Wednesday, April 01, 2009

Great World of Sound: Beirut

I've just finished listening to the first great album of the year- Beirut's "March of the Zapotec/Real People". Beirut is really just the brainchild of young singer Zach Condon. Influenced by Eastern European "folk" music (much like Denver band DeVotchKa), Condon's latest installment of smart and get-under-the-skin sounds is a magisterial blend of two divisive types of music. The first half resembles his earlier sounds on "The Gulag Orkestar" and "The Flying Club Cup"- a crashing (but completely moving) blend of horns, violins and Arcade Fire-like makeshift instruments. The second half of his latest EP (the RealPeople section) dives deep into low-key electronica. Blink and you may think it's Thom Yorke singing.... but Condon is a unique individual whose voice pierces whatever sound he chooses to infuse into his eclectic mix. It's all wonderful and sublime.

Here's a sample from the RealPeople section of the album, my favorite song on the record titled "Venice".



And just in case the above track misleads anyone into Beirut's music, here's a more traditional and representative taste of their music:



Beirut only has three albums out, so do yourself and favor and catch up quick.

6 comments:

Chris Gaubatz said...

I'm scratching my head on that one.

Joe Baker said...

Granted, its not for all tastes. Over the past year or so, I've found myself so bored with mainstream music. With XM radio, I've found myself searching more eclectic stuff.... the world music and indie/unsigned being my two favs.

Chris Gaubatz said...

It's cool to see you expanding your horizons...I just wasn't feeling this one...then again, I only listened once, perhaps they deserve another go-round...dude here

Fletch said...

I knew I smelled a DeVotchKa reference.

I will be listening to their albums on lala on Tuesday. Thanks for the recommendation.

I think you and I are similar musical vagabonds, Joseph. I find myself just bouncing around from genre to genre in search of whatever's good, and usually coming up with something, typically in a genre I didn't even know the name of before. It's fun searching for something that you didn't even know was there.

Joe Baker said...

Fletch.. totally understand and I love the musical vagabond reference! I can listen to pretty much anything except country and hip-hop. Everything else is negotiable and on the table.

Unknown said...

Beirut is an absolute favorite at the moment. Love the many different sounds and the way Zach works through them. Cant wait for the next album.