Most indie rock fans have heard of Ra Ra Riot and Vampire Weekend, both top-charting awesome bands. But has anyone heard of Discovery, the electric duo of Rostam Batmanglij, the keyboardist from Vampire Weekend, and Wesley Miles, the vocalist from Ra Ra Riot?
Thanks to the wonders of Pandora, I accidentally stumbled upon this group and their amazing album entitled LP. A hybrid fusion of indie, electronic, and futurepop, this band creates an entirely new futuristic sound. The duo have made only this album, and with the success of their other bands they haven’t had time to start jamming out some more good vibes, but the potential for this group is unbelievable!
Their songs, from “Osaka Loop Line” to “Swing Tree” (my favorite) all channel a creative mix of eccentric techno beats, synthesizer infusion, and intricate lyrics.
Their cover of the Jackson 5’s “I Want You Back” is probably the most well-known song, and its use of auto-tune is surprisingly well done. The song starts off silent, for a few seconds, until you start faintly hearing the technified (spell check says this is not a word, but it is now) remix start slowly playing in the background; then they bring in the instrumentals, drums and synth programming, and vocals.
I personally am not the hugest fan of auto-tune, but Batmanglij really kicks “I Want You Back” into gear and blends it all in at 2:30 minutes into the song. By the end of this funky remix, you will be grooving along to a futuristic Jackson 5 as much as I am!
Go discover Discovery, because their album is too cool of a techno-indie mix to pass up.
Tuned In is a regular music column written by Michele Haeberlin, Current Staff.
The West Bend Current 
Looks like this is something I’ll have to check out! Thanks for the great article.