Posts Tagged ‘vampire weekend’

Today’s Soundbites takes a look at the new tracks from Arcade Fire, Vampire Weekend’s latest video, as well as some of the latest news from Trent Reznor and the Klaxons.

The full tracklisting for the upcoming The Twilight Saga: Eclipse movie, the third in the successful franchise, has been released, as has the artwork for Muse’s track ‘Neutron Star Collision (Love Is Forever)‘, which will be the OST’s lead single. The track will be released on May 17th, followed by the full soundtrack on June 7th, with the movie going on general release in the US on June 30th.

Popband Boyzone stay on top of the Album Chart this week, while Florence & The Machine and Mumford & Sons have both seen their albums climb to #5 and #9 respectively. The new Best Of collection of Free & Bad Company has debuted at #10. Pop trio Scouting For Girls top this week’s Singles Chart with their new track ‘This Aint a Love Song‘.

In the Indie Chart, Vampire Weekend’s second LP ‘Contra‘ has swapped places with last week’s no.1 ‘Black Rock‘ by blues musician Joe Bonamassa, and dance rockers Audio Bullys enter at #9 with their new album ‘Higher Than The Eiffel‘.

To fit the description of a music business mogul, no one could be more suited than Tom Silverman. One of the prominent and seminal self-made figures in the industry, passing enthusiasts will undoubtedly be familiar with his name and, of course, his company that became one of the most successful of all independent labels, Tommy Boy Records.

A lot of bands would be happy to have their album make billboard’s top 200 list – what about a chart topping  album? Well this achievement didn’t seem to impress Vampire Weekend much, who recently watched their release “Contra” rocket to the #1 spot on the  US album charts.

For younger generations in the UK, there has long been an enviable awe surrounding all things New York – the centre of style and the bastion of ‘cool’. Whether it’s for the latest fashion, TV shows or the newest musical trends, it seems the UK has always had an insatiable desire to latch on to the NYC ethos and take a bite of the Big Apple. And it would be fair to say that there are plenty of attractions in this imitable metropolis that can’t be found on the other side of the pond – the city’s music scene for one.

Everyone’s  favorite ‘upper west side soweto’ rockers, Vampire Weekend, are  scheduled to make a free in store appearance this Friday at Rough Trade East in London.

One of  London’s best established independent record shops, which now has branches doubling up as gig venues, are welcoming the New Yorkers who are in London this week for some promotional stints. The band is launching their new album Contra out in stores on January 11th.

New York-based band Vampire Weekend have announced details of a UK tour which will take place throughout February 2010.  The dates will be in support of the group’s second album ‘Contra’, which is set for release on January 11th.

New York-based Vampire Weekend have confirmed the title and release date of their second album. Called ‘Contra‘, it will be released on January 11th in the UK through XL Recordings. It will feature ten tracks, some of which were performed at this year’s Reading/Leeds Festivals.

The group, which consists of singer/guitarist Ezra Koenig, Rostam Batmanglij on keys, drummer Chris Tomson and bassist Chris Baio, have outlined plans for a more varied and different approach from their eponymous debut in numerous interviews over the past few months. In one such interview, with Spin magazine in April, the group discussed their new approach: “One thing that’s interesting about this album is that, to me, I think it has a wider range of feelings and tempos than the first album,” frontman Koenig said. “There are faster songs than what you’ve heard – or what at least feels like our fastest song we’ve ever made – and also (the) slowest we’ve ever made. There are songs where I’m singing very high, and I think also the lowest I’ve ever sang on a VW album.”

Vampire Weekend were formed in 2006 after the members met at Columbia University. They took their name from an amateur film made by Koenig. In 2008, they released their self-produced debut, which featured hit singles such as ‘A-Punk‘ and ‘Oxford Comma‘.

Later in their Spin interview, the band discussed a few tracks which are set to feature on the new album. ‘Taxi Cab’ is said to be one of the new tracks which best showcases their new direction: “With ‘Taxi Cab’, I think it was important that we made a song that was mellow, because if you listen to our first album, there’s a certain level of pumped-up-ness,” Batmanglij said. “I guess at some point this spring, I got obsessed with Lou Reed’s ‘Walk on the Wild Side’, and I just wanted to hear that over and over again. And so hopefully ‘Taxi Cab‘ will connect with that, somehow, in some way.”

They also discussed another new track, ‘White Sky‘, which is said to be one of the more familiar sounding tracks on the record. “That song came together in a way that none of our older songs ever have,” Koenig said. “Rostam made a beat and sent it to us, and I spent some time writing lyrics and a melody to it, and then we put it together into what it is now. On that level, it is very distinct from what we’ve done.”

Other tracks rumoured to be on the album include ‘Run’, ‘Diplomat’s Son’, ‘Giving Up The Gun’, ‘Horchata’ and ‘Holiday’.

Here are the guys visiting Conan in NYC last year:

Saturday

Vampire Weekend brought out the late afternoon sun on Saturday with a typically cheerful, breezy performance. It’s perfect for the time of day, and the now established favourites from their eponymous debut album fully deliver the goods and are met with the same amount of enthusiasm that the band continues to deliver them with. The group also manage to keep the crowd entertained and engaged while playing a selection of new songs – something other acts have failed to do so far. Overall it’s yet another accomplished performance from a band who are fast becoming one of the most reliable festival acts on the circuit. It’s hard to imagine a time when ‘A-Punk’ won’t put smiles on the faces of all who go to see them.

Later, Yeah Yeah Yeahs confirm a stronger afternoon/evening than the day before with a powerful performance of their rock-disco tunes. Despite not acknowledging the crowd until the closing stages, frontwoman Karen O, decked out in an outfit straight out of 1970s wrestling, shows why she is one of the most engaging singers on the planet, working the crowd effortlessly. Her boundless enthusiasm is impossible to resist and the band show their versatility when things are slowed down for an acoustic rendition of ‘Maps’ which is even more haunting and passionate in it’s stripped down form. Songs from their under-rated new album ‘It’s Blitz!‘ sit well with the established hits such as ‘Gold Lion’ and set closer ‘Date With The Night’, and the performance shows them up as one of the stronger live acts on show at this year’s festival.