Featured Album

WXPN Radio

The premier guide for new and significant artists in rock, blues, and folk - including NPR-syndicated World Cafe ®

Listen Xpo

24/7 Musical discovery. A unique mix of emerging and heritage blues, rock, world, folk, and alt-country artists.

Singer Songwriter Radio

Featuring classics from heritage troubadours to new musicians and bands in the singer-songwriter tradition.

Folk Radio

Folk music radio streaming on the web; Americana, Roots Music, recordings, and stories from folk's best.
Listen Live

Vampire Weekend: WXPN's January 2008 Artist to Watch

Vampire Weekend

Vampire Weekend has emerged from the fertile New York indie-rock scene. All four of its members met while attending Columbia University. Still, they stick out of the crowd for two reasons.

First, their endearingly wordy lyrics make Vampire Weekend's songs sound collegiate in the best possible way. And second, their unique sound inventively mixes contemporary American indie-rock, Western classical music and South African traditional music.

The band strived to capture its Afro-pop fandom in its songwriting, and it did well: Stylish songs such as "A-Punk" blend ska and woodwinds, while "Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa" invokes African dance music, not to mention lyrics about raging hormones.

Website: vampireweekend.com
MySpace: myspace.com/vampireweekend
Recent Release: "Mansard Roof" (single)
Release Date: October 23, 2007 / self-titled, full length debut slated for release January 2008
Label: XL Recordings

Song Clips:
listen A-Punk | Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa | Mansard Roof

SUPPORT PROVIDED BY:
Dodge is a proud supporter of WXPN

Help Support WXPN

Say What? Souls Of Mischief playing Underground Arts on June 27

Has it really been 20 years since the hip-hop group Souls of Mischief released their classic 93 ’til Infinity? It sure has. Not...Read More

Watch Cold Fronts signing to Warner Brothers / Sire Records via Vine

We’ve heard whisperings of this news for a few months now, so we’re glad that it’s finally official. Philly’s...Read More

Listen to the latest episode of Folkadelphia streaming on demand! (ft. Bailey Hounds, Vandaveer, Patty Griffin and...

In case you missed this week’s episode of Folkadelphia, the weekly exploration of the many definitions of folk music on XPN2,...Read More

Holy Cross, The Mahogany Stompers next up at Eric Cabonara’s Highwire Gallery series on 5/24

This month, Nada Sound Studios’ Eric Carbonara is guest curating a series of shows at Fishtown’s Highwire Gallery. Next in the...Read More

Watch Low Cut Connie perform two pop-up shows in Chicago (playing Appel Farm on 6/1 and Underground Arts on...

Local saloon-style rock band Low Cut Connie found themselves at the center of attention in a Chicago bowling alley a few weeks ago...Read More