Vampire Weekend; Arctic Monkeys of 2008?

sorry about yr mental problems, burt

Ha, my biggest bone to pick with Dr. Shep would be the contention that they are out to whitewash African music, as opposed to the more plausible claim that they've just grabbed a pinch of it to flavor their indie/pop.

This seems symptomatic of that thing where, once someone's successful, it becomes tempting to read all their decisions as canny, cynical, and pitched at the context of the whole world. It seems a million times more plausible to me -- it seems flat-out self-evident to me -- that these were nerdy collegiate pop players who listened to some African pop and copped a couple rhythms and guitar sounds. Calling this a conscious whitewash of African music is like saying marinara sauce is an attempt to water down basil.

(xpost!! Burt is awesome on this thread, it's like there was a horrible car accident where Waldorf died and now all we have is a brain-injured Statler)

PLEASE EXPLAIN WHY TECHNICAL COMPETENCE DENOTES AN EMBRACE OF REAGAN-ERA VALUES.

hey johnny rotten defaced that pink floyd shirt for YOU, man. never forget.

P.S.: I have a pretty firm belief that this album will wind up about where the first Strokes one did -- i.e., some time will pass, it'll cease to seem like an issue to have strong opinions about, and people will circle around into some general agreement that these are catchy and likable ordinary songs, the kind that come on in bars and people smile and go "oh yeah, this was a nice tune," etc. It's interesting how their detractors object to their being branded the Amazing New Thing, whereas their supporters tend not to claim this -- the claim tends to be that they made a particularly solid/likable pop record.

What I'd be interested in hearing, detractor-wise, is an argument for why that sort of record doesn't belong in people's lives -- what's wrong with having that one pleasant, breezy, well-written indie record in your season's buying that you use the way I'm imagining people will use this one. (I mean, you can want something riskier and bloodier and with more fire, and even the legendary 12-CD-buyer has 11 other chances at that, but ... why get galled about this doing something else rather well? Unless your complaint is the suspicion that those other 11 will be the exact same thing, which doesn't really have anything to do with the quality of this one.)

8) i do it becuz i care

Has anyone heard the House Of Blondes album? Mastered by the same people. Similar NYC literate indie pop. Very interesting.

This is great though. Just so... enjoyable.

-- Scik Mouthy, Tuesday, January 29, 2008 10:34 PM (1 hour ago) Bookmark Link

lol

Haw!

nabisco otm re strokes comparison. it was the first thing i heard when i started listening.

this is a cute enough record but I don't hear gabriel influence much at all; simon, yeah. you do realize this album is about three steps away from being the dave matthews band, though, right? I mean, really. but it's pretty good.

you do realize this album is about three steps away from being the dave matthews band, though, right?

um, yeah?! :D dmb is way less popwise or compositionally astute or pretty or intelligent tho.

great show tonight, btw.

or tasteful, if you care about that sort of thing

Results 1 - 10 of about 55 for "vampire weakened". (0.13 seconds)

nabisco otm

What I'd be interested in hearing, detractor-wise, is an argument for why that sort of record doesn't belong in people's lives -- what's wrong with having that one pleasant, breezy, well-written indie record in your season's buying that you use the way I'm imagining people will use this one.

first off, "what's wrong with one pleasant, breezy well-written album?" is a hair away from "when did you stop beating your wife?" I mean, boo fucking hoo, dude. the "argument" is basically that you can find stronger vocals, hooks, and grooves from afropop-jackers of twenty years ago (not to mention afropop itself), and that the difference in quality makes the album not particularly pleasant for the "detractor." How hard is that to get?

and please don't follow this with the "i'd like detractors to specifically name the twenty better afro-pop jackin albums they prefer" argument

also, folks who say the strokes album is full of "likable ordinary songs" aren't seeing the forest for the trees. The Strokes have a very idiosyncratic, atypical style, one that's manna for fans of Feelie/New Order jacked up trebly drone strums and slurred vocals. They're NOT ordinary, it's still subculture pop. And when people call those kind of albums "ordinary," its usually blinkered indie "my world is the world" logic.

"likable ordinary" implies that those who don't need it are the freaks, rather that the music is niche bubblegum

The first afro-indie band were probably Red Guitars and there's more than a touch of their 'Marimba (Jive)' in some of Vampire Weekend's tracks. Jerry Kidd had a less sweet way with a melody; and as they were socialists from Hull the Red Guitars were unlikely to be caught up in the Ralph Lauren cardigan controversies that seem to be the main objection to the VWs. Sure the Red Guitars would be pleased that class war is alive and well.

its possible that i might hear the pleasure in vampire weekend when i look past the groove that feels minimal and tepid compared to larger combos and the singer who has a lot of typical indie flaws compared to even paul simon and david byrne, but as of now I'm still kind of hung up their inability to provide the pleasures I usually expect from this kind of thing.

and the singer who has a lot of typical indie flaws compared to even paul simon and david byrne

PAUL SIMON AND DAVID BYRNE ARE NOT CHOPPED LIVER!

jeez, it's like everyone's all dissin' simon on this thread, like vampire weekend ever wrote a song as good as mrs. robinson or had chevy chase in their video. don't even start w/r/t to the talking heads, this is majors vs. minor leagues.

As far as I know, Vampire Weekend have yet to steal arrangements from Martin Carthy or break UN sanctions.

(this is where we need Geir to come in and say that the apex of afro-indie fusion was Dance Into The Light by Phil Collins)

as long as you have chevy chase in your video you can commit genocide for all i care

Steve Gadd vs. this weak-ass drumming

the drumming live is v different from that on the record

better?

There's what four Afro-pop moments on this entire album? Some of which last for a bar or two, hence my point about them being flourishes more than anything else. It's possible they're being overdebated here because people just aren't used to hearing them at all in indie pop in 2008.

does anyone else think theyre purposely needling w/all the waspy signifiers - i just watched a video of them riding around in a sailboat!

YACHT ROCK 08!

Next B-side will be a cover of Toto's Africa.

THAT WOULD BE SOOOO AWESOME

I'm just kidding around with all the VW hate, but no, they actually are blue-blood types. They were connected to some of the richest and most powerful students and in the most exclusive clubs at Columbia--it's not surprising how almost every NYC media outlet lifted them up to the sky for an entire year out of nowhere, especially since there are definitely better, harder working bands in New York right now.

There are better, harder working footballers than Andy Reid as well but it doesn't stop me having a soft spot for the fat bastard.

Whenever I hear or read the name of this band, I can't help thinking of that (UK television) car advert set in a therapist's office, with the midlife-crisis guy singing 'Hot-tub weekend...'

Steve Gadd vs. this weak-ass drumming

-- Jordan, Wednesday, 30 January 2008 16:48 (24 minutes ago) Link

whOaTM

You know, just because a band ironically needles all the signifiers of their upbringing, it doesn't mean they're still not using them to their advantage.

THE PLOT THICKENS: http://blog.limewire.com/posts/1138-Trailer-Vampire-Weekend

ince there are definitely better, harder working bands in New York right now.

who cares how hard they work?

are you actually serious about that?

Working hard is great, but if you aren't good, should people give a fuck?

I mean, it's great that you can afford to sod off because you know you got the tunes. Who wouldn't?

haha those two voice rvws are nuts. talk about limited critical horizons, all it takes is some lacoste shirts and a roland amp for people to completely lose their shit

This may have already been mentioned a couple times in this thread, but a lot of this VW hate reeks of jealousy. Those shitty Village Voice columns are great examples. If you want to hate a band because they strike you as boring or uninspired, fine. But hating them because they remind you of Reagan for some fucked up reason is ridiculous.

Ridiculous, yes, but how is it jealous?

http://www.infoshop.org/img4/class_war.gif

Okay, maybe that specific article was more stupid than jealousy, but a lot of the other complaints arise from the "they got too big too quick! undeserving! my band works harder!" camp.

er, the first VV column was positive.

It's like the Strokes ... those kids parents were NYC big shots, so in 2002 people in New York made a big to do about that. It's just how it is now.

so what!

xp

those kids parents were NYC big shots, so in 2002 people in New York made a big to do about that. It

like you?