Vampire Weekend

Okay, It's Time to Stop Saying Vampire Weekend Sounds Like Afropop (or Graceland)

Vampire Weekend -- the album -- sounded a lot like Graceland, inasmuch as most of us hadn't heard that bright Afropop guitar tone on any other albums in the intervening 20 years, and Ezra Koenig's lyrics were as epigrammatic as Paul Simon's, if in a different way. It wasn't just the guitar, even tho ... More >>

Ra Ra Riot on Lineup Changes, The Singularity, and Blade Runner

By Chris Parker Syracuse's Ra Ra Riot -- set to play Du Hot Club De Bizarre Thursday night -- began playing college parties, and before long they'd found a strange, intoxicating sweet spot between spiky Pixies-inflected post-punk and chamber pop that earned them comparisons to fellow emerging New Y ... More >>

Was Coachella 2013 Worth The Drive From Phoenix?

If you went to Coachella last weekend, you're probably still sunburned, dehydrated, and physically exhausted. Sleeping in your own bed is a glorious feeling after camping out or crashing on a friend's hotel room floor, but some aches and pains are bound to persist. Fortunately, if you had a good-en ... More >>

Coachella 2013 Official Lineup is Posted

The wait, as they say, is finally over. You can cease all the speculation of who the hell is officially playing this year's Coachella as Goldenvoice unveiled the lineup in grand fashion. See also: -Who Is Really Playing Coachella This Year? -The Rolling Stones Aren't Playing Coachella, but Some ... More >>

Win Tickets to Hear Baio of Vampire Weekend DJ at Sticky Fingers This Weekend

Lots of musicians use their platform and notoriety to score DJ gigs. And why not? Picking the music is fun. Chris Baio, known for manning the bass guitar in Vampire Weekend (a band whose name combines things very "in" right now: vampires and weekends), sort of did things in reverse. He worked side ... More >>

As The Black Keys Take on Pizza Hut, We Wonder What Selling Out Even Means Anymore

See also: What Are the Ten Most "Spotified" Songs in Phoenix Last week, NPR blogger Emily White got a whole bunch of discussion started about how musical artists are and aren't getting paid. (We chimed in too, discussing music streaming service Spotify.) If White's thought, that my peers and I will ... More >>

M83 is Coming; Here are Five Reasons to See The Band Live

When I photographed M83 a few months ago, I was expecting to hear a bunch of cinematic instrumental music. I thought M83 worked better as background music than a live show. I couldn't have been more wrong. If you also have M83 pegged as a run of the mill post- rock band, do yourself a favor and di ... More >>

Boys and Frogs Sorry For the Weight Mixtape

Peoria-based indie popsters Boys and Frogs have a flair for the dramatic: witness the bands excellent and creepy videos. But the cover for the trio's new mixtape, Sorry For the Weight (a pun regarding the wait for the band's follow-up to their last LP, Rain Dance Snowed In) takes the cake, ripping ... More >>

Your New Favorite Band: Fair Ohs

Fair Ohs - Everything Is Dancing​Imagine, if you will, that there exists somewhere out there a less shitty, English version of Vampire Weekend -- a band that employs Afropop stylings yet with more of an edge to their sound. East London trio Fairs Ohs are just that. The band does not don loafers an ... More >>

Best Cover Songs in Other Languages

Rave On Buddy Holly, a 19-track tribute album, was released on June 28, 2011.​Last week, Fantasy Records and Hear Music released Rave On Buddy Holly, a 19-track tribute album dedicated to the bespectacled rock and roll icon. Artists like Paul McCartney and Lou Reed cover Holly classics o ... More >>

Pitchfork's Top 10 Albums of 2010 Explained

Vampire Weekend's Ezra Koenig​The wonderful people over at Pitchfork just released their 10 best albums of 2010 today. In what should have came as no surprise, Kanye West took the top spot. His latest album had been given a notorious perfect 10 a month ago and, if Rolling Stone and Spin have anyth ... More >>

10 Steps to Becoming the Next Indie Buzz Band

Arcade Fire​So, it's Saturday night and you are playing another show in front of an empty dive bar. You can't figure out why your Linkin Park tribute band hasn't become more successful. You've spent hours working on your bands MySpace page, you've worked hard to get your original stuff played o ... More >>

Ra Ra Riot @ Clubhouse

Top 10 Celebrity Cameos in Indie Rock Videos

These days, the lines between indie and mainstream music are difficult to pinpoint. With indie artists featured prominently in mainstream media (I'm looking at you, Twilight soundtrack), it's hard to see what makes indie music, well, indie. When you add celebrities to the mix, it becomes even more d ... More >>

Miike Snow

Born Ruffians: Say It

​As we all slowly warm up to the Tuesday after a holiday like Memorial Day, it's hard to put any focus on new music, and today's new releases reflect that sentiment. There are, however, a few gems in the rather meager new release lineup, like the latest album from Ontario rockers Born Ruffian ... More >>

Vampire Weekend Set to Release Follow Up to Contra Before the Year's End

Vampire Weekend.​So it seems that even though Vampire Weekend's critically acclaimed, (by nearly all music critics except our very own Jay Bennett,) Contra came out just this January, the plan is that they'll have another recording out before the year's end, according to TwentyFourBit.Their frontm ... More >>

Coachella, Epic Super Hero Battle, Scottsdale Culinary Festival, and reWAX at Pussycat Lounge Over the Weekend

​Coachella Day 1: Vampire Weekend, La Roux, Imogen Heap, and The Specials Despite major difficulty actually getting in to Coachella this year, the 2010 festival launched on Friday, April 16 full of great performances and over-sized art installations. Check out shots from Ra Ra Riot, Imogen Hea ... More >>

Yeasayer at Rhythm Room

​I walked into the Rhythm Room on Thursday evening for the Yeasayer show and surveyed the crowd. Immediately, I saw signs of potential trouble: The joint was lousy with hipsters. There were three Ben Gibbard look-alikes within 10 feet of me, and between them, they'd consumed enough PBR to drown a ... More >>

Vampire Weekend Brings the Love to Marquee Theatre

Peter Baray​Sounds like things got pretty crazy at the Vampire Weekend concert last night at Marquee Theatre. Someone threw up, and girls and guys alike lusted after the band--although it seems like the crowd was filled with underaged peeps. Here's what was happening on the interwebs after the sho ... More >>

Vampire Weekend at Marquee Theatre

​Vampire Weekend's 19-song set at Marquee Theatre Tuesday was totally devoid of riffs or deviations from their studio versions -- the crowd couldn't have cared less.In fact, the crowd knew every vocal and instrumental cue so well that, had the band gone off-script at any point, they may not have k ... More >>

Vampire Weekend Is Now the Whitest Band on the Planet

Abe Vigoda

What's Spinning: Radio Phoenix

Stroke: Songs for Chris Knox​New Times singled Radio Phoenix out in our annual Best Of Phoenix issue as the "Best Online Music Station That Should Be a Radio Station."Actually, in addition to being too-indie-for-the-airwaves the station spins a few things that aren't even topping the charts at the ... More >>

Lady Gaga's Designer Condom Line

​So make sure your little mosters are in them.Okay. I stole the joke. But it was so obvious I couldn't resist. Evidently making music, performing sold out concerts, winning Grammys, finding the most outrageous fashions that she can, and working for Polaroid is not enough for the Lady. Now she has ... More >>

Sasquatch Announces 2010 Lineup

The 2010 lineup for the Sasquatch! Music Festival has been announced, and it is, my friends, rather impressive (finally)​​It's been a long time coming, but the Sasquatch! Music Festival -- held annually at Washington's Gorge Amphitheater over Memorial Day weekend -- has come of age. Too long the ... More >>

Arctic Monkeys to Play the Marquee (More Coachella Runoff!)

​The Valley is getting a ton of runoff from this year's Coachella. First it was Yeasayer and Beach House. Deer Tick and Vampire Weekend then entered the fold. Finally, Sia and Frightened Rabbit scheduled Phoenix dates around the massive festival in Indio, California. The recent announcem ... More >>

What's Selling: Zia Records Tempe

​Vampire Weekend tops out the list of best selling records at Zia in Tempe this weekend. While Phoenix sold out their upcoming show at Marquee, they're not doing too bad in album sales either. Here are the trendy records bought trendy college kids are buying at Zia. 1. Vampire Weekend - Contra 2. ... More >>

Eels: End Times in "Nothing Not New"

Welcome to "Nothing Not New," a yearlong project in which New Times editorial operations manager Jay Bennett, a 40-year-old music fan and musician, will listen only to music released in 2010. Each Monday through Friday, he will listen to one new record (no best ofs, reissues, or concert re ... More >>

Obscura Relaunches At CenPho's Rips Ales & Cocktails This Saturday

Jessica SmithObscura's DJ Roya doing what she does best.​It's been just over a month since the Ruby Room Lounge unexpectedly went teats up, and some of the monthly dance nights that were displaced by the closure are finding new life at various bars around the Valley.DJ Manchester recently launched ... More >>

January 5 In Blogs: Medic Droid, Modern Steak, Kidnapping, and Joe Arpaio

​In the 24-hour news cycle it can be difficult to keep up. We have the solution. Check back on Valley Fever every evening for highlights from each of New Times' blogs. Today's entries: Feathered Bastard: Joe Arpaio Wins Best "Corruption-Based Chutzpah" from TPM; and the Rep Notices Joe Depo, ... More >>

Vampire Weekend Coming to Marquee

​ Everyone's favorite band of early 2008, Vampire Weekend, will play the the Marquee on April 13. As I said when the band last played here, for what ended up being "Take Your Kids to a Concert" night in September 2008, their new record is make-or-break for the once hotly tipped act.That new record ... More >>

Can't Wait Until Next Tuesday? Stream Vampire Weekend's Contra Now

The sweater-loving Vampire Weekend is currently streaming their next album, Contra, on their MySpace page.​Ah, the dreaded first Monday of the New Year. Today is the first of many in 2010, so fucking buckle up and get ready for whatever lies ahead. There are certain things that may help this trans ... More >>

January 4 In Blogs: Vampire Weekend, Robert McGrath, and Javelinas

​In the 24-hour news cycle it can be difficult to keep up. We have the solution. Check back on Valley Fever every evening for highlights from each of New Times' blogs. Today's entries: Feathered Bastard: Joe Arpaio Denies Wacky, Nativist "Reconquista" Conspiracy Theory in Video from Depositio ... More >>

2010's Most Anticipated Albums

2010 brings with it the hope of a new, much better decade chock full of impressive albums​Some of you may or may not have noticed that the 2000s, or aughts for the cool kids, was a pretty crappy decade. That sentiment is becoming more and more prevalent as we inch toward a brand new decade, and B ... More >>

2010 Early Releases -- Yeasayer, Vampire Weekend -- Shaping Up Quite Well

These fine young men call themselves Yeasayer and will have their sophomore album ready for February 2010​Is it too early to look ahead to already announced albums with 2010 release dates? No, especially when those releases carry the clout of such bands as Vampire Weekend, Yeasayer and Arcade Fire ... More >>

Glenn Beck Lies About Muse, iPhone Only Album, FTC Disclosure and Music Blogs

NME: First iPhone-only album to be released by Kids On DSP - videoElectric Mustache: mp3: Vampire Weekend - "Horchata"Idolator: If Your Mother Says "Here, I Got You Something Autographed By Ian Curtis," Check It OutIdolator: How Will Music Blogs Deal With The FTC's New Disclosure Guidelines?NME: Gl ... More >>

Megan Fox Pic On Cover of Rolling Stone, Dizzee Rascal Gets Shoe, Chairlift Live

Electric Mustache: Photos and Videos: Chairlift at The Rhythm Room 9/14/2009Idolator: Joe Satriani's Suit Against Coldplay Flies Out Of CourtIdolator: "Abbey Road" Tops The Beatles' ChartNME: Spiritualized to reissue 'Ladies And Gentlemen We Are Floating In Space' albumNME: Vampire Weekend reveal 'm ... More >>

New Vampire Weekend, Crystal Antlers at Ruby Room, Blur Reunion Video, Touch and Go Book

Electric Mustache: Photos: Crystal Antlers at The Ryhthm Room 6/8/2009 Spin: Vampire Weekend's New Record: "Higher, Lower, Faster! Spin: Blur post rehearsal footage online - video Rolling Stone: U2's Bono and the Edge Talk "Spider-Man" Musical Pitchfork: The Smashing Pumpkins Hire a 19-Year-Old ... More >>

Other People's Blogs: Jay-Z Splits From Def Jam, Green Day vs. Wal-Mart, Vampire Weeked DJs Prom

Rolling Stone: Jay-Z Buys Out Def Jam Contract, "Blueprint 3″ Heads to Roc NationElectric Mustache: Photos: Miniature Tigers at The Phix 5/15/2009Rolling Stone: Allen and Lambert iTunes Hits May Be a Predictor of Future SuccessIdolator: Green Day Knows Its Enemy, And Its Name Is Wal-MartNME: Vampi ... More >>

Wilco Is Dave Matthews Band – And That’s Okay

Long Live Logos Charm at Chyro Arts

Sometimes you just need to see a little live music on a Friday night, and without much on the concert schedule this weekend (The Music of Led Zeppelin - A Rock Symphony! Smashmouth!) I found myself at Chyro Arts in Scottsdale to see San Diego's Long Live Logos. Turns out, they played a delighful set ... More >>

The Best Album of 2008? Sorry 'Science,' I Go With Girl Talk

Can an album comprised solely of samples really be an artistic achievement? Honestly, I'm a little bit torn about naming Girl Talk's Feed The Animals the best album of the year. After all, it is a record made up entirely of mashups, so, strictly speaking, there's not a note of new music in this ba ... More >>

Flier of the Week: sBACH

By Martin Cizmar I bring you this week's Flier of the Week not because I love the Towelie-esque flier - though it is pretty cool - but because I don't want to be the only person who shows up to see videogame rockers sBACH at Modified this Saturday. I advanced this concert in the paper this week ( ... More >>

Vampire Weekend Plays 'Take Your Kids To A Concert Night'

Vampire Weekend

Future Shock: Tom Waits, Tina Turner, Coldplay, and more

Vampire Weekend

Sound Tracks

It's got a good bite