Discovery -- A Little Vampire, A Little Riot

This little polygon of awesome (above) came from Discovery's website. You can hear several tracks off of the new album, LP. I've linked to Amazon to hear a sampling, as well as to good ole MySpace for Discovery's page. Amazon's charging $8.99 for a digital download now, when I bought my copy it was only $3.99, so watch out for a price change if you're thrifty, and paranoid.

Discovery is the collaboration of Vampire Weekend's piano/synth player, Rostam Batmanglij and Ra Ra Riot's keyboardist/vocalist Wes Miles. What Discovery means is remixes, an R&B feel with all the warm fuzzies attached to your already favorite songs. For example, The Rhumb Line's "Can You Tell" (below) becomes LP's "Can You Discover?" Now, I can't say that it's altogether an improvement on the original, but it's different. It has that synth-rich sound, the beats and the repetition. It's just not RRR's strings and romance. The same lyrics carry a completely different meaning, just proof there's more to music than lyrics alone. But really, this is my only criticism, and it's not even a very good one.

Other tracks feel better, more right, as Wes sings in "Orange Shirt" about familiar R&B themes. Blah blah crushes, let me in for... you know, I'll leave before your mom wakes up... yeah. What's not the usual: "I'm sitting at home sipping this miso." I kid you not, unless I am completely hearing it wrong, but odds are, I'm not. This is the side that brings up VW and their fondness for lyrics that mention obscure foods (Milk-like Middle Eastern beverages, "Campus"?).

It's got your guest appearances, like Angel Deradoorian from The Dirty Projectors and Ezra Koenig from Vampire Weekend.

It's fast-paced and intelligent without hurting your brain. It doesn't hurt that the songs are catchy (C'mon chorus of "It's Not My Fault" = PARTY) and from the members of great bands. All that spells a new take on the familiar and greatness that grows on you.

That's what happens when New York state bands meet and form awesome super alliances. Smart, beaty musical offspring. Oh, yeah. Discovery: It's an LP!