Beirut
Whilst Zach Condon was fifteen, attending Santa Fe high school, he recorded Magnetic Fields-influenced electronica under the name of Real People. A year later, he’d authored a doo-wop album inspired by Frankie Lymon and The Teenagers. Another year on, he’d released a three song EP called ‘Small Time American Bats’ under the name 1971, and dropped out of school to travel around Europe and become introduced to the work of Balkan gypsy music, such as that of the Boban Markovic Orchestra. Here, before he was even 18, Beirut the band was born.
Well, they perform as a band, but most of the instrumentation you’ll find on their 2006 releases (debut LP ‘The Gulag Orkestar’ and its partner EP ‘Lon Gisland’) is done by Zach himself at his house, occasionally assisted by able friends such as Jeremy Barnes and Heather Trost from A Hawk and a Hacksaw. Other than those two releases, songs from Beirut can be found on the Pompeii EP (three of ‘em) and a further single ode on a split release with alt-country legends Calexico. However, a further EP is scheduled for release this October, with his second album ‘The Flying Cup’ due to hit shelves a month before. One for the ‘records of 2007’ lists, we’re sure.
BEIRUTBAND.COM: The official site, updated by the band themselves. Hear news nuggets direct from the studio, such as “today Zach learned how to tie his own shoelaces! We’re very proud of you Zach!”
MYSPACE.COM/BEIRUT: A low down of who the hell it is who actually plays all those euphoniums etc. live, along with four tracks to sample.
4AD.COM/BEIRUT: 4AD give you a charmingly penned biography, along with news and the like, alongside details of all the other uniformly brilliant bands they deal with.
THE GULAG ORKESTAR: An account of Rockfeedback’s first meeting with the work of Zach Condon.
A HAWK AND A HACKSAW – THE WAY THE WIND BLOWS: Jeremy Barnes is a hugely influential figure and contributor to the music of Beirut. His other band, A Hawk and A Hacksaw, recently released this startling work – which Zach guested on.
ELEPHANT GUN:
THE GULAG ORKESTAR LIVE WITH THE ARCADE FIRE: