Beirut

Beirut, the project of New Mexico's multi-instrumentalist Zach Condon, debuted with the guitar-less Gulag Orkestar (BaDaBing, 2006). The baroque arrangements (trumpet, ukelele, accordion, violin, mandolin, keyboards, percussions) and memorable melodies of his songs evoked visions of Magnetic Fields and Rufus Wainwright gone populists, but also of bizarre underground acts oriented towards marching-bands and street music such as Lol Coxhill's Welfare State. Unique to Beirut, though, was the influence of Balkan folk music (of the kind that shows up in Kusturica's films) and a somber, melancholy mood.
The theme song Gulag Orkestar is typical of how the layers of instruments (dominated by the horns' fanfare) submerge and obfuscate the vocals. The "orchestral" clangor of Brandenburg, Bratislava and Rhineland literally obliterates the words. These songs attain a state of mournful suspension through repetition of simple vocal melodies that are not meant to deliver a story but simply contribute to the overall arrangement.
Other songs rely more on captivating rhythms: the waltzing Prenzlauerberg, that also boasts lilting singalong crooning and a catchy horn melody, Scenic World even toys with a programmed beat.
Beirut's ethnic accents are not only Slavic. Postcards From Italy actually mixes a tinkling ukulele, an operatic aria and Spanish-tinged horns. The vocal harmonies of The Bunker belong to an imaginary land. Bratislava has a rhythmic undercurrent that sounds more African than European.

Relocated to France, Zach Condon transformed himself into a melancholy crooner for The Flying Club Cup (Ba Da Bing, 2007). The typical song referenced a nostalgic ambience of ordinary lives in old environments, a universe of resigned ancestral emotions recycled via a blatant appropriation of the stereotyped semiotic signs of accordion, ukulele, violin, piano, harpsichord, flugelhorn, etc. The martial and nostalgic, Spanish-tinged Nantes, the polka singalong A Sunday Smile, the majestic fanfare of Guyamas Sonora the waltzing and mournful Forks and Knives , the operatic piano-based Un Dernier , as well as the petulant instrumental La Banlieu , sound like postcards from a distant place and a distant time. Zach Condon's melodic gift is impressive. His arrangement skills are perhaps even more impressive.

The double EP March Of The Zapotec/Holland (Ba Da Bing, 2009) collects Mexican-inspired songs and electronic experiments.

The short The Rip Tide (Pompeii,2011) already sounded like the work of an aging musician trying to repeat the exploits of his youth. A Candle's Fire and East Harlem would make for a great Beirut-like pop single. Santa Fe is probably redundant (more of the same) and the grandiose The Peacock doesn't quite deliver on its ambitions. This should have been a single.