Modern Vampires of the City explained

Modern Vampires of the City
Type:studio
Artist:Vampire Weekend
Cover:Vampire Weekend - Modern Vampires of the City.png
Border:yes
Recorded:2012–2013
Genre:
Length:42:54
Label:XL
Producer:
Prev Title:Contra
Prev Year:2010
Next Title:Father of the Bride
Next Year:2019

Modern Vampires of the City is the third studio album by American indie rock band Vampire Weekend, released on May 14, 2013, by XL Recordings. The group began to write songs for the album during soundchecks on the supporting concert tour for their previous album, 2010's Contra. After a period in which each member explored individual musical projects, they regrouped and continued working on Modern Vampires of the City in 2011. With no deadline in mind, the band brought in an outside record producer for the first time, Ariel Rechtshaid, to record the album.

With Modern Vampires of the City, Vampire Weekend attempted to depart from the African-influenced indie pop style of their previous records. Broadly experimental, the album's sound was the result of a variety of unconventional recording assets, including pitch shifting. Subjects explored on the record include characters with adult responsibilities, reflections on growing old, mortality, and religious faith. Vampire Weekend titled the album after a lyric in the 1990 Junior Reid song "One Blood" and chose a Neal Boenzi photograph of the 1966 New York City smog event as the album cover, citing the haunting qualities of both the title and photograph as the reason for using them.

Modern Vampires of the City debuted at number one on the Billboard 200, becoming Vampire Weekend's second consecutive number-one album in the United States. By December 2014, the album had sold 505,000 copies in the US. It was also a widespread critical success and was ranked by several publications as 2013's best album, while finishing second in the annual Pazz & Jop critics poll. It has since been ranked on many lists of the best albums from the 2010s. In 2020, the album was ranked at number 328 on Rolling Stone‘s list of the “500 Greatest Albums of All Time”.

Background

The success of Vampire Weekend's second album, Contra (2010), established the group as "one of the past decade's great indie-rock success stories."[1] By the time their world tour for Contra ended, the band realized they had not taken a break in nearly five years. During the break, each member pursued individual projects: Baio performed DJ sets and scored the Bob Byington film Somebody Up There Likes Me, Batmanglij recorded solo material and produced tracks for Das Racist and spent time traveling India with three friends,[2] and Koenig collaborated with Major Lazer.[3] Koenig had broken up with his girlfriend shortly before the release of Contra and subsequently moved out of their shared apartment in New York. Feeling "weird and aimless", Koenig attempted to stay in Los Angeles but he returned to New York after four months.

Writing and recording

Batmanglij and Koenig wrote most of the songs in Batmanglij's apartment, a former factory building in Brooklyn. By the time Vampire Weekend eventually regrouped in 2011, the band members had amassed plenty of written material and made sure to take their time making a new record. Koenig and Batmanglij met several times a week to write songs, some of which they'd later scrap. The pair also took a "writing retreat" to Martha's Vineyard, where they bore down and composed several new tracks at a rented cottage. Working with no deadline in mind, the group began recording Modern Vampires of the City.[4]

The songs for Modern Vampires of the City were recorded at several locations, including Downtown Studios in New York City, Echo Park Back House and Vox Studios in Los Angeles, Slow Death Studios in Burbank, and the apartment of Rostam Batmanglij, Vampire Weekend's multi-instrumentalist and producer. Early drafts of the tracks "Obvious Bicycle" and "Worship You" were produced at OK Go frontman, Damian Kulash's old house in Chicago, before being taken to an official studio to work on. Batmanglij and Ariel Rechtshaid, the album's co-producer, used a pair of mirrored solid state MacBooks with UAD-2 Satellite Firewire Cards so they could take their recordings anywhere and work on them from separate locations with maximum ease.[5]

Modern Vampires of the City was an attempt by Vampire Weekend to distance themselves from the sounds featured on their debut record and Contra. "Whenever we came up with something familiar sounding, it was rejected", said Rechtshaid. The band credits Vox Studios with the defining special quality of the recordings, especially the use of their vintage analog tape machines, with Batmanglij remarking, "Much of the overall sound and approach to the album was being able to record the drums to tape on an old Ampex machine."[6] The group wanted a unique drum sound, and so they recorded in a room with high ceilings and had engineer David Schiffman use a "pretty non-conventional drum miking setup" in which a pair of Neumann U 47s were used as over head mics with RCA 77dx ribbon mics between the Neumanns and the drum kit for added texture. Tape recordings of the drums were then heavily treated and manipulated with Ableton Live plug-ins. Lastly, the band layered samples onto select portions of the drum recordings to accent or shape the finished tone.

Pitch shifting proved a major component of recording the album. For tracks such as "Step", drums were recorded on a Varispeed Tape deck set to a lower speed so that they would play back faster and more high pitched. Drummer Chris Tomson would then re-record the drums playing to the sped-up recording to get an uptempo live take. This second recording was then slowed back down to original speed to create an "underwater" effect. The effect is featured prominently on vocals as well. Ezra Koenig's vocals were run through Eventide H949 and 910 on tracks such as "Diane Young", with both the pitch and formant shifted changed to manipulate the sound of recorded vocals. Bass guitar was also recorded straight to tape "with a fairly ambient miking approach where the mic was three feet away from the cabinet". Vocals were recorded with Soundelux U99 Microphones, in combination with 1176 Classic limiter plug-in, Fairchild 670 Compressor and Elektro-Mess-Technik 140 Plate Reverb, giving the vocals a quality Batmanglij described as "buttery". For guitar sounds, Batmanglij chose not to mic his guitar and instead plugged his Gibson Les Paul direct-in to Pro Tools through a SansAmp Amp Emulation Pedal, a technique used by Jimmy Page.

Vampire Weekend concentrated their efforts on giving each recording "warmth", feeling that modern digital recordings lacked the sound quality of older records. In an attempt to make the tracks sound less harsh, the band and their recording engineers used a spectrum analyzer, Sonnox SuprEsser and heavily automated EQs to edit out harsher, colder frequencies and soften the mix. Vampire Weekend painstakingly listened to the record several separate times using technology from standard commercial iPod earbuds to professional equipment to ensure the record sounded nice regardless of equipment the listener owned. Desiring to "check the relative warmth levels", the engineers would "go in and perform surgery and automate EQs" in order to make the mixes listenable. The band felt the finished product was something of a third chapter and a continuation of material explored in their previous two efforts. "We thought these three albums should look like they belong together on a bookshelf", said Batmanglij. "We realized that there are things connecting the songs across three albums, like an invisible hand was guiding us. It does feel like we've been able to create three distinct worlds for each album, and yet have them be interconnected."

Music and lyrics

Modern Vampires of the City is a departure from the percussive, African-influenced indie pop of Contra. Batmanglij said that the album has a recurring tension that distinguishes it from the band's previous albums: "Even if the songs are mostly in a major key, there’s something that’s hanging out there that’s a little bit dark. And I think that’s reflective of the world." According to Heather Phares of AllMusic, the album abandoned the eclectic influences of Contra in favor of "a less audacious production style and smaller instrumental palette: guitar, organ, harpsichord, and the occasional sample combine into a rarefied sound that suggests a more insular version of their debut". She pointed to how the album is bookended by the stylistically narrow chamber pop on the songs "Obvious Bicycle" and "Young Lion".

"Step" was inspired by a lyric from Souls of Mischief's 1993 song "Step to My Girl", which sampled Grover Washington, Jr.'s cover of Bread's "Aubrey". The vocal melody of the chorus interprets the melody of "Aubrey" so close that the band had to clear it as a sample. The chorus vocals were recorded in Ableton Live using the onboard microphone in Batmanglij's MacBook Pro. Alexis Petridis viewed that some songs echo lesser known "musical tropes" from the group's previous albums—a mock Irish folk influence is heard on "Unbelievers", while "Step" features "Left Banke-inspired baroque pop". More generally, Steven Edelstone of Paste magazine regarded the music as a mix of "chamber pop and world-weariness".[7] According to Brice Ezell from PopMatters, this album is "very much an indie rock record" because of Koenig's voice and diction, which reveals "the youth that he and his bandmates so often strive to shrug off." Ezell asserts that, on songs such as "Unbelievers", the "reckless abandon" expressed by the lyrics reveals "the group's grasp on the genuine rebellion that indie rock ought to strive for."[8]

In comparison to the band's previous music, the lyrics explore more mature, world-weary themes such as growing old and disillusionment with American foreign policy.[9] The album abandons the theme of privileged youth from their first two albums in favor of characters faced with adult responsibilities and reflections on the passage of time. Faith and mortality are recurring themes on songs such as "Unbelievers", "Worship You", and "Everlasting Arms". Koenig discussed Modern Vampires of the City in the context of the band's first three albums, which he compared to Brideshead Revisited: "The naïve joyous school days in the beginning. Then the expansion of the world, travel, seeing other places, learning a little bit more about how people live. And then the end is a little bit of growing up, starting to think more seriously about your life and your faith. If people could look at our three albums as a bildungsroman, I’d be O.K. with that."[10]

Title and packaging

The title was taken from a lyric in Junior Reid's 1990 song "One Blood". Koenig, a fan of the song, found the phrase "Modern Vampires of the City" humorous but also "haunting" as a title for their album.[11] The album's title was revealed in the "Notices & Lost and Found" column of the classifieds section in The New York Times on February 4, 2013; vaguely defined, curlicued letters spelling the title were printed alongside the release date.[12]

Koenig, Batmanglij, and art directors Matt de Jong and Asher Sarlin were credited with designing the album's packaging. For the cover art, the band chose an image taken by New York Times photographer Neal Boenzi, depicting a smog-shrouded, dystopian-looking New York City. Boenzi took the photo atop the Empire State Building in November 1966, when the city was plagued by a smog problem. Because of the subsequent rise in global air pollution, the band chose the photo believing it may have rendered "some kind of future".[13]

Marketing and sales

To promote the album, XL Recordings released "Diane Young" and "Step" as a double A-sided single on March 19, 2013.[14] Modern Vampires of the City was released by XL on May 14, and Vampire Weekend played several concerts and music festivals shortly after, eventually embarking on a larger supporting tour throughout late 2013, beginning with a show at the Mann Center for the Performing Arts in Philadelphia on September 19. John Gentile of Rolling Stone reported that the band headlined "some of their largest venues to date" on the tour.[15]

In the album's first week of release, it debuted number one on the Billboard 200 and sold 134,000 copies in the United States. It was Vampire Weekend's second consecutive number-one record on the chart, as well as the nineteenth independently distributed album to top the Billboard 200 in the Nielsen SoundScan era (1991–present).[16] The record entered the UK Albums Chart at number three with first-week sales of 27,805 copies, becoming the group's third consecutive top-twenty album in the United Kingdom.[17] By December 2014, it had been certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America and sold 505,000 copies in the US.[18] In 2014, it was awarded a diamond certification from the Independent Music Companies Association,[19] which indicated sales of at least 200,000 copies throughout Europe.[20]

Critical reception

Modern Vampires of the City was met with widespread critical acclaim. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream publications, the album received an average score of 84, based on 51 reviews.[21] Aggregator AnyDecentMusic? gave it 8.2 out of 10, based on their assessment of the critical consensus.

Reviewing the album in The Independent, Simon Price called it Vampire Weekend's "most cohesive and convincing effort yet" featuring their most accessible compositions.[22] Ryan Dombal from Pitchfork said the singing suited the music fluidly on songs that sounded more natural and dynamic than the band's previous work.[23] Alexis Petridis, lead critic for The Guardian, believed Vampire Weekend successfully avoided the gimmicky sounds of their previous albums and wrote more genuine lyrics dealing with mortality rather than "arch depictions of moneyed young Wasp lives".[24] Slant Magazines Jesse Cataldo said the songs may sound dense and wordy, but they would be "immediately potent on a purely visceral level" for listeners, "striking a perfect balance that makes for what's perhaps the best album of the year".[25] Nathan Brackett of Rolling Stone said the album featured a particular spirit and songcraft evocative of urban life,[26] while Robert Christgau appreciated how many twists the coming of age themes revealed. In his review for MSN Music, Christgau found the record similar to the Beatles' Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (1967) because of how each lyric and musical element was "pleasurable in itself and aptly situated in the sturdy songs and tracks, so that the whole signifies without a hint of concept".[27]

Other reviewers expressed some reservations. In the Chicago Tribune, Greg Kot wrote that Vampire Weekend occasionally blundered in an attempt at ingenuity with the songs "Ya Hey" and "Finger Back" while finding the album "darker, slower and weirder" than their previous records.[28] NME journalist John Calvert believed the band had sacrificed "the sonic smarts that made them" on what was an otherwise "gorgeous album".[29]

Accolades

By the end of 2013, Modern Vampires of the City had been named the year's best album in a number of polls. AllMusic named it one of the year's 50 best records,[30] and it was voted the second best album of 2013 in the Pazz & Jop, an annual poll of American critics nationwide, published by The Village Voice. Christgau, the poll's creator, ranked it first in his own list for The Barnes & Noble Review, writing in an accompanying essay that Vampire Weekend had made an art pop record that "simulates predigital warmth by tinkering with a dizzying panoply of studio stratagems and divides the most emotional songs of the band’s career into distinct parts impossible to enumerate due to how often the arrangements change up gorgeous drum tracks, but I dare you to dance to them".[31] At the 2014 Grammy Awards, Modern Vampires of the City won in the category of Best Alternative Music Album.[32] In 2020, Rolling Stone placed it at number 328 on the magazine's revision to the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time list.[33]

PublicationRankList
American Songwriter12Top 50 Albums of 2013[34]
The A.V. Club5The 23 Best Albums of 2013[35]
Billboard1215 Best Albums of 2013[36]
1120 Best Albums of the 2010s So Far (2010–14)[37]
Clash9Top Albums of 2013[38]
Complex47The 50 Best Albums of 2013[39]
Consequence of Sound2Top 50 Albums of 2013[40]
Drowned in Sound6Favourite Albums of 2013[41]
Exclaim!4Top 20 Pop & Rock Albums[42]
The Fly32Albums of the Year[43]
The Guardian4The best albums of 2013[44]
GQ1721 Best Albums of the 21st Century (2000–14)[45]
Magnet19Top 25 Albums of 2013[46]
Mojo7Top 50 Albums of 2013[47]
musicOMH6Top 100 Albums of 2013[48]
The New York Times3Top Ten Year-End List[49]
NME1450 Best Albums of 2013[50]
1950 Best Albums of the Decade So Far (2010–14)[51]
Paste7The 50 Best Albums of 2013[52]
Pitchfork1The Top 50 Albums of 2013[53]
6The 100 Best Albums of the Decade So Far (2010–14)[54]
7The 200 Best Albums of the 2010s[55]
PopMatters1The 75 Best Albums of 2013[56]
Q250 Albums of the Year[57]
Rolling Stone150 Best Albums of 2013[58]
328500 Greatest Albums of All Time (2020)[59]
Slant Magazine1The 25 Best Albums of 2013[60]
Spin350 Best Albums of 2013[61]
60300 Best Albums of the Past 30 Years (1985–2014)[62]
Sputnikmusic17Top 50 Albums of 2013[63]
Stereogum3The 50 Best Albums of 2013[64]
Time2Top 10 Albums of 2013[65]
Time Out2650 Best Albums of 2013[66]
Uncut20Top 50 Albums of 2013[67]
Under the Radar1Top 125 Albums of 2013[68]
The Village Voice2Pazz and Jop[69]

Track listing

All lyrics written by Ezra Koenig, except where noted; all music composed by Rostam Batmanglij and Koenig, except where noted.

Personnel

Credits adapted from the album's liner notes.[70]

Vampire Weekend

Production

Additional musicians

Artwork

Charts

Weekly charts

Chart (2013)! scope="col"
Peak
position
Greek Albums (IFPI)[71] 47
Japanese Albums (Oricon)[72] 13

Year-end charts

Chart (2013)! scope="col"
Position
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[73] 81
UK Albums (OCC)[74] 94
US Billboard 200[75] 74
US Independent Albums (Billboard)[76] 6
US Top Alternative Albums (Billboard)[77] 11
US Top Rock Albums (Billboard)[78] 15
Chart (2014)! scope="col"
Position
US Billboard 200[79] 167
US Independent Albums (Billboard)[80] 13
US Top Alternative Albums (Billboard)[81] 35
US Top Rock Albums (Billboard)[82] 39

See also

Notes and References

  1. 25 Reasons to Be Excited About Rock Right Now: Because Vampire Weekend Just Keeps Getting Better and Better. Simon Vozick-Levinson. May 2013. 1182. 50–51. Rolling Stone.
  2. Web site: ROSTAM . Rostam.tumblr.com . April 9, 2012 . January 21, 2013 . https://web.archive.org/web/20130121181652/http://rostam.tumblr.com/ . live .
  3. Web site: Coming Soon – 2012's Albums Worth Waiting For . . January 2, 2012 . April 9, 2012 . April 5, 2013 . https://web.archive.org/web/20130405014225/http://www.clashmusic.com/feature/coming-soon-2012s-albums-worth-waiting-for . live .
  4. Hyman. Dan. Vampire Weekend Hatching 'A Ton' of Material for New LP. April 26, 2012. Rolling Stone. May 16, 2012. February 2, 2013. https://web.archive.org/web/20130202072326/http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/vampire-weekend-hatching-a-ton-of-material-for-new-lp-20120426. live.
  5. Web site: Vampire Weekend Production Goes Mobile with Apollo and UAD Powered Plug-Ins. June 3, 2013. Universal Audio. May 22, 2013. Gallant. Michael. June 9, 2013. https://web.archive.org/web/20130609103800/http://www.uaudio.com/blog/artist-interview-vampire-weekend. live.
  6. Micallef. Ken. June 2014. Nothing As It Seems. Electronic Musician. September 6, 2015. September 24, 2015. https://web.archive.org/web/20150924000322/http://www.emusician.com/album-profiles/1378/vampire-weekend-the-quirky-orchestral-modern-vampires-of-the-city-studio-sessions/45492. live.
  7. Web site: Vampire Weekend: Father Of The Bride Review. Edelstone. Steven. May 3, 2019. Paste. May 4, 2019. May 4, 2019. https://web.archive.org/web/20190504013029/https://www.pastemagazine.com/articles/2019/05/vampire-weekend-father-of-the-bride-review.html. live.
  8. Web site: Ezell. Brice. May 14, 2013. Vampire Weekend: Modern Vampires of the City. PopMatters. June 2, 2013. June 7, 2013. https://web.archive.org/web/20130607205608/http://www.popmatters.com/pm/review/171217-vampire-weekend-modern-vampires-of-the-city/. live.
  9. News: Hall. James. May 3, 2013. Vampire Weekend, Troxy, review. The Daily Telegraph. London. June 2, 2013. May 30, 2013. https://web.archive.org/web/20130530084422/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/music/live-music-reviews/10036306/Vampire-Weekend-Troxy-review.html. live.
  10. News: Pareles. Jon. Jon Pareles. May 12, 2013. AR17. Setting Their Sights on Wider Vistas. The New York Times. June 2, 2013. May 18, 2013. https://web.archive.org/web/20130518222354/http://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/12/arts/music/vampire-weekends-evolution-in-modern-vampires-of-the-city.html?pagewanted=all. live.
  11. Web site: Boilen. Bob. May 1, 2013. Vampire Weekend On New York, Souls Of Mischief And The Secrets Of Its New Album. NPR. August 21, 2015. September 13, 2015. https://web.archive.org/web/20150913123944/http://www.npr.org/sections/allsongs/2013/04/29/179854416/vampire-weekend-on-new-york-souls-of-mischief-and-the-secrets-of-its-new-album. live.
  12. Web site: Snapes. Laura. Phillips. Amy. February 4, 2013. Vampire Weekend Announce Modern Vampires of the City Album Details and Tour Dates. Pitchfork. November 22, 2013. March 18, 2016. https://web.archive.org/web/20160318112055/http://pitchfork.com/news/49408-vampire-weekend-announce-modern-vampires-of-the-city-album-details-and-tour-dates/. live.
  13. News: Feature: Vampire Weekend. Battan. Carrie. May 7, 2013. Pitchfork. May 11, 2013. May 9, 2013. https://web.archive.org/web/20130509181137/http://pitchfork.com/features/articles/9125-vampire-weekend/. live.
  14. Web site: March 18, 2013. Listen to Vampire Weekend's new singles, "Diane Young" and "Step". Consequence of Sound. November 22, 2018. November 22, 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20181122215347/https://consequenceofsound.net/2013/03/listen-to-vampire-weekends-new-singles-diane-young-and-step/. live.
  15. Gentile. John. September 20, 2013. Vampire Weekend Go Hard and Fast at Tour Opener. Rolling Stone. November 22, 2018. November 22, 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20181122172054/https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/vampire-weekend-go-hard-and-fast-at-tour-opener-185924/. live.
  16. Caulfield . Keith . Vampire Weekend Debuts At No. 1 On Billboard 200 . . May 22, 2013 . May 22, 2013 . June 21, 2019 . https://web.archive.org/web/20190621030903/https://www.billboard.com/biz/articles/news/chart-alert/1563131/vampire-weekend-debuts-at-no-1-on-billboard-200.
  17. Jones . Alan . Official Charts Analysis: Rod Stewart breaks oldies record at the hits No.1 . . May 20, 2013 . May 23, 2013 . September 24, 2016 . https://web.archive.org/web/20160924203119/http://www.musicweek.com/businessanalysis/read/official-charts-analysis-rod-stewart-breaks-oldies-record-at-he-hits-no-1/054762 . live.
  18. Will Arcade Fire Repeat as Grammy Darlings? . Payne . Chris . Billboard . December 3, 2014 . December 4, 2014 . January 6, 2015 . https://web.archive.org/web/20150106043947/http://www.billboard.com/articles/events/grammys-2015/6327754/arcade-fire-grammys-album-of-year-reflektor-prediction . live .
  19. Web site: Archived copy . August 27, 2017 . May 22, 2016 . https://web.archive.org/web/20160522012936/http://impalamusic.org/sites/default/files/pictures/Awards1.png . live .
  20. Web site: IMPALA Awards for European Independent Acts Hit Record Levels – Impala. www.impalamusic.org. August 27, 2017. August 27, 2017. https://archive.today/20170827005610/http://www.impalamusic.org/node/340. live.
  21. Web site: Reviews for Modern Vampires of the City by Vampire Weekend. Metacritic. May 9, 2013. May 6, 2013. https://web.archive.org/web/20130506145127/http://www.metacritic.com/music/modern-vampires-of-the-city/vampire-weekend. live.
  22. News: Price. Simon. Simon Price. May 11, 2013. Album: Vampire Weekend, Modern Vampires of the City (XL). The Independent. London. June 2, 2013. https://web.archive.org/web/20131215104145/http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/reviews/album-vampire-weekend-modern-vampires-of-the-city-xl-8612180.html. December 15, 2013. dead. mdy-all.
  23. Web site: Vampire Weekend: Modern Vampires of the City. Dombal. Ryan. May 13, 2013. Pitchfork. May 14, 2013. June 7, 2013. https://web.archive.org/web/20130607113210/http://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/17963-vampire-weekend-modern-vampires-of-the-city/. live.
  24. News: Vampire Weekend: Modern Vampires of the City – review. Petridis. Alexis. Alexis Petridis. May 9, 2013. The Guardian. May 9, 2013. London. January 16, 2014. https://web.archive.org/web/20140116073110/http://www.theguardian.com/music/2013/may/09/vampire-weekend-modern-vampires-review. live.
  25. Web site: Cataldo. Jesse. May 13, 2013. Vampire Weekend: Modern Vampires of the City. Slant Magazine. May 13, 2013. June 8, 2013. https://web.archive.org/web/20130608082547/http://www.slantmagazine.com/music/review/vampire-weekend-modern-vampires-of-the-city. live.
  26. Vampire Weekend: Modern Vampires of the City. Brackett. Nathan. May 7, 2013. Rolling Stone. May 9, 2013. May 10, 2013. https://web.archive.org/web/20130510233241/http://www.rollingstone.com/music/albumreviews/modern-vampires-of-the-city-20130507. live.
  27. Web site: Christgau. Robert. Robert Christgau. Vampire Weekend/Deerhunter. May 21, 2013. MSN Music. May 21, 2013. August 11, 2013. https://web.archive.org/web/20130811005231/http://robertchristgau.com/xg/cg/ew2013-05.php. live.
  28. News: Kot. Greg. Greg Kot. May 13, 2013. Album review: Vampire Weekend, 'Modern Vampires of the City'. Chicago Tribune. March 26, 2014. March 26, 2014. https://web.archive.org/web/20140326074741/http://www.chicagotribune.com/entertainment/music/turnitup/chi-vampire-weekend-album-review-20130513,0,4256140.column. live.
  29. Web site: Vampire Weekend – 'Modern Vampires Of The City'. NME. John. Calvert. May 13, 2013. May 13, 2013. https://web.archive.org/web/20160304230339/http://www.nme.com/reviews/vampire-weekend/14409. March 4, 2016. dead. mdy-all.
  30. Web site: Allmusic Best of 2013. December 10, 2013. Allmusic. Rovi Corporation. September 6, 2015. September 4, 2015. https://web.archive.org/web/20150904102459/http://www.allmusic.com/blog/post/allmusic-best-of-2013. live.
  31. Web site: Christgau. Robert. January 24, 2014. The Consensus Has Consequences. The Barnes & Noble Review. September 15, 2016. September 4, 2016. https://web.archive.org/web/20160904111920/http://www.barnesandnoble.com/review/the-consensus-has-consequences. live.
  32. News: January 26, 2014. Grammy Winners List 2014: Who Took Home Awards On Music's Biggest Night?. The Huffington Post. January 26, 2014. Christopher. Rosen. January 28, 2014. https://web.archive.org/web/20140128125815/http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/01/22/grammy-winners-list_n_4646243.html. live.
  33. 2020-09-22. The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. 2020-09-22. Rolling Stone. en-US. September 22, 2020. https://archive.today/20200922150118/https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-lists/best-albums-of-all-time-1062063/roberta-flack-first-take-1062782/. live.
  34. American Songwriter's Top 50 Albums Of 2013. December 4, 2013. American Songwriter. December 14, 2013. December 14, 2013. https://web.archive.org/web/20131214203332/http://www.americansongwriter.com/2013/12/american-songwriters-top-50-albums-2013/4/. live.
  35. News: The 23 best albums of 2013. December 3, 2013. The A.V. Club. December 14, 2013. December 5, 2013. https://web.archive.org/web/20131205121715/http://www.avclub.com/article/the-23-best-albums-of-2013-106233. live.
  36. 15 Best Albums of 2013: Critics' Picks: 12. Vampire Weekend, "Modern Vampires of the City". December 19, 2013. Billboard. December 25, 2013. January 3, 2014. https://web.archive.org/web/20140103021106/http://www.billboard.com/articles/list/5840321/15-best-albums-of-2013-critics-picks. live.
  37. The 20 Best Albums of the 2010s (So Far). November 22, 2018. Lipshutz. Jason. January 13, 2015. Billboard. November 23, 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20181123155752/https://www.billboard.com/photos/6436436/20-best-albums-2010s-half-decade?i=541913. live.
  38. Web site: Clash's Top Albums of 2013: 10-1; 9. Vampire Weekend – 'Modern Vampires of the City' (XL). Harper. Simon. December 13, 2013. Clash. December 18, 2013. December 16, 2013. https://web.archive.org/web/20131216091016/http://www.clashmusic.com/features/clashs-top-albums-of-2013-10-1. live.
  39. Web site: The 50 Best Albums of 2013: Vampire Weekend, Modern Vampires of the City. Kramer. Kyle. December 9, 2013. Clash. December 14, 2013. December 14, 2013. https://web.archive.org/web/20131214192837/http://www.complex.com/music/2013/12/the-50-best-albums-of-2013/vampire-weekend-modern-vampires-of-the-city. live.
  40. Web site: Top 50 Albums of 2013. Levy. Pat. December 13, 2013. Consequence of Sound. December 14, 2013. March 27, 2014. https://web.archive.org/web/20140327094549/http://consequenceofsound.net/2013/12/albums-of-the-year-2013/. live.
  41. Web site: Drowned in Sound's Favourite Albums of 2013: Top 20. Adams. Sean. December 9, 2013. Drowned in Sound. December 15, 2013. October 12, 2019. https://web.archive.org/web/20191012075212/http://drownedinsound.com/in_depth/4147268-drowned-in-sounds-favourite-albums-of-2013--top-20. dead.
  42. Web site: Exclaim!'s Best of 2013: Top 20 Pop & Rock Albums, Part Two. December 9, 2013. Exclaim!. September 6, 2015. July 24, 2015. https://web.archive.org/web/20150724213052/http://exclaim.ca/Music/article/exclaims_best_of_2013-top_20_pop_rock_albums_part_two. live.
  43. Web site: Albums Of The Year. December 17, 2013. The Fly. December 25, 2013. https://web.archive.org/web/20131225063316/http://mamacolive.com/thefly/feature/lists/1022543/albums-of-the-year-2013/. December 25, 2013. dead.
  44. News: The best albums of 2013: No 4 – Modern Vampires of the City. Empire. Kitty. December 17, 2013. The Guardian. December 25, 2013. December 24, 2013. https://web.archive.org/web/20131224144716/http://www.theguardian.com/music/musicblog/2013/dec/17/best-albums-2013-vampire-weekend-modern-vampires-city. live.
  45. Web site: The 21 Best Albums from the 21st Century Every Man Should Hear. GQ. August 5, 2014. July 24, 2024.
  46. Web site: Magnet's Top 25 Albums of 2013. Burleson. Ryan. December 1, 2013. Magnet. Alex Mulcahy. December 10, 2013. December 10, 2013. https://web.archive.org/web/20131210053341/http://www.magnetmagazine.com/2013/12/06/magnets-top-25-albums-of-2013/. live.
  47. Web site: MOJO's Top 50 Albums Of 2013 Unveiled. December 2, 2013. Mojo. December 14, 2013. February 9, 2014. https://web.archive.org/web/20140209021508/http://www.mojo4music.com/9206/mojo-top-50-albums-2013/. dead.
  48. Web site: musicOMH's Top 100 Albums Of 2013: Full List and Playlist. December 9, 2013. musicOMH. December 14, 2013. April 13, 2014. https://web.archive.org/web/20140413084957/http://www.musicomh.com/features/lists/musicomhs-top-100-albums-2013-complete-list. live.
  49. News: Lorde Rules a Year-End List. Pareles. Jon. December 13, 2013. The New York Times. December 29, 2013. May 1, 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20170501193109/http://www.nytimes.com/2013/12/15/arts/music/lorde-rules-a-year-end-list.html. live.
  50. Web site: Pictures of NME's 50 Best Albums Of 2013. NME. November 26, 2013. NME. December 14, 2013. March 26, 2014. https://web.archive.org/web/20140326180909/http://www.nme.com/photos/nme-s-50-best-albums-of-2013/326689/1/1?recache=1&t=1231316#37. live.
  51. Web site: Barker. Emily. 25 Best Albums Of The Decade So Far. NME. December 8, 2014. July 24, 2024.
  52. Web site: The 50 Best Albums of 2013. Deusner. Stephen M.. December 3, 2013. Paste. December 14, 2013. December 14, 2013. https://web.archive.org/web/20131214052656/http://www.pastemagazine.com/blogs/lists/2013/12/the-50-best-albums-of-the-year.html?p=5. live.
  53. Web site: The Top 50 Albums of 2013. Pitchfork. 18 December 2013. July 24, 2015. https://web.archive.org/web/20150724123400/http://pitchfork.com/features/staff-lists/9293-the-top-50-albums-of-2013/5/. live.
  54. Web site: The 100 Best Albums of the Decade So Far (2010–2014) . Pitchfork . February 20, 2020 . March 4, 2016 . https://web.archive.org/web/20160304224801/http://pitchfork.com/features/staff-lists/9465-the-top-100-albums-of-2010-2014/ . live .
  55. Web site: The 200 Best Albums of the 2010s . Pitchfork . May 23, 2024 .
  56. Web site: The 75 Best Albums of 2013. Langhoff. Josh. December 8, 2013. PopMatters. December 14, 2013. September 24, 2015. https://web.archive.org/web/20150924123956/http://www.popmatters.com/feature/177166-the-75-best-albums-of-2013/P7/. live.
  57. Web site: Q Magazine's Top 50 Albums of 2013. Q. November 29, 2013. Album of the Year. December 14, 2013. April 3, 2014. https://web.archive.org/web/20140403194730/http://www.albumoftheyear.org/list/225-q-magazines-top-50-albums-of-2013.php. live.
  58. 50 Best Albums of 2013. December 2, 2013. Rolling Stone. May 3, 2019. May 3, 2019. https://web.archive.org/web/20190503225633/https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-lists/50-best-albums-of-2013-39776/. live.
  59. The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. Rolling Stone. September 22, 2020. March 24, 2021. April 28, 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20210428134457/https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-lists/best-albums-of-all-time-1062063/vampire-weekend-modern-vampires-in-the-city-1062905. live.
  60. Web site: The 25 Best Albums of 2013: Vampire Weekend, Modern Vampires of the Weekend. Collett. Mike. December 12, 2013. Slant Magazine. December 14, 2013. December 14, 2013. https://web.archive.org/web/20131214081052/http://www.slantmagazine.com/features/article/the-25-best-albums-of-2013/P5. live.
  61. Web site: Vampire Weekend, Modern Vampires in the City (XL) – SPIN's 50 Best Albums of 2013. C.M.. December 2, 2013. SPIN. December 5, 2013. June 23, 2015. https://web.archive.org/web/20150623194408/http://www.spin.com/2013/12/best-albums-2013/131115-vampire-weekend-modern-vampires-web/. live.
  62. Web site: The 300 Best Albums of the Past 30 Years (1985–2014). Spin. May 11, 2015. July 24, 2024.
  63. Web site: Staff's Top 50 Albums of 2013: 30 – 11. Spencer. Trey. December 17, 2013. Sputnikmusic. December 27, 2013. December 27, 2013. https://archive.today/20131227034652/http://www.sputnikmusic.com/blog/2013/12/17/staff%E2%80%99s-top-50-albums-of-2013-30-%E2%80%93-11/. live.
  64. Web site: 03. Vampire Weekend – Modern Vampires Of The City (XL). Stereogum. December 3, 2013. Spin Media. December 5, 2013. December 5, 2013. https://web.archive.org/web/20131205231431/http://www.stereogum.com/1567541/the-50-best-albums-of-2013/list/attachment/vampire-weekend-modern-vampires-of-the-city-4. live.
  65. News: Wolk. Douglas. Top 10 Albums. time.com. Time magazine. 10 December 2013. December 4, 2013. December 6, 2013. https://web.archive.org/web/20131206141259/http://entertainment.time.com/2013/12/04/arts-and-entertainment/slide/top-10-albums/. live.
  66. Web site: The 40 best albums of 2013. Time Out Music Team. December 6, 2013. Time Out. December 14, 2013. December 14, 2013. https://web.archive.org/web/20131214001008/http://www.timeout.com/london/music/the-40-best-albums-of-2013. live.
  67. Web site: Uncut's Top 50 Albums of 2013. Uncut. December 12, 2013. Album of the Year. December 12, 2013. April 5, 2014. https://web.archive.org/web/20140405070156/http://www.albumoftheyear.org/list/226-uncuts-top-50-albums-of-2013.php. live.
  68. Web site: Under the Radar's Top 125 Albums of 2013. Hamilton. Billy. December 23, 2013. Under the Radar. December 25, 2013. December 25, 2013. https://web.archive.org/web/20131225233359/http://www.undertheradarmag.com/lists/under_the_radars_top_125_albums_of_2013/. live.
  69. Web site: Pazz and Jop. The Village Voice. January 14, 2014. Pazz and Jop. January 16, 2014. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20150121184534/http://www.villagevoice.com/pazznjop/albums/. January 21, 2015. mdy-all.
  70. Vampire Weekend. 2013. Modern Vampires of the City. XL Recordings. XLCD 556. liner notes.
  71. Web site: Official IFPI Charts – Top-75 Albums Sales Chart (Εβδομάδα: 20/2013) . el . . May 27, 2013 . https://web.archive.org/web/20130625171212/http://www.ifpi.gr/charts_el.html . June 25, 2013.
  72. Web site: http://www.oricon.co.jp/prof/artist/443479/ranking/cd_album/ . ja:ヴァンパイア・ウィークエンドのアルバム売り上げランキング . Vampire Weekend album sales ranking . ja . . May 24, 2013 . https://web.archive.org/web/20140503160836/http://www.oricon.co.jp/prof/artist/443479/ranking/cd_album/ . May 3, 2014 . live.
  73. Web site: Jaaroverzichten 2013 – Albums . nl . . December 30, 2013 . April 17, 2014 . https://web.archive.org/web/20140417130753/http://www.ultratop.be/nl/annual.asp?year=2013&cat=a . live.
  74. Web site: End of Year Album Chart in 2013 . . May 22, 2024.
  75. Billboard 200 Albums – Year-End 2013 . . May 22, 2024 . subscription . https://web.archive.org/web/20221207065530/https://www.billboard.com/charts/year-end/2013/top-billboard-200-albums/ . December 7, 2022 . live.
  76. Independent Albums – Year-End 2013 . . December 30, 2014 . subscription . https://web.archive.org/web/20171111045333/http://www.billboard.com/charts/year-end/2013/independent-albums . November 11, 2017 . live.
  77. Top Alternative Albums – Year-End 2013 . . May 22, 2024 . subscription . https://web.archive.org/web/20230210163052/https://www.billboard.com/charts/year-end/2013/top-alternative-albums/ . February 10, 2023 . live.
  78. Rock Albums – Year-End 2013 . . May 22, 2024 . subscription . https://web.archive.org/web/20230709180218/https://www.billboard.com/charts/year-end/2013/top-rock-albums/ . July 9, 2023 . live.
  79. Billboard 200 Albums – Year-End 2014 . . December 12, 2014 . subscription . https://web.archive.org/web/20190518164324/https://www.billboard.com/charts/year-end/2014/top-billboard-200-albums . May 18, 2019 . live.
  80. Independent Albums – Year-End 2014 . . December 30, 2014 . subscription . https://web.archive.org/web/20221108151111/https://www.billboard.com/charts/year-end/2014/independent-albums/ . November 8, 2022 . live.
  81. Top Alternative Albums – Year-End 2014 . . May 22, 2024 . subscription . https://web.archive.org/web/20221014183020/https://www.billboard.com/charts/year-end/2014/top-alternative-albums/ . October 14, 2022 . live.
  82. Rock Albums – Year-End 2014 . . May 22, 2024 . subscription . https://web.archive.org/web/20230210135122/https://www.billboard.com/charts/year-end/2014/top-rock-albums/ . February 10, 2023 . live.

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Modern Vampires of the City".

Except where otherwise indicated, Everything.Explained.Today is © Copyright 2009-2024, A B Cryer, All Rights Reserved. Cookie policy.