‘In December Drinking Horchata’ – Vampire Weekend’s Contra
I am tempted to write about this album simply what I’ve expressed to most people. And that is, ‘It’s Sooo Good!!!!’
I spent last evening sitting around a table with a few girlfriends drinking wine and listening to … uhh, the Real McCoy. I finally took over the music and put on Contra, advertising that, ‘this is Vampire Weekend’s album due to come out tomorrow!’ Everyone was impressed that I had acquired an album one day early and so they paid some attention. Meanwhile, and just by extreme coincidence, I overheard one girl describing some sort of ‘rice drink’ that she couldn’t remember the name of. I offered, ‘Is it called Horchata!’ I had just learned earlier that day, after having looked up the opening song of Contra, that a Horchata is a Mexican rice drink. Indeed that was what she was talking about.
So, although I don’t live in California, enjoying the middle-of-the-road weather patterns and weekdays on the beach, this was my middle of January Baltimore equivalent to California; sitting around a dinner table, drinking wine, discussing Horchata and other petty drama.
Vampire Weekend’s Contra is all about, Cali happy, care-free days. I was able to translate that sentiment into something that could exist in below freezing Baltimore temperatures. And what helped more than anything was while Vampire Weekend strummed and banged a fiesta of sonance in the background, I heard, ‘We will sit at the beach all day, even mid December. And you should too.’
Contra is a quality album, full of rhythmic nuance, cheerful falsetto, and a summer-in-the-sun sound that happens to hit us mid January. I highly recommend this album – my personal favorites are ‘White Sky’ and ‘Run’.
This entry was posted on Tuesday, January 12th, 2010 at 1:55 AM and is filed under Reviews, Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
January 12th, 2010 at 2:51 AM
Patrick Bradley says:I did not like Contra. I thoroughly enjoyed the post, though!
(I did like ‘Run’!)
January 12th, 2010 at 9:25 AM
Larissa says:The frenetic ‘California English,’ and ‘Cousins,’ could make you feel like you’re in a workout class when all you want to do is chill. If you’re turned off by the songs that unnecessarily increase your heart rate, then stick with ‘Run’, ‘Taxi’, ‘Diplomat’s Son’, and ‘I think Ur A Contra’. ‘Diplomat’s Son’ samples MIA – tempted to listen?
January 13th, 2010 at 1:57 PM
Britni says:only a day in advance? tsk tsk tsk
haha
p.s. love the blog larissa. please continue to keep me informed
January 13th, 2010 at 3:09 PM
Larissa says:haha I know – almost didn’t get my hands on it at all! Can’t fail to mention that I waited until the last second to write the review and ended up doing it inebriated in my bed before I fell asleep… I’m very proud of that.
Anyway thank you for the comment and keep reading! Makes me happy to know that we have a fan in Germany!