Discovery is the electro-funk side project of Wes Miles (from Ra Ra Riot) and Rostam Batmanglij (from Vampire Weekend). The debut album LP began as a side project in 2005, even before their respective bands achieved relative success in the independent music world. The band’s bio described LP as “an attempt to realize Wes’s concept of a band where everyone plays synthesizers, and of Rostam’s concept for an album where handclaps keep the backbeat instead of snare drums.” The concept sounds undeniably kitschy, but you’d be wrong to dismiss it on that basis. In fact, LP is a lot of fun, and the concept proves to work surprisingly well throughout the entire length of the album (a somewhat modest 30 minutes). Although you can hear hints of Vampire Weekend and Ra Ra Riot on LP, the album actually owes more to Daft Punk, hip hop and funk that it does to indie rock.
Kasey’s Top Scallop recipe (i.e. seared scallops with salsa verde) is a delicious, summery/springy dish: light, flavorful, and delicately lush. For this reason, it pairs quite well with Discovery’s LP, which is danceable, upbeat, and likely the “go to” summer album for thousands of music fans worldwide. Rostam and Wes alternate the singing duties on the album in addition to guest appearances by Ezra Koenig of Vampire Weekend and Angel Deradoorian from Dirty Projectors. Koenig’s track, “Carby,” is one of the album highlights, a track about looking for love in a club: “Wait oh / it’s much too late, oh / and I can not be walking home until I found my love. / Oh lover because I’m driftin’ home / where’s the freedom in a disco if you’re all alone?” And, honestly, Discovery’s electro-pop cover of the Jackson 5’s classic “I Want You Back” is alone worth the price of admission.
LP will be released on July 7, and you can pre-order it now from Insound.
Head back to eating/SF to read all about the “Top Scallop” recipe (not to mention a sidekick Parmesan cabbage salad) for this week’s musical pairing (yes, our name for the recipe is a reference to two of our favorite Top Chef contestants during this past season: Jamie and Fabio). While you are there, don’t forget to enter the eating/SF & Foodzie contest to win a box of truffles from Neo Cocoa!
