stepkids, but Vulfpeck works as well.

Vulfpeck comparison is otm, I like how stripped back and casual it is though. Don't like any of the others.

(lol Seinfeld)

I'm kind of into Vampire Weekend leading a baggy revival

djp! :)

This new song I do like.

I tried to listen to "Sunflowers" again.
It definitely has an earworm (but still annoying) quality and the verses are not so bad.
But the vocal/instrumental riff is trash (and the production is weak).
Arguably, their worst single to date.

As a double album buried track it would be ok, I suppose.
But it's as if the Beatles had released "Wild Honey Pie" as a single !

haha

VW covered the other Sunflower for Radio 1 (mixing some of their own sunflower in there): https://soundcloud.com/neonreggaesunsplash/vampire-weekend-sunflower-post-malone-swae-lee-cover-bbcr1-via-teamvampireweekendcom

very pretty, and kinda disconcerting how much ezra sounds like swae lee, or at least how easily swae's cadence from that song fits so well with ezra's a-punk-era vocal patter

Oh man, I cannot get behind the vocals on this at all

I'm sitting here cringing and thinking "dude you could take this down a whole step, it would be fine"

idk i don't think it's that different from his vocal mode during the peppier songs from the first two albums, though yes the falsetto part is very rough

Sunflower cover > sunflower by vw

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4T62P7pBEEs

the extended live version of big blue is really nice

djp is right about ezra's vocals but the cover is still amazing

https://www.stereogum.com/2037965/vampire-weekend-father-of-the-bride-details-a-hans-zimmer-palestine-danielle-haim/news/

Also a song called "Unbearably White".

Oh, 3 new tracks this week !
Then the album will be released next month, right ?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KIGNNOZ0948
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bkBjoY7eyvU

"this life" is great, my favourite single so far. kinda has tusk vibes? "unbearably white" is quite nice too. the looser sound they've adopted on this sound is a good fit

*on this album

Harmony Hall is my favorite song they've ever done.

Sunflower is far and away my favorite of these new tracks.

just scanned the thread, and it seems like i'm in a pretty small minority on that opinion.
Hey, it's definitely the least boring. Need to look into this steve lacy character.

yeah i can't stand that song and i like these guys

just scanned the thread, and it seems like i'm in a pretty small minority on that opinion.
Hey, it's definitely the least boring. Need to look into this steve lacy character.

― enochroot, Thursday, April 4, 2019 12:18 PM (fifteen minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

lol i was like steve lacy?? that would be a big get considering he died in 2004

two new songs are good

Steve Lacy (new, not dead) is great and that's my favorite too.

But I do hate when young producers have or adopt the same name as old jazz dudes (see also Bob Moses, Richard Davis, etc).

Both of the new songs are fantastic.

i feel like on "this life" he really brings it full circle and assumes the guise of millennial paul simon

The chords on This Life are making me smile. Love it.

"this life" is really really good

love lacys vocals on roll burbank funk from last year

This album actually sounds exactly like its cover. I feel that if this had come out in 1993 or something it would have been massive (proto "adult alternative" if you will). Also, I never managed to get into the last album's stuffy preciousness so I really love how loose and airy this sounds.

really big into these two songs straight away

The two new songs are great !
good strategy to release a good single, then a crappy one and then, right before the album, two great songs.
They both remind me of other songs but I haven't really found out which ones, yet.
Anyway, they're instantly catchy and it feels like you already know them, which is a good sign !

Btw, I'm so relieved 'Unbearably White' is about too much snowfall.

So Danielle Haim makes all the vocal harmonies on the album apparently ?

xp :D

The guitar pattern in the verses of "Unbearably White" clearly reminds me of a song... I know it. But I can't put my finger on it. It's driving me crazy !

it's unspeakably white

does it not sound pretty similar to blood orange negro swan? thats what i immediately heard.

er, charcoal baby rather.

I hope they have hacky sacks at the tour merch stand.

About "This is Life": this is more like it.

“this life” is exactly the song I wanted them to make

yes enjoyed these two songs

i think all 6 songs are of similar quality. looking forward to the album

yeah all 6 are good imo this band is good

I mean I still don’t really ‘get’ “sunflower” but it’s short

been listening to these in order on apple music cuz you can play a partial album and i don't see how this album is any less than very good

these songs have improved upon further listening. both absolutely great. my faves so far.

Yeah these last two are probably the best of what has been released so far. The past single was pretty bad imho.

tracklist is here at last:

Hold You Now (feat. Danielle Haim)
Harmony Hall
Bambina
This Life
Big Blue
How Long?
Unbearably White
Rich Man
Married in a Gold Rush (feat. Danielle Haim)
My Mistake
Sympathy
Sunflower (feat. Steve Lacy)
Flower Moon (feat. Steve Lacy)
2021
We Belong Together (feat. Danielle Haim)
Stranger
Spring Snow
Jerusalem, New York, Berlin

It’s kinda weird that D. Haim is SO present on this album. Is there a specific reason ? Are there other examples of an artist being all over another’s album without it being a duet/collab album ?

she dates ariel rechtshaid who appears to have co-produced the album

https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/music/la-et-ms-vampire-weekend-ezra-koenig-father-of-the-bride-interview-20190425-story.html

Ezra talks about Danielle's presence on the album a bit in this interview - he was inspired by some country duets and wanted to do a few duets on this album and she seemed like a good fit. her backing vocals on tracks we've heard so far have been really welcome imo

Thanks !
Oh yes she’s perfectly fine but I was just wondering since it’s unusual.

she dates ariel rechtshaid who appears to have co-produced the album

― J0rdan S.

Yeah he introduced them one another, he worked on modern vampires and Haim’s days are gone simultaneously.

Interesting intw. Lol about the father of his « bride ». I didn’t know !

Are there other examples of an artist being all over another’s album without it being a duet/collab album ?

Aurora's on as many tracks of the new Chemical Brothers album as Danielle is on this one and near as I can tell she's not dating anyone who was involved in the production on that

Aw ok. I’m not familiar with her and their work since... the 90´s !
But it’s a bit different for a band without a singer to have regular « guests ».

The new National album will have lots of female guest vocalists apparently.

Why does every profile have to describe in specific detail what the subject is wearing? Who the fuck cares?

Also, what the fuck is this ongoing vague obsession people have with "dad rock?" What the fuck is "dad rock?" Is it just music that won't scare off your dad?

Lol jic at this pt aren’t you the dad

Yeah, but there's nothing different about what I listen to! I mean, my own dad liked Sinatra, reggae and '50 rock.

Are there other examples of an artist being all over another’s album without it being a duet/collab album ?

Um, yes, like every other album in the world? The only noteworthy thing is the "feat." prefix, which was likely a managerial decision-- that Danielle and her management negotiated a "feature" for any track she appeared upon. Danielle and Ariel are indeed dating but this isn't like a "oh I'll get my girlfriend on the track" situation, it is a crew and they are a crew

Every other album in the world(?)

No literally every album every made doesn't use anybody else except the primary musician and/or musicianary body and the idea that a person might come in to work on several tracks over the course of the album is completely unheard of like this album is truly seminal in this regard

I mean "Danielle Haim" is featured on THREE TRACKS this is insane I'll have to do a little wikipedia research but I've never heard of an outside musician working on more than two, AT MOST, tracks on an album, like this is completely unprecedented

^^Steve Lacy knew that.

It’s not unprecedented/insane, but also not super common for “rock bands” or whatever. I don’t fault Alex for noting it / raising the question.

(And to address Alex’s question myself: a roughly analogous-seeming historical example is R.E.M.’s Out of Time, on which Kate Pierson appeared on two album tracks and an outtake. That was a zillion years ago, I’m sure there are more recent examples, but none that spring immediately to mind.)

Well D.Haim os « feat » on 3 tracks + others where she’s on vocals backing apparently (« Harmony Hall » for instance).
You might know zillions of other albums where a super famous bands has another famous singer on that many tracks without it being a duet/collab album but I don’t. Cool for you !

Xpost obviously
Thanks for the R.E.M example !

Dre and Snoop?

Bowie and iggy

There’s a musician named Emmy Lou Harris, for example

ELH is a good one !

Bowie&Iggy too.
Dre&Snoop is a bit different imo.

Sorry I was snippy yesterday I think I was just reading things wrong

I thought it was being implied that Danielle Haim hangs around her boyfriend's studio in hopes of getting featured on Vampire Weekend albums and it seemed fishy and strange and unprecedented and that her repeat features must be the result of some kind of nepotism

I realize in hindsight that was not what was being typed. I don't think it's uncommon though that a known musician might be featured on several tracks across a single album. The only notable thing about it is the "feat." which I imagine is a product of contemporary contract negotiation... "features" carry some kind of monetary value, some kind of percentages that I'm not myself familiar with the specifics of but I'm sure exist

the "feat" thing is a result of the general "hip-hopification" of pop music

i think in this case it’s also a branding mechanism to help emphasize that this is a new era of vampire weekend... having heard the album there doesn’t seem to be much rhyme or reason as to why some songs have a “feat” and some don’t. the first song is almost a duet for instance but on some others — “sunflower” for instance — it mostly seems to be arbitrary. jenny lewis has additional vocals on “2021” but no “feat”. who knows... fgti’s explanation makes sense

I have definitely had conversations with musicians who talked about negotiating "featured performer" status but I don't know what it means or why they'd negotiate it, beyond an assumption that there was some kind of percentage involved, and, of course, exposure.

Ya it gets you more money and a percentage of publishing.

having heard the album

um surely the "feat D Haim" thing is due to the fact that Haim have a large fan base who might be unaware of Vampire Weekend?

Haim's fan base is closer in size to Jenny Lewis' than Vampire Weekend's. Right?

Which is not to say there aren't Haim fans who might be unaware of VW, I'm just calibrating.

I do not think there are many Haim fans who are not aware of the band Vampire Weekend

I have no idea, I just remember my daughters are aware of Haim (because of the T Swift connection) but not of VW.

oh there's an entire half-generation of people who are young enough to know Haim and not VW, I'd say

A friend's 3 year old son listened to nothing but Haim for about a year (on his daily Spotify time slot), I doubt he knows VW ;)

*alerts the authorities*

That's believable but still pretty wow for me

It feels entirely logical and unexceptional that Danielle Haim is on some of these songs but as a cross-promotional strategy it leaves a little to be desired given that no one cared about that last Haim album.

I mean no one feels impelled to do this every time Damon Albarn turns up all over someone else's record.

er, maybe Vampire Weekend used Danielle Haim because they liked her voice?

I think one of the key elements about that is that with Rostam, they lost the person who did all/most of the backing vocals/harmonies.
So it makes sense that they tried to "replace" him and even better if they found someone that they enjoyed working with.
I suppose if he had stayed they might still have maybe a duo project on the album but not that many vocal parts done by a guest.

yeah that makes a lot of sense to me, backing vox/harmonies on first 3 albums are crucial

Ezra mentioned on one of his radio shows something about wanting to have "feat."s on the VW record for the first time on FOTB because they'd never done them before on their records. And like said above there's probably a lot to fill in in Rostam's wake.

All 3 Haims also did significant b-vox on the Dirty Projectors record I think without "feat." credits? A couple of songs?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s3RRe9Lhraw

this version of 'i think ur a contra' is fantastic

Are people missing Rostam's presence with the new songs or nah?

I think ur a contra is peak dad rock

"dad rock" really ? ugh

Are people missing Rostam's presence with the new songs or nah?

― Josh (phantompenguin)

Not especially. The band has absorbed his lessons about textured, fully inhabited recordings.

dad rock has lost all meaning

I was just kidding.

As a rocking dad, and as the son of a rocking dad, I fully support the reclamation of the pejorative. Dad Rock Pride!

"Jerusalem, New York, Berlin" is the prettiest ballad Koenig's written yet, and D. Haim is excellent on it.

👋 a new Vampire Weekend song, ‘We Belong Together’ is out tomorrow on the album ‘Father of the Bride’, produced by your old pal Rosty Griswald (me)

— Rostam (@matsoR) May 2, 2019

and you can't tell!

can't wait to hear the album ! being seeing pretty positive reviews

been*

this album is a bit weirder than i expected, kinda all over the place (in classic double album fashion i guess). certainly stronger than Modern Vampires but i know i'm fairly alone in thinking that's easily their worst but i doubt i'll end up loving this as much as Contra where every track is a very inventive & near-perfectly crafted pop song.

on first listen "This Life" is the clear highlight but "Flower Moon" and "Stranger" are really nice too and there's a lot to take in.

I love this, I love this

So those 3 songs where Danielle Haim's credited are all duets

is it a flex now to not stream yr album before release day?

Definitively all over the place and doesn't really flow as an album but having listened to a it a few times yesterday there's some very good (and very short) songs - echo ufo with props for This Life and Flower Moon.

Closing track is lovely too

"Sympathy" is the only one that i really have no idea what to make of

After listening to the whole thing once it seems pretty good.
For a double album, it’s easy to get through.
« Sympathy » is fun !

This felt overlong to me and simultaneously overworked and unfinished. Would probably benefit from having a third of the tracks culled I guess.

Not sure about overlong (only four of the songs get past the four minute mark and half of them are less than three) but could definitely be streamlined a bit.

I simultaneously like a baggy old monster and think all albums should be shorter so am thinking both right now (happy as is & should be filleted). I'm certainly transfixed by how beautiful it sounds.

actually i'm not quite sure what to make of all the D. Haim duets either. they're all country-influenced but end up in this weird territory where they just feel slightly off. it's also weird to hear Ezra singing songs that are so direct and sincere in emotion to the point of feeling a bit corny, even if they're in character.

the album length is in this awkward spot where it's slightly long for a single album but quite short as far as sprawling all-over-the-place double albums go so maybe they should have committed a little stronger to one or the other?

I have a problem with « hold you now » because it uses a zimmer sample that’s overused in a cheesy tv ad here... obviously it’s not VW’s fault !

the dullest songs insist on a rote happiness: "We Belong Together," "Married in a Gold Rush," "Rich Man" (I'm still figuring out that one).

The Keats/Yeats couplet is abysmal for someone with Koenig's acquaintance with college syllabi. I mean, even Morrissey didn't pair them this dumbly.

not feeling the duets much myself on first listen

i wonder if she is doing any tour dates with them .

she said in an interview they haven't made plans for that yet but if they happen to be in the same place at the same time id think it's pretty possible

this is good, the production is astonishing, but... boring complaint, but it’s too long. i might change my mind as i get more familiar with it but the effect of all these vampire weekendy vampire weekend songs stacked on top of each other for an hour is... monotonous. i also find it very strange that i don’t like any of the danielle haim songs

I was ready to defend them all at this time yesterday; now their facility irritates me.

and weirdly this monotonous pacing makes the extreme stylistic diversions (“sympathy”) exhausting

Echoing all the Flower Moon love

Gonna take a yeeeeeeeeear

I’ve been bracing myself for this album for years now. I love all of their other records and have been expecting this one to be a letdown—Rostam leaving, the long delay, the announcement that it would be a double, “Harmony Hall” which I disliked, the album art... After “Harmony Hall” I purposefully avoided the other singles just so I could try to engage with the album on its own terms.

Anyway, I’m on my first play through now. This is my “yucky listen” - just trying to hold off any opinions and do my best to shake off all the bias and expectations as much as I can. Maybe that’s working as I was really gritting my teeth from the first track through “This Life” but it’s starting to even out a little now.

[edit but here comes another Haim duet I’m only fond of]

On the other hand my wife does not enjoy suffering like I do. She just texted me after one listen: “they’re dead to me.”

how does the pacing compare to MVOTC? it's only 15 minutes longer, but with shorter & breezier songs I imagine it might flow better? I love MVOTC but it has a lot of relatively long songs, and some dry ones bookending it. haven't had a chance to listen to FOTB, honestly forgot it came out today, but looking forward to it.

It doesn't feel exhausting because the melodies and harmonies are intricate enough to remember and savor at two minute. Sometimes they're too bright ("We Belong Together").

Also: Koenig claiming writing or co-writing credit on every track. Guess VW has given up the fiction of a democracy.

were the first three records credited to the band? I always assumed it was a Lennon/McCartney situation

I had to go and get two tyres sorted and all I've been humming to myself - the residue of listening to this all morning - is Paul Young's version of Love of the Common People and that bastard Jona Lewie Christmas song.

were the first three records credited to the band? I always assumed it was a Lennon/McCartney situation

― flappy bird, Friday, May 3, 2019

The band credited with music, Koenig with lyrics on first two.

“stranger” is absolutely amazing

if there is a Pazz & Jop poll this year, this album will win it

I spent a minute of 'Hold You Know' thinking 'ugh, country', and then Ezra said 'Alright' and it sounded like he just straight up hit the sample button. Incredible moment. Throughout the whole album, the arrangements are absolutely amazing, on another level of everything they've ever done - and they've always been great at arrangements. But I feel like this time it's like the entire world is at the tip of Ezra's finger, and he just summons whatever he wants when he needs something to underscore what he is saying. It's a crazy feeling.

The only song I kinda don't get at all is My Mistake, and even there I think it's quite funny the way it leads into Sympathy.

Some cool behind the scene stuff in Rostam’s story https://instagram.com/matsor?utm_source=ig_profile_share&igshid=3dixolg6z7np

It's not really country, it's "country," or "Kacey Musgraves"

haha "Harmony Hall" to swipe from Happy Mondays

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2CQLAhNlbfQ

I have never been the biggest fan -- I like some songs and I've always thought Ezra's a talented dude, but the band as a whole kind of put me off. But this one is clicking for me -- a little mellower, I guess, plus it's not as rhythmically grating as I've found them before. (They're number one on my list of "Bands I would like better with a good drummer.") But if it's a VW album that people who aren't VW fans like, then maybe VW fans won't dig it as much.

XP...which was taken from John Congos...

Um, the rhythms has probably always been my favourite part of VW? Though admittedly less on MVOTC

xpost surely you mean john Kongos

also tipsy otm i think i like this but i listened to the others this week and i didn't really like this band before

strong john prine/iris dement vibe on d.haim duets

yah, in a good way. I would be down for a whole Ezra/Danielle album.

strong john prine/iris dement vibe on d.haim duets

― tonga,

Yeah, it sounds like they're aiming for "In Spite of Ourselves" on "We Belong Together."

I wish it'd been a Rickie Lee Jones cover.

Um, the rhythms has probably always been my favourite part of VW? Though admittedly less on MVOTC

To each their own. I think Ezra's a good rhythm guitarist, but the actual rhythm section of the band -- drums in particular -- has always been the achilles heel for me. (Seeing them live had the effect of confirming rather than dissipating this for me.)

i wish Bambina was twice as long

To each their own. I think Ezra's a good rhythm guitarist, but the actual rhythm section of the band -- drums in particular -- has always been the achilles heel for me. (Seeing them live had the effect of confirming rather than dissipating this for me.)

― a man often referred to in the news media as the Duke of Saxony (tipsy mothra), 3. maj 2019 20:54 (fourteen minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

I agree it's always felt rickety, especially when I saw them live as well, but the rhythms they are trying to play are so much more inventive than pretty much any other indie band this side of Dirty Projectors.

Love the album so far.

Curious about the choices made for the singles that were released ahead of time. Would you guys have made the same decisions on prerelease singles?

This album is very bland.

you're bland

Something this album gets right in a way the other ones maybe didn’t is that the melodies are industrial strength but this time there’s a certain lightness of touch that keeps the whole from being overbearing. (Which might help explain why I’ve never rated this band too too highly, in terms of year end lists and such, in the past - despite the fact that I do like them a lot.)

Because of the new album release the local station that plays this stuff is playing more from them. "Unbelievers" popped up and I forgot a) it existed (I've never really listened to VW at home) and b) how much I like it.

VW is very bland in general

I think this album at least there are leaning in to a 1990 triple-A radio station format vibe

I was hoping this album was going to lean hard into "we're having a baggy revival whether you like it or not" but large chunks of it feel like they landed on "you know, Jim Croce is really kind of nice"

True story: I just found out that Jim Croce is buried maybe two plots over from my dad!

girl, if you don’t know by now... ;)

Rastam and Ezra
Founded a band
The music they made
Was just unbearably bland.
Rastam went solo
Ezra went on
But the album he finished
Was unbearably long.

re: Ezra not pretending the band is a democracy anymore:

the impression i got from the credits for the pre-release tracks is that the rhythm section was barely involved at all in this album and it's basically an Ezra solo album - they were only credited with backing vocals on a few of the pre-release tracks and bass/drums were played by some LA session guys. they could have more playing credits on some of the album cuts though idk i haven't seen the full liner notes yet. in this piece: https://www.stereogum.com/featured/vampire-weekend-ezra-koenig-interview-father-of-the-bride/ Ezra does talk a bit about the band always having been his vision even if he did write with others

i really don't know how someone could argue the first two VW albums are bland of all things, hard to think of a more inventive indie band from the time.

NPR interview today was a mix of endearing and insufferable.

they've always played "accessible" sounds i think that's what ppl mean by bland

i love the album extremely chill gives me warm vibes

big fan of it. wanders a bit second half, but that's to be expected with so many songs new to the ears. i'm glad the band has become a kind of project rather than depending on the playing of the individual members. seems like a good way to go.

VW is Ezra and yer granny on bongos.

"spring snow" has really similar vibes to the new lambchop album, which i love

better singing, though

Could someone explain what is so "inventive" and about this band? Like being an early 00s indie band who did a thirdhand version of Paul Simon's secondhand version of African stuff?

I think a lot of it was they were cute and dressed well

On the first two albums their mishmash of musique concrète, programmed beats, light ska, high life guitar, and gnomic observations about class impressed the hell out of me.

Or you could read ten thousand other reviews.

Musique concrète?

sound effects, samples, etc

the French sounds more precious, and they deserve it

Could someone explain what is so "inventive" and about this band? Like being an early 00s indie band who did a thirdhand version of Paul Simon's secondhand version of African stuff?

it’s funny how some albums like graceland in the twisted minds of vdubs haters are held up like ‘we already did this, not original’ as if every album doesn’t have precedent. like m@tt prob considers hundreds of rock albums inventive for cool rhythms clever riffs tight lyrics (same reasons we love vw) despite having dozens of predecessors

I think a lot of it was they were cute and dressed well

crushing on ezra is definitely a fun part of being a fan, but i still remember my ears perking up when i first heard ‘oxford comma’

I remember perking up in early 2010 when Ezra started wearing skinny jeans

lol :)

Alfred's last seven posts or whatever are tremendously otm

yeah alfred completely otm

i don't think vw really bare that much resemblance to graceland beyond a somewhat superficial african-ness, which of course comes from both being strongly influenced by music from the same continent. graceland though was mostly influenced by south african music while iirc the african music vampire weekend have drawn from is mostly from west and central africa.

on their debut the main innovation is the way they combine that african-influenced sound with all their baroque harpsichord flourishes etc. but on contra they pushed things much further by combining those sounds with kinda chintzy synths and beats in a way that feels completely natural, and a whole bunch of other things too as alfred detailed. the end result is this really lovely blend of organic and synthetic and the way tracks will shift between the two is fantastic. most tracks on contra have enough ideas to make an entire career out of

Of course, MVOTC pushes this approach to its limit such that its rhythm section almost vanishes, and it makes sense that it's a Koenig-Rostam project in name only. I like it least of their albums; the willful wispiness of the music at times repels me.

yeah on MVOTC all the rhythms are so stilted and plodding, it's a big shift for the worse.

yet VW still produced "Step," "Worship You," "Everlasting Arms," and "Obvious Bicycle."

and of course I just read the following Ezra bit in the article that Josh posted:

“I had a feeling that when I wrote ‘Step,’ it was what I had been trying to do the whole time. It’s not gonna get better than that,” he continues. “That, to me, is the peak of that type of songwriting. I felt a sense of accomplishment, and after any sense of accomplishment, you feel a sense of emptiness and itchiness.”

twisted minds of vdubs haters

Wow

"Everlasting Arms" is probably the MVOTC track i understand the least, everything about it is slightly awkward and meandering. the album still has some very good songs ("Obvious Bicycle", "Step", "Don't Lie", "Hannah Hunt" and "Worship You" are what i'd keep) but it's much less consistent and tends much more towards their baroque pop side instead of the more interesting and exciting fusions of the previous two albums.

recriminations from the nitpicking woke (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn) at 6:56 4 May 19

On the first two albums their mishmash of musique concrète, programmed beats, light ska, high life guitar, and gnomic observations about class impressed the hell out of me.

Or you could read ten thousand other reviews.

I like reading about Vampire Weekend actually, they are a great band to read about

Ezra feels that way about "Step"? I think my list of favourite VW songs would not at all correspond with the band's own list of favourite VW songs

this album is chill

total volte face from the last one

i guess i have nothing interesting to say about ir

ezra is beautiful

― le goon (J0rdan S.), Wednesday, January 22, 2014

actually , a notion

the late 90s early 00s model of how to structure a long album is a more helpful model in 2019 than the 70s rock one

two vocal choruses then a solo over the chorus progression then two more choruses is fine on the last track of side one of four but when there are thirteen undifferentiated more tracks ahead of it ones heart sinks a little

of course I would find Lambchop slander in the VW thread

Lambchop is super boring

weird to find myself liking modern vampires more than most of the people in this thread. but i think “ya hey” is a perfect song and iirc some people find the sped-up vocal repulsive

Hi!

Had no idea there was dislike for Modern Vampires among fans. I think it’s the third in a trio of classics.

Also surprised there is not more polarization about this album. Am I alone in disliking it or is this just the skewed perspective of ILM? There’s a polish to this album like it is more purposefully aiming for radio play that rubs me the wrong way. Also feel like Ezra’s lyrics are a lot less clever this time around.

the "ya hey" vocal thing is a cool concept but as the main hook i feel like there has to have been a better way to execute it

That hook should be annoying as hell but I love it

It took me a while to get into VW because I kept reading about their innovative style but that always seemed overstated. I think this band's strength is more in writing very memorable hooks and lyrics

graceland though was mostly influenced by south african music while iirc the african music vampire weekend have drawn from is mostly from west and central africa.

I don't really think it's even this thought out. The Ezra quote about African stuff I saw back when was “The minute our band started, we looked to any kind of music that used rock instruments, but didn’t use them in the same old rock way. And I think African music is probably the best example of that.” So I don't think it was a specific act or region he was aiming to replicate so much as simply an unfashionably bright, super clean guitar sound totally removed from power chords and distortion and stuff. A la (generally speaking) his other big influence Johnny Marr, whose occasional African-isms were, as far as I've read, totally incidental (that is, "This Charming Man," as "African" as it sounds, was written before Johnny Marr had much of any idea about African music at all).

I could be wrong, though, maybe Ezra is like some Awesome Tapes from Africa savant or something. Obviously some of it, via Paul Simon or no, was totally intentional, I just don't know how specific.

Most classics have flaws, though, including the first three VW albums

I don't think anyone especially wanted to sound like West African music because it was West African, but they gravitated to the sounds of West African music more than South African. Although a song like White Sky does seem like a Graceland rip to me.

“It’s very meaningful to me, and it always hurt my feelings when people would say that Vampire Weekend’s lyrics were nonsense. They’re not nonsense. They’re impressionistic."

"I’ve always been mildly offended when people would say Vampire Weekend lyrics are nonsense, because they mean something."

Who says their lyrics are meaningless? Was that a typical criticism? I would have thought it was fairly apparent that the lyrics are laden with all sorts of references and codes.

In re the African influences and the new album, it made sense to me when I realized "Rich Man" is built on an S.E. Rogie sample, because Rogie incorporated country music from the start (big Jimmie Rodgers fan). So a palm wine/countrypolitan album is a natural progression.

took three attempts to make it to the end of this

the attempts at directness on side four are interesting but not hugely diverting. 'jerusalem new york berlin' is a billy bragg song.

yo this is pretty good though

Generally speaking, happiness doesn’t make for great art; at the very least, it isn’t as combustible as misery, desire, or any other feeling rooted in what we lack rather than what we have. Listening to Father of the Bride, I hear songs of contentment sung by people who have tended to feel agitated, songs of belonging by people who have tended to feel as though they don’t belong. I miss the restlessness of Contra, the grandeur of Modern Vampires, the way the band used to sound anxious and self-examining about their privilege but now seem oblivious. Still, it takes a certain kind of bravery to feel the weight of lightness, to admit that things are okay.

via pitchfork. generally otm. very against the grain of "the times" but that's why i think i like this album so much.

that’s a great excerpt. I’ll have to read that

I fundamentally disagree with this thesis and think it's an incredibly limited/adolescent take on what makes Great Art.

at some level though, don't you find it reassuring/heartwarming that, in 2019, pitchfork is still making these kinds of audacious generalizations? the freshman year of college that never ends

I disagree too.

I don't really think the album is entirely about contentment - there's some for sure but also a lot of dread and anxiety about climate change, rising white supremacism etc.

harmony hall is literally about discontent-- even opens by saying it's winter now

mike rly was a big part of my freshman year of college tho

"All I do is lose, baby/ All I want's to win" is not exactly a statement of contentment. Lots of other lines that refute that read of the album, but I understand the impulse of the review. The album feels sunny even when it's more complicated than that.

happiness doesn’t make for great art

can’t believe this made it into review copy in 2019 but i guess i’ve had no evidence we aren’t going to talk about the same things forever

fwiw I don’t really agree with that statement either

fwiw i like the rest of that review very much

yeah its good and this album is good

There's the slightest hint of Thom Yorke (good!) and Billie Joe Armstrong (less good)

" the way the band used to sound anxious and self-examining about their privilege but now seem oblivious."

I dunno, I've read This Life to be almost entirely about examining your privilege. I think it's a tough subject to tackle in a song without coming across as cringeworthy and self-aggrandising, but they do it really well here. Feeling as though you're immune to the "pain/rain", "crumbling dreams", "the hate waiting at the gate" etc. cheating through this life and all its suffering.

yeah, "This Life" is if anything -- at last -- the "You Can Call Me All" that the band's detractors have expected from them: examining your privilege, etc.

Also, Unbearably White hasn't been discussed much in here, but it's one of my favourites from this record. Beautiful instrumentation, and I love Ezra's little yOohoOOOs over the outro, and the way he sings "'iz hard on the body....iz hard on the mind" in the chorus.

thought this was fun:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vlUV6TXwKEI

So for those of us who think it's great but a bit too long, which tracks would you cut?

I'd cut "My Mistake" and the Steve Lacy tracks.

OK ... Ezra's blinking style ... twi quick ones, every time. Is this common? I have never seen this before:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QkPWqnTWj38

Was it Borges what said 'happiness does not need to be transformed; happiness is its own end'? I get that.

I keep hearing We Belong Together. I think you'd have to be pretty tin-eared to not realise the Keats and Yeats line is dreadful (notice he gave it away) but that's clearly a choice. And it's Love of Common People all the way (in a good way).

(Borges did also say 'I have committed the worst sin a man can commit: I have not been happy' so there is that.)

So after listening to this a lot over the weekend, it's very good (and I still find it very easy to listen to and to absorb for a double album).
Basically I like all the songs, more or less (except "sunflowers" and maybe "how long?" which is a bit boring).
That said it may lack some REALLY great songs/deep cuts.
So far, my favourites, besides the singles, are "rich man", "flower moon" and "jerusalem". two of the duets are also fun ("gold rush" and "we belong together" even though it IS silly !).
About the D. Haim tracks (she's on 9 tracks in total, I think), the only problem is that their voices don't particularly go/blend well together. Not enough contrast and differences in textures and personalities, imo.

https://www.setlist.fm/setlist/vampire-weekend/2019/webster-hall-new-york-ny-6390fe03.html

This setlist though.

That's a LOOOONG concert !

it was an all day thing with the sets spread across 7 hours apparently, kinda ridiculous lol. looks like they played nearly their entire discography

Man, "Everywhere" is really continuing to be an u&k text for millennial bands, huh?

u&k ?

vw have been covering it since 2008 iirc

"Urgent & Key"

Also didn't know they'd been covering it that long.

oh ok thanks !

i think its a huge success insofar as everyone having really different favorites. my mistake and spring snow are getting almost no love, but those are easily two i love most.

Oh I like "my mistake" ! It has a very cool oldies harmonic structure.

Keats and Yeats thing is a joke of two things that should go together (poets) and look like they should rhyme but don't.

The whole new episode of Time Crisis is him chatting bits about the album with Jake Longstreth and Ariel Rechtshaid while playing it back in sequence.

My Mistake is nice on its own, but it brings the flow of the album to a grinding halt imo

Keats and Yeats thing is a joke of two things that should go together (poets) and look like they should rhyme but don't.

Yeah, to me it's the same kind of playful song as Gershwin's "Let's call the whole thing off".

also a ref to the Smiths' "Cemetery Gates."

Still clangs.

i haven't given this enough plays to really absorb all of its parts yet, but, my initial feelings are not good.

this is exactly the kind of music that usually gets right to me: witty, canny, layered, bright, referential, colorful, accomplished, winsome, charming, self-aware, subtle hints of gloom... but holy cow am i not in the mood for this shit right now. thanks guys great record here's your A+ now fuck off, is how i break it down to an extent

hi, goole!

the new Pure Bathing Culture record is shockingly terrific and pfork dismissed it so i'm in a bad mood about indie tentpole releases at the moment!!

and, hi!

had this playing in one earbud just now and it was sort of blending into the background until "My Mistake" comes on. After starting it over with both earphones it was quite different in isolation and pretty cool.

goole :)

sup goole

I’m really into this record, but, other than the opening track, most of my favorites are the ones that were released earlier

Now that I’ve sat with this album for a few days: I give Ezra credit for stretching and trying for something that doesn’t feel like a rote follow-up to the last one. But for me, all the places where stretched just don’t work for me.

So, as is inevitable with double albums in the age of customizable playlists, I made my own version of this album that cuts out 7 tracks. And the result is... a rote follow-up to the last record. Sue me, this is what I wanted. Based on what I’m reading this probably eliminates everything you all are finding compelling about this record, but for me this makes the album 5x more enjoyable.

Hold You Now (feat. Danielle Haim)
Bambina
Big Blue
How Long?
Unbearably White
Rich Man
Sympathy
Flower Moon (feat. Steve Lacy)
2021
Spring Snow
Jerusalem, New York, Berlin

yah im not feeling this. it sounds like it was optimized to be played at coachella/festival circuit, the sound is way too widescreen normie indie c 2015.. i blame ezra moving to california (why does everyone do this in their thirties? lol.. kinda corny)

This is the worst album title/cover art combo I’ve seen in a very long time.

prob good to give this guy the benefit of the doubt that every iota has been obsessively considered. certainly to a fault in some cases, but it's not like any of this is random. this is the best interview i've seen from this press cycle: https://www.coupdemainmagazine.com/vampire-weekend/15590

im still hopeful that large parts of this will grow on me though; i didn’t like modern vampires until like a year after i first heard it. ‘this life’ is so great

‘how long’ is kinda great too

yeah pgwp you don’t f/w “this life”?

WELL BABY I KNOW DEATH
PROLLY HASN'T HAPPENED YET
CUZ I DON'T REMEMBER LIVING LIFE BEFORE THIS

These interviews are interesting, but I'm still waiting for one where he mentions bandmates who aren't a) "collaborators" or b) Rostam.

Yeah "this life" is definitely one of the best tracks on the album.
So is "big blue". The singles choices were pretty good (except for "sunflower" obviously !).

ok warming up to this p quick lol. ‘unbearably white’ is beautiful

too late

ahah, in 12 hours !

yeah pgwp you don’t f/w “this life”?

― k3vin k., Tuesday, May 7, 2019 Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

I think it’s corny. Aside from the “I’ve been cheating on you” line it sounds like a song for a montage in a teen comedy.

The entire album is pretty "corny".

Ezra Corny

I put myself through this whole thing earlier. For the first half I was thinking that I didn't hate it so much but it wasn't especially good, then it started to grate a bit more. I'll say that I wasn't forced to turn it off but that's all I'll say. I was never in their corner anyway so eh, like whatever you want to like. It does feel a bit sad that this band gets 200+ new answers for a mediocre album when other etc etc etc

the orchestra hit in “unbearably white” is unbearably good

not sure how i feel about ‘sympathy’... psych folk stomper is a weird look for them

rich man -> married in a gold rush -> my mistake -> sympathy -> sunflower

i don’t really dislike any of these songs but this run kills the album. album kicks ass both before and after it but also feels like it’s constantly getting started until it ends

yeah totally agree with that, that whole run feels like a misfire

"Married in a Gold Rush" is my fave of the proper D. Haim duets. I'd like "We Belong Together" if it weren't for the lyrics (though I do like the last minute of it).

"Sympathy" rules

rich man -> married in a gold rush -> my mistake -> sympathy -> sunflower

i don’t really dislike any of these songs but this run kills the album. album kicks ass both before and after it but also feels like it’s constantly getting started until it ends

― american bradass (BradNelson)

I like "Sympathy," otherwise quite otm

yeah that’s very otm

i don’t hate ezra’s corny country couplets and overall there are enough successes to justify his strategy of moving away from lyrics built around ‘expensive words’ towards writing simple straightforward love songs... but some of them (the United States one in ‘we belong’ has yet to fail to make me groan) are just like.. c’mon dude

‘New York Jerusalem berlin’ is one of their best closers

Nah.

Their best closer.

I don’t mind the keats/yeats like but it’s be a lot funnier if he mispronounced yeats imo

i like "rich man" and "my mistake" a fair bit but that's certainly the weakest stretch

"jerusalem, new york, berlin" is fantastic but "i think ur a contra" is still my favourite of their closers

heh -- my pick for worst song of their career through 2011. I didn't care about the literate lyrics or whatever -- I could not stand the untethered track and Koenig's vocal tone.

it’s funny that he sings the keats line, i like to imagine she was too embarrassed lol

rich man -> married in a gold rush -> my mistake -> sympathy -> sunflower

i don’t really dislike any of these songs but this run kills the album. album kicks ass both before and after it but also feels like it’s constantly getting started until it ends

― american bradass (BradNelson)

Yeah, I totally know what you mean. I had that same feeling earlier today although I've come to love Sunflower now.

I like Rich Man!

it'll prob grow on me

xp I do too. also like both of the steve lacy collaborations. haven't listened to the album as a whole to see how it flows

Two drum kits : now that’s getting serious !
https://youtu.be/l7RTO8uqUB8

rich man -> married in a gold rush -> my mistake -> sympathy -> sunflower

i don’t really dislike any of these songs but this run kills the album. album kicks ass both before and after it but also feels like it’s constantly getting started until it ends

― american bradass (BradNelson), 8. maj 2019 00:58 (seven hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Ezra keeps talking about the album as a double lp, so I don't think this is meant to run together. I agree, it's a but much, but I like Married in a Gold Rush as the end of one side, and while I don't like My Mistake, I think Sympathy -> Sunflower -> Flower Moon -> 2021 is a pretty good LP side. Weird as hell.

hmm i don't really like that jammy version of jerusalem new york berlin, that approach has worked for a lot of the other tracks from this album live but not this one. the sparseness of the album version with just the piano & bass synth is really what makes it work

« Gold rush » and « rich man » being among my favourites, I have no problem with that part of the album !
For me there are 3 main sections :
- « hold u » / « big blue »
- « unbearably white » / « sympathy »
- «  flower moon » / « jerusalem »
(I always skip « how long » and « sunflower »)
At this point I’m not sure which of these 3 parts I prefer...

the Steve Lacy numbers don't do a thing for me

« Flower moon » is so nice. And it’s one of the rare tracks that groove !
Regarding « we belong together » is it certain only Ezra sings the keats and yeats line ? I hear both of them.

And the middle 8 of « flower moon » is great.

my favourite alt tracklist so far is just cutting "married in a gold rush", "sympathy", "sunflower" and "we belong together" which really helps the flow of that awkward section. i'm fine with "sunflower" but keeping it there felt awkward and if it were there it'd be the weakest track.

Oh yeah, Flower Moon is perfect. Someone already pointed out the It's gonna take a YeeeAAaaaar but, but my gf and I have been walking around the house singing that non-stop since it came out. So catchy. Danielle Haim's "simple twist of fate" on the bridge is really nice too.

my gf and I have been walking around the house singing that non-stop since it came out.

you belong together

Oh I just heard this album and oh it's good. I think it's the most I've enjoyed an album by this band

Flower Moon makes me hope indie-mpb becomes a thing soon. So Good!

What song is the bassline from How Long referencing? It's really bugging me

it kinda kinda sounds like 'where is my mind?'

I'm hearing some sort of early-2000s hip hop tune from the Dre/Eminem/D12 era??

housewife?

https://youtu.be/WGXhmz1bEfg

Agree about the middle stretch. No duds but I reckon Sympathy is a really hard track to sequence within that album, and Rich Man really feels like a back-stretch tune rather than early (relatively) in the album.

I like "Sympathy," but am I the only one who hears the Doobie Brothers in there? "Without love, where would you be right now" etc.

should’ve waited to revisit modern vampires maybe, currently this record is paling in comparison to “unbelievers”

last nite my friend pointed out that Quincy Jones is ezra's father in law. if any of u interview him ask him what thats like

I like this band the best when they remind me of dudes I would have smoked a joint with at a Ween show

last nite my friend pointed out that Quincy Jones is ezra's father in law. if any of u interview him ask him what thats like

― flopson, Wednesday, May 8, 2019

Rashida Jones and Koenig aren't married but yeah

According to the credits, How Long contains elements of "And the Beat Goes On" by the Whispers, but I'm not really hearing it.

this album is very good:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=1&v=Sub9jldNejc

Hi, Bee!

Jerusalem, New York, Berlin:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l7RTO8uqUB8

According to the credits, How Long contains elements of "And the Beat Goes On" by the Whispers, but I'm not really hearing it.

― MarkoP, Thursday, May 9, 2019 1:15 AM (six hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

That's it. to me it's really prominent

although now I'm listening to th Whispers song and no they're not the same so maybe there's a version with a more stripped down bassline? this is bugging me

Still, I think people moaning about this album are playing hard to please. It's their best album

I like the piano on Harmony Hall - makes me think of Happy Mondays

isn't it an embarrassingly undisguised george michael lift

maybe, what song? makes me think of Step On

which, if true, would kind of make sense since they based it on John Kongos' song and their obsession with South African music.

a pleasing feedback loop, even if it is contrived and in my head only

Is the mix a bit shit on that Fallon performance or do the band just lack a bit of oomph in general?

Fucking great.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0TcYMwXBrKY

Harmony Hall piano sounds like The Charlatans’ “Just When You’re Thinking Things Over”.

Stranger is straight fleetwood mac to me

same

Isn't the Harmony Hall the same samba-like piano that has been on a bunch of songs since Sympathy for the Devil?

it reminds me of screamadelica

Stranger is def Fleetwood Mac, and the overall sonics of the album owe more than a little to Lindsey Buckingham.

otm brad. not the piano per se, but harmony hall also reminds me quite a bit of touch of grey, prob because they're in the same key.

Now with not only Danielle but the whole Haim !
https://youtu.be/Sub9jldNejc

only one listen in - the album opens with a great run up until "Married in a Gold Rush", after which it's more spotty. many of these songs seem surprisingly straightforward, without the knottiness that their previous albums had (I guess as Ezra has talked about), and I wonder if it will hold up to repeated listens because of that. but it was an enjoyable first listen certainly

and yes that piano on HH sounds like "Sympathy for the Devil", "Just When You're Thinking Things Over", "Freedom '90", and "Loaded" because all those songs basically use the same piano pattern

Stranger is complete Fleetwood Mac. Seems weird to be hidden so far at the back, absolutely love the sax in it.

The arrangement of Jerusalem, New York, Berlin makes me excited for the live arrangements of the shorter songs... but I'm a bit iffy on Ezra's voice in most of the live clips I've seen so far.

they've been doing a version of big blue that's 5 minutes and a version of 2021 that's approaching 7 lol

but I'm a bit iffy on Ezra's voice in most of the live clips I've seen so far.

yes, I thought the same thing. It's very weak/borderline off.
And someone mentioned their rhythm section upthread and it's also pretty weak in these live clips. The songs never really take off (which is a shame with 2 drummers !).

Anyway, after a week of listening to this a lot, I think my top 5 would be :
HH
This Life
Gold rush
Flower Moon
Jerusalem

yes, I thought the same thing. It's very weak/borderline off.
And someone mentioned their rhythm section upthread and it's also pretty weak in these live clips. The songs never really take off (which is a shame with 2 drummers !).

― AlXTC from Paris, F

Wow. To my ears he's never sounded clearer and stronger than in that "Jerusalem, New York, Berlin" clip.

The songs never really take off (which is a shame with 2 drummers !).

― AlXTC from Paris, Friday, May 10, 2019 3:58 AM (five hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink