The Rat and the Vampire

Excerpt from HOUSE M.D. -

Dr. Cuddy: "House, how is it that you always assume you're right?"


Dr. House: "I don't. I just find it hard to operate on the opposite assumption."





Happy Friday!!! (I say happy b/c I finally tracked down a Green Lantern Tee to wear for St. Patricks day...shiny...)

Anywhoo, I have EVERY confidence in my granularity for queueing up new, buzzworthy music... often, in fact, before MTV and Rolling Stone attempt to quote their own precedence (Silversun Pickups, Rocky Votolato, Blue Scholars, Rodrigo y Gabriela come to mind....not to mention U2:3D ;) ).


Well, we're barely into the 2008-2009 fiscal year and already, two buzzworthy bands have fallen into my oh so enthusastic lap. And just how buzzworthy, you say? Well....I'd vouch for them motherfrakkers; like my previous finds, they're WAYYYY too good to just wallow in obscurity.

Enter: Ratatat and Vampire Weekend

RATATAT

--- To simply write them off as over-indulged video game music would be a weak (and ultimately narrow) label to give this eclectic New York duo. Their repetoire is blissfully simple (guitarist Mike Stroud and synthesizer savant Evan Mast) , yet they get alot of mileage out of said accoutrements. And by mileage, I mean to the moon, Alice. We're talking f*ckin vignettes of simple wonder: somber, sonically harsh melodies played on synth and guitars backed by electronic percussion. Add a dash of hip hop and funk, call it 'Ratatat' and you're off. Surprisingly, they're being groomed to be the apprentices to the Neptunes (I don't actually know the protocol on how this particular form of apprenticeship works lol).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ratatat



Definitely D/L:
Lex
Gettysburg
Germany to Germany
Everest







VAMPIRE WEEKEND

--- Think 'Graceland' on steroids. Think 'The Lion King' meets 'The Specials.' But for the love of your God, think something, at least...it'll be worth your 15 seconds. Anyways...not since Paul Simon has a band, let alone an indie-rock band, bring Afro-pop back into the spotlight. While frontman Ezra Koenig may be playfully coy about his other musical influences, by contrast, their word-of-mouth is anything but. Already fueled by frenzies of the youTube & MySpace variety, Vampire Weekend seems poised...no no....expected to make a BIG SPLASH (i'll put hard money that this actually pans out) with their plinky keyboards, ska-like guitar lines, and Congo drum beats @ a jungle near you.

http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/article/record_review/48053-vampire-weekend

Definitely D/L:
Oxford Comma
A-Punk
Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa
Bryn





Final Note: Brent, like Axl Rose once said...all you need is...a little patience. I too want Blazin Chicken on this blog in one form or another.