Oh
Vampire Weekend, the first band to be on the cover of
Spin without a debut album. How the blogs brought you up from nothing in the blink of an eye. And how they love to make you feel stupid.
So, update: some of the more infamous blogs out there, including
Sterogum, got their hands on an original track by
Rostam Batmanglij, the bandmate who did most of the string arrangements on
Vampire Weekend. It's an early version of "Campus" from the self-titled debut, except its entirely strings and vocals (kind of raw, but appealing in it's simplicity and beauty). The album version of "Campus" was one of our favorites, and this early track is like a treat for us. But now everyone is yammering about how the original track is much better than the Afro-pop punk version, with the sweetness of a day laying around campus preserved in the lush strings, completely lost in translation to the album. Must we take these freebies and bite the hand that feeds us? OK, it might be true though.
Thanks to
Stereogum for hosting the track. Listen for yourself. -
joe puglisi
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MP3: Rostam Batmanglij:: Campus
Vampire Weekend on Myspace