Vampire Weekend's Big Step

 

  For a band that seemed to have it all from the moment it arrived, a humble display of vulnerability here and there works wonders. Vampire Weekend suddenly seems like a band you could grow old with, and Modern Vampires of the City a record that will mark time.   Read the rest here.

U.S. Poet Laureate Natasha Trethewey: Poetry still matters

U.S. Poet Laureate Natasha Trethewey concluded the 2012-2013 literary season at the Library of Congress with a deeply personal defense of poetry.


Her remarks were the culmination of a year spent promoting literature across the country and from her office in Washington. “From the catbird seat, I’ve found poetry to be the necessary utterance it has always been in America,” Trethewey told several hundred people who came to hear her closing lecture Wednesday night in the Thomas Jefferson Building.

One of the youngest people ever to serve as U.S. poet laureate, she’s been both extraordinarily popular and, at times, extraordinarily bold.

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Vampire Weekend On New York, Souls Of Mischief And The Secrets Of Its New Album

The four members of Vampire Weekend — Ezra Koenig, Rostam Batmanglij, Chris Baio and Chris Tomson — made their third record over a period that began in 2009, while they were still recording Contra, the band's second album. Now the record is done. It's called Modern Vampires of the City, and it comes out on May 14. I think it's the band's best yet, not a minor accomplishment for a band that had so much success its first time out.


Vampire Weekend is still a New York band writing about New York things, and you'll still find references to musical styles other than the band's own clean pop, like hip-hop and dancehall. What has changed since the band's 2008 debut album and its 2010 album, Contra, is how the music is made. I spoke with Ezra Koenig and Rostam Batmanglij about how this record came together — how they thought about it, how the songs came to be and influences from John Lennon to Souls of Mischief and more. And while the band still maintains a distinctive sound, there are darker moments on Modern Vampires of the City, more thoughtful and reflective moments amongst the pop fun. It's something you see immediately upon looking at the album's cover: a black and white aerial shot of their city, New York.

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Watch The National’s Mistaken For Strangers Documentary Trailer

Mistaken For Strangers, a full-length documentary that will open the Tribeca film festival in New York City this Wednesday. Watch the trailer and read the rest of the article here.

The Postal Service at Grand Theatre, Reno 4/9/13

The Postal Service delivered the goods for their first show in nine years. Celebrating the tenth anniversary and re-release of their platinum debut album Give Up. See the setlist and “We Will Become Silhouettes” live by clicking the link.

She & Him - "I Could've Been Your Girl"

New album due out May 7th. Click link to hear a new song off the album.

Will Johnson "Living Room Show" | February 17th, 2013

Two videos from his Living Room Show on that date.