''Vampire Weekend'' is the debut studio album by American rock band Vampire Weekend, released on January 29, 2008 by XL Recordings. The album was produced by band member

Rostam Batmanglij Rostam Batmanglij ( fa, رستم باتمانقلیچ, ; born November 28, 1983), known mononymously as Rostam, is an American record producer, musician, singer, songwriter, and composer. He was a founding member of the band Vampire Weekend, whos ...

, with mixing assistance from Jeff Curtin and Shane Stoneback. Released after a year of building internet buzz, the album showcased the band's unique hybrid of indie pop,

chamber music Chamber music is a form of classical music that is composed for a small group of instruments—traditionally a group that could fit in a palace chamber or a large room. Most broadly, it includes any art music that is performed by a small numb ...

, and

Afropop African popular music (also styled Afropop, Afro-pop or Afro pop), like African traditional music, is vast and varied. Most contemporary genres of African popular music build on cross-pollination with western popular music. Many genres of po ...

influences. In the United States, the album debuted at number 17 on the ''Billboard'' 200. In the album's 11th week in the UK chart, it peaked at number 15. The album also reached number 37 in Australia. It was accompanied by the singles "

Mansard Roof A mansard or mansard roof (also called a French roof or curb roof) is a four-sided gambrel-style hip roof characterised by two slopes on each of its sides, with the lower slope, punctured by dormer windows, at a steeper angle than the upper. The ...

", " A-Punk", "

Oxford Comma In English-language punctuation, a serial comma (also called a series comma, Oxford comma, or Harvard comma) is a comma placed immediately after the penultimate term (i.e., before the coordinating conjunction, such as ''and'' or ''or'') in a s ...

", " Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa", and " The Kids Don't Stand a Chance". The album was ranked as the 5th-best album of 2008 by '' Time'', the 56th-best album of the decade by '' Rolling Stone'' and 51st on '' Pitchfork''s list of the Top 200 Albums of the 2000s. In 2012, '' Rolling Stone'' ranked the album number 430 on its list of " The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time".

Recording history

The album was recorded in a variety of environments including a basement where there was "a good set up for recording drums", a barn, the apartments of two band members, and Tree Fort studio in Brooklyn. The locations bore an effect on the sound that was produced, demonstrated by a session recorded early in 2007 at a barn, which resulted in "really echoey drums". The album draws influence from

African pop African popular music (also styled Afropop, Afro-pop or Afro pop), like African traditional music, is vast and varied. Most contemporary genres of African popular music build on cross-pollination with western popular music. Many genres of po ...

styles such as soukous and Congolese rumba while incorporating string textures and

harpsichord A harpsichord ( it, clavicembalo; french: clavecin; german: Cembalo; es, clavecín; pt, cravo; nl, klavecimbel; pl, klawesyn) is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. This activates a row of levers that turn a trigger mechanism ...

s. The group jokingly described this hybrid of indie, afropop, and chamber pop as "Upper West Side Soweto." In October 2007, the lead singer Ezra Koenig, said that the band had "some of the tracks ..for a long time", so they were aware of how the album would sound but that it was "just a matter of tightening it up and remixing it a little". Koenig also said that the band was "really excited" and "psyched" about two songs in particular, which were recorded around September 2007, called "I Stand Corrected" and "M79". The album's cover depicts the chandelier in

St. Anthony Hall St. Anthony Hall or the Fraternity of Delta Psi is an American fraternity and literary society. Its first chapter was founded at Columbia University on , the Calendar of saints, feast day of Anthony the Great, Saint Anthony the Great. The frater ...

, a Columbia University semi-

secret society A secret society is a club or an organization whose activities, events, inner functioning, or membership are concealed. The society may or may not attempt to conceal its existence. The term usually excludes covert groups, such as intelligence a ...

. The photo is a Polaroid picture from one of the band's early shows at Columbia.

Release

The album sold over 27,000 copies in the first week of its release, debuting at number 17 on the ''Billboard'' 200 and as of 20 January 2010, has sold nearly half a million copies. The album was ranked as the 5th-best album of 2008 by '' Time'', the 56th-best album of the decade by '' Rolling Stone'' and 51st on '' Pitchfork''s list of the Top 200 Albums of the 2000s. In 2012, '' Rolling Stone'' ranked the album number 430 on its list of " The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time". The album was also ranked 24 on ''Rolling Stone''s list of 100 greatest debut albums of all time, citing them for having inspired a wave of indie bands with world music influences, despite largely criticizing the album on its release.

Paul Simon Paul Frederic Simon (born October 13, 1941) is an American musician, singer, songwriter and actor whose career has spanned six decades. He is one of the most acclaimed songwriters in popular music, both as a solo artist and as half of folk roc ...

has spoken out in favor of the album, responding to the derision of some for perceived similarities to Simon's 1986 album '' Graceland'' and confirming that he does not consider the album to contain any stolen work.

Track listing

Personnel

Vampire Weekend * Ezra Koenig – lead vocals, guitar, piano, hand drum *

– organ, Chamberlin, piano, harpsichord, guitar, vocal harmonies, drum and synth programming, shaker * Chris Baio – bass * Christopher Tomson – drums, guitar Additional musicians *Hamilton Berry – cello *Jonathan Chu – violin, viola *Jeff Curtin – hand drums, shaker * Wesley Miles – vocals *Jessica Pavone – violin, viola *Joey Roth – hand drums Production * Rostam Batmanglij – production, string arrangements, engineering, mixing * Jeff Curtin – engineering, mixing * Shane Stoneback – engineering, mixing * Emily Lazar – mastering * Joe LaPorta – mastering assistance Artwork * Annie Reeds – cover photograph * Rostam Batmanglij – additional photographs, design * Phil Lee – design * Asher Sarlin – design

In popular culture

The song "Campus" was used in '' Gossip Girl'' and '' I Love You, Man''. "Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa" was used in

Viper Club ''Viper Club'' is a 2018 American drama film directed by Maryam Keshavarz and starring Susan Sarandon. The film was produced by YouTube Premium in association with CounterNarrative and MaraKesh Films and held its world premiere at the Toronto Inter ...

and a trailer for The Big Sick. "Mansard Roof" was used in Grey's Anatomy and Someone Great. "Oxford Comma" was used in The Chair,

Roswell, New Mexico Roswell () is a city in, and the County seat, seat of, Chaves County, New Mexico, Chaves County in the U.S. state of New Mexico. Chaves County forms the entirety of the List of micropolitan areas in New Mexico, Roswell micropolitan area. As of ...

, New Girl, Suits,

How I Met Your Mother ''How I Met Your Mother'' (often abbreviated as ''HIMYM'') is an American sitcom, created by Craig Thomas and Carter Bays for CBS. The series, which aired from September 19, 2005 to March 31, 2014, follows the main character, Ted Mosby, and his ...

and I Love You, Man. The song "A-Punk" was used in the 2008 film '' Step Brothers''.

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

References

External links

''Vampire Weekend''
on the XL Recordings website
Vampire Weekend Mp3 Downloads
{{DEFAULTSORT:Vampire Weekend (Album) 2008 debut albums Vampire Weekend albums XL Recordings albums Albums produced by Rostam Batmanglij Worldbeat albums Chamber pop albums Pop albums by American artists World music albums by American artists Afrobeats albums Electronic albums by American artists