The good thing about a lame week is it gives you the chance to listen to an album you hadn’t heard in months. I went back to vampire Weekend’s Contra today and it holds up stellar.
The quirk of South African rhythms meshes so well with the weirdness of urban living. I mentioned Walt Stillman just the other day, but the entire contra album owes to this meshing of privilege of humanity.
Especially the last two songs.
“Diplomat’s Son”, as strange a tribute as John Mellor could ever require: it’s as though it is the day before, Strummer moved gears in his life.
“I Think Ur A Contra” is a strung out love song: there seems to be a class difference between the couple, or maybe just a disparity in emotional depth. It’s a song that mulls inside you with a blankness.
Contra is one of the best albums of the year, nice to hear it again.