Vampire Weekend Releases Sophomore Album ‘Contra’

This Article was originally written for The Hartford Informer on January 28, 2010.
Vampire Weekend returned this month with a sophomore effort and follow up to the very unique and deservedly well received self-titled first album.
“Contra” picks up for the most part where their first album, “Vampire Weekend” left off. The clean and melodic music, is something that will get stuck in your head without really knowing it.
Released just shy of two years ago, the first album began with a sound which was at first hard to understand—a perky full sounding keyboard, heavy snare drum beat that left nothing to be desired, a clean guitar, almost ghostly vocal, and symphonic overtone—grew on the listener easily.
For some, this was not the case, and the music was far from appealing. The hype surrounding this relatively obscure band was huge, and even I at one point was a disbeliever—that was until I picked up their album.
I knew right off the bat with “Mansard Roof” followed by a personal favorite “Oxford Comma” that I truly liked the sound Vampire Weekend had so masterfully created.
“Contra” starts off much the same way.
“Horchatta” really emphasizes the African sound, which they so stylishly construct, beautifully mashed with orchestral accompaniment. The first single manages to perfectly capture the feeling of Vampire Weekend more completely than any of the other songs on the album, bringing more fodder to the already established factions who despise the music that Vampire Weekend produce.
Vampire Weekend has succeeded in bringing more abstract sounds into their bizarre concoction while still putting out something great. “Diplomat’s Son” located near the end of the album, samples M.I.A., putting it over a piercing keyboard and violin track. Truthfully strange yet appropriately fashioned. While “Diplomat’s Son” may be a slower song, it is immediately contrasted to a faster song like “Giving up the Gun” something that Vampire Weekend manages to do smoothly and without hesitation.
“Giving up the Gun” begins with a swift beat, which quickly turns electronic and ethereal by the end while still maintaining the distinctive melody.
The album ends with “I Think Ur Contra” an echo-ridden irregular background contrasted by a pinging melody, building with light beat, adding a violin symphony, a Spanish-sounding guitar lick and lead singers Ezra Koenig voice floating above it all before fading to the end.
The sounds that come from the album are abstract to say the least, but are so astonishingly woven to completeness no one would dare mention the fact that they shouldn’t be there to begin with.I wasn’t immediately impressed by “Contra” the way I was with their first album. It did take some time to grow on me. Had I written this review a week ago I would not have written as glowing a review as is currently spewing from the ends of my fingertips.
Whereas their first effort was straight in as a solid album, the latter falls slightly short of that achievement while still managing a good effort; delivering the clean, perky and happy music we have all come to expect from indie rockers Vampire Weekend.

It’s Not Me, It’s You—Lily Allen Fights Piracy

It all began with a blog post on MySpace—A condemnation of illegal music piracy. Lily Allen, the 24 year old British singer who put out her second Album ‘It’s Not Me, It’s You’ in April, is took up the fight that record executives have been battling for years. Unfortunately, she did not change the music industry, and what followed was probably not the response she was looking for.
On September 14, Allen posted “I think music piracy is having a dangerous effect on British music, but some really rich and successful artists like Nick Mason from Pink Floyd and Ed O'Brien from Radiohead don't seem to think so.” Allen promised to contact fellow British artist to help the British music industry. It was one response though that spawned the next generation of her fight.
After a counter response from, the particularly outspoken Matthew Bellamy of English rock band Muse, Allen set up ‘It’s Not Alright’ on BlogSpot (http://idontwanttochangetheworld.blogspot.com/ ). The blog featured the artists who had responded to Allen’s request for their opinion. As of Tuesday last week responses had come from Tinchy Stryder, Gary Barlow, a couple of the boys from Keane, producer Mark Ronson and James Blunt including 16 more responses, supporting the cause she was fighting.
At this point, various members of the record industry were rebutting Allen’s cause. But it was when Allen posted a response from 50 Cent to music piracy that her argument lost a lot of steam. Unfortunately for her, she had copied the paragraph response from a Tech Dirt (http://techdirt.com/) without accrediting it. Michael Masnick, who had originally written the 50 Cent article, spoke to TorrentFreak who picked up Allen’s oversight, had their piece to say “The fact that she is trying to claim that such copying is bad, while doing it herself suggests something of a double standard, unfortunately”. This, of course, prompted a response from Ms Allen, “I THINK ITS QUITE OVIOUS [sic] THAT I WASNT TRYING TO PASS OF THOSE WORDS AS MY OWN.”
The disagreement escalated when a couple of mixtapes were found on Allen’s site. All of which contained copyrighted music, which Allen was distributing free of charge. Allen defended these saying ‘"I made those mixtapes five years ago. I didn't have a knowledge of the workings of the music industry back then.’
At this point though, the reason for her blog had become complicatedly entangled in one big ironic snag. Within days the blog was shut down, with Allen stating, “I'm proud of the fact that that I've been involved with this debate but I'm passing the baton on to other artists."
Unfortunately, what could have been a good undertaking by an artist to combat a problem in this industry has turned out to be one horrible mess. Allen did have some good points though. Preventing the Simon Cowell puppet nation and the same old crap circulating on terrestrial radio while still promoting new music and preventing the rampant job losses she has seen at her record label EMI as some examples. Despite this, Allen’s career as piracy thwarter wont be going any further.

Sing it Loud @ Webster Underground (05/01/2009)

Taking the stage in a nearly sold out underground, Sing it Loud played the Webster Underground this past Friday (May 1, 2009)—a night which was shared with Nightwish on the main stage. Sing it Loud brought with them their unique brand of Synth-Pop-Punk-Rock and gave their everything into their performance, capping out a night including The Morning Light, Friday Night Boys, Artist vs. Poet, The Summer Set and Thrash Unreal.

For those lucky enough to be off the side of the Underground stage prior to Sing it Loud taking the stage by storm, you would have seen two things. The first was Pat Brown (lead vocals and guitar) playing along to New Found Glory’s ‘My Friends Over You.’ Even if you were in the audience you may have heard this one as his guitar was live at that moment. Secondly you would have witnessed Sing it Loud’s team chant—which is essentially the Mighty Ducks team chant—an interesting element to a fascinating band.

Taking the stage, Sing it Loud opened with ‘I’ve Got A Feeling’, the first track off their new CD. With more energy than a toddler in a candy store, Sing it Loud bounced around the small stage. Despite the stage’s size limitations, Nate Flynn (bass) was able to pull off a full arial spin without taking out any of his band mates. Playing other songs off their new CD, Sing it Loud also included ‘Maybe I’m a Ghost’ one of the songs from their first EP. The crowd went wild for most if not all the songs. And when requested to ‘jump so high the floor caves in,’ followed without a moment’s hesitancy (and let’s just say the audience did a pretty good job). Finally, Sing it Loud closed their set at the Underground with ‘Come Around’, the title track from their new CD for which the crowd screamed harder than any other song.

From the Underground, Sing it Loud plays Bamboozle in New Jersey this weekend (May 2-3, 2009) and then joins the Warped Tour for the rest of the summer.

The Webster Star found Ben Peterson (keyboard and synthesizer) after the show and he gave us his best approximation of their set list:

I've Got a Feeling, We're Not Afraid, Don't Save Me, Best Beating Heart, Maybe I'm a Ghost, Over You, Come Around

Pop Punks Not Dead

New Found Glory rock the house, assisted by Bayside, Fireworks and Set Your Goals

As I read on one attendees shirt during the night, ‘pop punks not dead.’ And after this Wednesday night (04/29/2009) at the Webster Theatre, I can concur with that statement.

With a casual disregard for the last two days of the work week, New Found Glory stormed into town to play the Webster Theatre, supported by three fellow Pop Punk bands Bayside, Fireworks and Set Your Goals on April 29th. What followed was an incredible performance that I will remember for some time to come. Admittedly, I have only been a casual New Found Glory since the days of the major pop singles from 2004 (‘My Friends Over You’, ‘Failures Not Flattering’, and ‘All Downhill from Here’) but I can sincerely say I’ll be following this band a lot closer now after this performance.

The night started with Fireworks who, even for an opener, had the crowd singing along to their songs and generally built the energy through their set. Set Your Goals followed, taking the stage with their two lead vocalists, building the energy further. Finally Bayside arrived to close off the openers half of the show. Bayside, eagerly awaited by the audience was received like free candy, with a core majority of the audience singing, chanting and otherwise joining along.

Of course New Found Glory was not to be outdone and, without much time between the end of Bayside, captured the stage and the audience. Launching straight into their first song, ‘Listen to Your Friends,’ New Found glory was full of liveliness, bouncing around the stage and engaging the crowd who had gathered to see them. After their first song they quickly swung into second gear with ‘Coming Home.’ Interspersed in some of the crowd favorites and unique songs (like ‘Tip of the Iceberg’ which was only released as an EP) were two of the songs I was dying for, ‘All Down Hill From Here’ and ‘Failures Not Flattering’.

Sidetrack: The only thing more disturbing than Ian Grushka (bass player) wiping the sweat off his naked plump upper half, was the supposed addiction the band has to Miley Cyrus. This stemming from a set of banter in which Chad Gilbert (lead guitar) announced he now has a twitter and is addicted. And in doing so tweeted this picture. Talking about twitter, there were rumors that New Found Glory might play one of the 5 Green Day songs they sound checked with. But no luck on that one.

Finishing up their main set, they played their ‘fake last song’ as they proclaimed it and marched off stage before their encore. They came back and sidestepped their set list, brining one of the audience members, who had brought a sign, up to play drums for their first song. Not only did this guest drummer nail the song, he also got the live ending down which impressed the band. After that they took an audience vote over which song to play next, ‘2s and 3s’ or ‘3rd and Long.’ Finally, New Found Glory played their last song and a half, Finishing with ‘My Friends Over You,’ to complete my (and others) trifecta for the night.

While there was so much that made this show great, it was perhaps the crowd that really made it. New Found Glory has more than a ten year history, and it was particularly exciting to see the reaction received when they played songs from their more obscure catalog. Overall it was a spectacular night, proving that pop punks still kicking.

We the Kings, the Cab at Webster Theatre 3/7/2009

Unlike Friday night’s concert, Brand New, Saturday’s was a concert I had some tangible excitement for. It was officially the last stop of the Secret Valentine Tour (though not technically), headlined by We the Kings and supported by the Cab and two other smaller bands.

The Openers
I’m going to keep this short and just say that they were decent. The second band, There for Tommorow, did a good cover of Icebox by Omarion.
The Cab
The Cab was a band who, although I had heard their hit single before, Bounce, I had only gotten their Album that week. Regardless of this fact, I was still enthused to see them perform live. And I was not disappointed. Live, they put on a good show. The audiences really seemed to enjoy their performance and they went particularly crazy when they played their sole hit single. The band from Las Vegas—I know this because they said it about twelve times—didn’t disappoint from any angle, and very overall very satisfying. If you want to read an interview with Cash from the Cab, my friend did one last week. (continues below)

We the Kings
Without much further ado, the lead singer with the red hair was on stage and We the Kings was kicking off their part of the concert. They sounded great, very tight very solid. With a set of super bright lights surrounding the elevated drum in the shape of a W, the feel of the show was full of energy. Despite two things, a) the guitarist not actually being the recorded We the Kings guitarist (real one somewhere in New Mexico?) and b) some technical problems with the guitars near the end, We the Kings kept the show moving. Engaging in Banter, and even singing happy birthday to everyone in the crowd, it was obvious that they had formed a relationship with the Webster (having played it 5 times in 12 months or something ridiculous like that).They also pulled off a good cover of Mr. Brightside in which the drummer from the cab jumped back on stage with drum set to drum along. Finally they came back on to the encore shirtless (at concert goers request), before spitting out their three most famous songs in quick succession Check Yes Juliet, Secret Valentine and their closer Skyway Avenue.

Brand New at Webster Theatre 3/6/2009

With just a weeks notice Brand New, a band that has been fairly obscure (at least to me) since their big radio hits from 03/04, managed to pack the Webster Theatre in a sold out, limited tour schedule show. I have to admit, that prior to this concert the only two songs were those radio hits. Songs "Sic Transit Gloria" and "The Quiet Things that No One Ever Knows."
The Openers
Not the best of bands, but their certainly made their fill as openers. The first band managed to break the record for number of guitars being played on stage that I’ve seen. Including 4 guitarists and 1 bassist (although 3 of the guitarists were sometimes keyboard player’s as well). The dear hunter, under which this feat happened, was probably the better of the two. The other, mewithoutyou, failed to sustain any kind of music I would listen to in any substantial form. In fact they all looked mentally handicapped up on stage—no wonder they ran all their names letters together!
Wait…NeverShoutNever! Is in the other theatre?
Fun story: NeverShoutNever! sold out the underground at the Webster Theatre before Brand New was even announced as an event. The show was packed and screams arose anytime the lead singer, Christopher Drew, said anything in his unusually squeaky voice. For a time I traded one band who scrunched the words in their name together for another. Except the second was actually good. It wasn’t long before we went back to the main stage for the event that packed the larger of the two venues.
Brand New
The stage filled with fog, two drum sets sat alone on stage and the crowd roared. What followed was only slightly short of impressive. I said before that I had only heard two songs before, but the energy of the crowd combined with the solidity of a show that this band put on really raised my opinion of them. The lighting, a mix of white and yellow mainly from the back gave the theatre an epic feel. This was then combined with the songs in which two drummers kept the beat for the song (Jesus Christ and Millstone?)—breaking the record for number of drums I’ve seen played on stage simultaneously. Overall they sounded good, the crowd was responsive and they were a pleaser. Perhaps I’ll think about finding their albums…

the Take Action Tour at Webster (2/15/2009)

The Take Action Tour was last night (2/15/2009) at Hartford’s Webster Theatre. So Here’s a review of the music (because the only other thing I could review would be pant so tight procreation might be a problem further on in life):

Every Avenue:
We walked in right at the end of their set. From what I heard they sounded pretty good, though I haven’t had a chance to go back and check on them again.

Meg & Dia:
While the music of this band was decent, there were several key components that made them just an average band. The first was the twitchy fingered audio-board-ist whose constant medaling through out the majority of the show disrupted the bands cohesiveness. The second was the self-obsessed lead guitarist with his guitar so far up his ass he couldn’t hear that it was deafening anything anyone else in the band was trying to do. This also might have been the fault of Mr. twitchy fingers himself. Lastly dia, the lead singer’s voice was unbelievably soft, combined with ripping asshole guitarist and twitch was a recipe for disaster. (I’ll come back and edit this with a link to interview my friend did before the show because he’s almost as self obsessed as the guitarist)

Breathe Carolina:
All I’m going to say is that I can’t really comment on the music because I didn’t hear any. All I did hear was screaming and so much bass I think I acquired a heart arrhythmia. The lights were cool though.

Cute Is What We Aim For:
Like all the bands this night I’d never really heard any of them before. I was surprised when CIWWAF took the stage, admittedly they looked a lot older than I had imagined. As they began it was really like listening to a CD for the first time for a new artist (except with volume at 11). They did take a while to get into, but by the 5th or 6th song, I would have claimed to like the music that CIWWAF was playing. They’re overall stage presence is good—they have boxes up front which the bassist and lead guitarist pose and jump around on. The whole stage itself is very clean—all their speakers/amps are hidden behind cloth banners on stage.

666 Albums

I don't generally use Grid view in iTunes but for some reason today i was checking it out. I just happened to click on albums, and found out i had 666 albums! spooky, no?Actually,I added another album straight after this...so technically i have 667 now.
(and 481 artists)

Getting UP in DOWN Times

Subtitle: Reel Big Fish, Streetlight Manifesto and Tip the Van: Toads Place, New Haven CT 1/23/09

There is no denying that Ska music can be some of the most entertaining, energetic and enthusiastic music around. So was it really a surprise that the 1300 person venue, New Haven’s Toad’s Place (CT), sold out one of the biggest Ska tickets currently touring.
The show opened with Tip the Van, whose home state roots shone through and the crowd vigorously got into their music. The 6 year old Ska group led by two sisters (Nicole and Simone) brought the venue to life and were substantially better than my sometimes musically challenged comrade made them out to be.
Of course, Tip the Van was just the opener to the two bands that made this venue sell out. Streetlight Manifesto took the stage and the crowd took to them. Despite some sound issues during the first couple of songs (given that Toad’s Place’s sound system isn’t that good to begin with) the Streetlight feeling broke though. With songs from both old and new album (almost a year old now) and the always good ‘Point/Counter Point’, ‘Keasby Nights’ mash up. This was the third time that I had seen Streetlight (currently holding the record for most views), and they rock the house every time and this was no different.
With little to no further ado Reel Big Fish was on the stage with a band and launched headlong into ‘Trendy’. Having just released their new album this week, the Fish mixed in some of their new songs from that record (all of which were thoroughly enjoyable), some of the better songs from their Previous Album and the crowd classics that have come to define Reel Big Fish. By the end of the main set they had had both lead singers of Tip the Van back on stage to sing with ‘She has a girlfriend now’, trumpet player from old Tyler Jones (pre Johnny Christmas) and the trombone player from the Mighty Mighty Bosstones to sing along too. With these cameos, their relentlessly animated music and comedic intercourse with your brain the Reel Big Fish showed how to get up and dance when times are down. As always, it seems, the Reel Big Fish take the energy level to new highs and by the end of the night, nearly 2 hours from taking the stage, they had achieved this once again.
Oh, and if you were wondering who started that rousing ‘Ole Ole’ to which the Reel Big Fish answered by coming back on stage playing it in the beginning of the encore, well it was me and 6 other friends in what has become a tradition for Reel Big Fish shows.

Best of 2008: Songs

Another year over (or almost over, depending on when you read this), so its time to look back on the year that was 2008. This post is dedicated to the songs of 2008, the ones that made you want to sing along, the ones that got stuck in your head (good or bad), or the ones that were played so much you had to like them. So without anything further, the top 20 songs from 2008:

20. Duffy – Mercy
This girl burst onto the scene in 2008, and now is a Grammy nominee.
19. Metro Station -Shake It
I originally got into this song in Australia, only to discover it was big in the U.S. too.
18. Lady Gaga- Just Dance
Another song that debuted in AUS, and on returning finding it had a gained an audience on the other side of the pacific.
17. the Killers – Human
Kick-starting their third studio album, the killers released this song mimicking the days of Hot Fuss, and mixing it with Sam’s Town.
16. Britney Spears – Womanizer
“Womanizer, woman-womanizer, you’re a womanizer, oh, womanizer, oh, you’re a womanizer, baby”…Brit’s back?
15. We the Kings -Check Yes Juliet
Originally downloaded at iTunes free single, then it got big.
14. Leona Lewis - Bleeding Love
This X-Factor winner crossed the pond to give us this song you just want to belt out.
13. Katy Perry - Hot N Cold
A strong song that almost makes us forget she kissed a girl and she liked it…
12. Panic at the Disco -the Green Gentleman
They dropped the exclamation mark and this great single too.
11. Fall Out Boy - I Don't Care
Eyeliner and all, Fall Out Boy is back with songs more catchier than the plague.
10. Rihanna – Disturbia
The strongest showing from Rhianna who dished a fairly good helping of songs this year, she ‘Don’t Stop the Music.’
09. The Fratellis - Mistress Mabel
Slamming keys, hard hitting beats and staccato guitar strokes bring this first single to life and define the second Fratellis album.
08. The Living End - White Noise
This Aussy band jumped into the (Aussy) spotlight with this song that makes you want to jump along.
07. Coldplay - Viva La Vida
Admittedly, I’m one of those Coldplay fans who liked this album and single.
06. Daughtry - What About Now
Daughtry, like Rhianna, has done well for himself getting 5 charting singles out of one album, all of which are good.
05. Gavin Degraw - In Love With A Girl
A melody that just begs to be sung along with.
04. David Cook - Light On
I might have missed this songs limelight in Australia, but I couldn’t help but not get into it on my return. From the latest, and probably my favourite, American Idol this song gets us into the mood for a full album from him.
03. Jason Mraz - I'm Yours
Overplayed? Sure, but still a god damn good song. Get up, clap, sing, harmonize, scat along because this song makes you happy and want to. I can’t say the same about the rest of the album though.
02. P!nk - So What
She just lost her husband, but she hasn’t lost the spunk that giver here the ‘!’ in her name. Amazingly P!nk manages to fit all into one song the angry part of a break up and the sad part. But it’s for the badass, rock star part that I love this song and can’t wait to get the album.
01. It's Not My Time - 3 Doors Down
For their fourth album, 3 Doors Down came back strong with this catchy and punchy song. As those first 3 power chords to hit the scene is set for a strong single. And as the chorus comes we embrace the melody. It’s a song you just want to turn up and sing along with the full vocals. Not only that but it starts a very strong album from the group.




(In creating this list i did mistakenly get 1 too many songs, so if anyone wants to know: 21. Vampire Weekend- A-Punk)

Repetitive Radio

I’m kind of annoyed at New York’s z100 (“ny’s hit music station”) right now. Their playlist seems to comprise of only seven songs: two by Beyonce (the mechanical one and the one where she’s a boy), two by Rhianna (disturbia and the numa-numa one), two by Britney Spears (womanizer and her new one ‘circus’) and Jason Mraz’s im yours. Now I like z100, it has good current music and at least one good show—Elvis Duran and the z100 morning zoo. But I swear EVERY TIME I’ve gotten in my car for the past two weeks it’s been one of these seven songs (or commercials followed by one of these seven songs). Throw a little variety in there z100, because these songs have been worn out beyond repair.