Albums of the Decade - 27. Vampire Weekend - Father of the Bride (2019)

 27. VAMPIRE WEEKEEND - FATHER OF THE BRIDE (2019) 

I did a vlog a few years ago about why Vampire Weekend are the best band of a generation and that opinion still holds forth. Their fourth opus - a double disc extravaganza! - a concept album about the pecularities of marriage - definitely gets a drivetime, Fleetwood-Mac do-over and nothing is conceded, only added to, despite this reckoning.

I went jogging yesterday, December 1st, and it felt great playing this full-bodied record on the first day of advent, as the snow glistened off the Eastern European rooftops. "...off..." is enough in that last sentence, not sure why Americans say "off of..." - luckily Vampire Weekend don't make such clunky songs.

The band have had three albums appear on this albums of the decade list now, and that's surely a reason for them to celebrate among themselves, doesn't matter if it's distancing or a glass of hot wine in a small group; I'm all good.

Albums of the Decade - 44. Vampire Weekend - Modern Vampires of The City (2013)

44.VAMPIRE WEEKEND - MODERN VAMPIRES OF THE CITY (2013)

Christmas is inspiring me to bring this album to the fore. Back in 2013, when I worked at a kindergarten, I taught K1, the youngest group at the school. We had to put on a winter performance in an ampitheater to the parents and I went for The Snowman, a timeless animation, but in mine I featured a silly penguin so the kids could do a stupid dance.
And from thereonin, in a posh university came a day with a flaming hangover - but my Canadian boss played Modern Vampires Of The City between the intervals and before the opener, as the parents were arriving - and, suddenly, christmas hit. The timelessness of this album is just timeless. It's the bands third album and certainly hitting "maturity" - there's less gimmicks, about 7 life-affirming tracks - it would be the best album of all time if it had 12/12 - those 7 are that good - but for me this is all about the memory of that kindergarten show we pulled off like whoa.

Albums Of The Decade - 85. Vampire Weekend - Contra

85. VAMPIRE WEEKEND - CONTRA 

Another band that have kind of bookended time according to how I see it  - their 2008 self-titled LP came in @ #26 on my top 100 of the last decade. This follow-up released in January 2010, was essentially the first great album to be released in this spout of years, spout of narrative, spout of time.

The vibe here was one of evolution from afrobeat into a stupendously post-modern outfit, with references to horchata, Saudi satellite dishes and a little battered radio  - we had sparse and dense production and auto-tuned vocals - which began a 'deed vs. debacle' debate. Tons of binary oppositions.

Just like the title suggests, you can't take everything at face value. I swallowed this LP with a pinch of salt and a slice of cucumber. He thinks you're a contra. He thinks that you lie. Don't call him a Contra till you've tried. He had a feeling once that you and him could tell each other everything for two months.

Records of 2010 - 21. Vampire Weekend - Contra

Records of 2010 - 21. Vampire Weekend - Contra

I really can't edit pictures of vampires. I need to hire a designer that can trim the picture below that I wanted to cheekily use to describe the arrogant album you see on the right of your picture. Not to worry, "Contra" is confident, cocksure, brilliant and expansive. When I first heard it, it blew me away. "Contra" might not grow old gracefully, but I still admire the crafstmanship of Autotune. Maybe one day it'll come back and give me a bite in the neck, here's hoping:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XVfTNCb_7js