Are You A FOODIE?

Vampire Weekend

Sound Tracks

by Aaron Gomes

Vampire Weekend’s self-titled debut was released on January 29, 2008 to worldwide critical acclaim. They have graced magazine covers, played numerous sold-out shows across the world, performed on Saturday Night Live, The Late Show with David Letterman, Jimmy Kimmel Live! and Late Night With Conan O’Brien. They are one of the biggest success stories of 2008.

If you were fortunate enough to catch Vampire Weekend live this summer it was undoubtedly at one of the many festivals they played, and often headlined, where you watched with over ten thousand other fans from a distracting distance.
Now, the Sound N Vision Foundation gives you the opportunity to see one of the world’s hottest band’s up close and personal.  On Monday, November 9th Vampire Weekend will play what is sure to be a sold-out show right here in the intimate venue of  The Cellar Door!

In the Beginning

In the fall of 2005, Ezra Koenig was wondering about the origins of preppiness. What was khaki and where had it come from He had spent the previous summer traveling through India and touring across America as a member of The Dirty Projectors. That same summer, Rostam Batmanglij interned at the Oxford English Dictionary and managed to obtain the key to the harpsichord room at Columbia University. He studied film scoring downtown and rented an apartment in Morningside Heights. At Columbia, Ezra majored in English and Rostam majored in Music. As their time at school was coming to an end, they formed Vampire Weekend in the spring of 2006 with drummer Christopher Tomson and bassist Chris Baio.

In the spring of 2007, Chris Baio began booking the band’s first national tour as he finished a degree in Russian Regional Studies (the remaining members of the band graduated in May of 2006). Ezra Koenig was preparing his eighth graders in Bed-Stuy for the city-wide English exams. Chris Tomson was ending his nine-month stay on a windowless fourth floor of a major label archive in midtown Manhattan. Rostam Batmanglij was wrapping up what will likely be his last film score for the foreseeable future. The band went in four ways on a 2004 Honda Odyssey. When they returned from their July tour they had signed to XL Recordings and seen America from coast to coast.
The Sound
With a distinct vibe in mind, they began recording and performing around New York City. Drawing on their diverse backgrounds and interests, they began experimenting and exploring the intersections of the things they loved: African guitar music, the Western classical canon, hazy memories of summers in Cape Cod, winters in upper Manhattan, reggaeton and everything else that would become a part of Vampire Weekend.

The New Album: Contra

Earlier this month Vampire Weekend released the first song from their new album “Contra”.  The song Horchata, was posted as a free download on various websites across the internet.  The song has since stirred up the Vampire Weekend hype all over again.  And after hearing the song myself, along with a few live versions of other new Vampire Weekend songs, I can safely tell you that Vampire Weekend will live up to their hype.

The entire Contra album will be released in January 2009.  For now, you’ll just have to listen to their self titled album on repeat, until they come to Cellar Door.  A performance that will unveil their new songs and celebrate their instant classics.  Lucky us!

Monday, November 9
VAMPIRE WEEKEND
with secret guests (tba)
$20, 21+, 9:30pm
The Cellar Door
101 W. Main St., Visalia