Beirut – The Flying Club Cup

Nathan — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 12:00:17 +0000

2007 was a great year for music. i wrote last week about what i thought was one of the top five albums of last year, and today i introduce to you another. (i may actually come up with a list sometime in the future, hope that’s ok even though 2008 is almost half over.) zach condon is a very talented multi-instrumentalist who records and performs under the moniker “beirut.” after listening to his music, one might assume that he was from lebanon or at least somewhere far away from the states. but in fact condon is a santa fe native, currently residing in new york, who plays balkan music. and does so very beautifully, if i do say so myself. for those not familiar, balkan music is a type of music from southeastern europe that is often charactarized by its very complex rhythm and instrumentation. condon’s main instruments are the trumpet, on which he is very skilled, and the ukulele. but those are definitely not the only instruments to be heard on beirut’s latest release, the flying club cup. with the help of final fantasy‘s owen pallett, who did the string arrangements for arcade fire’s neon bible (another top 10 album of ’07 for me), some of the songs on the album feature as many as 14 different instruments.

i haven’t heard but one song off of their first album, so i can’t really compare this one to their older stuff. but i definitely give the album two thumbs up. having grown up playing the trumpet, i am a sucker for almost any music with horns that isn’t ska. but beyond that, his voice just seems to suck me in and capture my full attention with every song. so i encourage you to download this song, and if you like, i can assure you that the whole album is worth your time and money.

beirut – a sunday smile (removed 2/13/09)

I Hope Your Ears Bleed » zach condon

Beirut – The Flying Club Cup