Contra
Audio CD
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£7.85
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Reviewer
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I bought this album 3 days ago having loved the first one. I actually heard the track "Diplomat's Son" whilst in a changing room in Next. I hadn't heard it before, but immediately recognised it as Vampire Weekend and thought it must be a new album so went straight out and bought it. On first hearing, I thought the album not as good as the first, but second and subsequent hearings later I absolutely love it too - in fact my next door neighbour is probably sick of hearing it through the walls. The African feel of the music is the stuff you have to dance round the room to - thankfully with only the dog as witness. When the album comes to an end you just feel uplifted and have to play it again. After a long winter, anything that makes you feel happy and bright with a promise of the summer to come (we hope) can't be a bad thing. I could write a load of intelligent stuff about the lyrics, musicianship etc, but so many others have done that already. If you liked the first album, you'll love this and if you don't have either, buy both.
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At first play I thought it wasn't as good as their debut album but the more I hear it the more I love it.
It quirkey and fun like you would expect from Vampire Weekend with some stand out tracks like Cousins and Horchata. Not so crazy about I think ur a contra, from which the album takes its name, but one 'meh' track is better than most albums around at the moment!
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Contra is the follow up album to the highly successful self-titled debut album. Released in the UK on the 11th January 2010, the hype of the media has combined with the reputation Vampire Weekend give themselves a lot to answer for.
The album has 10 songs on it as followed:
Horchata:
This is a very suitable opening song. It has the typical melodic soft sound with the gentle, but rich voice of lead singer Ezra Kroenig bouncing over the top. The riff of the song is played with xylophones with a quiet drumbeat in the background which makes which is very nice to listen to, and is quite relaxed and chilled to listen to.
White Sky:
Starting of with the more synth beats with a heavy beat starts very well and is more electro than the previous song, but still maintains the gentle singing before the chorus develops into some interesting high pitched humming, which is impressive and gives a funky twist for this funky pop tune. I like listening to the song, but feel the album needs to move forwards into a faster, choppier style more commonplace on the first album.
Holiday:
To my delight, Holiday starts of with a quick drum beat followed with a good bass line and more pop synths. The lyrics 'If I go on a Holidaaaay' make this song a song that I imagine will be very popular over summer; a very good festival song. This is so far my favourite and is the most addictive sing along song of the 3 so far.
California English:
This is immediately different to other songs. It sounds most like any song of the previous album, however a distortion is encorporated to the singing of the songs. At first I didn't know what to make of it, but I quite like it; at least its original!
Taxi Cab:
Starts of slow, with simple lyrics related to the song title. The song later develops with a cute piano solo played for about 30 seconds before the singing continues, before later joining again.
Run:
I find this song quite boring as it is quite unnoriginal and doesn't really progress at all. The lyrics are quite average, and the music is nothing special except for a memorable riff being played over the drums.
Cousins:
This is the first released single off the album released a week previously. It is very fast beat accompanied by some furious drumming and a impressively thought out riff which compliments the song fantastically. 'Me and my cousins, you and your cousins' repeats numerous times throughout the song - pretty catchy lyrics. Finally ends with some bells adding to the music before an abrupt end makes this song my favourite on the album. Instantly catchy, I could listen to this on repeat a lot!
Giving up the gun:
This song starts of a lot heavier to anything I have heard from vampire weekend; a loud drum beat and heavy bass line however, the lyrics are similar to previous songs. I don't quite know what to make of this, and not sure whether I like it or not. Unfortunately, that is all I have to say on this one...
Diplomat's Son:
This is the longest song on the album at around 6 minutes. Funky beats are the basis of this song which play alongside a bouncy bass line as well as piano sounding chords. The song is quite repetitive but thats expected for 6 minutes of song. Similar to the first couple of songs as is very relaxed.
I think UR a contra:
The last song on the album starts off like something from a disney love scene is probably the best way to describe it. It carries on for some time like this, not really progressing anywhere. Singing style is similar to the other songs, however is a lot slower and more classical. In my opinion, I find this quite dull and boring, not something I would listen to on its own. A bit dissapointed.
The album itself is very similar overall to the first debut album, so is worth listening to if you liked that. However, the musical style of Vampire Weekend has really progressed but matured more than anything. I was hoping for some more songs that scream single at you, and will get everyone singing along to them, however, I can't see anything but Cousins living up to this.
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Pretty good album, but it's not as good as the 1st one.
Having said that the 1st one was a cracker.
Buy both!
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I 'discovered' Vampire Weekend only two weeks before the second album was released, after buying the debut in an iTunes sale, and loved every minute of it. When I found out the second album had been released, I bought it straight away, and I wasn't disappointed. The second album managed to stay true to the concepts which had been established in the first album, whilst at the same time creating something new. Stand out tracks for me are White Sky, Taxi Cab, Giving Up The Gun and Diplomat's Son. If you liked the first album, I strongly recommend this too. One of the best albums of the year so far.
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