the fifth vampire weekend album is coming on april 5th.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pdpg-1mw7E0
tracklist:01 “Ice Cream Piano”02 “Classical”03 “Capricorn”04 “Connect”05 “Prep-School Gangsters”06 “The Surfer”07 “Gen-X Cops”08 “Mary Boone”09 “Pravda”10 “Hope”
― the defenestration of prog (voodoo chili), Thursday, 8 February 2024 16:43 (three months ago) link
With a title like that, you kind of have to involve DJ Khaled somehow, right?
― Marten Broadcloak, mild-mannered GOP congressman (Raymond Cummings), Thursday, 8 February 2024 16:49 (three months ago) link
Prep-School Gangsters
They only wish.
― Ned Raggett, Thursday, 8 February 2024 16:52 (three months ago) link
I'm glad Taylor Swift provided the titles.
― poppers fueled buttsex crescendo (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Thursday, 8 February 2024 16:53 (three months ago) link
Surprise! She also did all the music and everything. They're just faceless puppets now.
― Ned Raggett, Thursday, 8 February 2024 16:53 (three months ago) link
this is apparently a double-lp. vw's physical graffiti incoming??
― the defenestration of prog (voodoo chili), Thursday, 8 February 2024 16:53 (three months ago) link
A double LP of ten songs? I suppose they really ARE a jam band now.
― Ned Raggett, Thursday, 8 February 2024 16:54 (three months ago) link
So, who’s drumming and playing bass on this one?
― Marten Broadcloak, mild-mannered GOP congressman (Raymond Cummings), Thursday, 8 February 2024 16:55 (three months ago) link
Chris Tomson bringing some of that Taper's Choice jam energy back to his main gig?
― Maxmillion D. Boosted (jon /via/ chi 2.0), Thursday, 8 February 2024 16:55 (three months ago) link
lol xp Ned!
Jampire Weekend
― Dan Worsley, Thursday, 8 February 2024 17:09 (three months ago) link
Vampire Weekendless
― Josh in Chicago, Thursday, 8 February 2024 17:13 (three months ago) link
the snippet of music in the trailer sounds cool
― flopson, Thursday, 8 February 2024 20:27 (three months ago) link
Listening to too much Dead (via Jake Longstreth of Time Crisis & Richard Pictures fame) and playing big festivals with an expanded band is a dangerous musical influence, but the last album was the first VW album I listened to more than once, so I'm looking forward to it.
― Jordan s/t (Jordan), Thursday, 8 February 2024 20:34 (three months ago) link
they were pretty incredible on their last tour
― the defenestration of prog (voodoo chili), Thursday, 8 February 2024 20:35 (three months ago) link
I don't think you even need to fully blame Longstreth, considering that one of their very own has his own jam band with Dave Harrington and Alex Bleeker!
― Maxmillion D. Boosted (jon /via/ chi 2.0), Thursday, 8 February 2024 20:39 (three months ago) link
I didn't like the last album at all, but there's like a dozen and a half cuts from their first three albums that I still enjoy. Mixed together, they add up to a great little album.
― birdistheword, Thursday, 8 February 2024 20:46 (three months ago) link
re: it being a double lp - the tracks are arranged 3/3/3/1 so it may be that the last track is some sort of epic
― ufo, Thursday, 8 February 2024 23:49 (three months ago) link
note for note cover of dark star from venetta, oregon
― the defenestration of prog (voodoo chili), Friday, 9 February 2024 00:06 (three months ago) link
But only if it has one of those fancy hologram things of naked pole guy. (iykyk)
― Maxmillion D. Boosted (jon /via/ chi 2.0), Friday, 9 February 2024 00:11 (three months ago) link
Wasn't Vampire Weekend last album also a double as it had like 16 or 17 songs?
― Bee OK, Friday, 9 February 2024 05:58 (three months ago) link
It was a double on vinyl because it was 58 minutes long and they didn't want to pull a Rundgren.
― an icon of a worried-looking, long-haired, bespectacled man (C. Grisso/McCain), Friday, 9 February 2024 06:19 (three months ago) link
they did talk a bunch about how it was a 'double album' though which was a weird move when it was that short
― ufo, Friday, 9 February 2024 06:20 (three months ago) link
like the idea of a 'double album' isn't very meaningful these days but if you're going to appeal to the classic concept of a double album at least make it 70+ minutes
― ufo, Friday, 9 February 2024 06:21 (three months ago) link
It has 18 songs and great points ufo
― Bee OK, Friday, 9 February 2024 06:39 (three months ago) link
We haven't gotten to the point in CD nostalgia were an artist will rhapsodize about making a classic CD Bloat-style LP (unless TayTay did & I missed it).
― an icon of a worried-looking, long-haired, bespectacled man (C. Grisso/McCain), Friday, 9 February 2024 06:47 (three months ago) link
i want to say drake did but that might just be me misremembering conversations about streaming bloat albums
― ufo, Friday, 9 February 2024 06:57 (three months ago) link
I loved that about De La Soul - 3 Feet High and Rising is like a perfect CD-length album, closing in on 70 minutes. I would never break it apart into four sides.
― birdistheword, Friday, 9 February 2024 07:35 (three months ago) link
Last album was the album that sealed the deal for me whereas previously I'd regarded them with an air of "I kind of like this but I'm not sure I want to like it?", so hopefully this will be decent.
Ummm... but do I recall there was some chat a while ago about Ezra being into some dodginess? What became of that?
― ...eh you get the gist of it (dog latin), Friday, 9 February 2024 13:31 (three months ago) link
https://www.rookiemag.com/2016/09/the-infinity-diaries/
― poppers fueled buttsex crescendo (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Friday, 9 February 2024 13:35 (three months ago) link
there was also the article from her a few years ago detailing an abusive ex where some of the details lined up with ezra, some of them didn't really, and she made a point of not naming anyone. there haven't been any further developments so it's still that at best he's a creep who dates 18 year olds (and rostam is also terrible for enabling that) and at worst he's much much worse.
― ufo, Friday, 9 February 2024 14:52 (three months ago) link
https://live.staticflickr.com/4032/4718435334_db1f7b8151_c.jpg
― (•̪●) (carne asada), Saturday, 10 February 2024 23:05 (three months ago) link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8lCmyFCj580
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kW9Qk00693c
some great production tricks that deserve better songs? i feel completely unmoved despite the arrangements being full of interesting ideas
― ufo, Friday, 16 February 2024 09:48 (three months ago) link
otm
― corrs unplugged, Friday, 16 February 2024 11:50 (three months ago) link
capricorn feels like a retread, but i dug gen x cops
― the defenestration of prog (voodoo chili), Friday, 16 February 2024 13:16 (three months ago) link
^^ otm
― poppers fueled buttsex crescendo (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Friday, 16 February 2024 13:16 (three months ago) link
Ariel Reichstadt putting in work.
― Jordan s/t (Jordan), Friday, 16 February 2024 14:39 (three months ago) link
yeah they sound cool
― (•̪●) (carne asada), Friday, 16 February 2024 15:21 (three months ago) link
So where did all the double album talk come from? Wikipedia has the full tracklist up and it's only 10 songs/47 minutes.
― Maxmillion D. Boosted (jon /via/ chi 2.0), Friday, 16 February 2024 15:44 (three months ago) link
Double vinyl at 45 rpm
― Ned Raggett, Friday, 16 February 2024 15:45 (three months ago) link
Ahhh, thanks.
― Maxmillion D. Boosted (jon /via/ chi 2.0), Friday, 16 February 2024 15:47 (three months ago) link
That second chorus on Capricorn tho
― ✖✖✖ (Moka), Friday, 16 February 2024 17:38 (three months ago) link
Capricorn sounds like a song Ezra can write in his sleep - but yeah that second chorus is very cool
― alpine static, Friday, 16 February 2024 18:31 (three months ago) link
this one is pretty great
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nP2FbpYs4t0
― the defenestration of prog (voodoo chili), Thursday, 14 March 2024 17:19 (two months ago) link
i also have come fully around on "capricorn," good song
― the defenestration of prog (voodoo chili), Thursday, 14 March 2024 17:23 (two months ago) link
Koenig looks like early '80s Lindsay Buckingham in those closeups.
― poppers fueled buttsex crescendo (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Thursday, 14 March 2024 17:25 (two months ago) link
Reminds me of Los Panchos rendition of El Negro Zumbon. Which could made a good VW sample tbh
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HTcoENyLpps
― ✖✖✖ (Moka), Thursday, 14 March 2024 17:58 (two months ago) link
These new songs sound like Belle and Sebastian in a way that previous VW, to my ear, does not.
― Guayaquil (eephus!), Thursday, 14 March 2024 18:16 (two months ago) link
yeah i like this one more than the other two, songwriting feels like less of a re-tread and the arrangement is even better
― ufo, Thursday, 14 March 2024 22:22 (two months ago) link
It's painful to watch an upright bass being played like that
― Jordan s/t (Jordan), Friday, 15 March 2024 19:15 (two months ago) link
it's at #11 in the UK (and #4 in Scotland). surprised to see it bombing in the US.
― you can see me from westbury white horse, Wednesday, 17 April 2024 13:31 (one month ago) link
i'm still extremely impressed by the production, it's a return to the brilliant creativity of contra. i just wish the tunes were as good but i'm coming around to the moodier, more suspended thing it's going for here
wonder if it bombing has anything to do with the billboard methodology changes around indie record stores or whatever it is?
― ufo, Wednesday, 17 April 2024 13:44 (one month ago) link
the worst songs on this are "gen-x cops" and "hope". "capricorn" and "mary boone" are at least a much better & more interesting version of what they were doing on mvotc. "ice cream piano" is probably the best tune on the album but the least impressive arrangement? the arrangement is still good it's just not really impressing me with how novel it is like a lot of the others. i'm really coming around to the chaotic, jazzy, suspended feeling of "classical" and "connect"
the overall feeling of the album makes me think they've been listening to like, cornelius and 90s shibuya-kei stuff? "broken washing machine" especially
― ufo, Wednesday, 17 April 2024 14:00 (one month ago) link
y'all know infinitely more about chart expectations and performance than i do, but do we think very many people really care about Vampire Weekend at this point? some New Yorkers, probably, and some aging Millennials, music critics and some stray Time Crisis / Grateful Dead fans, but otherwise, i don't know who we're expecting to push this album higher than ~#27. (and i love them, to be clear.)
― alpine static, Wednesday, 17 April 2024 14:52 (one month ago) link
fotb hit #1 and they were playing pretty big venues that tour still, even some arenas. it's quite a drop off
― ufo, Wednesday, 17 April 2024 15:02 (one month ago) link
they still do have some arenas booked on their upcoming tour
― ufo, Wednesday, 17 April 2024 15:03 (one month ago) link
That certainly won't help their chart positions, but... if we're comparing apples to apples at the record store chain I work at, we sold around 1/3 the copies we sold of "Father of the Bride" first week. Big drop-off.
Seems to be happening to a lot of artists of (very roughly) their vintage? Last albums by MGMT, Arcade Fire, Modest Mouse, Jack White, etc... all artists of a certain age, all headed to the "play the old songs for us" phase of their careers, it seems. It comes for the best (and worst) of us...
― mr.raffles, Wednesday, 17 April 2024 15:10 (one month ago) link
this one's quite a bit better than the most recent albums by any of those artists at least
― ufo, Wednesday, 17 April 2024 15:21 (one month ago) link
maybe it's just a result of people losing interest after fotb
My album preferences after a dozen or so listens:
Modern VampiresContraOnly GodFOTBs/t
― Indexed, Wednesday, 17 April 2024 15:23 (one month ago) link
i think it's simple. in order to sell 127k, you need a lot of normies to buy in. "harmony hall" and "this life" were crossover hits, getting some adult contempo and triple-a play, not just the regular alt-rock radio and xmu spins, while none of the singles from this gained any traction. that still matters at the tippy top of the charts.
― the defenestration of prog (voodoo chili), Wednesday, 17 April 2024 15:25 (one month ago) link
hoping to score some day-of discounted tickets for one of the MSG shows in the fall
― (•̪●) (carne asada), Wednesday, 17 April 2024 15:26 (one month ago) link
I believe it. The reviews have been great for sure.
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
VW monthly listeners on Spotify fairly anemic compared to what one might imagine. I have to order Cage the Elephant this week, so was looking them up, and they have double the monthly listeners that VW has. And that's after their last album stiffed (comparatively).
― mr.raffles, Wednesday, 17 April 2024 15:29 (one month ago) link
Had Billboard changed the rules about counting album/ticket bundling by 2019? If not, the handling of this for FOTB felt a little like cooking the books. I went with my best friend and her husband. When the tour went on sale, he bought the tickets, each of which were supposed to come with *1 COPY* of the album on either vinyl or CD (he chose CD). So we had three copies coming our way. Except they kept sending him follow-up emails about "Have you picked your albums yet? Please pick your albums!" and he replied every time until one day a box showed up at their apartment containing *12 COPIES* of FOTB on CD.
We kept three and flipped the rest.
― an icon of a worried-looking, long-haired, bespectacled man (C. Grisso/McCain), Wednesday, 17 April 2024 15:33 (one month ago) link
lol
― Indexed, Wednesday, 17 April 2024 16:01 (one month ago) link
fotb is also a double album. do they still count each "sale" of a double album as two sales?
― the defenestration of prog (voodoo chili), Wednesday, 17 April 2024 16:02 (one month ago) link
if you have a way to get around the paywall there's a billboard.com article from when FOTB went no 1 that answers a lot of these questions
https://www.billboard.com/pro/vampire-weekend-father-of-the-bride-no-1-billboard-200/
Of Father’s 138,000 unit start, its 119,000 in album sales were driven largely by sales generated from a concert ticket/album sale redemption offer for the act’s upcoming tour, which launches in June.[...]Father earned just 1,000 in TEA units and 18,000 in SEA units. The latter figure translates to 20.29 million on-demand audio streams for the set’s songs in its opening week — the biggest debut streaming week for a rock album in 2019.
[...]
Father earned just 1,000 in TEA units and 18,000 in SEA units. The latter figure translates to 20.29 million on-demand audio streams for the set’s songs in its opening week — the biggest debut streaming week for a rock album in 2019.
― slob wizard (J0rdan S.), Wednesday, 17 April 2024 16:27 (one month ago) link
That photo is not the Ezra whom I fell in love with.
― the talented mr pimply (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Wednesday, 17 April 2024 16:30 (one month ago) link
even putting aside the ticket bundling thing, i think the arc makes sense if you think of album sales as being more so reflective of the public's opinion on the previous album. there was a lot of enthusiasm coming off of a critical/commercial peak in MVOTC that was reflected in the enthusiasm for FOTB, which is their most divisive album, hence them shedding some part of their audience w/ the subsequent album
― slob wizard (J0rdan S.), Wednesday, 17 April 2024 16:33 (one month ago) link
it had also been five years, which in another era was a long time but in the streaming era, well.
― the talented mr pimply (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Wednesday, 17 April 2024 16:33 (one month ago) link
Yeah. Release performance is more often than not a referendum on the previous release... and they have been away for a minute... and no single really connected... and the last one benefited from bundling (though the earlier releases that didn't also bested this record's performance, right?).
Whether the music is good or not aside, they do seem as if from a bygone era. Like, how much Hipster Runoff-core artists still remains at the center of the pop universe? Lana for sure. There are others I guess, but it has been a long time. Also, 27 is a heckuva lot better than not charting (which is the fate of MGMT, of montreal, etc).
― mr.raffles, Wednesday, 17 April 2024 17:10 (one month ago) link
too lazy to actually look into it but Lana's critical/commercial peak came after her/the HRO era, no?
― Murgatroid, Wednesday, 17 April 2024 17:17 (one month ago) link
for me, this is becoming their best material.
― interstellar anthropologist+music philosopher, (Austin), Wednesday, 17 April 2024 17:24 (one month ago) link
First album was HR-era for sure. Not after that though (I don't think).
― mr.raffles, Wednesday, 17 April 2024 17:27 (one month ago) link
Has John Lennon weighed in on this goofy band's goofy album title yet?
― The king of the demo (bernard snowy), Wednesday, 17 April 2024 17:34 (one month ago) link
another 26 albums were also above them btw— ﹌ (@cyphariana) April 16, 2024
― mr.raffles, Wednesday, 17 April 2024 17:40 (one month ago) link
Wait a second, are we saying that FOTB is a New Jersey?
― o. nate, Wednesday, 17 April 2024 17:58 (one month ago) link
man, ya'lls obsession with that nj shit is completely beyond me. not trying to start a fight with anyone or you nate (because you specifically are rad, don't change), but... anything to avoid discussing the actual music, i guess. these days, seems like someone inevitably brings it up re:any new release by an established act. i get the concept i just don't get why you're all so smitten with it. anyway. /vent
― interstellar anthropologist+music philosopher, (Austin), Wednesday, 17 April 2024 18:08 (one month ago) link
uhhh my man until I revived this thread we were discussing the music
― the talented mr pimply (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Wednesday, 17 April 2024 18:21 (one month ago) link
170 posts worth
Not sure #11 in the UK is much to sing about. All the Twitter terfs got Roisin to #5 and this week The Libertines made #1
― groovypanda, Wednesday, 17 April 2024 18:22 (one month ago) link
It -- like alot of newer albums -- was only a double on vinyl. Otoh, most of the sales probably *were* on vinyl, so...
I do feel that Billboard's chicanery probably screwed a little with the new. Most of the people willing to buy this band's stuff on physical are going to do it at an indie shop. On that tip, they might even be waiting until this weekend and RSD to buy it there.
― an icon of a worried-looking, long-haired, bespectacled man (C. Grisso/McCain), Wednesday, 17 April 2024 19:38 (one month ago) link
the New Jersey thread remains one of my favorite ILM experiences ever. to each his own, i guess.
anyway, VW is coming to my podunk town to play an 8K-cap amphitheater and they are better than any of the other dozens of bands playing the venue this summer. whether the place will be full or a quarter full, i'm stoked.
― alpine static, Wednesday, 17 April 2024 20:50 (one month ago) link
In my head FOTB was underwhelming not because it was a hollow recitation of VW’s winning formula but because it mostly jettisoned various components of that formula, which components turned out to have been a crucial part of the band’s appeal - this is really underscored by how precisely my increased enjoyment of OGWAU correlates to the appearance of a course correction. But maybe I am idiosyncratic on this point and the surprising arrangements and flourishes aren’t that important to most VW fans?
― Tim F, Wednesday, 17 April 2024 22:08 (one month ago) link
because you specifically are rad, don't change
Right back at ya, Austin.
― o. nate, Wednesday, 17 April 2024 22:55 (one month ago) link
I gotta ask what does it even mean to be a “new jersey” I’m reading without knowing what that reference is.
― ✖✖✖ (Moka), Thursday, 18 April 2024 00:35 (one month ago) link
Every huge artist has their "New Jersey" - a huge event album that ultimately feels a bit hollow & signals a career decline
― Marten Broadcloak, mild-mannered GOP congressman (Raymond Cummings), Thursday, 18 April 2024 00:46 (one month ago) link
― groovypanda, Wednesday, 17 April 2024 19:22 (yesterday) bookmarkflaglink
i wasn't singling it out as a good thing. the previous three were all top three. the scotland chart intrigues me though as i feel releases by long established rock/indie/whatever acts almost always do better there(?), even if the actual sales numbers are probably small
― you can see me from westbury white horse, Thursday, 18 April 2024 01:23 (one month ago) link
― sctttnnnt (pgwp), Thursday, 18 April 2024 03:10 (one month ago) link
FOTB not a New Jersey. I resist coming back to this one (although I quite like most of the tunes) because of the clattery, compressed production. In particular the drums — I hate them. I hate the way they sound, and I hate the space they take up in the mix. They actively annoy me while I’m listening. I think I’m v much in the minority on this.
― It was on a accident (hardcore dilettante), Thursday, 18 April 2024 03:59 (one month ago) link
You are, but not alone!
Having LOTS OF THINGS HAPPENING FAST on the drums does not equal "good beats."
― a man often referred to in the news media as the Duke of Saxony (tipsy mothra), Friday, April 5, 2024 3:16 PM (one week ago) bookmarkflaglink
― a man often referred to in the news media as the Duke of Saxony (tipsy mothra), Thursday, 18 April 2024 04:18 (one month ago) link
Perhaps inevitably from its grave debuting sales, it only lasted one week on either the US or UK charts. (Actually, I'd have expected at least a second week in the UK, at number 76 or something, but nah).
― you can see me from westbury white horse, Friday, 26 April 2024 01:14 (three weeks ago) link
Only God Can Chart Us
― Marten Broadcloak, mild-mannered GOP congressman (Raymond Cummings), Friday, 26 April 2024 02:06 (three weeks ago) link
Vampire Weakened
― a man often referred to in the news media as the Duke of Saxony (tipsy mothra), Friday, 26 April 2024 02:20 (three weeks ago) link
I dunno, they are playing 4 nights in London at 3-5000 capacity venues so I think there is still a solid audience for them (and two nights in Manchester) - I'm looking forward to it anyway...
― Ant1973, Tuesday, 30 April 2024 09:35 (two weeks ago) link
They pretty much sold out two nights at MSG with over five months to go. Maybe they've already turned into a legacy act - no one buys the new stuff but they'll pay big for an arena show?
― birdistheword, Tuesday, 30 April 2024 19:52 (two weeks ago) link
16 years since their debut album. For the stones it was basically Tattoo you (64-81). Yeah maybe they are legacy act for aged fans now !
― AlXTC from Paris, Tuesday, 30 April 2024 20:54 (two weeks ago) link
Good episode of NYT Popcast hosted by Jon Pareles feat. Amanda Petrusich and Matthew Strauss
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/04/17/arts/music/popcast-vampire-weekend.html
― Indexed, Wednesday, 1 May 2024 14:20 (two weeks ago) link
without any evidence or argument to back up my position: my feeling is this would have performed better if they hadn't gone major
― devvvine, Wednesday, 1 May 2024 14:22 (two weeks ago) link
They did that a long time ago; I reckon over 90% of Vampire Weekend songs are in a major key
― J. Sam, Thursday, 2 May 2024 01:17 (two weeks ago) link