Discovery – LP (Beggars Banquet)
In an either really brave or really dumb move, Vampire Weekend‘s Rostam Batmanglij and Ra Ra Riot‘s Wes Miles team up for a project that examines neo-R&B, touches on contemporary dance music, and celebrates the frequently maligned studio gadget: the Auto-Tuner. It’s unsettling at first, particularly if you’re a fan of either one of the duo’s full-time gigs, and if you’re patently against that aforementioned atrocity, it’s safe to recommend that you save your time and stop reading now.
Personally, it’s not a matter of hating such novel devices—it’s about hating how much they’re relied upon. On LP, about 30% of the tracks have it and the songs that have it on them are irreparably damaged as a result; they either don’t need it or become instantly forgettable.