Today was a beautiful day and I decided to give vampire weekend another chance. And even in the terribly good mood that I was in today, Vampire Weekend just didn't appeal to me. I found listening to the title track from sky blue sky to vastly more satisfying then any song on Vampire Weekend's s/t.

Ha! Had you been a record exec in '61, you probably woulda sent the Beatles from yr door..

I would never be a record exec considering how much my taste differs from the mainstream...

quote:

i don't think this album will truly live up to its potential until the all of the goddamn snow up here melts away in april, and i can lay down in the cool grass on UC hill with some friends and smoke a joint and eat a ruben on fresh rye and watch the students bustle by to 'oxford comma' in the early afternoon. maybe that perpetuates the prep aesthetic that moses was talking about... sorry about that, but summer music demands summer listening. in short, i really like it, even if it isn't the most progressive or interesting music... it suits my anticipation for that atmosphere in the same way that christmas carols do for the holiday season. and if you still have feet of snow in your driveway, that's all you care about at all.

If you don't already have it you should pick up Black Moth Super Rainbow's 'Dandelion Gum'. It would be perfect for just the situation you mentioned.

im really digging this band.

the cd is a really good listen.

throughout my group of friends it seems to be going over really well.

quote:

Originally posted by Chamberk:

quote:

Originally posted by JGlass:
This must be what it felt like to not like Funeral when it was released...

Hah! That's how I felt about Okkervil River's release last year.

i defintly agree to this. i mean i dug one or two songs from it but it wasnt as amazing as everyone made it out to be. atleast imho.

one last thing...

i didnt see if anyone posted this yet, but they were on the cover of spin this last month with the title of "best new band of 08. already?"

and they made mtv cut ins too. like they play their music over credits and small spots during commercials.

I've heard Beulah and The New Pornographers in the background of MTV dating game shows before.

MGMT has been getting a ton of love at the end of shows... DFA1979's "Romantic Rights" is used in the MTV show "Human Giant," numerous Shins songs have been used on various MTV shows, etc. MTV pays attention to the "underground"... they just make sure to keep it in the background.

thomyorkisgod, I completely agree with you. I liked 1 or 2 songs but overall I feel like Funeral and Arcade Fire in general are massively overrated. I thought "Black Mirror" was really cool, but neon bible gets a big fat "meh" from me. Maybe I just don't get it.

quote:

Originally posted by harrisonOWNSmccartney:
thomyorkisgod, I completely agree with you. I liked 1 or 2 songs but overall I feel like Funeral and Arcade Fire in general are massively overrated. I thought "Black Mirror" was really cool, but neon bible gets a big fat "meh" from me. Maybe I just don't get it.

Not to put words in his mouth but I think he was referring to Vampire Weekend. My comment was about feeling left out on an album that seems to be getting acclaim almost across the board (hence Funeral and Okkervil River)

I love the VW album, after being lukewarm on it. It was hard for me to step back and regard it honestly, given the hype, but I find it deeply satisfying.

I have it in heavy rotation with Ruby Suns and Yeasayer, for my own little, world music influenced soundtrack!

whoa, welcome back kendo!

Oh k/c! If you thought I loved you before, get ready for a full on slobbering Ish slave of yr own!!

Deeply satisfying...that's what I'm talking about.

I group them in the same category as Kings of Leon and White Rabbits. While I find Kings of Leon unlistenable and White Rabbits okay but immediately satisfying. Vampire weekend is catchy but there isn't enough dissonance in their sound. To me it's like I know every note they're going to play before they play it. For some bands thats a good thing(when a band's sound taps into an objective sound in all of our heads) but for VW it's just predictable and kind of insulting. Don't make me explain. These are just the feelings I get while listening. I might just be out of the loop when it comes to their sound. They just rub me the wrong way. With all that said I don't hate them. They're still catchy and fun. Just not worthy of all this attention.

I like the CD a fair bit, wouldn't say it's a seminal piece of art but it's good enough. It's even good for summer tunes when most people are listening to O.A.R. we shall at least have something palatable. I also agree that this is sort of a weak year for music, at least thus far.

I also think it's sort of weird how mainstream it is, not to say that's bad. I was sitting in class a few days ago and these girls behind me mentioned some band who escapes me and the one was like " yeah I really like the vampire weekend CD it's so fun." Then she mentioned something about pitchfork media and how her brother showed her the website and she was getting into it, god bless her. It's really funny though because I have a had a few conversations with "people in the know" who get all excited to inform me about VW and I'm just sitting there thinking where were you in February...January... mid 2006...1985 when these guys were born I mean honestly just cause they are "indie" doesn't mean you're on to something unheard of.

Regarding the commercialism of VW, I saw a commercial on MTV a while back and couldn't help but chuckle. At leat indie is starting to get mainstream attention.

Regarding the qulity of the album, I was put-off by all the hype and wasn't really feeling it. I listened to it riding a bus one day and enjoyed the hell out of it for a couple days and then got kind of bored with it. Certainly, some of the songs are great and it's not bad, really, but it isn't really all that spectacular either. It'll probably land outside of my top twenty, but not by much (we shall see).

I'm pretty sure they'll have a comfortable place in my top 20, just because there hasn't been anything remarkably better just yet.

quote:

Originally posted by Chamberk:
I'm pretty sure they'll have a comfortable place in my top 20, just because there hasn't been anything remarkably better just yet.

Any time I see a statement like this I cringe. I just don't understand...

quote:

Originally posted by Chamberk:
I'm pretty sure they'll have a comfortable place in my top 20, just because there hasn't been anything remarkably better just yet.

I agree. I was saying to FKA the other day that nothing's really blown me away this year.

Vampire Weekend is good, not great, and the best songs showed up on their self-titled EP from last year. Yet, by default, they'd be in my top 10 if I were making a list today.