Stars

There are few bands who produce consistently good albums over a long career. Radiohead is in there. Modest Mouse is pretty good at not sucking. Beck. Neil Young. But a lot of bands are either around for a long time, making the same ridiculous, boring album over and over again (Aerosmith, AC/DC, Rolling Stones); or they release one great album and each subsequent album serves only to detract from the success of the first (Interpol); or they release a brilliant album and more or less disappear, a la J.D. Salinger (Neutral Milk Hotel). With the release of The Five Ghosts, Stars may have solidified their status as a quality act with the longevity to call it a career.

Vampire Weekend

I don't often go to see popular music performed live. I mostly don't listen to pop music, but that's not why I don't go. I just don't think there is anything to be gained from seeing someone lip sync his way through exact replicas of overproduced hit singles. If I'm going to pay money to see someone spout off about failed relationships or daddy issues or recentalgia, I want to see some interpretation. Stick an oboe in there somewhere. But when Vampire Weekend (they are pop music) announced that their North American tour would begin in Edmonton, I bought tickets immediately, in spite of the venue. Why? I wanted to see if they could reproduce the jingles from their albums.