Discovery (Vampire Weekend/Ra Ra Riot Side Project) Album Details Revealed
For the uninitiated: Vampire Weekend is that devilishly catchy Afropop-meets-indie-rock band that the indie world crammed down your throat throughout 2008. Ra Ra Riot is the band that's currently out supporting Death Cab For Cutie and sounds kinda like Vampire Weekend with an added touch of Arcade Fire bombast. Turns out the two bands are chummy. And before collegiate music mavens even thought to ask for it, there's now a clever collaboration between the two.
Discovery is the name of a new side project featuring Vampire Weekend multi-instrumentalist/vocalist Rostam Batmanglij and Ra Ra Riot singer Wes Miles. With a debut album called LP due from XL Recordings on July 7, the duo was conceived as a way for its members to indulge their love for heavy synths, 808 drum beats, and fake handclaps—all of which might feel a bit out of place in their primary outfits.
That goal is pretty well met by the single "Orange Shirt," now available for free download. The cheeky mid-tempo jam matches a slick patchwork of retro programming and current R&B phrasing with lyrics that reference current technology ("Every text I get from you is so, so serious " and "Google yourself when you get home"). Indie-geek track of the summer? Judge for yourself.
We've found your electro-pop summer soundtrack-- thank us later. The self-titled debut LP (called, um, LP) from Discovery-- aka Vampire Weekend keyboardist/producer Rostam Batmanglij and Ra Ra Riot singer Wes Miles-- is due for release on July 7 via XL. (For a taste of the record's fizzy, pure-pop vibe, check out "Orange Shirt" and the recently reviewed "Osaka Loop Line" currently streaming on their MySpace.)
The album features vocal contributions from Vampire Weekend's Ezra Koenig and Dirty Projectors' Angel Deradoorian-- along with an AutoTuned cover of the Jackson 5's "I Want You Back" (!), a space-pop remix of Ra Ra Riot's "Can You Tell" (re-dubbed "Can You Discover?"), and a song called "So Insane" that is actually very insane-- in a Paula Abdul-meets-"Umbrella"-meets-Dexy's-meets-"The Electric [Fucking] Slide" kinda way.
We're not making this shit up, people. This is not a test.
Look out for an interview with the Discovery dudes right here soon. In the meantime, check the tracklist below:
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