Youthful exuberance evokes Old World style, at least when you're talking about 21 year-old Zach Condon and his band, Beirut. Playing music from other times and places, the band's latest album, The Flying Club Cup, is an homage to France with each song representing a different French city.
Republicans, you better start fryin' up [sic] some Freedom Fries.
To create their rustic, European sound, Beirut uses a wide array of instruments, with string arrangements written by Owen Pallet of Final Fantasy and Arcade Fire. And when I say "wide array of instruments," this is what I mean: euphonium, petromilli, harpsichord, mandolin, farfisa, wurlitzer, glockenspiel, flugel horn, accordion, bouzouki, ukulele, celeste, melodica...
The list goes on, but I want to avoid carpal tunnel.
Opening the album playing conch shells, Condon sets the stage for an album that's anything but ordinary. With vocals similar to Devendra Banhart and a sound occasionally reminiscent of Andrew Bird, Beirut plays thickly layered arrangements that make them more of an orchestra than a band.
To truly appreciate what I'm saying, watch this video of “Guyamas Sonora,” which was shot last month in Brooklyn.
Republicans, you better start fryin' up [sic] some Freedom Fries.
To create their rustic, European sound, Beirut uses a wide array of instruments, with string arrangements written by Owen Pallet of Final Fantasy and Arcade Fire. And when I say "wide array of instruments," this is what I mean: euphonium, petromilli, harpsichord, mandolin, farfisa, wurlitzer, glockenspiel, flugel horn, accordion, bouzouki, ukulele, celeste, melodica...
The list goes on, but I want to avoid carpal tunnel.
Opening the album playing conch shells, Condon sets the stage for an album that's anything but ordinary. With vocals similar to Devendra Banhart and a sound occasionally reminiscent of Andrew Bird, Beirut plays thickly layered arrangements that make them more of an orchestra than a band.
To truly appreciate what I'm saying, watch this video of “Guyamas Sonora,” which was shot last month in Brooklyn.
See what I mean. Uplifting, complex, unique—pick an adjective, they all work. Eschewing classification, Zach Condon and Beirut have created their own genre—they're to indie music what Jonathan Safran Foer is to the novel: a wondrous anomaly.
Download:
Beirut | A Sunday Smile [MP3]
