FIVE VAMPIRES

1. VAMPIRE WEEKEND
i should hate this. it's a kind of upbeat poppy strokes-go-calypso paul simon graceland kinda vibe that totally reeks of college. in fact, in one song he even mentions something about "seeing you on campus..." or something. barf.
BUT, i kind of think the whole white dudes playing african music thing works out sometimes, take the afformentioned graceland or talking heads circa fear of music and remain in light for example. and this shit IS pretty catchy. this reminds me of that french band phoenix, ever checked them out? things stray a bit close to ska territory in a couple places, but overall "i'm feelin' it" as blink 182 says. also, they sound cute. girls will love this.

2. NECROSCOPE by brian lumley
this is the first in a huge series of novels about a guy who can talk to the dead and fights communist vampires across the space-time continuum.

3. NOSFERATU MAN by slint
when i was in grade 8 somebody lent me a tape that had slint spiderland on one side and something else i can't remember on the other. to say that it blew my mind is an understatement. i basically became completely obsessed with this band and everything connected to them, which led me to bands like tortoise and the palace brothers among others. i can remember listening to that tape and just really feeling it, you know? i listened to it so much back then that i can't really do it anymore, it makes me feel like i'm 14 again, which is to say horribly awkward and crippled by self loathing. i tried listening to it again recently and all i could think was: dude, what the fuck is up with your epic goth math rock spoken word album?
this song is pretty goth and vampire-y and gets kinda heavy and has a fucking killer two guitar part that i still involuntarily air guitar along to.

4. FUN VAMPIRES (aka FUNPIRES)
you know those people who always have to get serious about things? you'll be hanging out with a few people, talking, having a good time and then so-and-so pipes in with something heavy or inappropriate that just kills the vibe instantly. or they'll be more subtle, bringing attention to themselves, complaining about how cold or hungry they are, trying to make their problems everyone else's, making sure everyone is aware of how shitty the music is and so on. total energy suckers.
oh wait, i'm a fun vampire.

5. KINSKI AS NOSFERATU DIRECTED BY HERZOG
a no-brainer.