pintomusica

With the Internet able to build up or tear down artists almost as soon as they start practicing, the advance word and intense scrutiny doesn't always do a band any favors. By the time they've got a full-length album ready to go, the trend-spotters are already several Hot New Bands past them.


Vampire Weekend started generating buzz in 2006 — not long after they formed — but their self-titled debut album didn't arrive until early 2008. Vampire Weekend also has just a handful of songs that haven't been floating around the 'Net, which may disappoint the kind of people who like to post "First!" on message boards. This doesn't make those songs any less charming, however — in fact, the band has spent the last year and a half making them even more charming, perfecting the culture collision of indie-, chamber-, and Afro-pop they call "Upper West Side Soweto" by making that unique hybrid of sounds feel completely effortless. So, Vampire Weekend ends up being a more or less official validation of the long-building buzz around the band, served up in packaging that uses the Futura typeface almost as stylishly as Wes Anderson.


At times, the album sounds like someone trying to turn a Wes Anderson movie back into music (it's no surprise that the band's keyboardist also writes film scores); there's a similarly precious yet adventurous feel here, as well as a kindred eye and ear for detail. Everything is concise, concentrated, distilled, vivid; Vampire Weekend's world is extremely specific and meticulously crafted, and Vampire Weekend often feels like a concept album about preppy guys who grew up with classical music and recently got really into world music. Amazingly, instead of being alienating, the band's quirks are utterly winning. Scholarly grammar ("Oxford Comma") and architecture ("Mansard Roof") are springboards for songs with impulsive melodies, tricky rhythms, and syncopated basslines. Strings and harpsichords brush up against African-inspired chants on "M79," and lilting Afro-pop guitars and a skanking beat give way to Mellotrons on "A-Punk." It's a given that a band that's this high concept has hyper-literate lyrics: the singer's name is the very writerly Ezra Koenig, and you almost expect to see footnotes in the album's liner notes. Once again, though, Vampire Weekend's words are evocative instead of gimmicky. The irresistible "Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa" rhymes "Louis Vuitton" with "reggaeton" and "Benneton" and name-drops Peter Gabriel (though it's clear the band spent more time with Paul Simon's Graceland) without feeling contrived. "Campus" is another standout, with lines like "I see you walking across the campus...how am I supposed to pretend I never want to see you again?" throwing listeners into college life no matter what their age. Koenig has a boyish, hopeful quality to his voice that completes Vampire Weekend, especially on bittersweet but irrepressible songs like "I Stand Corrected" and album closer "The Kids Don't Stand a Chance." Fully realized debut albums like Vampire Weekend come along once in a great while, and these songs show that this band is smart, but not too smart for their own good.(allmusic)



“A-PUNK” / VAMPIRE WEEKEND

MYSPACE


"With "Tapes", their first ever mix compilation, The Rapture join a prestigious line of celebrity guest compilers for !K7 Records including Carl Craig, Hot Chip and Ewan Pearson. Keen connoisseurs of house music, hip-hop and electronica, The Rapture have recorded with The DFA Soundsystem, Dangermouse and Timbaland. They have also toured with Daft Punk, The Cure and The Killers. At the dawn of the new millennium, this impeccably cool four-piece from New York City helped pioneer the dance-punk scenes and No Wave rennaissance that soon conquered the global club scene.


"Tapes" is a treasure trove of rare grooves and cult classics spanning three decades, from the late 1970s to 2008. It is a testament to The Rapture's all-embracing musical tastes that "Tapes" features superstars like Ghostface Killah, Armand van Helden, Richie Havens, as well as underground cult heroes (Martin Circus, Vaughan Mason) and the cutting-edge electronica from the rising stars of today and tomorrow (Syclops, DJ Mujava). The Rapture have raided their record collections and produced a rich, deep, wide-ranging feast of simply fantastic music - smart, funny and funky."

日本後搖滾勁旅Toe 2008年八月亞洲巡演之紀念版限量EP。特別收錄從未發行之bonus track 「Velvet Blanc」，及兩段現場演出：「New Sentimentality」及「Past and Language」。限量一千張，編號為證。

http://www.toe.st/

toe is a Japanese music group. While mentioned in many post-rock circles, their song structure and dynamics are similar to many popular math rock artists.

Toe is comprised of Kashikura Takashi on drums, Mino Takaaki on guitar, Yamane Satoshi on bass guitar, and Yamazaki Hirokazu on guitar. Toe has formally played with this line-up since the band’s inception in 2000.

The vast majority of the music is instrumental and features the swift and acute drumming of Takashi. The band is also known for its melodic, clean guitar settings. Additionally, the compositions have repetition from typical rock motifs, but use very subtle changes in beat and rhythm to form a unique sound. The band has changed their sound over their musical tenure by incorporating acoustic guitars, rhodes piano, and vibraphones in their most recent releases.