Vampire Weekend and Other Indie Bands Fusing Afro-Pop

[DudeAsInCool]

The UK Times Online takes a look at a new pop music genre that incorporates African music, which is being spawned by New York indie bands including Vampire Weekend, the Dirty Projectors and Yeasayer...and how the trend is spreading to include bands like Coldplay:

"Vampire Weekend's frontman Ezra Koenig insists they aren’t attempting to replicate Congolese rumba."

“It’s hard to say where it comes from,” he says. “African music is so diverse, and, if you really want to take something as inspiration, and listen to it too closely, you’re not going to come up with anything new. I first heard a Fela Kuti record that my dad had. But, of any African music, we sound the least like afrobeat. King Sunny Ade [the Nigerian juju-music star known as ‘the minister of enjoyment’] was also in the house then."

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Photo: Vampire Weekend