better singing, though
― recriminations from the nitpicking woke (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Saturday, 4 May 2019 11:35 (four years ago) link
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
― Blues Guitar Solo Heatmap (Free Download) (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Saturday, 4 May 2019 11:47 (four years ago) link
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.
― recriminations from the nitpicking woke (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Saturday, 4 May 2019 11:56 (four years ago) link
Musique concrète?
― licorice oratorio (baaderonixx), Saturday, 4 May 2019 12:12 (four years ago) link
sound effects, samples, etc
― recriminations from the nitpicking woke (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Saturday, 4 May 2019 12:17 (four years ago) link
the French sounds more precious, and they deserve it
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
― flopson, Saturday, 4 May 2019 12:34 (four years ago) link
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’
― flopson, Saturday, 4 May 2019 12:36 (four years ago) link
I remember perking up in early 2010 when Ezra started wearing skinny jeans
― recriminations from the nitpicking woke (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Saturday, 4 May 2019 12:38 (four years ago) link
lol :)
― flopson, Saturday, 4 May 2019 12:44 (four years ago) link
Alfred's last seven posts or whatever are tremendously otm
― flamboyant goon tie included, Saturday, 4 May 2019 13:11 (four years ago) link
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
― ufo, Saturday, 4 May 2019 13:24 (four years ago) link
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.
― recriminations from the nitpicking woke (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Saturday, 4 May 2019 13:38 (four years ago) link
yeah on MVOTC all the rhythms are so stilted and plodding, it's a big shift for the worse.
― ufo, Saturday, 4 May 2019 13:43 (four years ago) link
yet VW still produced "Step," "Worship You," "Everlasting Arms," and "Obvious Bicycle."
― recriminations from the nitpicking woke (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Saturday, 4 May 2019 13:45 (four years ago) link
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.”
― recriminations from the nitpicking woke (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Saturday, 4 May 2019 13:46 (four years ago) link
twisted minds of vdubs haters
Wow
― Blues Guitar Solo Heatmap (Free Download) (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Saturday, 4 May 2019 13:54 (four years ago) link
"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.
― ufo, Saturday, 4 May 2019 13:59 (four years ago) link
recriminations from the nitpicking woke (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn) at 6:56 4 May 19On 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
― Blues Guitar Solo Heatmap (Free Download) (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Saturday, 4 May 2019 14:02 (four years ago) link
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
― flamboyant goon tie included, Saturday, 4 May 2019 14:05 (four years ago) link
this album is chill
total volte face from the last one
i guess i have nothing interesting to say about ir
― the ghost of tom, choad (thomp), Saturday, 4 May 2019 14:06 (four years ago) link
ezra is beautiful
― le goon (J0rdan S.), Wednesday, January 22, 2014
― recriminations from the nitpicking woke (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Saturday, 4 May 2019 14:08 (four years ago) link
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
― the ghost of tom, choad (thomp), Saturday, 4 May 2019 14:11 (four years ago) link
of course I would find Lambchop slander in the VW thread
― Simon H., Saturday, 4 May 2019 14:14 (four years ago) link
Lambchop is super boring
― GDPR vs GAPDY (DJP), Saturday, 4 May 2019 14:40 (four years ago) link
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
― american bradass (BradNelson), Saturday, 4 May 2019 14:42 (four years ago) link
Hi!
― recriminations from the nitpicking woke (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Saturday, 4 May 2019 14:51 (four years ago) link
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.
― sctttnnnt (pgwp), Saturday, 4 May 2019 15:00 (four years ago) link
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
― ufo, Saturday, 4 May 2019 15:02 (four years ago) link
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
― Vinnie, Saturday, 4 May 2019 15:29 (four years ago) link
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.
― Josh in Chicago, Saturday, 4 May 2019 15:31 (four years ago) link
Most classics have flaws, though, including the first three VW albums
― recriminations from the nitpicking woke (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Saturday, 4 May 2019 15:34 (four years ago) link
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.
― Frederik B, Saturday, 4 May 2019 17:29 (four years ago) link
“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 twelve parts (lamonti), Saturday, 4 May 2019 17:41 (four years ago) link
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.
― a man often referred to in the news media as the Duke of Saxony (tipsy mothra), Saturday, 4 May 2019 18:28 (four years ago) link
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.
― the ghost of tom, choad (thomp), Sunday, 5 May 2019 12:04 (four years ago) link
yo this is pretty good though
― Trϵϵship, Sunday, 5 May 2019 18:40 (four years ago) link
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.
― Trϵϵship, Sunday, 5 May 2019 18:55 (four years ago) link
that’s a great excerpt. I’ll have to read that
― k3vin k., Sunday, 5 May 2019 19:38 (four years ago) link
I fundamentally disagree with this thesis and think it's an incredibly limited/adolescent take on what makes Great Art.
― Arugula Raccoon (DJP), Sunday, 5 May 2019 21:58 (four years ago) link
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
― Trϵϵship, Sunday, 5 May 2019 22:54 (four years ago) link
I disagree too.
― recriminations from the nitpicking woke (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Sunday, 5 May 2019 23:04 (four years ago) link
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.
― ufo, Sunday, 5 May 2019 23:07 (four years ago) link
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
― difficult listening hour, Sunday, 5 May 2019 23:10 (four years ago) link
"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.
― a man often referred to in the news media as the Duke of Saxony (tipsy mothra), Sunday, 5 May 2019 23:15 (four years ago) link
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
― american bradass (BradNelson), Monday, 6 May 2019 00:11 (four years ago) link
fwiw I don’t really agree with that statement either
― k3vin k., Monday, 6 May 2019 01:27 (four years ago) link
fwiw i like the rest of that review very much
― american bradass (BradNelson), Monday, 6 May 2019 01:30 (four years ago) link
yeah its good and this album is good
― k3vin k., Monday, 6 May 2019 01:34 (four years ago) link
There's the slightest hint of Thom Yorke (good!) and Billie Joe Armstrong (less good)
― Lactose Shaolin Wanker (Raymond Cummings), Monday, 6 May 2019 01:59 (four years ago) link