Vampire Weekend
I do like some musicians younger than me
It’s time to write about music, by placing another dark post on this stack: so I’ll follow the post about Black Mirror and the post about my last and dark suit with this one, about Vampire Weekend. The band currently consists of three young lads now in their early forties. If you want a suggestion for listening as you read this, I suggest this (in a different tab, of course).
I can’t get in to a lot of contemporary music, but I do like Vampire Weekend. To be more specific: of their five albums so far, I like the odd-numbered ones. The first, self-titled, album is influenced by Afropop and their Ivy League education (e.g., Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa, Oxford Comma). It sags a little around its middle, but comes roaring back with Walcott.
My favorite thing about the second album, Contra, is the opening lyric of Holiday: “Holiday, O, A Holiday! And the best one of the year.” It’s a reference to the traditional song Matty Groves; I know the version by Fairport Convention, but there are many others. Apart from that, the album doesn’t grab me, and for some reason I find Horchata (the opening track and the drink) annoying.
Modern Vampires of the City is the last album with Rostam Batmanglij as a member of the band, and the first with Ariel Rechtshaid as co-producer. The overlap of band co-founder, writer, multi-instrumentalist, producer, etc. Rostam, the other three members, and Ariel is wonderful. So is almost everything about this album, including the cover. Hannah Hunt is my favorite track. I like the live cover by I’m With Her even better than VW’s original studio version.
I bounced off Father of the Bride, just as I bounced off the previous even-numbered release. It’s less a VW album, more an Ezra Koenig solo album featuring many guest stars—but not featuring the two Chrises who were his two remaining “bandmates”.
Only God Was Above Us is just over a year old at the time of writing. This fifth and most recent album is my favorite. My favorite track on it is the long closer, Hope; it is one of the five tracks that features only one of the two Chrises. But I draw your attention the performance of Mary Boone from The Daily Show, which features both Chrises, several guests including a choir, and Ezra seated and singing.
Looking back at the first paragraph, I must admit that VW is not the darkest of musical acts. My favorite musician is a contender for that award. He’s even older than me, by the way. But that’s for another post…
What are your thoughts on VW and their various albums? Have you seen them live?