Vega Intl. Night School
Studio album by
Neon Indian
ReleasedOctober 16, 2015
Studio
  • The Palomo Dojo
  • Plantain, New York City
  • Maze, Atlanta
  • Rad, New York City
  • Midnight Sun, New York City
  • Carnival Fantasy
Genre
Length51:21
LabelMom + Pop
ProducerAlan Palomo
Neon Indian chronology
Errata Anex
(2013)		 Vega Intl. Night School
(2015)		 World of Hassle
(as Alan Palomo)
(2023)
Singles from Vega Intl. Night School
  1. "Annie"
    Released: May 26, 2015
  2. "Slumlord"
    Released: August 13, 2015
  3. "The Glitzy Hive"
    Released: October 8, 2015

Vega Intl. Night School is the third album by American electronic music band Neon Indian. It was released on October 16, 2015, by Mom + Pop Music. The album title was an intentional nod to Alan Palomo's other music project, titled Vega, for which he has produced only a single EP. Noticing that ideas from both Neon Indian and Vega were merging, Palomo decided to combine the two projects into one and retire the use of the Vega moniker.[3]

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
AnyDecentMusic?7.7/10[4]
Metacritic79/100[5]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[6]
The A.V. ClubA−[7]
Consequence of SoundB[8]
Drowned in Sound9/10[9]
Exclaim!7/10[10]
Pitchfork8.6/10[11]
Q[12]
Rolling Stone[13]
Spin7/10[14]
Uncut6/10[15]

Vega Intl. Night School received generally positive reviews from music critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream publications, the album received an average score of 79, based on 17 reviews.[5] Praising "the most rewarding of danceable peaks" in the album's middle section, Calum Slingerland of Exclaim! wrote that "Palomo's four-year absence has yielded a flashy, fun record with welcome diversity".[10]

After noting that "there's plenty of Tom Tom Club and Blondie in the album's bubbly disco", Heather Phares of AllMusic said, "In its own way, VEGA INTL. Night School is just as immersive as Neon Indian's previous work and even more impressionistic, with a flamboyance that makes it a captivating standout within his own work as well as his contemporaries".[6]

Rolling Stone reviewer Renato Pagnani said, "Palomo peels back the layers of psychedelia that have sometimes obscured his work in the past, striving for a directness that results in the most crystallized – and accessible – version of his aesthetic yet".[13]

Sasha Geffen of Consequence of Sound praised "the sequence of 'Slumlord' into 'Slumlord's Re-lease' and 'Techno Clique'", declaring that it "proves to be Night School's centerpiece and the most concrete realization yet of Neon Indian as pure electronic music".[8]

Year-end lists

Publication Accolade Year Rank Ref.
The 405 The 30 Best Albums of 2015 2015
10
 [16]
Complex The Best Albums of 2015 2015
44
 [17]
Gorilla vs. Bear Best Albums of 2015 2015
35
 [18]
The Line of Best Fit The 50 Best Albums of 2015 2015 — [19]
No Ripcord Top 50 Albums of 2015 2015
49
 [20]
Pitchfork The 50 Best Albums of 2015 2015
35
 [21]
Pretty Much Amazing The 50 Best Albums of 2015 2015
15
 [22]
Under the Radar Top 100 Albums of 2015 2015
20
 [23]
Variance The 50 Best Albums of 2015 2015
17
 [24]

Track listing

All tracks are written by Alan Palomo, except where noted

No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Hit Parade" 1:05
2."Annie"
  • Alan Palomo
  • Jorge Palomo
4:03
3."Street Level" 4:02
4."Smut!" 3:27
5."Bozo" 1:23
6."The Glitzy Hive" 3:51
7."Dear Skorpio Magazine"
  • A. Palomo
  • J. Palomo
3:56
8."Slumlord"
  • A. Palomo
  • J. Palomo
5:15
9."Slumlord's Re-lease" 2:25
10."Techno Clique" 4:32
11."Baby's Eyes" 6:26
12."C'est la vie (Say the Casualties!)" 3:03
13."61 Cygni Ave"
  • A. Palomo
  • J. Palomo
4:04
14."News from the Sun (Live Bootleg)"
  • A. Palomo
  • J. Palomo
3:53
Total length:51:21
Japanese edition bonus track[25]
No.TitleLength
15."Smiley Sticker"2:51

Personnel

Credits adapted from the liner notes of Vega Intl. Night School.[26]

Musicians

  • Alan Palomo – all vocals; Fender Rhodes electric piano (track 7)
  • Jorge Palomo – bass (tracks 2, 7, 8, 13, 14); guitar (tracks 2, 6, 7, 13, 14)
  • Alex Epton – drum programming (tracks 2, 3, 6, 7, 10, 14); percussion (track 11)
  • Ben Allen – guitar (track 3); drum programming (tracks 3, 9, 13)
  • Morgan Wiley – outro Minimoog keyboard (track 4); Rhodes Chroma keyboard (track 7); Korg PS-3100 keyboard intro (track 8); piano (track 11)
  • Nicole Brenny, Gryphon Graham, Eliza Walton, Austin Brown, John Jacobson, Kai Flanders, Lanneau White – partygoes in background (track 6)
  • Chris Coombs – guitar (tracks 7, 11, 12)
  • W. Andrew Raposo - Fender Rhodes electric piano (track 7)
  • Nick Millhiser – drums (track 8)
  • Mark Cobb – percussion (track 9)
  • Abe Seiferth – additional guitar (track 11)
  • Jason Faries – drums (track 11)
  • Josh Ascalon – outro noise textures (track 12)
  • Brandi Ullian – back-up vocals (track 14)

Technical

  • Alan Palomo – production (all tracks); engineering (tracks 1–8, 10–14)
  • Alex Epton – mixing (tracks 1–10, 12, 14); additional production (track 4); engineering (tracks 6, 8, 10)
  • Sumner Jones – engineering (tracks 2, 3, 6, 8, 13); outro mixing (track 6)
  • Ben Allen – additional production (tracks 2, 3, 6, 8, 9, 13); mixing (tracks 9, 13)
  • Josh Ascalon – engineering (tracks 6, 7, 11, 12)
  • W. Andrew Raposo – engineering (tracks 7, 8, 11, 13)
  • Eric Broucek – engineering (tracks 8, 14)
  • Jordan Richardson – engineering (track 11)
  • Heba Kadry – mastering at Timeless Mastering, Brooklyn, New York

Artwork

  • Robert Beatty – artwork, design, art direction
  • Luke Lanter – cover photo
  • Alan Palomo – art direction

Charts

Chart (2015) Peak
position
US Billboard 200[27] 100
US Independent Albums (Billboard)[28] 13
US Top Alternative Albums (Billboard)[29] 12
US Top Rock Albums (Billboard)[30] 14

References

  1. ↑ Feenstra, Gerrit (October 13, 2015). "Album Review: Neon Indian – VEGA INTL. Night School". KEXP-FM Blog. Retrieved July 31, 2018.
  2. ↑ Mitchell, Matt (July 21, 2023). "The 50 Greatest Synth-Pop Albums of All Time". Paste. Retrieved July 22, 2023.
  3. ↑ "The Director's Chair: A Chat with Neon Indian's Alan Palomo". Consequence of Sound.
  4. ↑ "VEGA INTL. Night School by Neon Indian reviews". AnyDecentMusic?. Retrieved January 7, 2020.
  5. 1 2 "Reviews for VEGA INTL. Night School by Neon Indian". Metacritic. Retrieved November 7, 2015.
  6. 1 2 Phares, Heather. "Vega Intl. Night School – Neon Indian". AllMusic. Retrieved May 18, 2020.
  7. ↑ Partridge, Kenneth (October 16, 2015). "Neon Indian dances itself clean of the chillwave tag once and for all". The A.V. Club. Retrieved October 25, 2015.
  8. 1 2 Geffen, Sasha (October 15, 2015). "Neon Indian – VEGA INTL. Night School". Consequence of Sound. Retrieved October 15, 2015.
  9. ↑ Miller, Kellan (October 16, 2015). "Album Review: Neon Indian – VEGA INTL. Night School". Drowned in Sound. Archived from the original on October 26, 2015. Retrieved November 6, 2015.
  10. 1 2 Slingerland, Calum (October 19, 2015). "Neon Indian: VEGA INTL. Night School". Exclaim!. Retrieved January 7, 2016.
  11. ↑ Cohen, Ian (October 14, 2015). "Neon Indian: VEGA INTL. Night School". Pitchfork. Retrieved October 25, 2015.
  12. ↑ Davies, Hannah J. (December 2015). "Neon Indian: VEGA INTL. Night School". Q. No. 353. p. 111. ISSN 0955-4955.
  13. 1 2 Pagnani, Renato (October 16, 2015). "VEGA INTL. Night School". Rolling Stone. Retrieved November 6, 2015.
  14. ↑ Aftandilians, Natasha (October 19, 2015). "Review: All Aboard Neon Indian's Time-Traveling Cruise Ship on 'VEGA INTL. Night School'". Spin. Retrieved January 7, 2020.
  15. ↑ "Neon Indian: VEGA INTL. Night School". Uncut. No. 223. December 2015. p. 76. ISSN 1368-0722.
  16. ↑ "The 405's 30 Best Albums of 2015". The 405.
  17. ↑ "The Best Albums of 2015". Complex.
  18. ↑ "Gorilla vs. Bear's Albums of 2015". Gorilla vs. Bear.
  19. ↑ "The 50 Best Albums of 2015". The Line of Best Fit.
  20. ↑ "Top 50 Albums of 2015". No Ripcord.
  21. ↑ "The 50 Best Albums of 2015". Pitchfork. Archived from the original on 2015-12-18. Retrieved 2015-12-16.
  22. ↑ "The 50 Best Albums of 2015". Pretty Much Amazing. Archived from the original on 2016-06-13. Retrieved 2017-06-02.
  23. ↑ "Under the Radar's Top 100 Albums of 2015". Under the Radar.
  24. ↑ "The 50 Best Albums of 2015". Variance.
  25. ↑ "VEGA INTL. Night School by Neon Indian on Apple Music". iTunes Store.
  26. ↑ Vega Intl. Night School (liner notes). Neon Indian. Mom + Pop Music. 2015. MP233.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  27. ↑ "Neon Indian Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved October 27, 2015.
  28. ↑ "Neon Indian Chart History (Independent Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved June 17, 2020.
  29. ↑ "Neon Indian Chart History (Top Alternative Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved June 17, 2020.
  30. ↑ "Neon Indian Chart History (Top Rock Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved October 27, 2015.
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