New video - star studded clip for Vampire Weekend 'Giving Up The Gun'

Check out the new video for Vampire Weekend's 'Giving Up The Gun'.

It features cameos from Jake Gyllenhaal, Lil' Jon, RZA of the Wu-Tang Clan and Joe Jonas of the Jonas Brothers and was directed by production duo The Malloys, the brothers behind such works as "Sooner or Later" by N*E*R*D, "Dig Out Your Soul in the Streets" (short film) by Oasis, "Don't Phunk With My Heart" by Black Eyed Peas, “Under The Great Northern Lights” (documentary) by The White Stripes plus many others.

VAMPIRE WEEKEND NATIONAL AUS TOUR MAY 2010

Sat 1 May - GTM Bengido, Bendigo’s Prince Of Wales Showground

Sun 2 May - GTM Townsville, Murray Sports Complex

Tue 4 May - Melbourne, Palace Theatre (18+) SOLD OUT

Wed 5 May – Melbourne, Palace Theatre (18+) *JUST ADDED ON SALE NOW

Thu 6 May - Adelaide, Entertainment Centre (ALL AGES)

Sat 8 May, 2010 - GTM Maitland, Maitland Showground

Tue 11 May - Brisbane, Tivoli (ALL AGES) SOLD OUT

Sat 8 May, 2010 - GTM Maitland, Maitland Showground

Sun 9 May, 2010 - GTM Canberra, The Meadows, University of Canberra

Wed 12 May - Sydney, Enmore Theatre (ALL AGES) SOLD OUT

Thu 13 May - Sydney, Enmore Theatre (ALL AGES) *JUST ADDED ON SALE NOW

Sat 15 May - GTM Bunbury, Pat Usher Foreshore Reserve

Sun 16 May - Perth, Metro City (18+)

“Giving Up The Gun” will be available very soon.

New video - Vampire Weekend sell out Syd, Melb and Brisbane shows! Extra shows announced in Syd and Melb!

Vampire Weekend tickets have been snapped up in minutes with second shows added almost immediately in Sydney and Melbourne to meet demand.

The second Melbourne concert is on Wednesday 5 May at Palace Theatre (18+) and the second Sydney concert is on Thursday 13 May at Enmore Theatre (All Ages).

Tickets to the new shows are on sale 9.15AM. Don’t miss out!

VAMPIRE WEEKEND
MAY 2010
Buy tickets online at ticketek.com.au or phone 132 849

2nd shows in Sydney and Melbourne on sale 9.15AM!

DATES AND VENUES
Tue 4 May - Melbourne, Palace Theatre (18+) SOLD OUT

Wed 5 May - Melbourne, Palace Theatre (18+) JUST ANNOUNCED
Thu 6 May - Adelaide, Entertainment Centre (ALL AGES)
Tue 11 May - Brisbane, Tivoli (ALL AGES) SOLD OUT
Wed 12 May - Sydney, Enmore Theatre (ALL AGES) SOLD OUT
Thu 13 May - Sydney, Enmore Theatre (ALL AGES) JUST ANNOUNCED

Sun 16 May - Perth, Metro City (18+)

And for those in regional Australia, you can catch Vampire Weekend appearing at Groovin' The Moo regional touring festival!

GROOVIN' THE MOO FESTIVAL (ALL AGES)

Sat 1 May - Bendigo, Prince Of Wales Showground

Sun 2 May - Townsville, Murray Sports Complex

Sat 8 May - Maitlin, Maitlin Showground

Sun 9 May - Canberra, The Meadows Uni Of Canberra

Sat 15 May - Bunbury, Pat Usher Foreshore Reserve

Click here for Groovin’ The Moo Festival ticketing details

Vampire Weekend's latest album Contra is out now

Tour news - Vampire Weekend announce national headline shows for May 2010

In addition to their appearance at Groovin' The Moo regional touring festival, Vampire Weekend have announced a series of headline shows for capital cities across Australia!

Tickets will no doubt be in high demand so get yours quick to avoid disappointment.

VAMPIRE WEEKEND
MAY 2010
Buy tickets online at ticketek.com.au or phone 132 849
Frontier Touring members pre-sale starts Thursday 18 February, Noon AEDT.
General on-sale tickets available from Monday 22 February, 9am local time:

DATES AND VENUES
Tue 4 May - Melbourne, Palace Theatre (18+)
Thu 6 May - Adelaide, Entertainment Centre (ALL AGES)
Tue 11 May - Brisbane, Tivoli (ALL AGES)
Wed 12 May - Sydney, Enmore Theatre (ALL AGES)
Sun 16 May - Perth, Metro City (18+)

Click here for Groovin’ The Moo Festival details

Videos - Vampire Weekend perform for La Blogotheque

Vampire Weekend recently popped in to perform a 6 song set for Les Soirees De Poche series, produced by La Blogotheque (those French geniuses behind The Takeaway Shows sessions).

The set includes performances of Horchata, Cousins, California English and a cover of the classic 'Have I The Right?' by The Honeycombs and features Ezra and Rostam speaking to the audience in French! Looks like it was so much god damn fun.

Watch the whole set here:


Vampire Weekend's latest album Contra is out now through XL/ Remote Control.

Tour news - Vampire Weekend hitting regional Australia for Groovin' The Moo!

Vampire Weekend have just been confirmed for a national Australian tour in 2010 as part of the Groovin The Moo (GTM) festival. Lead singer Ezra Koenig helped make the official announcement this morning on Triple J radio with the Breakfast team’s Tom and Alex.

GTM is Australia’s only touring music event to feature regional cities in the tour diary. Like a bull at a gate GTM is ready to charge into both familiar territory and territory never ventured before, rumble with an incredible array of Australian and International artists and put on five spectacular shows like no other music event in Australia.

GROOVIN THE MOO

Silverchair | Vampire Weekend (USA) | Empire Of The Sun

Tegan & Sarah (Can) | Grinspoon | Spoon (USA) | British India

Lisa Mitchell | Miami Horror | Kisschasy

Bag Raiders | Kid Koala presents The Slew Live (Can)

Muph and Plutonic | Funkoars | Illy | Ajax

Jonathan Boulet | Yacht Club DJs | Killaqueenz | The Only

Triple J Unearthed and more to be announced

DATES AND VENUES
GTM Bendigo Saturday 1 May, 2010
Bendigo’s Prince of Wales Showground 42 – 72 Holmes Rd, Bendigo VIC 3550

GTM Townsville Sunday 2 May, 2010
Murray Sports Complex - Townsville Cricket Grounds Mervyn Crossman Dr & Murray Lyons Cres Idalia QLD 4811

GTM Maitland Saturday 8 May, 2010
Maitland Showground Blomfield St, Maitland NSW 2320

GTM Canberra Sunday 9 May, 2010
The Meadows, University of Canberra Kirinari St Bruce ACT 2617

GTM Bunbury Saturday 15 May, 2010
Pat Usher Foreshore Reserve Pat Usher Memorial Promenade and Graham Bricknell Shell, Blair St, Bunbury WA 6230
TICKETS
ON SALE DATE: Tickets go on sale nationally TUESDAY 16 FEBRUARY 2010.

GTM is a licensed all ages (16 + recommended) event. Persons over the age of 18 and wish to purchase alcohol MUST have photographic ID. No pass outs will be issued at Bendigo, Townsville, Maitland, Canberra & Bunbury.

MYSPACE PRESALE: GTM MySpace friends get a chance to purchase their tickets early. MySpace friends will be issued with a special code on WEDNESDAY 10 FEBRUARY. The Presale is for 2 days ONLY from 9AM THURSDAY 11 FEBRUARY to 5PM FRIDAY 12 FEBRUARY 2010.
PRICE: $95.90+ B/F

TICKETS AVAILABLE FROM:
www.gtm.net.au
MOSHTIX www.moshtix.com.au or 1300 438 849 (GET TIX)
and selected moshtix outlets – check www.gtm.net.au

Win a Vampire Weekend CD and signed poster pack.

Want to win a free copy of Vampire Weekend's brand new album Contra plus a poster SIGNED by the band?

It's too easy! All you gotta do is hit up our facebook page and let us know:

"What's cool about your cousin?"

Get crackin' guys, the comp ends THIS FRIDAY.

Contra is out now through XL/Remote Control.

News: Vampire Weekend - Live At The Wireless set airing TONIGHT

Be sure to tune into Triple J TONIGHT. Vampire Weekend's very special Live At The Wireless set is going to air!

During a recent visit to Australia in November 2009 to promote the release of their sophomore LP Contra (out now) Vampire Weekend put on an exclusive invite-only concert for Triple J radio. Vampire Weekend had the crowd going absolutely nuts, singing along to classics and dancing to new songs off their sophomore LP Contra

Hear the concert in full on Triple J radio Monday 18th January 2010 at 8PM AEST and encore airing on Sunday 24th January 2010 at 5PM AEST.

You can stream it live www.triplej.net.au more info www.triplej.net.au/live

News, widget, mp3/stream - VAMPIRE WEEKEND 'CONTRA' OUT NOW!

Vampire Weekend's new album Contra is in stores now!

You can hear the entire album here:



Click 'embed' above to get the code to put this widget on your own page!

Contra is in stores now through XL/ Remote Control

News: Purple Sneakers launching Vampire Weekend - 'Contra' this Friday

Listen up Sydney Siders:

NEW VIDEO: Vampire Weekend perform Cousins on David Letterman Show

One more sleep til Contra is released in Australia!

This week they performed Cousins for David Letterman



Contra is out TOMORROW through XL/ Remote Control

New Stream: Listen to the new Vampire Weekend album in full!

You don't have to wait 'till Friday to get your Vampire Weekend fix. The entire album is streaming from their website right now!

Let the listening begin!

If you wanna get your hands on the real deal, Contra is released this Friday the 8th of January through XL/Remote Control.

News: Vampire Weekend, The Horrors and more in Vogue

January's issue of U.S Vogue will feature the sartorial stylings of your favourite indie-rock pin ups.
Vampire Weekend, The Horrors, Golden Silvers and Adam Green are amongst the fashionistas strutting their stuff.
Check 'em out

Vampire Weekend

Adam Green

Golden Silvers

The Horrors



Beirut

*images via Stereogum

Videos - Vampire Weekend J Mag cover story plus interview and acoustic performance for Nova

Vampire Weekend are this month's J Mag cover story

As you're well aware, Vampire Weekend were recently in the country on a promo trip, ahead of the release of their 2nd album 'Contra' due out Jan 8.

They headed into the Nova studios to do an interview and short acoustic set.

Here's the interview and first song from the set 'Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa'. More video from the set in coming weeks.

Interview:


'Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa' acoustic:

Vampire Weekend 'Contra' is out Jan 8 through XL/ Remote Control. The first single 'Cousins' is available now through iTunes.

New Videos: Vampire Weekend perform Horchata live on Sunrise plus new video for Cousins

Vampire Weekend are here!
They landed in the country last week for a whirlwind promo trip and have very busy little bees with interviews, DJ spots, photo shoots and a few very special performances.


On Friday they dropped into Sunrise to give Kochie a taste of Horchata, click on the pic below to check it out.

We've also got the very frantic and fun video for Cousins, directed by Garth Jennings (the same guy that brought you A-Punk).

Tour news - Vampire Weekend DJ set at Purple Sneakers this Friday!

Vampire Weekend are hitting the decks at Purple Sneakers in Sydney this Friday 20th November! Full details on the Boundary Sounds site.

Don't forget to enter our Facebook competition to win a double pass to see the band play on Monday 23rd November at their exclusive Sydney show for Triple J! Entries close 5pm Melb/ Syd time this Thursday 19th November so hop to it! Check out our Facebook Page, sign up as a fan if you're not already, and answer our question for your chance to win.

Vampire Weekend's album 'Contra' is out 8th January 2010.

Videos : Learn how to be a real guitar hero with Vampire Weekend and The National

Q TV brings you an assortment of Indie Rock luminaries to teach you how to play your favourite tracks on guitar.

Our first one on one lesson is with Vampire Weekend's Ezra Koenig showing us how to recreate "A-Punk".



The National's Aaron Dessner gives us a "Fake Empire" lesson.

Hear the brand spankin' new Vampire Weekend track Horchata

Vampire Weekend are offering you an exclusive free download of Horchata; the first track off Contra - the band's highly anticipated full length follow up to 2008’s gold selling debut.

Contra is bustling with fresh ideas, and yet it sounds immediately familiar; it’s heavily layered but taut and kinetic; it chews ravenously through sound palettes and rhythms, and yet it’s nimble and assured; it’s still breezy, and yet it smolders with a newfound emotional heft. The songs are catchy, fast, twinkling, clattering.

“I think we sound more like Vampire Weekend than we did on the first record,” says drummer Christopher Tomson.

“It’s sadder than the first one, a bit more sentimental,” says singer Ezra Koenig.

Horchata [mp3]


Vampire Weekend's new album Contra is due out in Australia on 8th January 2010 through XL/ Remote Control.

Looking for mp3s?
Check out our free mp3 download page here!

Vampire Weekend reveal details of second album

Does this girl look familiar?
You may have seen her nordic face mysteriously popping up all over music blogs of late.

Today it has been revealed as the album cover for Vampire Weekend's highly anticipated second album.

Contra is the follow up to the band's gold-selling self-titled debut album.

Also revealed was the album's tracklisting:

01 Horchata
02 White Sky
03 Holiday
04 California English
05 Taxi Cab
06 Run
07 Cousins
08 Giving Up the Gun
09 Diplomat's Son
10 I Think Ur a Contra

Salivating fans will have to wait until January 8th 2010 when it will be released through XL via Remote Control. In the meantime, be sure to keep an eye our blog for further updates.

New Discovery mp3 (Vampire Weekend/ Ra Ra Riot Side Project)

So about a month ago we mentioned a side project that Vampire Weekender Rostam Batmanglij had been working on with Ra Ra Riot singer Wes Miller.

To the delight of many curious fans, details have surfaced of Discovery’s new LP which is set to be released through XL later this year.

Some highlights from the very literally named ‘LP’ includes an Autotuned cover of the Jackson 5’s classic “I Want You Back”, a remix of Ra Ra Riot's "Can You Tell" (re-dubbed "Can You Discover?") and vocal contributions by Vampire Weekend’s Ezra Koenig and Dirty Projectors' Angel Deradoorian.

If you haven’t had time to ‘discover’ Discovery you can hear tracks up on their MySpace and here on stereogum.

Orange Shirt [mp3]

Osaka Loop Line [mp3]

Discovery LP out July 10 in Australia through XL/ Remote Control.

myspace.com/discoverdiscovery

Looking for mp3s?
Check out our free mp3 download page here!

Vampire Weekend talk about their second album

[via] [via]

Following Vampire Weekend's performance of new track White Sky on the Jimmy Fallon show, the band continue to tease us with more information about their second album.

Stereogum have given the heads up on an interview singer Ezra Koenig did with EW.com:

"For the last month or so, it's just been us by ourselves in this small studio, working every day," Koenig says. "It's nice after having been on tour so much to be in a slightly different situation, but it's pretty intense. We're really trying hard to do everything that we want to do."

With the songwriting process more or less finished, Koenig says the band has moved on to refining its studio approach. "It's definitely going to be a recognizably Vampire Weekend sound, but there are going to be new sounds. We're trying to challenge ourselves not to use the same bag of tricks that we used on the first album -- different instruments, stuff like that."

One new song that's almost certain to wind up on the album is "White Sky," which Vampire Weekend brought to Jimmy Fallon last month. Notes Koenig: "The recorded version is very different from how we played it on Fallon. Because we were still working on the recording, we decided to do this very slow acoustic version [on TV]. The real version is more like how we've been playing it live. There's a lot of synth sounds, and it's a little more pumped up."

Stereogum also have a couple of mp3s of keyboardist Rostam Batmanglij's side project called Discovery. Check them out here.

Vampire Weekend perform White Sky

Well looks like Vampire Weekend's Late Night With Jimmy Fallon appearance was up on Youtube for about half a second before getting taken down is back up on Youtube in all it's glory, so catch it while you can:



And here's an mp3 of the band's perfomance of White Sky, complete with string section, as posted by the good ole folks at Stereogum

White Sky (live on Late Night With Jimmy Fallon) [mp3]

Vampire Weekend to perform new song on Late Night With Jimmy Fallon

Vampire Weekend are performing on Late Night with new host Jimmy Fallon tomorrow morning our time.

They have promised to perform "White Sky" which they have been performing live at shows but is as yet unreleased.

Here's hoping it won't be too long before it's up on YouTube.

Vampire Weekend vs Miike Snow

Vampire Weekend's latest single The Kids Don't Stand A Chance has been given an electro makeover courtesy of Miike Snow's production wizardry.

Miike Snow are Swedish producers Christian Karlsson and Pontus Winnberg (aka Bloodshy & Avant, producers and songwriters of Britney Spears's "Toxic" and "Piece of Me") and musician Andrew Wyatt (Fires of Rome, Black Beetle).

You can hear their remix of The Kids Don't Stand A Chance over at RCRD LBL.

Vampire Weekend awesome foursome in triple j hottest 100

The triple j Hottest 100 countdown over the Australia Day long weekend was highly anticipated as always, with a mixed bag of surprising and somewhat predictable moments, charting what triple j listeners rated as the best singles of 2008.

New York boys Vampire Weekend consistently came up as favourites, with four tracks from their self titled debut album appearing on the list (the most of any other band, tied with winners Kings of Leon), cementing them as one of the stronger new acts to come out of '08.

The fans' favourite tracks Vampire Weekend tracks were :
Oxford Comma at #30,
A-Punk at #32,
Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa at #52 and
One (Blake's Got A New Face) at #71.

For the full Hottest 100 head to triple j.

Peter Gabriel and and Hot Chip cover Vampire Weekend

"And it feels so unnatural. Peter Gabriel, too."

With a chorus line like that, how could Peter Gabriel not do a cover of Vampire Weekend track Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa? And with electric keyboard help courtesy of Hot Chip, this is the result:

"It feels so unnatural. Peter Gabriel, too. And it feels so unnatural to sing your own name."

Vampire Weekend and Chromeo

Vampire Weekend performed their new single The Kids Don't Stand A Chance with Chromeo at the MTVU Awards, featuring a nice bit of vocoder action half way through.

Vampire Weekend perform on Late Night With Conan O'Brien

Vampire Weekend perform the track The Kids Don't Stand a Chance from their self-titled debut album on Late Night With Conan O'Brien, complete with string quarter.



And if you haven't already, be sure to check out the footage of a hardcore Ezra with Fucked Up thrashing out some rawk. [video link]

More videos from Fucked Up's marathon show

Recorded at their 12 hour show last month is a performance of Fucked Up covering the Black Flag track Nervous Breakdown.


Also joining Fucked Up on a couple of songs was Ezra from Vampire Weekend who unleashed his inner punk on Blitz and Descendents covers.

Someone's Gonna Die and Parents

Fucked Up and Moby do the Blitzkrieg Bop

Continuing their whirlwind few months (which includes an NME cover and fucking up MTV's bathroom), Fucked Up recently put on a free marathon 12 hour show in New York featuring a heap of guests. Having previously worked with many collaborators including Owen Pallett (Final Fantasy), that guy from AFI and Nelly Furtado, Fucked Up continued their eclectic ways with guest appearances including Ezra of Vampire Weekend (like you've never seen him), Tim of Les Savy Fav, Vivian Girls, J. Mascis and Chris of Mind Eraser (aww, spoon). Moby also joined the band to perform a cover of Blitzkrieg Bop:


To give you a sense of how epic this show was, here's the setlist. Epic indeed.
View pics from the event here, here and here.

Fucked Up's new album The Chemistry Of Common Life has just been released. If you missed them before, here are a couple of tracks from the album:

Twice Born [mp3]


No Epiphany [mp3]

Vampire Weekend + Devo = ?

Vampire Weekend have teamed up with Devo's Mark Mothersbaugh to record the track Ottoman for the soundtrack Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist.

Also featured on the film's soundtrack are Devendra Banhart, Band of Horses and Shout Out Louds. You can read more about the film and soundtrack at Stereogum. You can watch the film trailer here.

Ottoman


You might recognise one of the lines in Ottoman ("feels so unnatural/ Peter Gabriel too") as also being from Vampire Weekend's latest single Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa. The video for the track was directed by UK comedian Richard Ayoade (The IT Crowd, Mighty Boosh). You can watch it here:


Vampire Weekend's self-titled debut album is out now.

myspace.com/vampireweekend