living vicariously through vampire weekend
i sent out a text to a couple of friends who would get it:
thought of the day: if i ever crave to go to NYC, i will just listen to vampire weekend and microdose being a columbia university grad whose biggest worry is choosing between socialites to pine over all while leaving them on read from my brownstone apartment in washington heights
as of now, i have never set foot in new york state, and haven't had much reason to. the closest i got was last summer for a brief stint in the DMV area, helping a friend move from one side of the country to another. even when my timezone adjusted on the flight over, i didn't have a burning desire to be a tourist in the big apple. still, i like when music takes me places. some people don't get it, but the ones that do, do.
i like music that has me recall memories i'll never have. i like music that invites me to the studio, the venue. i like when album covers for live albums take you to the audience. portishead's rendition of "glory box" places me in the rotund sprawl of seating wrapped in the mystique of beth's seamless, intermittent drags. sade's performance of "is it a crime?" bedazzles me with her yearning pleas from my not-so-nosebleed seat. i like when static album covers serve as a portal. animal collective reminds me of the childlike wonder of falling in love in "grass"; the same goes for "bluish," the soft vocalizations alluding to the bliss of a deep courtship with a playful lover.
before i drift away, back to vampire weekend.
when i first heard "ya hey," i quite literally uttered, "holy shit" from my work desk. it stopped me mid workflow, and i spent a few minutes scanning the album art. i've only seen buildings from great heights in photos. it's like if tarkovsky directed the opening bird's-eye sequence of disney's "hunchback of notre dame." i felt a phantom chill you'd only get from higher elevations.
"a-punk" is what i'd think a new england college party would be like. i'd muster up what i do know from teen movies from the early aughts, only there'd be more lacoste shirts and loafers with sock tans from hamptons weekend trips than i could imagine. this flavor of masculine bravado in a disproportionate ratio of men and those who're to be wooed by such shenanigans feels claustrophobic after a bit. the shared air becomes a sinew of beer burps. is my apartment a far walk from here? maybe i can get cab money. he's cute; i'll ask him.
so if you see my vampire weekend listening history spike, just know you can find me somewhere in manhattan.