Yesterday I posted a fairly peeved note concerning Jessica Hopper’s Chicago Reader article about Vampire Weekend. (She’s responded to that note, very graciously, on her blog, but that seems to have vanished.) My note led to a spike in traffic, which was unexpected: if I’d realized it’d catch much attention, I might have explained myself more carefully. The essay below is an attempt to outline my thoughts beyond the mere pique of the thing. Some of you may have heard me talk about this stuff before, but it seemed worth setting down a full, coherent version of it; read at your leisure.
Race Wars and Vampire Weekend
Jessica Hopper's recent article on Vampire Weekend's Contra went beyond mere mischaracterization, claiming frontman Ezra Koenig "bandies about the ethnic heritage of Vampire Weekend's members," before taking the band to task on issues of race and class. Some music bloggers didn't take too kindly to that...