Tagged: contra

Woah, sorry for the silence around here, folks. Life has been wonderfully busy in my world, and I've had no time to digest all the awesome year-end stuff that's coming out now. But more important to me looking back on 2011, I need to get on previewing the awesome year ahead in live music now [...]

I love this. Whilst Vampire Weekend are busy working on that difficult third album, and the follow up to the über successful Contra , the band's multi-instrumentalist and music-degree wielding Rostam Batmanglij is releasing a stream of terrific solo songs. 'Don't Let It Get To You' went up on his Tumblr today, following in the footsteps of 'Wood', which appeared on there sometime last month, but I only went and bloody missed it. Is that tribal snare drum groove a sample? Either way, it's a head-bobber. [...]

• Stream » Rostam_Batmanglij_-_Wood.mp3
• ROSTAM - Don't Let it Get to You

O indie-pop do Vampire Weekend , apesar de retirar influências da world music, não parece muito compatível com o folk introspectivo do Fleet Foxes . Logo, uma versão dos barbudos para a banda de Ezra Koenig não funcionaria...ou funcionaria? Robin Pecknold e sua banda aceitaram o desafio e você pode ouvir agora mesmo a versão do Fleet Foxes para o sucesso Giving Up The Gun . O Fleet Foxes conseguiu transformar Giving up the gun em uma faixa que não causaria estranhamento na tracklist do [...]

Well, that's what the coffee shop should be called that serves up loyalty cards like this. [via lenkendall ] Tweet

Ezra Koenig, the bookish frontman of Vampire Weekend , has covered Paul Simon's "Papa Hobo" for the soundtrack of the upcoming film "Ceremony." As far as covers go, it is a nice enough effort, primarily featuring acoustic guitar and Koenig's unique voice. Koenig did well to choose "Papa Hobo" to cover, as his voice undoubtedly recalls Simon's on multiple occasions during the song. In fact, it is easy to imagine Koenig's entire career paralleling Simon's - perhaps "Papa Hobo" is a harbinger of things to come. We'll let you form your own opinion there. Amazingly, despite not [...]

• Ezra Koenig - Papa Hobo (Paul Simon Cover)

Vampire Weekend simultaneously represents so much of what I hate and love about the American music scene. I'll be the first to admit that their last album, Contra , caught my attention from about twenty seconds into its first track, "Horchata," when songwriters Rostam Batmanglij and Ezra Koenig decided to stop dicking around with the thumb piano and put in some seriously legit South African vocal harmony and beats a la Graceland in the background. A lot of Contra represented what they had to offer the American music scene: a (kind of) rock band [...]

This nifty Contra sweater looks a tad bit photoshopped to be real - and by a tad bit, I mean, no way in hell - but that doesn't mean I don't want it to be. Right? At least once a year, probably around Christmas time, I would bust this puppy out and pledge my allegiance to the greatest video game ever made. As a side note: If someone actually did make a sweater like this or even a series of 8-bit Nintendo quilts, they would make a ton of money on ETSY. [via doobybrain ]

As 2010 slowly came to a close, it was implicit that as listeners, we had all witnessed one of the most prolific, influential and original years in music history. Many may think I'm over-hyping the quality that came from 2010, but it's undeniable that countless records were released this year that will surpass many more, and place 2010 as one of the most highly regarded 12 months of musical talent. I believe we saw the rise of originality; many bands gave up trying to follow the trends of previous influences and took their own track, which [...]

For the second consecutive year at Hidden Track, we concocted our innovative little experiment for the year-end Best Albums list. Instead of picking the old fashioned way – subjectively – we opted for something a little different: a collaborative, collective list that incorporates the opinions of everybody here at HT. To begin, we devised an all-encompassing list of well over 100 nominees, whereby most everything our contributors recommended [...]

As 2k11 begins, the DJs of WQHS bring you their top albums of the past year Check out our entire list after the jump: [photo via hipsterpuppies.tumblr.com ] 10. Vampire Weekend- Contra Vampire Weekend is known for creating contradictions. Its very identity is a paradox; the group formed on the Upper West Side with a sound inspired by African popular music. (This tension is perfectly encapsulated in the title of "Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa," a song [...]

Artist : Vampire Weekend Hometown : New York City, U.S.A. Members : Ezra Koenig, Rostam Batmanglij, Chris Tomson, Chris Baio Formed : 2006 Released : 2010 Genre : Indie Rock Label : XL Recordings Singles : "Horchata", "Cousins" , "Giving Up The Gun", [...]

• Vampire Weekend - Cousins

Here are the five worst 'indie' (whatever that means) based records of 2010. 05.) Avey Tare - Down There A collection of sounds and meandering synths without a glimmer of structure or meaning. 04.) M.I.A. - Maya Faux political commentary and complaining over lifeless beats. [...]

No.9: Vampire Weekend - Contra There are generally two rules to follow if you want your album to stand a good chance of appearing in Best Of Year lists: First - don't release it in November, December or January. Second - don't be called Scouting for Girls. Well, always up for a challenge are Vampire Weekend . Releasing Contra when the year was a measly 11 days old and still bloated from festive celebrations, it would have to be pretty damn special to still be at the forefront of our minds almost [...]

The infamous, Tod Brody aka the Vampire Weekend Contra photographer has been issued a subpoena. The lawsuit , that was filed by the band, is over the album cover of their latest (#1) record Contra , which features a vintage polaroid of Ann Kirsten Kennis. The suit is stemmed from Ann's original 2 million dollar lawsuit, which was brought against the band and the photographer. The only problem now is Tod Brody seems to be MIA. Apparently since no one can track him down, the court [...]

• Vampire Weekend - White Sky

If you're not up to date, the woman in this photo is giving the boys from Vampire Weekend A LOT of grief. Whether it's deserved will be decided by a judge. Ann Kristen Kennis, a former model in the 80's , is suing the band their photographer for using this photo without her consent. The price tag for use of this pretty face is $2 million. Ouch.

Ann Kirsten Kennis probablemente no será reconocida por nadie, pero si les digo que se trata de la modelo que ilustra la portada de Contra , el último disco de Vampire Weekend , quizás las cosas cambien un poco. Para el que no está enterado, les cuento que los integrantes de la banda y su sello están enfrentando un juicio con la modelo porque, supuestamente, su fotografía fue utilizada sin autorización. Como sucede siempre que se presenta un nuevo disco, la portada del álbum también fue utilizada en muchísimas [...]

Basement Jaxx son unos auténticos cracks al momento de hacer remixes, los chicos no son los que hagan un remix cada seis meses, más bien son bastante selectivos con quien remezclar y a quien no , por supuesto deben tener una lista bien amplia de nombres importantes esperando a ser tocados por Basement Jaxx, la música de Vampire Weekend si bien es bailable, no es la más destinada a las remezclas, sin embargo los chicos Jaxx le han sacado todo el potencial posible a "White Sky", uno de los sencillos de [...]

El culebrón que involucra al grupo Vampire Weekend y Ann Kirsten Kennis , la modelo que ilustra la portada de Contra , porque, como les estuve comentando, la mujer los está demandando por haber utilizado la fotografía sin su permiso. Ahora les está pidiendo nada menos que US$2 millones (vamos, que tiene razón pero se abusa otro poco también). La modelo, quien parece estar hablando los medios como si de Angelina Jolie se tratase, reveló que todavía no tiene idea cómo llegó la banda a la fotografía y [...]

Vampire Weekend may currently be on tour, however, the New York four-piece is also learning legalese very quickly. The band has just been sued by woman shown on the of their latest album, Contra. Kirsten Kennis is shown front and center of the well-received album, however is asking for $2 million for damages. Kennis claims her signature was forged on the release form to allow the band to use her photograph. Lead singer, Ezra Koenig indicated that no public response could be made at this time, as the process is something none in the band have [...]

Kirsten Kennis probablemente sea un nombre que nadie reconozca, pero si les digo que se trata de la rubia que ilustra el arte de tapa de Contra , la última producción de Vampire Weekend , probablemente muchos se darán cuenta de lo que hablo. Justamente ayer Facu les estuvo comentando que esta mujer demandó al grupo estadounidense por haber, supuestamente, utilizado su fotografía sin permiso. Ahora la banda respondió a estas acusaciones y dijo que es completamente frustrante que les esté pasando esto y tener que atravesar un problema legal. [...]