Vampire Weekend – Modern Vampires of the City June 11, 2013
Posted by gwyoung in Album Reviews, Music.Tags: pop, vampire weekend
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Artist: Vampire Weekend
Album: Modern Vampires of the City
Release: XL Recordings, 2013
Genre: Pop
RIYD: Buddy Holly, Neil Young
Vampire Weekend’s first two albums, though delicious, infectious, and still candy to my ears, were basically the band applying their remarkable ability to write pop songs to the sounds trademarked by other musicians. On their debut in 2008 they were Paul Simon’s afro-beat reincarnate, and on 2010’s Contra they were a mish-mash of popular indie peers like MIA and Animal Collective. As such, Modern Vampires of the City can be described as the record where Vampire Weekend finally finds their own sound. Stripped of all the polychromatic effects of their prior efforts, the vocals, lyrics, and songwriting can really shine through, just like that sun shines through the smog over a sepia Manhattan in the cover art.
Though the title uses the words “modern” and “vampires”, the vintage quality of the music on the album makes it feel timeless while the subject matter (fear of death, lost love, the feeling of placelessness) is startlingly human. Frontman Ezra Koenig’s lyrics were never anything special before (remember “Blake’s got a new face”?) but this time around he reigns in the intentional obfuscation in favor of a much more direct approach, and Rostam Batmanglij’s delicate echo and subtle production serve only to enhance the performance. Of course, there are still times when the band wear their influences on their sleeves (see “Diane Young”) but there are fewer obvious precedents for the more humbling tracks like “Obvious Bicycle” and “Hannah Hunt”. Whether you’re a Vampire Weekend fan or not, there’s no denying that they’ve created something truly special in Modern Vampires of the City: a universal gem of surprising originality.
Blue Hawaii – Untogether June 11, 2013
Posted by gwyoung in Album Reviews, Music.Tags: blue hawaii, electronica
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Artist: Blue Hawaii
Album: Untogether
Release: Arbutus, 2013
Genre: Electronica
RIYD: Braids, James Blake, The Postal Service
Raphaelle Standell-Preston and Alex Cowan’s debut full-length as Blue Hawaii is like a more modern version of The Postal Service’s Give Up: it was pieced together over a long period of time by two musicians who were half a world away from each other during the recording process. Standell-Preston, the belting and yelping frontwoman of Arbutus-labelmate band Braids, serves as the Ben Gibbard to Cowan’s Dntel as her voice ebbs and flows over his chilly electronica. The two embrace this “untogether” theme wholeheartedly: the music here sounds distant, cold, and isolating, with more than a hint of longing and an edge of mystery. Cowan deftly weaves Standell Preston’s coos into his crystalline fortress of glitched-out bells, chimes, and synth pads, somehow managing to include a plethora of subtle details in his minimalist backdrop. The icy result leads us far away from the beachy warmth of their 2010 EP (the aptly-titled Blooming Summer) but somehow feels like a logical progression into what will hopefully be more than just a one-off side project.
safer in the dark 