SONG OF THE DAY
“Oxford Comma” by Vampire Weekend (Vampire Weekend, XL Records, 2007). Written by Rostam Batmanglij, Ezra Koenig, Christopher Tomson and Chris Baio.
RECOMMENDED BY….
My sister, Mitten, a million years ago. BTW, Mitten = Kitten = Cat = Caitlin. Sorry it took me so long to blog about this song, Cat, but it IS amazing, and I especially LOVE the video.
INTERESTING FACTS
– “Oxford Comma” is the third single by Vampire Weekend, released May 26, 2008, from its debut album, Vampire Weekend.
– On January 28, 2008, Michael Hogan of Vanity Fair interviewed Ezra Koenig regarding the title of the song and its relevance to the song’s meaning. Koenig said he first encountered the Oxford comma (an optional comma before the word “and” or “or” at the end of a list) after learning of a Columbia University student group called Students for the Preservation of the Oxford Comma. The idea for the song came several months later while Koenig was sitting at a piano in his parents’ house. He began “writing the song and the first thing that came out was ‘Who gives a fuck about an Oxford comma?'” He stated that the song “is more about not giving a fuck than about Oxford commas.”
– The song’s lyrics contain multiple references to rapper Lil Jon (claiming that “he always tells the truth”).
– Also mentioned is the city of Dharamsala, home of the 14th Dalai Lama (“the highest lama”).
– The video, directed by comedian Richard Ayoade, premiered June 20, 2008, on FNMTV. The concept behind the video was for it to be filmed in one long take — similar to the band’s video for previous single “A-Punk” — with unified visual and musical aspects. The video drew heavily on impressions of the works of American filmmaker Wes Anderson. According to Koenig, “It’s nice that now we’re at a point where we have more resources and we can talk to the director.”
– Pitchfork Media writer Mark Richardson said “Oxford Comma” was “damn catchy,” while Andrew Grillo of Click Music described it as having a “woozy organ and a half arsed guitar solo that masterfully straddles the line between inept and charmingly unstudied.” He elaborated that the afro-beat influence was less evident and finished his review by saying that the song was an “extremely enjoyable ditty that goes some way to justifying the attention they’ve received over the past year.”
– Robert Forster described “Oxford Comma” as the “best song of the last five years”.
– “Oxford Comma” was featured in the movie I Love You, Man.
– Released in May 2008, “Oxford Comma” began to climb the UK Singles Chart. To date, the single’s peak is at #38, which is Vampire Weekend’s highest-charting single.
– Vampire Weekend is the debut album by American indie rock band Vampire Weekend.
– The album was produced by band member Rostam Batmanglij, with mixing assistance from Jeff Curtin and Shane Stoneback.
– In the United States, the album sold over 27,000 copies in the first week of its release, debuting at #17 on the Billboard 200.
– The albums distinctive cover photo is a Polaroid picture from one of their early shows in Columbia University.
– The album was ranked as the 5th best album of 2008 by Time, the 56th Best Album of the Decade by Rolling Stone and 51st on Pitchfork’s list of the Top 200 Albums of the 2000s.
– The album was recorded in a variety of environments including; a basement where there was “a good set up for recording drums”; a barn; the apartments of two band members and Tree Fort studio in Brooklyn. The locations bore an effect on the sound that was produced, demonstrated by a session recorded early in 2007 at a barn, which resulted in “really echoey drums”.
– Ezra Koenig, Chris Baio, Rostam Batmanglij, and Chris Tomson formed the band on February 10th, 2006 when they were finishing their studies at Columbia University, playing their first show in a battle of the bands contest at Lerner Hall of Columbia University.
– Vampire Weekend’s name is derived from lead singer Ezra Koenig’s amateur film of the same name.
– Vampire Weekend was signed to XL Recordings by Kris Chen, of which the band said in an interview: “Before any labels had contacted us, we actually mentioned XL as the kind of label we’d ideally like to end up on. Just going on their roster alone, they obviously have good taste and support their artists well.”
– They are managed by Ian Montone, who also manages The White Stripes.
– The band claims they are influenced by both African popular music and Western classical music, describing their genre of music as “Upper West Side Soweto”, with such songs as “Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa” referencing Congolese soukous music.
– They were declared “The Year’s Best New Band” by Spin magazine in the March 2008 issue, and were the first band to be shot for the cover of the magazine before releasing their debut album.
– After their initial rise to popularity, they experienced backlash as their image began to create controvesy. In 2008, Vampire Weekend was dubbed the “whitest band” by Christian Lander, the creator of the site Stuff White People Like, in an interview with Salon.com. Critics and anti-fans disdain Vampire Weekend for appropriating elements of third-world while simultaneously presenting a privileged Ivy League aesthetic. This was further fueled by Vampire Weekend citing punk rock music, notably The Clash, as a major influence for their work, as their music and image do not match with conventional punk.
– During the summer of 2008, Vampire Weekend performed at the Central Park SummerStage.
– On January 9, 2010 the band did an acoustic show for MTV Unplugged.
– On March 6, 2010 the band appeared as the musical guest of Saturday Night Live with comedian Zach Galifianakis as host. It is the second time the band has appeared as a musical guest on the show, the first being during the show’s 33rd season in 2008 in an episode which actress Amy Adams hosted.
– They also played festivals across the USA such as Coachella, Bonnaroo, Austin City Limits Music Festival, The 3rd Annual Roots Picnic, Glastonbury Festival, and All Points West.
– On June 3, 2010 the band was interviewed by Stephen Colbert on the Colbert Report. Colbert argued that the “Oxford Comma” was indeed important despite the band and Ezra’s disagreement.
– The band, along with their record company XL Recordings and photographer Tod Scott Brody, are being sued by Kirsten Kennis, the model on the cover of Contra, over the use of her image.
– Contra was recently awarded a Grammy nomination for Best Alternative Album.
– In response to questions about their follow up to the album Contra the band has stated that they will be taking their time, Koenig stating “I see no reason to rush it”. The band has been discussing the third album and trying new ideas during sound checks but the writing and recording phase of production has not truly begun. In a recent interview with MTV Koenig stated that while the past two albums were inspired primarily by geography, the band has been drawing inspiration from the pop humor of big-budget comedy films such as The Love Guru and Bride Wars.
– Vampire Weekend contributed a cover of “Exit Music (For a Film)” for Stereogum presents .. OKX: A Tribute to OK Computer (2007), a free tribute album celebrating 10 years of Radiohead’s album OK Computer.
-They have also covered “Everywhere” by Fleetwood Mac, “I’m Goin’ Down” by Bruce Springsteen, “Have I the Right?” by The Honeycombs and “Ruby Soho” by Rancid.