Recently, I've made no attempt to hide the fact that Vampire Weekend is my new favorite band.
My constant playing of their eponymous first release, as well as their latest, Contra, is driving my fiancee up a wall, but I just can't help myself. I've heard a lot of different ways to describe their sound, but it all seems so music critc-y, so I'll just roll with what I usually tell people, semi-jokingly:
Imagine Paul Simon--solo-era Paul Simon--and now imagine that he was born in 1984, rather than 1941. And he's a psuedo-hipster. From the Upper West Side. That's Vampire Weekend.
After reading that, you're definitely shaking your head, although it may be horizontally, it may be vertically (don't laugh too hard though--Simon & Garfunkel are the godfather's of emo/hipsterism. I have my books and my poetry to protect me? Hello? Need more proof?
Exactly.
Regardless, I insist you give Vampire Weekend a shot.
Also, what's fun about discovering new music in 2010 is the easily-accessible vault of b-sides, new interpretations, and videos that can be found on the WWW. Vampire Weekend are everywhere right now, which means plenty of YouTube uploads. Below is what I consider to be a classic version of "Horchata," the first track off of Contra.
While I'd prefer you stayed on Artificial Night, watch the video in YouTube's browser, just so you can get it in all it's pristine HD-glory.
Enough talk. The song begins around the 2:00 mark:
More soon.
JS
I've been using Vampire Weekend's cover of Fleetwood Mac's "Everywhere" as justification for my 6th grade-on obsession with the Mac. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HcYT8TzUarI
ReplyDeleteListening to it now. I just changed the video I put in the post. Meant to use a different song.
ReplyDeleteAlso, don't know if you're a Rancid fan, but VW did a great version of Rancid's "Ruby Soho":
http://stereogum.com/mp3/Vampire%20Weekend-%20Ruby%20Soho%20%28Rancid%20Cover%29.mp3
By the way, I'm digging Amateur Yankee.