A few weeks ago, Discovery, the side project of Vampire Weekend's Rostam Batmanglij and Ra Ra Riot's Wes Miles, released their debut album, "LP". On this record, Batmanglij and Miles explore a new sound that hasn't really been touched on by Vampire Weekend or Ra Ra Riot before...electro hip-hop.
The album opens to "Orange Shirt", one of the first of the four songs leaked by the band before the release of the album. Initially, this song was my favorite, with the pulsating synths and laid-back vocals from Miles. Then there's what was widely considered to be the first single, "Osaka Loop Line", which has pounded synth chords seperated by silence for the intro. This is another very solid track, but it becomes repetitive quick. There are a couple covers on this album..."Can You Discover?", a great-sounding cover of Ra Ra Riot's "Can You Tell", and an appropriate Jackson 5 cover, "I Want You Back (In Discovery)". Other songs include "I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend" featuring Angel Deradoorian of the Dirty Projectors and "Carby" featuring Ezra Koenig, Vampire Weekend vocalist, which is one of my favorite tracks. Two other good tracks are the other leaks, "So Insane" and "Swing Tree". "So Insane" has a chorus that is mind-bendingly catchy, almost kind of like a more poppy version of your average Ra Ra Riot or Vampire Weekend chorus. "Swing Tree" is bouncy and playful, and showcases one of many great hip-hop beats on this record. The Bonus Track Version of the LP (available on iTunes) comes with a rock remix of "Orange Shirt" that's just as good as the original. With this side project, Rostam Batmanglij and Wes Miles have conquered tons of new ground, and opened themselves up to a wide new audience.
Key Tracks: "Orange Shirt", "Can You Discover?", "So Insane", "Carby", "I Want You Back (In Discovery)"
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