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Cover of Contra by Vampire Weekend
Cover: Contra

Song · Vampire Weekend

“Horchata” by Vampire Weekend

From the album Contra (2010)

“Horchata” by Vampire Weekend appears on 21 radio countdowns from 13 stations between 2009 and 2025. It was first released in 2010 on the album Contra. Its best result is #9 on the WRSI Top 94 Songs of 2010. In the combined RockLists rankings it is the #143 alternative song of 2010.

21countdowns
13stations
#9best position
0#1 finishes
2top 10 finishes
2009–2025years charted

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Horchata

Video from YouTube (Vampire Weekend - Topic). Pressing play loads YouTube's player. Watch on YouTube

"Horchata" kicked off the Contra era for Vampire Weekend in October 2009, when XL Recordings put it out as the lead single ahead of the 2010 album, first as a free download from the band's own website. Named for the sweet drink made from rice, almonds or sesame seeds, it goes down just as cool: Ezra Koenig singing over a bright, clattering bed of marimba and shekere.

Rostam Batmanglij produced it and mixed it with Justin Gerrish, and he filled the room with guests: Mauro Refosco on marimba, shekere, bass drum and shakers, Marcus Farrar on more percussion, Jonathan Chu on violin and viola, Hamilton Berry on cello, Nat Baldwin on double bass and Anne Donlon adding vocals. The whole band shares the writing. It got to number 10 on Billboard's Heatseekers Songs and number 2 on Bubbling Under Hot 100.

Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.

RockLists rankings

Alternative & Modern Rock

Indie & Adult Alternative

All Rock Formats

Year-end countdowns

Year#StationCountdownof
2009 65 WTMD Baltimore, MD WTMD Top 89 Songs of 2009 89
2009 19 The Current Minneapolis-St. Paul, MN The Current Top 89 Songs of 2009 89
2009 58 WXPN Philadelphia, PA WXPN Year in Review: Top 100 Songs of 2009 100
2009 47 102.7 WEQX Southern Vermont and the Capital District of New York (Albany) WEQX Top 102.7 of 2009 103
2009 32 WRNR 103.1 Annapolis, MD WRNR Top 104 Songs of 2009 104
2009 10 WRSI 93.9 The River Northampton / Pioneer Valley, MA WRSI Top 93 Songs of 2009 93
2009 52 Triple J Australia (national) Triple J Hottest 100 of 2009 100
2010 44 WFNX Boston, MA WFNX Top 101 Songs of 2010 101
2010 78 KSLG Eureka (Humboldt County), CA KSLG Top 94 Slugtunez of 2010 94
2010 28 (tie) WBER Rochester, NY WBER Listener Countdown 2010 95
2010 19 Impact 89FM Lansing, MI Impact 89FM Top 89 of 2010 88
2010 51 The Current Minneapolis-St. Paul, MN The Current Top 89 Songs of 2010 88
2010 68 WXPN Philadelphia, PA WXPN Year in Review: Top 100 Songs of 2010 100
2010 47 WRNR 103.1 Annapolis, MD WRNR Top 103.1 Songs of 2010 104
2010 9 WRSI 93.9 The River Northampton / Pioneer Valley, MA WRSI Top 94 Songs of 2010 93

All-time and decade countdowns

Year#StationCountdownof
2009 891 WYEP WYEP 913 Songs That Matter from the Last Decade 913
2013 312 WXPN WXPN 885 Greatest Songs of the New Millennium (2013) 885
2016 71 WYEP WYEP 913 Countdown 2016 913
2018 514 WTMD WTMD Listeners' Top 897 Songs, 2003-2018 896
2024 653 KEXP The Best Opening Tracks of All Time 738
2025 448 The Current 893 Essential Songs of The Current: 2005 to Now 893

Charting alongside it in 2010

Best songs of 2010 →
  1. 1Little Lion ManMumford & Sons
  2. 2Tighten UpThe Black Keys
  3. 3RadioactiveKings of Leon
  4. 4The High RoadBroken Bells
  5. 5AnimalNeon Trees
  6. 6Lay Me DownDirty Heads

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