It’s been six years since Vampire Weekend’s last album, the extraordinary Modern Vampires of the City.
Lots has happened since then, including the departure of key band member Rostam Batmanglij and a relationship between frontman Ezra Koenig and one of my celebrity girlfriends, Rashida Jones, which resulted in the birth of their first child last summer.
This is the third song from Maria McKee’s Life is Sweet to pop up on Random Weekends. Given that this is the only album of hers I own, 12 songs in total, that’s statistically more significant than the fifth random White Stripes song posted yesterday.
Each time a song from this album has surfaced, I’ve had the same reaction, finding it edgier and more intriguing than I expected.
The Random iTunes Fairy has a thing for The White Stripes. Though I have only three of the band’s albums in my library, they have now shown up five times as Random Weekend selections, with four of those selections coming from the celebrated 2003 album Elephant.
None of those songs were ‘Seven Nation Army,’ the band’s most enduring classic, so I guess the Random iTunes Fairy has a thing for deep cuts, too.
Barenaked Ladies’ 2003 album Everything to Everyone was a bit of a stumble following the successes of Stunt and Maroon. While the band’s previous five albums had reached Gold or Platinum status in either Canada, the U.S., or both, this one failed to sell very well in either country.
In fact, no subsequent BNL album would reach those heights either, making this album a real turning point in the band’s career.
At their best, Random Weekends brings songs to my attention that I have long forgotten. Such is the case with today’s selection.
I’ve loved XTC’s 1986 album Skylarking since I was first introduced to it during my freshman year of college (by none other than frequent commenter Dana). Produced by Todd Rundgren, this album is as fine an example of British experimental pop as you’ll ever hear.
Meet Me In Montauk 