and i think it's serious enough but doesn't seem like they're playing dress up and it's playful enough but not like lonely island
i really wasn't sure if they were going to be able to balance this out but they did!! doesn't surprise me tho because i think rostam is really talented and pretty underrated in the sphere of vampire weekend's press always being about africa and ezra and columbia and money - the dude writes really good keyboard & strings parts for vw
― shamwow holdingtongue (J0rdan S.), Thursday, 16 July 2009 00:48 (fifteen years ago) link
i have been listening to this album alot lately, and i mostly disliked vw. i prefer this guy's singing to ezra's and all of these songs are basically instantly likeable. it`s pretty bedroom-ey, or atleast laptop-ey, but the songs aren`t weaker as a result somehow. sure the production could be more layered and less cheap-sounding but that`s not really the point here i don`t think.
― samosa gibreel, Thursday, 16 July 2009 01:57 (fifteen years ago) link
I'm kinda shocked at the response. This guy's melodies define weak -- it's fourth-rate Kelly Polar. The best song is the Koenig number, mostly because for about a week I liked his version of a Kylie voice.
― My name is Kenny! (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Thursday, 16 July 2009 02:09 (fifteen years ago) link
I'm kinda shocked at how much I like this. I'm pretty susceptible to fake teen movie music though and a big sucker for lines like "I promise to leave before your mother wakes up in the morning." Kindof an indie "I gotta feeling" imo.
― ❊❁❄❆❇❃✴❈plaxico❈✴❃❇❆❄❁❊ (I know, right?), Thursday, 23 July 2009 14:03 (fifteen years ago) link
you're right, definitely an indie version of this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qhKn_bgA-lQ
― uncannydan, Thursday, 23 July 2009 22:29 (fifteen years ago) link
i like that it sounds like what it is, which is two white indie kids doing r&b
not to get on your case in particular but GEEZ COME ON
― nabisco, Thursday, 23 July 2009 22:40 (fifteen years ago) link
I mean REALLY
― nabisco, Thursday, 23 July 2009 22:44 (fifteen years ago) link
fwiw, calling these guys "white" is way is totally different than calling Jamie Lidell "white"
― Hypnagog Minds (Whiney G. Weingarten), Thursday, 23 July 2009 22:46 (fifteen years ago) link
blue eyed soul dude. some of it's good guilty pleasure shit
― Spectrum, Thursday, 23 July 2009 22:47 (fifteen years ago) link
"guilty pleasure" went out with the miniskirt and the Twist.
― Heric E. (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Thursday, 23 July 2009 22:56 (fifteen years ago) link
Soto on fire today
― Hypnagog Minds (Whiney G. Weingarten), Thursday, 23 July 2009 22:57 (fifteen years ago) link
How does that make any sense? Bowie, Brian Ferry, 90% of the 80s, etc.
― Spectrum, Thursday, 23 July 2009 22:59 (fifteen years ago) link
― nabisco, Thursday, July 23, 2009 5:40 PM (35 minutes ago) Bookmark
?? i don't think it's a pejorative to say that they sound "white" because they do, much more so than, like whiney says, jamie lidell or even the soulful songs at the end of the last hot chip album
― J0rdan S., Thursday, 23 July 2009 23:19 (fifteen years ago) link
the Discovery record is as soulful as Howard Jones' Dream into Action.
― Heric E. (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Thursday, 23 July 2009 23:21 (fifteen years ago) link
DUDE IS PERSIAN
― nabisco, Thursday, 23 July 2009 23:21 (fifteen years ago) link
Two things:
1) I've gotten way back into Vampire Weekend this summer. It seems like the hotter and more humid the weather, the more I enjoy listening to the album.
2) Who are the Arctic Monkeys of 2009?
― Mordy, Thursday, 23 July 2009 23:23 (fifteen years ago) link
the singer is from syracuse
― J0rdan S., Thursday, 23 July 2009 23:25 (fifteen years ago) link
or fine:
it sounds like what it is - indie r&b (really should have taken more offense to me calling this r&b - it's certainly more r&b in the way the-dream is [and that's to say very pop] than in the way ne-yo is) influenced by white people like daft punk, whom they take their name from.
― J0rdan S., Thursday, 23 July 2009 23:28 (fifteen years ago) link
ha, Jordan, you're clear on what I'm picking on here, right?
i like that it sounds like what it is, which is two white indie kids
I mean I don't know the guy's exact background or who his parents are, but it's been bugging me for over a year that everyone just instinctively turns a guy "white" because it better fits their mental categories of class/race/manner.
― nabisco, Thursday, 23 July 2009 23:29 (fifteen years ago) link
^^ this is referring to the person named Rostam Batmanglij who is confirmably Persian on at least one parent's side, if not both
― nabisco, Thursday, 23 July 2009 23:30 (fifteen years ago) link
if you consider Persian people "white," I apologize for raising the issue
― nabisco, Thursday, 23 July 2009 23:31 (fifteen years ago) link
i don't, but race is pretty inessential to how i feel about them anyway - the "indie" part of what i said matters much more in the context of the album
― J0rdan S., Thursday, 23 July 2009 23:33 (fifteen years ago) link
I don't believe that's an entirely honest statement, dude, considering your description of them "two white indie kids doing r&b," which seems to me to clearly be invoking some element of race in the coding of "indie" vs "r&b" -- as far as this music goes I'm actually with you on how that distinction doesn't feel significant with them, but obviously what I was getting at was a total side issue about forcing round pegs into square holes of race-coding
(it's not a big deal and I'm done -- I agree with you about the record!)
― nabisco, Thursday, 23 July 2009 23:39 (fifteen years ago) link
ok, thx for pointing it out tho, i get where you're coming from
― J0rdan S., Thursday, 23 July 2009 23:47 (fifteen years ago) link
i'm white btw
oh shit
― Heric E. (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Thursday, 23 July 2009 23:55 (fifteen years ago) link
aren't we all these days
― nabisco, Thursday, 23 July 2009 23:55 (fifteen years ago) link
no xpost required
― Heric E. (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Friday, 24 July 2009 00:03 (fifteen years ago) link
BATMANglij
― ❊❁❄❆❇❃✴❈plaxico❈✴❃❇❆❄❁❊ (I know, right?), Friday, 24 July 2009 00:03 (fifteen years ago) link
If this is quoting any RnB I would say Ryan Leslie. Can You Discover sounds really like Gibberish.
― ❊❁❄❆❇❃✴❈plaxico❈✴❃❇❆❄❁❊ (I know, right?), Friday, 24 July 2009 17:13 (fifteen years ago) link
also Danjahands metronome hihats iirc
― ❊❁❄❆❇❃✴❈plaxico❈✴❃❇❆❄❁❊ (I know, right?), Saturday, 25 July 2009 11:42 (fifteen years ago) link
From this candid interview, it's easy to see what a great guy rostam is:
The night would not have been complete without Rostam Batmanglij, the grumpiest Vampiric Weekender. Did he ever finish that song I always heard him working on when he lived directly below my boyfriend?
“Yes, I did. It’s number seven on Hype Machine.”Is it for your solo project?“Are you writing this down? Can you not quote me?”
http://www.nypress.com/article-19805-bash-compactor-this-bites.html
― s. p. erkel, Saturday, 25 July 2009 18:09 (fifteen years ago) link
lol
― The Reverend, Saturday, 25 July 2009 19:47 (fifteen years ago) link
http://twitter.com/mileycyrus/statuses/3706721085
It's been fun, indie rawk. Good night, sweet prince.
― Cunga, Thursday, 10 September 2009 08:09 (fifteen years ago) link
New album in January. Contra.
01 Horchata02 White Sky03 Holiday04 California English05 Taxi Cab06 Run07 Cousins08 Giving Up the Gun09 Diplomat's Son10 I Think Ur a Contra
― The Devil's Avocado (Gukbe), Tuesday, 15 September 2009 23:38 (fifteen years ago) link
IS THAT ALBUM COVER A JOKE???
I THINK I LIKE IT!!
― surfboard dudes get wiped out, totally, Tuesday, 15 September 2009 23:47 (fifteen years ago) link
I hope it's the real cover, because I'm going to buy it and stare at it for hours.
― Johnny Fever, Tuesday, 15 September 2009 23:49 (fifteen years ago) link
cool, but deserves its own thread. still really like that album.
― Bee OK, Wednesday, 16 September 2009 00:24 (fifteen years ago) link
nice cover pic of preppy girl and reaganesque title--way to tweak the haters!
― iago g., Thursday, 17 September 2009 02:17 (fifteen years ago) link
I THINK UR A CONTRA
O I GET IT LIKE CONTRAPUNTAL LOLZ
In [life], counterpoint is the relationship between two or more [people] that are independent in contour and rhythm and are [sexually] interdependent.
― LEGOS by Atlas Sound (coming eventually, 2009 or 2010) (Future_Perfect), Thursday, 17 September 2009 03:06 (fifteen years ago) link
Haha. The collar on her yellow polo shirt is turned up. JUST LIKE PREPPIES IN THE 80S!
I have no real interest in this band, but that album cover is going to make me a fan.
― Daniel, Esq., Thursday, 17 September 2009 03:10 (fifteen years ago) link
― LEGOS by Atlas Sound (coming eventually, 2009 or 2010) (Future_Perfect), Thursday, September 17, 2009 3:06 AM (16 hours ago) Bookmark
No dice! It's Contra as in an oh-so-cheeky inversion of Sandinista! You've heard of the Clash, right? And the girl looks like the hottie in Caddyshack...
― iago g., Thursday, 17 September 2009 19:19 (fifteen years ago) link
is this from the new album?http://hypem.com/track/905801/Vampire+Weekend+-+Ottomancause it's a pretty bad song
― Zeno, Thursday, 24 September 2009 16:50 (fourteen years ago) link
↑ ↑ ↓ ↓ ← → ← → B A
― deus ex lawnmower (latebloomer), Saturday, 26 September 2009 06:24 (fourteen years ago) link
I really like that track! Can't wait for this album
― Dan S, Saturday, 26 September 2009 06:36 (fourteen years ago) link
Ottoman is from the Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist soundtrack, but I agree... it's a great song.
― Johnny Fever, Saturday, 26 September 2009 06:42 (fourteen years ago) link
new song on vampireweekend.com
curious to hear thoughts.
― akaky akakievich, Monday, 5 October 2009 21:03 (fourteen years ago) link
Love it. I've already listened to it 10 times or so. Also, I've never had horchata, and now I'm going looking for some.
Vampire Weekend: stimulating the local economy.
― Johnny Fever, Monday, 5 October 2009 21:04 (fourteen years ago) link
Music's . . . okay, tho unmemorable. But I hate this group's cod-rock vibe.
"In December, drinkin' hawtchowddddaaaaa . . . " Blech.
― Daniel, Esq., Monday, 5 October 2009 21:11 (fourteen years ago) link
Oh, sorry. It's "drinkin' Horchata," not "drinkin' hot chowda."
The facts may change, but my opinion never will.
― Daniel, Esq., Monday, 5 October 2009 21:19 (fourteen years ago) link