JAN/FEB 2010 ISSUE MMUSICMAG.COM SPOTLIGHT Soren Solkaer Starbird VAMPIRE WEEKEND Discovering inspiration in contradictions and cleverness Rostam Batmanglij, Chris Baio, Christopher Tomson, Ezra Koenig SURE, VAMPIRE WEEKEND SINGER Western and African pop caught the public’s made headlines during the Reagan years, and guitarist Ezra Koenig was an English fancy two years ago. While making Contra, Vampire Weekend intends the word in its major at noted Columbia University and the group—rounded out by keyboardist literal Latin meaning: “against” or “in contrast taught junior high English. And yeah, on Rostam Batmanglij, drummer Christopher to.” “I wanted every song to speak to a bigger the band’s new Contra album he rhymes Tomson and bassist Chris Baio—was well theme, and to me that theme was ‘contra,’ “horchata” with “balaclava,” among other aware that expectations would be high for the idea of an opposition, the idea of duality,” clever linguistic feats. What of it? the follow-up to 2008’s acclaimed Vampire Koenig explains. “It’s a criticism people try to lodge at Weekend. “Our main goal was to make a The assurance with which Vampire us,” Koenig says with a resigned chuckle. record that had its own sound and existed Weekend weaves together those varying “In my experience, a lot of our fans like our in its own world,” notes Koenig. “We were strands on Contra suggests that the lyrics—they like thinking about them and trying to fi nd the middle ground between deafening buzz that has greeted the band’s trying to decode them. There aren’t too doing something totally different and still every move will continue well into the many people who are Vampire Weekend using some of the same ideas we had on future. “My one fear was that somehow we fans in spite of the lyrics. And if people think the fi rst record.” could mess stuff up so badly that we would my using a big word somehow means I’m The tracks on Contra offer a disparate disappear with our second album,” Koenig part of some old-money network, that’s a but cohesive melding of upbeat, multifaceted admits. “As we started working on it, I knew total joke.” musicality with poignant, literate lyrics and that wasn’t going to happen. No matter if it Plenty of words, big and small alike, often bouncy melodies—hence the title. matches the success of the fi rst album or not, have been devoted to Vampire Weekend While the word may conjure for some the in a certain way it’s already a success.” since the band’s quirky, perky pastiche of notorious Nicaraguan freedom fi ghters who –Katherine Turman OMARIONOMARION Think you know this smooth R&B star? Think again FORGET WHAT YOU MIGHT HAVE HEARD ABOUT R&B artist Omarion. “I think people misconstrue who I am a lot of the time,” he says. “I blame it on the illusion of the game. You might think Omarion is going out to the club, partying and having an orgy with 10 women. If a rumor came out like that, people might believe it. I felt like I really wanted to share more of who I am through my music.” That’s just what he does on his new album, Ollusion, which refl ects the Los Angeles native’s growing personal and musical maturity. To help bring his vision to fruition he collaborated with the likes of T-Pain, Marques Houston and the Song Dynasty production 1818 JAN/FEB 2010 M mag_HB.indd 18 1/11/10 3:42:41 PM.