Odd Blood: Yeasayer’s eclectic release

Yeasayer, the Brooklyn based experimental rock band, has made a name for themselves long before their second full-length album, Odd Blood, was released on February 8^th of this year. Often compared to Animal Collective and Dirty Projectors, the band describes their eclectic and psychedelic sound on Odd Blood as “Middle Eastern-psych-snap-gospel”, diving deeper into electronic beats and heavy synthetics than their first studio album released in 2007, All Hour Cymbals. The band, consisting of Chris Keating, Ira Wolf Tuton, Anand Wilder, Ahmed Gallab, and Jason Trammell, has played in music festivals around the world, from Lollapalooza in Chicago to the Reading and Leeds Festival in England, and has built up blogger credit and plenty of online attention. They were even named one of MTV’s “Seven Bands from SXSW That Will Matter”, among indie bands Ra Ra Riot and The Black Lips.

Odd Blood delivers a new sound from the band and is heavier on the merging of different genres, relying on more pop-rhythms than their previous music.  Don’t give up on the first try, for if you are not hooked upon the first listen of the album in its entirety, you are not alone. There is a lot to listen to and a lot of sound to absorb, and in order to really appreciate the album in its entirety, it takes more than one listen.  Upon my third cycle through the album, I noticed the skill that the band has in integrating their influential genres—the 80’s synth beat merges melodically with the album’s overarching layer of pop, and the Middle Eastern beat is featured throughout most tracks.  Some of the strongest tracks are the albums official singles,  “Ambling Alp” and “O.N.E.”, the former serving as the more rock-sounding track and the latter experimenting with reggae beats coupled with synthesizers.  Another notable track is “Madder Red”, a slower, more folk-y track that shows off the band’s vocal harmonizing and Keating’s impressive range. “I Remember” is the romantic ballad about the girl who got away, as Keating croons: “I remember making out on an airplane/ Still afraid of flying, but with you I’d die today”.  Enough to break a heart or two, the lyrics in Odd Blood don’t disappoint. 

Yeasayer is scheduled to perform at Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival next weekend, and is surely one of the highly awaited performers this year.  

Contra to Vampire Weekend: Sophomore Slump

New York based indie babes Vampire Weekend released their sophomore album on January 11, 2010, titled Contra. Although debuting as #1 on the Billboard 200 and gathering blogger hype nationally, don't expect to be swept off your feet at first listen.

Since the release of their self-titled album, Vampire Weekend, in January of 2008, the quartet have earned noteworthy praise and critique on both a national and international level. The band, which includes frontman and lead guitarist Ezra Koenig, keyboardist and backing vocalist Rostam Batmanglij, drummer Chris Tomson, and bassist Chris Baio, dominated the indie and pop-rock music scenes satisfying charts in the U.S, and even peaked with number one spots in the UK with their singles "A-Punk" and "Oxford Comma". The band offered promise and longevity in the music scene, even landing tracks in popular films (Nick and Nora's Infinite Playlist, I Love You, Man).

I admit that it took me a few listens to really get into the band, but that's usually what it takes to appreciate new music. Vampire Weekend is truly unique in sound and origin. Their music is highly orchestrated, yet is influenced by African and Western Classical music. They sound like the east-coast prep schoolers that they are, having met during their term Columbia University. From there, they went on to self-produce Vampire Weekend financing it by holding full-time jobs. The result was a well recorded, strong debut album.

Where Vampire Weekend flourishes, though, Contra lacks in originality and quality as an album in its entirety. Sure, there are the tracks that really stand out, such as the previously released "Horchata" and "Cousins", but even after my third listen I found it hard to appreciate the quirky melodies and offbeat crooning for college love, at least, in comparison to their self-titled album. To put it in total indie perspective, when Will Dana reviewed the album for Rolling Stone, he stated that if Vampire Weekend was Rushmore, then Contra was definitelyThe Royal Tenanbaums. If you must compare Vampire Weekend's albums to Wes Anderson films, Contra would definitely be The Life Aquatic, which has its shining moments but is nothing special in its entirety.

The album starts off with the muddled and tuneless track, "California English", shouting out to California counties, college girls, and Toms shoes. Like a roller coaster, the album has its ups and downs from there, with the highs at "Cousins", "Holiday", and "Horchata", and lows with "Diplomats Son", "I Think Ur a Contra", and "Taxi Cab". Its a bumpy ride from beginning to end, but listen after listen makes it easier to appreciate the start-to-finish process. After such an ingenious first album, its no wonder why Contra is such an obvious sophomore slump, even with its highlights sprinkled throughout. It is definitely worth more than one listen, and still carries the original and fun sound that makes Vampire Weekend the fantastic band that they are. Because of the band's popular background and reputation in the music scene, they will remain on the pedestal that they earned with their self-titled. Its a good thing Contra is their sophomore.