Summery, warm, breezy, tropical: all adjectives that are regularly used to describe Vampire Weekend’s unique brand of afro influenced indie. Their latest record, ‘Holiday’, follows this pattern of sunny word association. Featuring the band’s trademark Fela Kuti inspired guitar sound and Ezra Koenig’s distinctive high pitched vocals – the track is another record that will fit in perfectly with the band’s already formidable live show. Ideally pitched for the hotter months, the record could well help a resurgence of Vampire Weekend’s latest album as the weather begins to change for the better in the next few weeks.
In other Vampire Weekend related news, the band are currently undertaking a pretty intensive world tour that takes in Australia, USA, UK, Mainland Europe and Korea. Highlights of the tour include spots at Glastonbury, Rock Werter, T In The Park, New York’s Radio City Music Hall and The Hollywood Bowl. For more info, head to the band’s MySpace.
After Britain enjoyed its first sunny weekend for over five months, what band could better suit the mood than Vampire Weekend? The band’s summery African inspired sound is the aural equivalent of a lazy mid August afternoon spent in the garden.
For their latest video, ‘Giving Up The Gun’, the New York band seem to be partaking in a spot of tennis. However, rather than simply knocking up a few rallies over the park, Vampire Weekend have decided to stage a game in a white minimalist room with a host of celebrity players. The games are officiated by Wu-Tang rapper RZA, while Joe Jonas and Jake Gyllenhaal wield the rackets. A guest appearance even comes from Atlanta based crunk king Lil’ Jon; a man Vampire Weekend would appear to have an obsession with after name checking him on their 2008 song ‘Oxford Comma’.
There’s no shifting ‘Riverside’ from the top of the Shazam Pre-releases Chart USA as Sidney Samson holds on to the number one spot for a fourth week in a row – pre-empting big success for the Dutch producer in 2010. New entries to the chart come from Miss Li, Passion Pit, Gucci Mane, JLS, Owl City, Leona Lewis and Vampire Weekend.
With Halloween just gone and TV shows/films like True Blood, Jennifer’s Body and The Vampire’s Assistant all receiving plenty of attention, Vampires in general seem to be a very ‘of the moment’ phenomenon right now. Just to add to the mix, even though they have absolutely nothing to with Transylvanian blood suckers, Vampire Weekend have announced a UK tour to coincide with the release of their eagerly awaited new album, ‘Contra’.
The New York Afro-punksters have proved to be one of the most accessible yet credible bands to emerge in the past few years – scoring both the adoration of too school for school blogs and a genuine, widely loved hit with ‘A-Punk’. They’re also one of the most potent guitar driven acts around with a tight live show that’s won them plaudits from across the board.
Tickets for the gig are likely to go fast – another London date has been added due to demand – so if you’re interested in attending you’re best to check out http://www.myspace.com/vampireweekend post haste.
7 Feb 2010 Corn Exchange Cambridge
8 Feb 2010 Manchester Apollo Manchester
9 Feb 2010 Leeds O2 Academy Leeds
10 Feb 2010 Birmingham O2 Academy Birmingham
12 Feb 2010 Newcastle O2 Academy Newcastle 13 Feb 2010 Barrowlands Glasgow, Scotland 14 Feb 2010 Edinburgh Picture House Edinburgh
16 Feb 2010 Brixton O2 Academy London
17 Feb 2010 Brixton O2 Academy London
After delivering one of the debut albums of 2008, New York’s Vampire Weekend have announced details of their second long player ‘Contra’, set for Release through XL Recordings in January 2010. While at first combining indie music with African influences seemed like a strange combination, the foursome – who met whilst studying at Columbia University – quickly became favourites throughout Europe and the US. Several new tracks where debuted when the band supported Blur this dummer and hinted at an album that could quite easily live up to their self-titled debut.
The tracklisting for ‘Contra’ is:
1. Horchata
2. White Sky
3. Holiday
4. California English
5. Taxi Cab
6. Run
7. Cousins
8. Giving Up The Gun
9. Diplomat’s Son
10. I Think Ur A Contra
As to be expected, the tracks are being kept under wraps at the moment, so let’s remind ourselves of why we fell in love with these guys in the first place.
