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75-569: The band's debut album, Vampire Weekend (2008), incorporated elements of indie pop , Afropop , and chamber music . Featuring charting singles " A-Punk " and " Oxford Comma ", it has been hailed as one of the greatest debut albums. Their sophomore album, Contra (2010), was similarly acclaimed and garnered strong commercial success, debuting at number one on the US Billboard 200 , and featuring well-received singles including " Holiday ". Their subsequent studio albums Modern Vampires of

150-636: A double A-sided single on March 19, 2013. Modern Vampires of the City was released by XL on May 14. and Vampire Weekend played several concerts and music festivals shortly after, eventually embarking on a larger supporting tour throughout late 2013, beginning with a show at the Mann Center for the Performing Arts in Philadelphia on September 19. John Gentile of Rolling Stone reported that

225-401: A rap collaboration between Koenig, Tomson, and Koenig's roommate Andrew Kalaidjian named "L'Homme Run". They bonded over a shared love of punk rock and African music . Koenig toured with Dirty Projectors during a period of experimentation with African music, inspiring the band to incorporate world sounds into their earliest work. The band chose the name "Vampire Weekend" from the title of

300-458: A Chance ". 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. In 2012, Rolling Stone ranked the album number 430 on its list of " The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time ". The album was recorded in a variety of environments including a basement where there

375-411: A September 2017 interview with Zane Lowe , Ezra briefly spoke about LP4 and stated that it was "about 80% done." He mentioned that the album would feature lead producer Ariel Rechtshaid with additional "guest appearances", one of which being Batmanglij. Lowe pushed Koenig for a release date, citing Q1 2018 as a likely candidate. In a December 2017 interview, Koenig noted that Batmanglij was involved in

450-735: A blend of Afropop influences, indie pop , and chamber music elements. A success in the US and UK, it peaked at number 15 on the UK Albums Chart and number 17 on the Billboard 200 and had been certified Platinum in both countries. Four singles were released from the album; while "A-Punk" peaked at number 25 on the Billboard Modern rock chart and number 55 on the UK Singles Chart , "Oxford Comma" peaked at number 38 in

525-728: A festival stage in 4 years. On July 21, they performed in Byron Bay for the Australian festival, Splendour in the Grass . Additionally, it was announced that they would headline the 2018 Fuji Rock Festival , scheduled for July 27 to 29. For their live shows, the core trio of Koenig, Baio, and Tomson has been augmented by Greta Morgan on keyboards, guitar, and vocals, Brian Robert Jones on guitar, Garrett Ray on percussion, drums, and vocals, and Will Canzoneri on keyboards and vocals. During their August 4, 2018 performance at Lollapalooza , where

600-477: A few nice ideas, and then set about making one of the most refreshing and replayable indie records in recent years." All lyrics are written by Ezra Koenig except where noted; all music is composed by Vampire Weekend except where noted Vampire Weekend Additional musicians Production Artwork The song "Campus" was used in Gossip Girl and I Love You, Man . "Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa"

675-638: A few songs, some of which was material that they had started working on long ago, and that their method of collaboration had not changed despite the latter's departure from the band. Vampire Weekend's first gigs since the hiatus took place in Ojai, California on June 16 & 17. On January 31, 2018, it was announced that the band would be headlining the UK music festival End of the Road . The festival ran from August 31 to September 3 and marked Vampire Weekend's first return to

750-463: A guest house on Martha's Vineyard. The album was co-produced by Batmanglij and Ariel Rechtshaid . After Batmanglij produced the first two albums himself, this marked the first time the band worked with an outside producer on any of their records. In an interview for the February 2013 edition of Q (released in mid-January), Koenig described the album as "darker and more organic" and "very much

825-551: A magazine in November 2003, was based on the votes of 273 rock musicians, critics, and industry figures, each of whom submitted a ranked list of 50 albums. The accounting firm Ernst & Young devised a point system to weigh votes for 1,600 submitted titles. The Beatles ' 1967 album Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band topped the list, with Rolling Stone ' s editors describing it as "the most important rock 'n' roll album ever made". The Beach Boys ' Pet Sounds (1966)

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900-442: A perceived image of Vampire Weekend as privileged, upper-class Ivy League graduates stealing from foreign musicians. One critic went so far as to call Vampire Weekend the "whitest band in the world", to which they took exception, given their Ukrainian, Persian, Italian, and Hungarian heritages. Koenig responded in a November 2009 interview by saying, "Nobody in our band is a WASP ." Saying the backlash involving their social backgrounds

975-577: A remix. It is the band's first album to reach number one on the Billboard 200 , and the 12th independently distributed album in history to reach the number one spot on the Billboard 200 since Nielsen Soundscan began recording data in 1991, while also being the first independent artist to have done so without ever having signed with a major label, after already established rock bands Radiohead and Pearl Jam and before Arcade Fire 's The Suburbs . The album sold 124,000 copies in its first week and

1050-634: A review for The Guardian , Alexis Petridis claimed that, "Behind the penny loafers and songs about commas, there's a bold band that can balance dexterous originality with an innate pop sensibility." Writing for NME , Sam Richards commented that, "A mischievous pop sensibility ensures all these little experiments come off as refreshing quirks rather than heinous transgressions." At Pitchfork , Nitsuh Abebe stated, "Bring any baggage you want to this record, and it still returns nothing but warm, airy, low-gimmick pop, peppy, clever, and yes, unpretentious--four guys who listened to some Afro-pop records, picked up

1125-545: A revised edition, drawing on the original and a later survey of albums released up until the early 2000s. Another updated edition of the list was published in 2020, with 269 new entries replacing albums from the two previous editions. It was based on a new survey and did not consider the surveys conducted for the 2003 and 2012 lists. The 2020 list featured more artists of color and female artists, topped by Marvin Gaye 's What's Going On (1971). It received similar criticisms as

1200-486: A short film project Koenig worked on during the summer between freshman and sophomore years in college. While home for the summer, Koenig watched the 1987 vampire film The Lost Boys and was inspired to make a Northeastern version of the film in which a man named Walcott travels to Cape Cod to warn the mayor that vampires are attacking the United States. Koenig abandoned the project after two days before editing

1275-691: A short list of musical artists that he sought support from for his re-election campaign. Vampire Weekend made it onto this list with Jay-Z , John Legend , and Alicia Keys . The band's third album, Modern Vampires of the City was released in May 2013, and written and recorded in various locations including SlowDeath Studios in New York, Echo Park "Back House" in Los Angeles, Vox Recording Studios in Hollywood, Rostam Batmanglij's New York apartment and

1350-460: A soundtrack in EA Sports football video game, FIFA 14 . Vampire Weekend (album) Vampire Weekend is the debut studio album by American rock band Vampire Weekend , released on January 29, 2008 by XL Recordings . The album was produced by band member Rostam Batmanglij , with mixing assistance from Jeff Curtin and Shane Stoneback. Released after a year of building internet buzz,

1425-459: A total of eight new entries on the list. On May 31, 2012, Rolling Stone published a revised list, drawing on the original and a later survey of albums up until the early 2000s. It was made available in "bookazine" format on newsstands in the US from April 27 to July 25. The new list contained 38 albums not present in the previous one, 16 of them released after 2003. The top listings remained unchanged. On September 22, 2020, another revision of

1500-442: Is compactness, which not only saves thousands of dollars in kora-player and backup-singer bills, but also keeps things alert and accessible." Talking about the band's array of musical styles in the review for Blender , Ben Sisario felt that, "Vampire Weekend’s version of globalization is too tightly and smartly woven to be mere dilettantism, and at times Koenig is emphatic, even desperate, about escaping white-bred familiarity" In

1575-846: The British album charts at number three with first-week sales of 27,805 copies, becoming the group's third consecutive top-twenty album in the United Kingdom. By December 2014, it had been certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America and sold 505,000 copies in the US. In 2014, it was awarded a diamond certification from the Independent Music Companies Association , which indicated sales of at least 250,000 copies throughout Europe and has sold over one million copies worldwide. In September 2020, Modern Vampires of

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1650-648: The Festival Internacional de Benicàssim . In the summer of 2010 the band played at the Utopia stage on Peace and Love, Sweden's biggest Festival. On July 30, 2010, the band played at Jisan Valley Rock Festival in South Korea. In 2010, Vampire Weekend embarked on a North American tour with Beach House and Dum Dum Girls . The tour started off on August 27, 2010, in Vancouver , British Columbia at

1725-470: The Malkin Bowl . Koenig mentioned to the audience that before this concert, the band had the longest "vacation period" that they had had in a while. Contra was nominated for a Grammy for Best Alternative Music Album , but lost to The Black Keys 's Brothers . On November 11, 2011, the band revealed it was working on a new album. In January 2012, President Barack Obama added Vampire Weekend to

1800-457: The 56th-best album of the decade by Rolling Stone and 51st on Pitchfork ' s list of the Top 200 Albums of the 2000s. In 2012, Rolling Stone ranked the album number 430 on its list of " The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time ". The album was also ranked 24 on Rolling Stone ' s list of 100 greatest debut albums of all time, citing them for having inspired a wave of indie bands with world music influences, despite largely criticizing

1875-641: The Bride became the band's third consecutive album to debut at number one on the Billboard 200. At the 62nd Annual Grammy Awards , the band received three nominations: Album of the Year and Best Alternative Music Album for Father of the Bride and Best Rock Song for "Harmony Hall". They won for Best Alternative Music Album (their second win in the category). In 2020, the Live in Florida EP featuring songs from

1950-491: The City (2013) and Father of the Bride (2019) continued the band's success, with each album receiving widespread critical acclaim, topping US charts and winning the Grammy Award for Best Alternative Music Album in their respective years. They released their fifth studio album, Only God Was Above Us , on April 5, 2024 to universal acclaim. The band members met while enrolled at Columbia University , beginning with

2025-468: The City was put by Rolling Stone in their new list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time , ranking at position 328. After concluding their Modern Vampires tour in September 2014, Vampire Weekend went silent until January 26, 2016, when it was announced that Rostam Batmanglij had left the band. Despite his departure, he and Ezra Koenig planned to continue collaborating. On the same day, Koenig revealed

2100-492: The City also shattered the previous record for first week vinyl sales, moving nearly 10,000 units on vinyl alone and debuting at No. 1 on the Soundscan Vinyl Charts. Additionally, the band charted #1 at Indie, Alternative, Digital and the top 200. In 2014, Modern Vampires of the City won a Grammy for Best Alternative Music Album . To promote the album, XL Recordings released "Diane Young" and "Step" as

2175-547: The Father of the Bride Tour was released. On February 4, 2021, Vampire Weekend released the 40:42 EP featuring reinterpretations of their song '2021' from Father of the Bride . American saxophonist , Sam Gendel , and Connecticut-based jam band , Goose , were commissioned to expand the song into twenty-minute and twenty-one-second versions. In late 2021, during an interview with Mark Hoppus , Ezra Koenig gave an update on

2250-542: The March 2008 issue, and were the first band to be shot for the cover of the magazine before releasing their debut album. The band made a television appearance on The Late Show with David Letterman on February 1, 2008, and on March 8, 2008, performed on Saturday Night Live . Four songs from the band's first album also made the Triple J Hottest 100, 2008 . The internet hype had its backlash, however, as critics reacted against

2325-594: The TV series The Chair . Shipments figures based on certification alone. Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone. Rolling Stone%27s 500 Greatest Albums of All Time " The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time " is a recurring opinion survey and music ranking of the finest albums in history, compiled by the American magazine Rolling Stone . It is based on weighted votes from selected musicians, critics, and industry figures. The first list

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2400-492: The UK and the following day in the US, after being pushed back from the original release date for the fall of 2009. The album's first single, " Horchata ", was released on October 5, 2009. The album's second single, " Cousins ", was released as a single on November 17, 2009. Initial copies of the CD and LP sold at independent record stores in the US included a 3-track bonus CD containing two "melts", which featured bits of album tracks and

2475-472: The UK. "A-Punk" was ranked the 4th on Rolling Stone's Readers' Rock List: Best Songs of 2008. "A-Punk" was also used to open the Will Ferrell/John C. Reilly feature Step Brothers , and featured in the UK television show The Inbetweeners and the video games Guitar Hero 5 , Just Dance 2 and Lego Rock Band . The band's second album, Contra , was released on January 11, 2010, in

2550-482: The album for AllMusic , Heather Phares wrote, "Everything is concise, concentrated, distilled, vivid; Vampire Weekend's world is extremely specific and meticulously crafted, and Vampire Weekend often feels like a concept album about preppy guys who grew up with classical music and recently got really into world music. Amazingly, instead of being alienating, the band's quirks are utterly winning." At The A.V. Club , Gordon Scott claimed that, "The young band's saving grace

2625-443: The album on its release. Paul Simon has spoken out in favor of the album, responding to the derision of some for perceived similarities to Simon's 1986 album Graceland and confirming that he does not consider the album to contain any stolen work. According to the review aggregator Metacritic , Vampire Weekend received "universal acclaim" based on a weighted average score of 82 out of 100 from 38 critic scores. Reviewing

2700-495: The album showcased the band's unique hybrid of indie pop , chamber music , and Afropop influences. In the United States, the album debuted at number 17 on the Billboard 200 . In the album's 11th week in the UK chart, it peaked at number 15. The album also reached number 37 in Australia. It was accompanied by the singles " Mansard Roof ", " A-Punk ", " Oxford Comma ", " Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa ", and " The Kids Don't Stand

2775-538: The album with The FADER and appeared on the cover of the magazine's 84th issue. On March 16, 2013, the band played the closing show at Stubbs on the last day of the SXSW festival in Austin, Texas. In the show they played two new songs from the upcoming album: "Diane Young" and "Ya Hey". On March 18, 2013, Vampire Weekend released a double-sided single , "Diane Young"/"Step". On May 11, 2013, Vampire Weekend were featured as

2850-420: The album, given the working title of "Mitsubishi Macchiato", would feature a more 'spring-time' vibe and one of the songs would be entitled Flower Moon . Koenig revealed that LP4 would be partially inspired by the songwriting of country singer, Kacey Musgraves , after he attended one of her shows in September 2016. In an interview with Stereogum , he stated, "I'm the type of person who has spent hours poring over

2925-449: The avant-garde poetic lyrics of certain songwriters, and there was something that felt so good [about Musgraves' songs and how] from the first verse, you knew who was singing, who they were singing to, what kind of situation they were in. After the show I realized there's not a ton of Vampire Weekend songs where you could listen to the first verse and immediately answer the question of who's singing and who are they singing to." Furthermore, in

3000-725: The band contributed a cover of " Con te Partiro " by Andrea Bocelli on the Valentine's Day compilation, Sweetheart 2014, as well as a cover of Bruce Springsteen 's " I'm Goin' Down " for the Girls Vol. 2 Soundtrack. They have also covered " Everywhere " by Fleetwood Mac , " Ça Plane Pour Moi " by Plastic Bertrand , " Have I the Right? " by The Honeycombs , " Blurred Lines" by Robin Thicke , " Fight For This Love" by Cheryl Cole , and " Ruby Soho " by Rancid . The band also contributed

3075-497: The band headlined "some of their largest venues to date" on the tour. In the album's first week of release, it debuted number one on the Billboard 200 and sold 134,000 copies in the United States. It was Vampire Weekend's second consecutive number-one record on the chart, as well as the nineteenth independently distributed album to top the Billboard 200 in the Nielsen SoundScan era (1991–present). The record entered

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3150-488: The band including the making of the new album and forthcoming world tour. The band performed "Gen-X Cops" and "Capricorn" on the May 11, 2024 episode of Saturday Night Live . The Only God Was Above Us tour began on April 8, 2024 in Austin, Texas . The band was a last-minute addition to the first weekend Coachella lineup on April 13, where they invited Paris Hilton onstage to play cornhole . Their only European date of

3225-418: The band played fan favorite "A-Punk" three times in a row, Koenig announced that Vampire Weekend's 4th album was done. On January 17, 2019, Koenig announced the abbreviation of the band's fourth album title as FOTB , and revealed that the album would consist of 18 songs, running at approximately 59 minutes. Additionally, he announced that the album would be promoted by three monthly two-song releases, beginning

3300-707: The band toured Europe and Canada with Canadian electro duo Fan Death as their support. The video for their next single " Giving Up the Gun " was also released on February 18, 2010, which included cameos from Joe Jonas , Lil Jon , RZA , and Jake Gyllenhaal . They also played festivals across the USA such as Coachella , Bonnaroo , Austin City Limits Music Festival , All Points West, and the Groovin' The Moo festival in Australia. Their third single, " Holiday ",

3375-444: The band was in the studio working on their fourth album, at the time titled, Mitsubishi Macchiato , with Batmanglij contributing to it. In late January 2016, the band supported Bernie Sanders by performing at an Iowa rally just before the primaries . Filling in for Batmanglij and Chris Baio, who was touring for his solo project, the band performed with members David Longstreth and Nat Baldwin of Dirty Projectors, Jake Longstreth ,

3450-462: The chandelier in St. Anthony Hall , a Columbia University semi- secret society . The photo is a Polaroid picture from one of the band's early shows at Columbia. The album sold over 27,000 copies in the first week of its release, debuting at number 17 on the Billboard 200 and as of 20 January 2010, has sold nearly half a million copies. The album was ranked as the 5th-best album of 2008 by Time ,

3525-599: The comedy duo the Lucas Brothers, and an all-female a cappella group from the University of Iowa . Koenig, a vocal Sanders supporter, also promoted the candidate on social media and his Beats 1 radio show, Time Crisis . In April 2016, the band briefly performed at another Sanders rally in Washington Square Park, marking their debut as a trio, joined again by Longstreth. In late 2016, Koenig

3600-665: The end of the year. On December 14, Frog on the Bass Drum Vol. 2 was released, a live show recorded in Milan in July 2019 which features the band playing their song, 'Bambina', twice in a row. Another newsletter was released alongside it, this time written by Chris Baio. He teased that the band had big plans for 2024 and concluded the newsletter: "LP5 IS DONE." On February 8, 2024, the band announced their fifth studio album, Only God Was Above Us , released on April 5, 2024. The album

3675-543: The follow-up to Father of the Bride , stating that the band had been recording in England and Los Angeles. “Sometimes I oversell how close we are with the record because who really knows?” Koenig said, “But we almost have an album’s worth of songs." On June 7, 2023, Vampire Weekend released Frog on the Bass Drum Vol. 1 , a live album recorded in Indianapolis during the band's Father of the Bride Tour in 2019. The record

3750-405: The following week. On January 24, the songs " Harmony Hall " and " 2021 " were released, and Koenig confirmed the title of the album as Father of the Bride . He also said that the record would feature an array of collaborators, including Batmanglij, marking the first time the band has included guest vocalists in an album. In an interview with Rolling Stone , Koenig said, "We've had three albums of

3825-433: The footage into a two-minute trailer during his senior year. The band began playing shows around Columbia University, starting with a battle of the bands at Lerner Hall in 2006. After graduating from college, the band self-produced their debut album while simultaneously working full-time jobs, Tomson as a music archivist and Koenig as a middle school English teacher. In 2007, Vampire Weekend's song " Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa "

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3900-513: The last of a trilogy." Said Koenig, "Things that we might have found boring in the past, we've started to find more fresh. This album has more piano and acoustic guitar and organ." Modern Vampires of the City also continued the use of digital voice modulation as heard in the songs "Diane Young" and "Ya Hey", a technique first used in the song "California English" on Contra The album was recorded and co-produced by Ariel Rechtshaid in his Los Angeles Studio (alongside Batmanglij). The band discussed

3975-428: The lead singer Ezra Koenig, said that the band had "some of the tracks [...] for a long time", so they were aware of how the album would sound but that it was "just a matter of tightening it up and remixing it a little". Koenig also said that the band was "really excited" and "psyched" about two songs in particular, which were recorded around September 2007, called "I Stand Corrected" and "M79". The album's cover depicts

4050-503: The leg was a May 30 headlining set at Primavera Sound in Barcelona . During the tour, the band performed partial covers of unrehearsed songs per audience request. Vampire Weekend played two hometown shows at New York City's Madison Square Garden on October 5 and 6; the latter was an afternoon matinee show. In 2010, the band, along with their record company XL Recordings and photographer Tod Scott Brody , were sued by Kirsten Kennis,

4125-404: The lesser representation of white male rock musicians was "the biggest takeaway". According to CNN 's Leah Asmelash, "The change represents a massive shift for the magazine, moving to recognize more contemporary albums and a wider range of tastes." Conversely, Jonathan McNamara of The Japan Times criticized the list for underrepresenting Asian and non-Anglophone artists, stating that "It seems

4200-476: The list as predictable and "weighted toward testosterone-fueled vintage rock". Following the publicity surrounding the list, rock critic Jim DeRogatis , a former Rolling Stone editor, published Kill Your Idols: A New Generation of Rock Writers Reconsiders the Classics in 2004. The book featured a number of critics arguing against the high evaluation of various "great" albums, many of which had been included in

4275-487: The list was published. It drew upon a new survey conducted with "more than 300 artists, producers, critics, and music-industry figures", including: Each voter was asked to submit a ranked list of 50 favorite albums. This time, the list included more musicians who were female and people of color, with many such artists represented at higher rankings than on the previous lists. 86 of the entries were 21st-century releases. One hundred fifty-four new entries were not on either of

4350-512: The list. Jonny Sharp, a contributor to NME ' s own 500 greatest albums list , described the 2012 Rolling Stone list as a "soulless, canon-centric [list] of the same tired old titles", adding: "looking at their 500, when the only album in their top 10 less than 40 years old is London Calling , I think I prefer the NME' s less critically-correct approach." Responding to the 2020 revision, Consequence of Sound ' s Alex Young wrote that

4425-414: The model on the cover of Contra , over the use of her image. Kennis's accusations were that the band used her image without her permission. Vampire Weekend settled with Kennis in 2011. 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 . In 2014,

4500-479: The musical guest on Saturday Night Live with Kristen Wiig hosting, their third time on the show. Released on May 14, 2013, the album debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard chart, marking the second time Vampire Weekend achieved the feat: its second album Contra also debuted at No. 1 in 2010, making them the first independent rock band to enter the charts at No. 1 with two consecutive releases. Modern Vampires of

4575-402: The previous lists. Another revision was published in 2023. Since 2020 Rolling Stone has also produced a weekly podcast called Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums , which, according to magazine, is based on an "updated version of Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums list". The podcast is hosted by Brittany Spanos, a staff writer at the magazine. The first version of the list, published as

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4650-564: The same voice over and over again. I like the idea of opening up our world a little bit." He also confirmed that "2021" features a Haruomi Hosono sample, and said that he planned to start work on Vampire Weekend's fifth album. The band's current touring approach is influenced by Phish , the Grateful Dead and other jam bands. Contemporary fans mirror these influences in their Deadhead inspired creation of unofficial merchandise including shirts, shorts, tie-dyes, and bucket hats. Father of

4725-504: The song "Ottoman" to the soundtrack to the 2008 film Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist . That song was then sampled by alternative hip-hop artist Kid Cudi . Two tracks from their debut record also appeared in the 2009 comedy I Love You, Man . A new song, "Jonathan Low", was released on June 8, 2010, appearing on the soundtrack to the third installment of the Twilight Saga films, Eclipse . Their song "Worship You" appeared as

4800-508: The two previous editions, and rap albums figured three times as much. Marvin Gaye 's What's Going On (1971) was featured at the number one spot. A revision to the 2020 list was created in 2023, replacing some older albums with newer releases from the 2020s. The original Rolling Stone 500 was criticized for being male-dominated, outmoded and almost entirely Anglo-American in focus. Writing in USA Today , Edna Gundersen described

4875-620: 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". The album draws influence from African pop styles such as soukous and Congolese rumba while incorporating string textures and harpsichords . The group jokingly described this hybrid of indie , afropop, and chamber pop as " Upper West Side Soweto ." In October 2007,

4950-487: Was announced to be the first installment in a vinyl-exclusive series of live albums. The release was accompanied by a newsletter written by Chris Tomson which revealed that the band's new studio album is partly inspired by the Indian classical music tradition, raga , after Koenig had taken a singing lesson in the style with Terry Riley in rural Japan. He then added that the album is "close to done" and more news will follow at

5025-463: Was awarded Gold by the RIAA on November 21, 2011, which means it has sold over 500,000 units in the US alone and over one million copies Worldwide. In 2010, it was awarded a diamond certification from the Independent Music Companies Association which indicated sales of at least 250,000 copies throughout Europe. On January 9, 2010, the band did an acoustic show for MTV Unplugged . The following month,

5100-433: Was largely unfounded, Koenig claimed he paid for Columbia with a scholarship and student loans; he himself was still paying off student loans in 2009. Self-titled Vampire Weekend , the band's first album was released on January 29, 2008. It received contemporary critical acclaim, being ranked number 430 on Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time , and has been hailed as one of the greatest debut albums. It featured

5175-563: Was preceded by double A-side single, "Capricorn" and "Gen-X Cops" on February 16, with the third, follow-up single, "Classical" released on March 14, 2024 respectively. On March 28, 2024, "Mary Boone" was released as the fourth and last single before the album. To further promote the album, the group officially launched a podcast titled Vampire Campfire on March 7, 2024 via Swedish hosting company Acast . The podcast consisted of Koenig, Baio and Tomson gathered around an ignited fire pit in an empty lot detailing various topics and subjects relevant to

5250-469: Was published in a special issue of the magazine in 2003 and a related book in 2005. Critics have accused the lists of lending disproportionate weight to artists of particular races and genders. In the original list, most of the selections were albums by white male rock musicians, with the top position held by the Beatles ' Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (1967). In 2012, Rolling Stone published

5325-424: Was ranked 67th on Rolling Stone' s list of the "100 Best Songs of the Year". In November 2007, they toured the UK with The Shins . The then-nascent influence of blog hype and internet buzz played a role in their success and led to a large prerelease following sufficient to support them performing on three tours before their debut album was released. They were declared "The Year's Best New Band" by Spin magazine in

5400-495: Was ranked second in recognition of its influence on Sgt. Pepper . The list also included compilations and "greatest hits" collections. An amended list was released as a book in 2005, with an introduction by guitarist Steven Van Zandt . Some compilation albums were removed, and Robert Johnson 's The Complete Recordings was substituted for both of his King of the Delta Blues Singers volumes, making room for

5475-876: Was released on June 7, 2010. On June 25, 2010, the band played the Pyramid Stage at Glastonbury Festival , in Pilton, Somerset, UK. The band were also on the main stage at T in the Park 2010 at Balado Kinross, Scotland, on June 8, and played the Oxegen Festival in Ireland on July 9. They also headlined the Latitude Festival in Suffolk, UK on July 18. On July 16, the band headlined the Main Stage at

5550-470: Was reportedly in talks to sign the band with Columbia Records , as he reportedly "hit it off" with executive Rob Stringer. Initially, this news was regarded a rumor, until the band's website revamp in 2018, in which a Sony Music copyright appeared on the site. In March 2017, Koenig revealed in an elaborate Instagram update that during 2016 he had spent countless hours researching and writing music in libraries with grad students. Additionally, he revealed that

5625-576: Was used in Viper Club and a trailer for The Big Sick . "Mansard Roof" was used in Grey's Anatomy and Someone Great . "Oxford Comma" was used in The Chair , Roswell, New Mexico , New Girl , Suits , How I Met Your Mother and I Love You, Man . The song "A-Punk" was used in the 2008 film Step Brothers and Scott Pilgrim Takes Off . The song "M79" was used as the theme song for

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