2. Homage
Vampire weekend have paid homage to many different artists. They
have often played homage to the genre of African music, specifically
Paul Simon and his album ‘The Rhythm of The Saints’. They have
taken the African style of music and rhythm and added it into their own
music which is why they have started to create music by using similar
sounds and tones. They have taken direct links from Paul Simon’s
costumes in the video's and the music in both “Me and Julio Down by
the Schoolyard”, and “You Can Call Me Al”. Vampire Weekend have
paid respect to these artists and they have created work so that it
would appeal to the chosen audience that they are aiming their music
to appeal to. They would have taken elements from different artists to
create music that would appeal a younger ‘indie/pop’ audience.
3. Bricolage
Vampire weekend have used bricolage as they have taken ideas
from the past such as Paul Simon, and then gradually more modern
weekend such as taking samples from Radiohead – Let Down (1997)
for their song ‘Giving Up The Gun’. This experimental Rock /
Electronic is a contrast to the music genre that Vampire Weekend fall
under (Indie/Rock). They have also gone back in history to take
samples and ideas from African music to base their sound on, which
is also a different genre that they have taken ideas from. This then
advances to them using samples from MIA’s song ‘Hussel’ for their
song ‘Diplomat’s Son’. Hussel was released in 2007 and is from the
rap genre, which once again is a contrasting genre considering what
type of music they create. This changes the meaning of the type of
music Vampire Weekend have sampled due to the fact that it has
gone from electronic and rap, to be submerged into the
indie/alternative genre. This would have changed the audience that
this type of music was aimed at, however due to postmodernism it is
now acceptable to have a vast range of music taste, so this type of
music may appeal to both audience’s in both genres.
4. Intertextual References
Ezra’s lyrics are believed to have been a reference
to Grandmaster Flash. From songs such as ‘Ya Hey’
when he sings “you won’t even say your name only
‘I am that I am’. On ‘Everlasting Arms’ he asks ‘could
I have been made to serve the master?’ This master
is referenced again on ‘Step’ in which the narrator
remembers an odd couple standing on the street
corner listening to ‘The Master’. It was suggested
that “maybe it’s this album’s master he is referring
to, as it was no doubt mastered in NYC. It’s more
classic intertextuality. It sums up the album.”
5. Simulacrum
Vampire Weekend are ‘real’ in the way that they
aren’t playing a character. However they do try and
show off their wealthy background with the clothes
they were and this also links into to the lyrics of their
first two albums. Ezra Koenig has discretely tried to
copy the style of Paul Simon which in a way
suggests that he is trying to play the character of
him. This has been show in the videos ‘Me and Julio
Down By The School’ as the costumes are very
similar to what Vampire Weekend tend to wear
themselves in their own music videos.
6. Consumption
Vampire weekend offer the traditional way of
consumption by selling CDs and making digital
downloads available to the audience. This is the
typical way for an indie band to sell their music as
they don’t go overboard on the ways that they make
music possible to people they stick to the traditional
way which everyone knows about. They are often
clever with their music videos to appeal to their
audience as they use ideas that would represent
their audience or interest them.
7. Creation
The artist I have chosen creates their music by
writing it both lyrically and musically. They use their
own past experience and ideas from other artists to
write lyrics for their songs, and they use ideas from
other bands to write music. They have based their
music and creation on sounds they have previously
heard or like, such as the African style of music Paul
Simon created. This is interesting as it’s not what the
typical indie band would use as inspiration so it
suggests that they are developing something they
have already heard previously in a new way.
8. Performance
For the performance, the band often perform live in
front of an audience, but instead of ‘putting on a
show’ they tend to be tradition and do the basics of
playing their instrument and singing. They have tried
to look more early 90s more often which could be
under the influence from one of their favoured artists
Paul Simon. They often try to wear clothes that
would be seen as the usual wear around that time
period in their music videos, and they try to make
them slightly unusual such as the video of ‘Giving
Up The Gun’ where someone is playing table tennis.
9. Influence
Vampire weekend haven’t necessarily influenced
many different people which shown due to the lack
of people covering their songs or recreating their
own music. However from their own influences they
have joined the change in way that indie music is
created and they have created their own
indie/African style of music due to their own
influences and experiences.
10. Songs the band have sampled
for their own songs.
Vampire Weekend - Step ----- YZ - Who's That
Girl (1.25) / Bread – Aubrey (1.05)
Vampire Weekend - Diplomat's Son ----- MIA –
Hussel (2.55)
Vampire Weekend - Giving Up The Gun -----
Radiohead - Let Down (4.41)
Vampire Weekend – Giant (0.28) ----- Notorious
BIG – Juicy (0.19)
