One: Robert Christgau is blogging. His piece on the critical reaction to Vampire Weekend is well worth reading.
Two: I never thought I’d see the day where Clikatat Ikatowi were referenced in the New York Times. I was, evidently, wrong.
Three: The link immediately above references Foals. I am kicking myself for missing their shows in NYC this week, given that I was deeply impressed when I saw them in the fall. Ah well…
The problem with the critical reaction to that record is sort of a “damned if you do, damned if you don’t” scenario. If you mention the Afropop/Afrobeat/whatever angle, you open yourself up to criticism for not knowing your shit. Ignore it (for fear of being called out as unknowledgeable), and you get criticized for glossing over it.
The privilege question is much more interesting to me. I can’t remember which of the reviews/discussions of the record linked from the Xgau piece mentioned it, but I liked the phrase, “a Massachusetts that won’t let in the Massholes” or whatever (I’m thinking off the top of my head). Bob’s right: it would be more interesting to know what their parents do for a living before dismissing them for their Ivy-League roots. (This coming from someone who has a big chip on her shoulder w/r/t Ivy privilege. Perhaps I can be “enlightened” when I want to be.)
I wish everyone would just call Vampire Weekend the second coming of the Strokes and be done with it.
And the class stuff isn’t that interesting for precisely the same reason it never is: everyone wants to defend a bunch of Ivy League guys and it turns into some relatively well-off variant of Akeelah and the Bee. If anything it points up the bankruptcy of what’s come to pass as left thought in present-tense America: class criticism can’t be reduced to everyone disclosing their tax returns, unless I completely misunderstood Marx.