Beirut? Is it all Pitchfork hype or is it actually good?

I don't blame the media for an artist that falls off. I may be naive.

wonder if it'll really lead to anything

curious to see him live, hear very m ixed things

Fuck, I've only been here a year. I'm supposed to be a noob still!

Noodle OTM regarding this band, btw ("Can't judge it until it's been occupied by Matisyahu for a month.").

There are a few really major reasons to compare Beirut to NMH: the treatment of the horns, certain aspects of the vocals, the fixation on Europe and European history, and (generally) a lot of the moods and atmospheres being created.

That's how comparisons and similes work -- they point out what's alike. Levels of being-revolutionary aren't really relevant to those comparisons. We could point to a million indie bands who "sound like the Velvet Underground," and who in their right mind would say "yes, but the Velvet Underground were more important and influential?" It's as if someone said that snake tasted like chicken, and you said "but no, chickens have wings."

(I believe Shakespeare wrote a sonnet about this issue once.)

thought Gulag Orkestra was alright. i haven't really spun it since last year though. new album good?

It's nice, yeah. Review from me in the OC Weekly in a couple of weeks on it; it's basically an 'I love the French' album.

I loved ‘Gulag Orkestar’ but I find ‘Lon Gisland’ to be very meh.

Couldn't get on with Gulag Orkestar - maybe wasn't in the mood for rampant accordionism - but this new one is very appealing. Unexpectedly warm and moreish.

moreish?

As opposed to lessish

jeezeish

My favorite tracks on Gulag were the electronicky ones - and then I heard the song he did for the Believe and that one was electroncky too. How presence does that element have on the new album?

I'm trying to imagine what a "I Love teh French" album sounds like. Musette?

Moorish.

there isn't much electronic influence on the new one. it's lovely though. it isn't a huge departure from the first. there is more of the fairground organ, it is better produced, he enunciates more, less trumpet, more violin.

"The Penalty" is quite nice, though the rest of this new one hasn't made much of an impact on me.

I hear more of an evident britpop influence (e.g., his new vocal style, the melodies) rather than the expected significant chanson chordal inflections. The arrangements are more mariachi (not a bad thing at all) than Brel.

new one: lite.

breezy

Going to re-check this out since Nantes is being played on the radio over here several times a day and it's, well, check out the live version (and The Penalty too) here:

http://www.blogotheque.net/article.php3?id_article=3455

Oops. I meant "Clicquot," not The Penalty. It was a mislabeled mp3.

wow that is horrible

It is? It's quite refreshing to hear it on the radio, maybe I've only grown used to it, it didn't attract my attention when I first heard the album.

maybe seeing what that dude looks like has totally ruined any chance of me ever liking that music

Relistening to the first album, I like the Goran Bregovic-type melancholia.

I like "My Night with the Prostitute from Marseille."

their performance on letterman was really very nice.

i saw them perform recently. it was a very sturdy show, really quite good. but i don't think i'll ever listen to them, myself.

that's unfortunate, because they are rather good.

sounded a little too sweet and tapestry-like, but i really don't have much to go on.

i do find his voice beautiful

i guess there's something new. it all sounds like a waltz at a carnival under the influence of really good opium.

So apparently Beirut is huge in Brazil. Crazy.

It'd be wicked if instead of simply covering Beirut songs they'd adapt his style into their own language and music. Kind of like what the tropicalistas did with the british invasion.

No one else anticipating the new album 'The Rip Tide' (Aug 30th)? First single 'East Harlem' is pretty decent. Listen below:

http://stereogum.com/721582/beirut-the-rip-tide-details/mp3s/

i am anticipating it. but i have low standards.

Based on the first single? At the very least, it shows a new direction, which I'd rather than a rehash of earlier stuff.

It'd be wicked if instead of simply covering Beirut songs they'd adapt his style into their own language and music. Kind of like what the tropicalistas did with the british invasion.

A Banda Mais Bonita da Cidade is said to be Beirut-influenced:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QW0i1U4u0KE

i just have low standards in general, i like the new single very much. i used to lament that he was sucking up all of the attention that belonged to devotchka but they both seem to be doing alright. home town favoritism.

It'd be wicked if instead of simply covering Beirut songs they'd adapt his style into their own language and music. Kind of like what the tropicalistas did with the british invasion.

A Banda Mais Bonita da Cidade is said to be Beirut-influenced:

― Don Rickles on the Dime (jaymc)

Not really hearing the Beirut influence but the video is definitely inspired by La Blogoteque's takeaway concerts in which Beirut has collaborated heavily. Are all of those members of the band?

new one has appeared, finding it very beautiful.

this one is the standout for me, 1 of my fav songs of the yr i think

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UYdXi-AseF8

are these guys really popular? just got an email (saying that laetitia sadier is opening for them), and they're playing a pretty large space in denver. i'll take a listen, don't think they'll be my thang though.

Saw them at a festival this summer. The people I was with that knew about them were really excited to see it, and the crowd seemed to really worship them. The show itself was good but by then I'd seen the oompha waltz-singer with suspenders playing off-mic trumpet with crowd vocals thing done a number of times by other bands, and it wasn't anything that blew my mind. Good beer-waving music.

https://last-donut-of-the-night.ghost.io/beirut-zach-condon-interview/

Interesting interview with Zach Condon re his own health, touring , the music biz