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Article: Africa by way of New York
- Article from:
- The Boston Globe (Boston, MA)
- Article date:
- January 22, 2008
- Author:
CopyrightCopyright 2008 The Boston Globe. Provided by ProQuest LLC. (Hide copyright information)
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CHOICE
African rhythms made a splashy American debut with Paul Simon's
"Graceland" in 1986, but since then they have been few and far
between in anything outside the world-music bins. Vampire Weekend, a
blogger-beloved quartet of recent Columbia University graduates, is
the inaugurator of what will undoubtedly soon become a trend,
hijacking the ringing guitars of Orchestra Baobab and the twitchy
pulse of Nigerian highlife for the band's self-titled debut album
out next Tuesday.
Lead singer Ezra Koenig has Simon's slightly strained vocal tones
down pat, and even shouts out Peter Gabriel on "Cape Cod Kwassa
Kwassa." Unsurprisingly for a band so green, there are some rough
patches on "Vampire ...