Discovery
LP
(XL)
Harmless lark or misguided detour? That’s the nagging question when it comes to Discovery, the playful team-up of Vampire Weekend keyboardist Rostam Batmanglij and Ra Ra Riot singer Wes Miles.
Debuting with a 10-song slab titled simply
LP, the duo will inevitably delight some and annoy others, albeit to a much lesser degree than Vampire Weekend. Whatever the reaction, Discovery makes no airs about its status. Not in the least a stab at enduring greatness, it instead has the easygoing lightness and shuffled diversity of a true side project, mucking about with sultry R&B and nerdy pop alongside Brooklynized Afrobeat and a heavily glittered cover of Jackson 5’s ‘I Want You Back’.
Sung by both Batmanglij and Miles, these songs often dice and stutter the vocals as if the guys are remixing and recording at the same time. Likewise, the music has the stilted, robotic edge of so much commercial rap, with what sounds like Auto-Tune appearing more than once. Mirror-ball synthesizers and laidback 808s factor prominently into the equation, coalescing in the same sort of digitized rainbow hues we see on the album’s cover. In the process, the atmosphere of a lazy summer afternoon is made so palpable that you can almost taste the fruit punch in either collaborator’s hand.
Opening the record, the cutely romantic ‘Orange Shirt’ includes the following condition to its requisite, R&B-inspired come-ons: “I promise to leave before your mother wakes up in the morning”. It’s a moment worthy of Flight of the Conchords, at once arch and affectionate, sexy and boyish. ‘Osaka Loop Line’ then unfolds less like the Postal Service than James Tamborello’s earlier project, Figurine, whereas ‘Can You Discover’ lays on buttery pleading, punctuated with the quietly funny line ‘My bed’s too big for just me’. Dirty Projectors’ Angel Deradoorian sings on ‘I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend’, allowing her already rollercoaster-like delivery to be chopped up for the sake of the song. Vampire Weekend frontman Ezra Koenig lends his vocals to ‘Carby’, which goes out of its way to sound vacuum-sealed and right off the assembly line.
Two of Discovery’s best songs, ‘So Insane’ and ‘Swing Tree’, arrive in the album’s middle with little fanfare but a lot of rubbery appeal. There’s still a fair amount of gimmicky happening, but this pair feels more human than other tunes. As for the brave stab at the Jackson 5, it’s a total novelty: amazing on first listen but considerably less so with each revisiting, as the shock value wears off. The same rule applies for much of LP: it’s clever and refreshing on first listen, yet increasingly pat and pointless. The vocals are cuddly, the melodies are sticky and sweet, and the production is very much of the times, but there might not be much staying power in something so tossed off.
Then again, there might be. Even after multiple listens, it can be tricky to decide on which side of the love/hate divide Discovery belongs. Which, of course, can only lead to more listens.
Doug Wallen
myspace.com/discoverdiscovery