Vampire Weekend Releases New Single

After an extensive viral campaign on Pitchfork and other indie music ‘relevant‘ blogs and websites that featured a comely looking blonde girl (pictured above) posted within the ad sections, we finally have breaking news from the Vampire Weekend camp. We have heard from Ezra Koenig that the upcoming LP, Contra, draws extensive influence from California and with the lead-off single “Horchata“, which is a Latino juice/soda, California residents understand what he means. VW are up to their old tricks as Koenig, much like Colin Meloy of The Decemberists, makes sure that his listeners have a dictionary on hand to fully understand the content within.

Words that may need a dictionary depending on learnedness (excluding ‘horchata’):

‘Balaclava’ – a cap that is close-fitting and woolen and covers all of the head but the face.

‘Masada’ – (Hebrew מצדה, pronounced Metzada, from מצודה, metzuda, “fortress”) is the name for a site of ancient palaces and fortifications in the South District of Israel on top of an isolated rock plateau, or large mesa, on the eastern edge of the Judean Desert overlooking the Dead Sea (we’re not sure if this is what is meant by ‘Masada’, but we’re trying).

‘Aranciata’ – San Pellegrino (also S. Pellegrino) is a brand of mineral water with carbonation added, produced and bottled at San Pellegrino Terme

Lucky for us, by downloading the song from VW’s website, we received the lyrics to Horchata, which seem to have something to do with wistfully dreaming of becoming a Mexican wrestler (hence, the “Balaclava” reference):

“In December, drinking Horchata/ I’d look psychotic in a Balaclava”

Vampire Weekend – Horchata

8.2/10. Ezra Koenig and his crew of Columbians have taken a wonderful and new approach to their over-sophisticated tunes with “Horchata”. It is a fun-filled track that is a cross between Koenig’s work with The Very Best, a slower West Coast jam and an Ivy League orchestra club.

Lewis Corson

With the Beasties Out, What Will Happen to Summer Festivals?

Since Adam Yauch was diagnosed with cancer and it was released to the press a couple days ago, there has been much speculation as to how promoters would fill the spot that the Beastie Boys would leave vacant as Yauch would undergo treatment. Aside from the fact that the group postponed tour dates indefinitely, [cl] was wondering what would happen to the festival lineups that the Beasties were supposed to headline. There is undoubtedly a group of music lovers out there that bought tickets for the specific day of a festival or for the entire weekend just to see these three white Jewish dudes from Brooklyn and now feel as if they’re going to have to make a decision. There are four festivals that the Beasties agreed to headline and here’s the news on what might happen and what will happen next.

All Points West

July 31 – August 2; Liberty State Park, NJ

Jay-Z has agreed to step into the gaping hole left by the Beasties at the Liberty State Park event in New Jersey. This is Jay’s first festival performance in the US, though he has performed in a handful of festivals overseas. July 31, when Jay-Z is performing, also features Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Ra Ra Riot, Vampire Weekend, MSTRKFT, The National and Fleet Foxes.

Osheaga Music and Arts Festival

August 1-2; Montreal, Canada

The Beasties were supposed to close out the Canadian festival on Sunday evening and cancelled once Yauch’s news was released. The festival promoters and the Yeah Yeah Yeahs agreed the following day that they would fill in for the Beasties.

Lollapalooza

August 7-9; Chicago, IL

The Yeah Yeah Yeahs fill in for the Brooklyn-ites again; a move which must have been a tic-for-tac deal between the two native New York groups.

Outside Lands

August 28-30; San Francisco, CA

No word yet on who will headline on Sunday evening in place of the Beastie Boys (so far no agreement has been reached with the Yeah Yeah Yeahs), but we’ll keep our fingers crossed for our friends in San Francisco.

Austin City Limits

October 2-4; Austin, TX

The Beastie Boys have been pulled from the bill on Friday evening from 8:15-9:30. Again, there has been no announcement as to whom will take Friday’s headlining act but the word around town is that Kings of Leon and ACL’s promoters are talking.

Lewis Corson

Columbia Alumnus Sings About Africa?

We’re not sure about the credibility that Ezra Koenig, the lead singer of Vampire Weekend, has to sing about the “Warm Heart of Africa”… but we like the song anyways. Koenig has been busy these days as he’s working with Dirty Projectors and has been featured on Discovery’s new LP. The Very Best did a cover of Vampire Weekend’s “Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa” and it seems like our ‘renaissance man’ happened to enjoy it.

The Very Best – Warm Heart of Africa feat. Ezra Koenig

7.2/10. Can get tedious after we hear the hook for the fourth or fifth time but the track starts out strong with distorted lo-fi synth and some jumpy percussion. The idolization of Peter Gabriel continues…

Lewis Corson

On Our Radar: Discovery

Discovery is somewhat of a nouveau indie supergroup. Comprised of keyboardist and producer Rostam Batmanglij from Vampire Weekend and Ra Ra Riot lead singer Wes Miles, this is a side project collaboration that you do not want to miss. The group’s album entitled LP, due out July 7th via XL showcases the sound spectrum of Batmanglij’s synth and the purity of Miles’ voice. The upcoming LP also features Angel Deradoorian of Dirty Projectors and fellow bandmate from Vampire Weekend Ezra Koenig.

The band is streaming four of the tracks from their album on their website but we’ve taken the liberty of adding a couple more interesting tracks.  Look out for their upcoming album and tour dates, as they have not yet been announced.

So Insane

8.9/10. Pitchfork beat me out in reviewing this track, which is always upsetting. We give it an 8.p compared to Pitchfork’s 8. This is the ultimate eighties throwback… just better.

Swing Tree

8.4/10. Miles brings us back to his childhood as Batmanglij kindly layers Super Mario sound effects on top of New Order digital percussion.

Carby

7.5/10. A crunchier, dirtier part of the album. Ironic that Koenig is on this track in particular, especially with the extensive use of the autotuner.

Slang Tang

8.6/10.”I need to wash my, I need to wash my, I need to wash my sheets or I’m gonna go insane” sighs Miles as we hear a myriad of digital loops echoing gently behind his distorted chords. 

I Want You Back (Jackson 5 Cover)

7.5/10. The most digitalized cover of Jackson 5 ever created. This may be the most fantastic track out of the bunch due to the pure creativity behind its creation.

Lewis Corson