Update on VW's New Album

Vampire Weekend just posted a little blog post on their MySpace indicating that Rostam Batmanglij's Discovery LP is out. You can get it legally, now.

And, they are working on the final stages of their new album, name TBA. It's expected to be released in the fall. There are rumors that songs "White Sky" and "Arrows" will make the cut. Add to that "Boston," maybe. Regardless of what the critics say, "White Sky" has potential. I'll admit it's underwhelming at first, yes, but it grows on you past two or three listens. Ezra Koenig's vocals around the chorus are a little painful to listen to (high-pitched yelps of "Ooo-oo-wah-hooo") and maybe the song isn't exactly a fantastic departure from the VW catalogue, but it works. And I think they're planning on messing with it and amping it up, anyways.

We can expect more news on the album soon.

For now, the band's booked for All Points West, July 31 in Jersey City, N.J. and Lollapalooza in Chicago, Ill. on Aug. 9.

Discovery's First LP Surfaces

Vampire Weekend's Rostam Batmanglij and Ra Ra Riot's Wes Miles have been in collaboration for about a year now to produce this self-titled LP. It is scheduled for release on July 7, 2009 on XL Recordings. With their separate bands, these two are pretty amazing; combined, they're sure to please (EDIT: I can totally see a few of these tracks making it onto a Mark Rowan mixtape in the near future). This album is pretty catchy, but then again, I consider who put this together and am not surprised.

Initial reactions to Discovery so far are very positive. The remakes of both "Can You Tell" by Ra Ra Riot (now "Can You Discover?") and "I Want You Back" by Jackson 5 are impressive to say the least. These tracks are ethereal and bring in pieces of other genres; for example, the former sounds like this could easily drop into a reggae tune and the latter sounds like it was reproduced by Crystal Castles with its video game quality.

I think it's fair to say that there's a larger VW influence in this LP. "Swing Tree" and "Slang Tang" follow some of the patterns set by the band -their trademark bridges and such could have easily fit into the VW record, though with a lot more synth. I think their kwassa kwassa is showing.

1. Orange Shirt
2. Osaka Loop Line
3. Can You Discover?
4. I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend [ft. Angel Deradoorian]
5. So Insane
6. Swing Tree
7. Carby [ft. Ezra Koenig]
8. I Want You Back
9. It's Not My Fault (It's My Fault)
10. Slang Tang

... Will it live up to your expectations?

P.S. I also totally agree with this visual representation of feelings as the LP progresses.

Events: Now Through Saturday

First of all, I just want to mention that central Conn. or the area surrounding it is looking pretty good over the next few days. And with that, props to the Hartford Party Starters Union - they've got some parties planned that I am fully prepared to promote at least if not attend. (READ UP)

Tonight (Tuesday) we have 1) Tim Palmieri (vocals, lead guitar) of The Breakfast at The Space in Hamden, Conn. The Breakfast are a jam band...? Doors at 6 p.m., tickets are $8.

2) Manic is also putting on a show tonight at Cafe Nine in New Haven, Conn. with Tim Barry of Avail - doors at 8 p.m., $8 21+

For Wednesday, we've got a couple of options: 1) If you bought tickets to Vampire Weekend at Smith College, I'm assuming it's on the top of people's lists for a Wednesday night. According to Northampton Box Office, the show's not sold out yet. Even if it is come 7 or 8 p.m. the night of, there will most likely be scalpers. I'm not trying to call them out - I love the self-titled debut - but maybe they'll have new material by now?

2) We also have The Honors, along with a bunch of other names on the supporting bands list at The Space. The Honors are from Boston, Mass., have been touring the are for a while and will continue to do so well into the summer. They're an indie rock, alt band who The Space says sound like The Killers. Their frontmen even share the same name. Doors at 7 p.m., $10

Thursday will bring Kiss Kiss back to the area, hip-hop to CCSU and local VRSA into Cafe Nine.

1) WFCS 107.7 is hosting a hip-hop concert in Alumni Hall in the student center at CCSU at 11 p.m. - it's free! And they want you to know they have free food! Names like Milo Sheff, Kamoflauge, Grown Tone and QP as well as few CCSU student rappers are lined up for Thursday's show. Also, local DJs Wayne DeRoy and Earle Nelson will be spinning.

2) Kiss Kiss is always a good time. I've seen them once, but went with 2 people who have seen the band a few times before and keep coming back. More recently, they released their new record The Meek Shall Inherit the Earth. Plus, Kiss Kiss admittedly loves The Space and its crowd, so it looks to be good night. Doors at 7 p.m., $10

3) VRSA will be playing Cafe Nine with the Cloud Professors. Die Hipster Productions are putting on the show. Show at 9 p.m.

For Friday we have the Pains of Being Pure at Heart - I've been listening to their debut record for about 2 months and I've come to the conclusion that this show is probably too good to pass up for only $8. It's at the Wallingford American Legion - good times there, I hear. If you miss this show, however, the PoBPaH are playing the Iron Horse Music Hall on April 26 with Ponytail. 

2) Speaking of, Ponytail will be performing a free show at Wesleyan's Eclectic Society, a frat house-turned-venue. The shows always start way later, but the Web site says 9 p.m.

On Saturday, one of the Turkey's favs Bear Hands is making an appearance at Meriden's Daffodil Festival with Bottle Up and Go. 

2) Lastly, the Hartford Party Starters are putting on a show in Hartford, Conn. (yeah, Hartford) on Saturday with electronic/experimental band TheDeathSet and Ninjasonik.

New Vampire Weekend Video, "Oxford Comma"

It's been a while since anything great and Vampire Weekend-related came up, but they've fixed that with a new video that was released by MTV last night. Rural settings, cowboys and clean white suits (mostly) characterize the video for "Oxford Comma," the track of their self-titled debut album.

Watch it:

• MTV
• Music Videos
• MTV Shows
• Entertainment News

"A-Punk" and "Mansard Roof" follow.

Vampire Weekend + Ra Ra Riot = Discovery = Amazing

What happens when you combine two of my favorite current bands? A little thing called Discovery.

Rostam Batmanglij from Vampire Weekend has teamed up with Wes Miles from Ra Ra Riot (which you should know by now I love) to form the POWER DUO. Too soon to call them a power duo? Maybe, but seriously, listen to this. It's great.

They have three tracks on their MySpace now, one being a new version of Ra Ra Riot's "Can You Tell" renamed "Can You Discover." From the MySpace you can also tell that the two have an EP in the works, so we'll be sure to update you as more substantial information surfaces.

I can only assume Batmanglij is doing a majority (if not all) of the producing while Miles mans the vocals. The result is really fun and I'm interested to see if they switch on occasion. It's like Usher meets Cadence Weapon beats, but coming from the guys from Vampire Weekend and Ra Ra Riot.

Postal Service eat your heart out.

VW on SNL

Sorry fans in St. Augustine, Orlando and Clewiston, FL. We heard that Vampire Weekend canceled one and rescheduled two of your shows, but it's all good because anyone with cable TV will be able to see them live on Saturday Night Live on March 8 when Amy Adams will be hosting.

In the weird circumstance that you're unfamiliar with Vampire Weekend, luckily for you, we're not. We're so familiar with them that we did this, plus other things like shows that aren't really relevant right now.

Also, this is totally random, but kind of related: La Blogotheque is a French Web site that posts these "Take Away Shows." Vampire Weekend does "Mansard Roof" in a moving van downtown in the first one, but scroll down the page for more.

Edit:

Vampire Weekend in Store Tonight in NYC

I think that flyer explains it all, but in case the link dies I'll type some of the details. You can get Vampire Weekend's new album a day early by heading to Virgin Records on Union Square. You can buy the album at 10:30 p.m. and a live performance will start at 11:30 p.m. Finally followed by autograph signing at midnight.

For the less ambitious, you can find the band's self-titled debut in stores tomorrow. And don't forget Vampire Weekend will be on David Letterman this Friday.

Edit: Looks like Melissa beat me to this last week, but this post can serve as a reminder.

Vampire Weekend's Hitting Both Coasts, In-Stores

Because we can't possibly tell you how much we love Vampire Weekend, here's one more post for now.

The band's got two sold-out shows in NYC on Jan. 29 and 30, but they've recently announced a mini-performance Monday Jan. 28 in the Virgin Megastore in Union Square starting at 11:30 p.m. according to Filter Magazine. There will also be an autograph signing around 12 a.m. that night.

Their self-titled album that drops in Jan. 29 will go on sale at 10:30 p.m. the night before at the Virgin Megastore and fans who show up early and buy their copy at that store will have priority entrance at the signing.

As for the West Coast, Vampire Weekend is scheduled for two in-store performances at Amoeba Music.



Feb. 1 - Amoeba Music (San Francisco) 7 p.m. performance with 7:30 p.m. signing

Feb. 4 - Amoeba Music (Los Angeles) 7 p.m. performance and 7:30 p.m. signing

Enjoy!

Some Anticipated Albums (Vampire Weekend, Futureheads, Hives)

I've been scouring the Internet instead of writing up some Best ofs for 2007 and stumbled across the following and figured I should share.


The Hive's newest album comes out Tuesday, but have/had their album streaming on their MySpace. The Black and White is the follow-up to 2004's Tyrannosaurus Hives. From what I've heard it sounds pretty solid. "Tick Tick Boom" will sound familiar to some as it has been the background music to Finish Line commercials for a bit now.

The Futureheads are also making some noise with their upcoming release. The first song can be sampled on their MySpace. It isn't much, but it is something to get excited over. I skipped over their 2006 released News and Tributes, but their 2004 debut was solid. There's no name or date on the new album yet, but look for it in 2008.

Last, but certainly not least is Vampire Weekend. Their self-titled debut will be dropping early 2008, January 28th to be exact. The track listing is as followed:

1. Mansard Roof
2. Oxford Comma
3. A-Punk
4. Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa
5. M79
6. Campus
7. Bryn
8. One (Blake's Got a New Face)
9. I Stand Corrected
10. Walcott
11. The Kids Don't Stand a Chance

They have four tracks from the album on their MySpace now that I'm sure will be remastered and whatnot before January's release, but you'll get more than an idea. I wouldn't doubt that this album will be in heavy rotation on college radio stations and iPods all around. Definitely check them out.