Vampire Weekend - Father of the Bride

Basically, if you just throw in the typical reggae guitar rhythmic lick, you get a reggae song.

― AlXTC from Paris, Monday, May 27, 2019 3:29 PM (two days ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

I can imagine that "chick-eh" guitar part but without it I just feel it as four on the floor, references to Babylon and "The Israelites" notwithstanding.

Oh I agree. Before that mention upthread I had never thought of that song as a reggae song.
But now, with that in mind, I can't hear it another way !
If you consider the shaker's rhythm, the drums that has a reggae groove, not a disco type 4 on the floor, the use of the reverb and most importantly, the syncopated bass line on the verses and Ezra's delivery and pronounciation (+ the lexical field :zion, babylon, israelites...), it's clear !
Actually, it's a pretty amazing production/arrangements to make a reggae song that no-one will notice...

maybe i'd find the groove on "ya hey" less awkward if they'd committed to the reggae thing on it more strongly, i can hear what they were going for now but it doesn't quite get there for me

Finally listened to this last night and it was nice but sorta breezed by without catching my attention much. Last track is great.

Saw them in Dublin on Monday and they were absolutely excellent. Great set mixing all four records. None of the duets.

I've found a kind of chamber version of "This Life" on Spotify which is minor but still very charming and different from the original version.
Also, I have watched their Glastonbury set on youtube and it's pretty good.
The highlights for me were the brilliant intro to "White Sky" and the version of "Jerusalem, NY, Berlin" with the long outro.
I love the album version but that final bit adds something very moving.
They didn't play a lot from FotB though (but surprisingly opened with "Sympathy").

The White Sky intro is absolutely fucking great! They opened with 6/7 minute version of Sunflower in Dublin, which was whopper.

Yeah, they played that version of Sunflower at Roskilde as well. Missed White Sky :(

About "White Sky" : yeah, the moment you realize what song they are playing is pure joy !

Seeing them at MSG tomorrow. They are doing a free livestream of it

saw them last night - great show. they played a streets of philadelphia cover the crowd loved it

I’m guessing maybe they play a Billy Joel cover tonight

They seem to be big into Springsteen these days. They've covered "I'm Going Down" and "Atlantic City," and Koenig said he wanted FOTB to feel kind of like The River.

also seeing them at the garden tonight.

the album holds up really well imo.

this rainy friday afternoon is also the first time i've really embraced the mccartney-esque schmaltz of 'my mistake'

live stream was only available in the US ffs

Awesome show !

indeed it was, they did a good job of stretching out their songs for a live setting. helps to have virtuosos on the guitar and keys.

https://youtu.be/GXzfOsuyATc

they sound incredible as a live band these days

yes, really one of the best sounding shows i've seen in a big venue.

man, that msg show is some serious well-oiled machine shit. wow.

(i mean that in a good way)

Hot take: this is their second-best record (after Modern Vampires). I love how heartfelt and touching the whole thing is.. the run from Flower Moon to Spring Snow is a rollercoaster of emotion for me

Ah, I just went back to it yesterday after a few months.
Still good but I wasn't really in the mood for it so finally I went back to MVOTC instead.
For me it would be MVOTC/VW first, depending on the mood I'm in (moody or jolly) then FOTB then Contra.

I think it’s probably my least favorite of their records but it has some joints. J/NY/B probably their best closer

i’d agree with that. def their worst record

it's a lot better than mvotc which is easily their worst

not the biggest fan but really dig this life

Yeah, "J/NY/B" and "This Life" (and maybe "Married in a Gold Rush") are the best songs on this one and among their best work.

There's a really annoying song by probably Maroon 5 on the radio that plays on Pachelbel but if it had been done by VW I'd probably like it

I'm a fan of the intro track on this. Sounds like dude is playing out in the park playing along to one of those chord books or Ultimate Guitar Tab and having to turn the page every so often.

a really annoying song by probably Maroon 5 on the radio that plays on Pachelbel

Please someone link to this :)

Maroon 5 - memories

https://youtu.be/SlPhMPnQ58k

Supposedly dedicated to their manager who died last year, yet those doot doots make it sound like they’re not really sad about it.

Still sounds like a solo Ezra record to me, which shouldn’t be a problem at all but mostly I just prefer that VW//Contra//Modern Vampires vibe.

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

― frame casual (dog latin), Wednesday, May 8, 2019 4:43 PM (six months ago) bookmarkflaglink

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

― i think ur a controp (voodoo chili), Wednesday, May 8, 2019 4:49 PM (six months ago) bookmarkflaglink

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

― frame casual (dog latin), Wednesday, May 8, 2019 4:57 PM (six months ago) bookmarkflaglink

It was 'I'm Back' by Eminem I think

there’s good stuff on here but my least fav of theirs pretty easily

For sure. Their least essential album, but it's a better album than when David Byrne turned TH albums into solo projects.

Guess who.

Composer-vocalist Ezra Koenig (age 35) takes the idea of emotional reparation in “Sympathy” from one of Britain’s great post-punk bands, New Order, who revolutionized politicized dance pop in the Eighties and Nineties (with such devout political recordings as “Temptation,” “True Faith,” and “Technique”). Here, Vampire Weekend echoes New Order’s versatility, rhythmic ingenuity, and its romantic-social undercurrent. It’s what, in less fragmented times, was once called “folk music” but now for an era when the term “folk” needs to be redefined.

That endeavor gives the 58-minute Father of the Bride its surprise, excitement, and grandeur. Over 18 tracks, Koenig and company work through the sophistication that defeats us, experimenting with assorted song styles — plus high-information worldliness — without losing the insouciance of their eponymous 2007 debut. Initially known for their preppy eclecticism, Vampire Weekend expands into miscellany as never before. The group’s signature audacious Afropop (a cheeky, bright, guitar-based cross-culturalism) blends into melodies that are closer to home — and so it seems quirky to audiences who are unaccustomed to what used to be classic and traditional.

Haha I guessed that but figured “nah, he’s a movie critic.”

This is an exceptional album you guys.

exceptionally long

it's not even that long

i agree that it's exceptional, though my experience with it after the first couple months has been through repeating my favorite tracks and re-listening to the livestream of the MSG show that I attended (the show was exceptionally long, it's true)

"This Life" is among their best. I get euphoric listening to it, and since May I've walked around in public spaces singing Danielle Haim's CHEATIN' ON CHEATIN' ON ME

all the Haim duets are great. I really came round to the opening track

when I cut out

10. "My Mistake"
11. "Sympathy"
12. "Sunflower" (featuring Steve Lacy)
13. "Flower Moon" (featuring Steve Lacy)

I enjoy the album more

it is long. but it's consistent. I don't think there are many dull or insubstantial moments. it's packed full of melodies, stuffed with ideas, and it does everything with gusto

aside from a few tracks, the arrangements let this album down imo

what do you not like about them, just out of interest?

the album feels both bloated with songs and not fully-formed bc the arrangements feel like temporary sketches, essentially. hard to point to a single thing, there's a rickety and empty quality that carries through, maybe most exemplified by "rich man," or how for instance i can sorta tell that "jerusalem, new york, berlin" is a well-written song but it just sits in place. i get people finding this charming but it's what makes it pale in comparison to the other vw records for me

"bambina" and "this life" are fuckin sick though