Carl Sandburg Visits Me In A Dream

The brainchild of Zach Condon, Beirut has somehow gained some kind of magical indie mystique since the 2006 release of his debut Gulag Orkestar.  What are your ears supposed to do with a lyrically talented individual with a penchant for the accordion and Balkan horns and cymbals? Well, it seems that is generally understood that Beirut is something unique and….well, really enjoyable.  Condon is originally from Santa Fe, New Mexico, but later moved to Paris for several months after attending community college.  It was there that he soon came to love Balkan sounds, and the rest really just history.   And so after the successful sophomore release of The Flying Club Cup, Beirut has added to his somewhat prolific discography with a 2-EP LP March of the Zapotec/Realpeople Holland.

For MOTZ, Beirut traveled south of the border to Mexico to enlist a Oaxacan band to help him with his strange and delightful concoction of sounds.  The outcome is something to be heard, with the sultrous “The Akara” sounding like something straight out of a movie you’ve never heard.  “La Llorona” is more reminiscent of previous Beirut work, with staccato, bumpy horns complemented by Condon’s buttery smooth vocals.

The 2nd part of the double-EP, Realpeople Holland, is an entirely different animal yet still distinctly Condon.  Under the Realpeople name, Condon ventures into electronica to deliver some uplifting and enticing tracks.  The highlight of the EP, “My Night with a Prostitute from Marseilles” has him crooning ‘And now / outside / you see the waves in her eyes’ to great effect.  If not for the vocals, the song could easily pass as a Postal Service track with its precise synthetic goodies and all.

Get a copy of the double-EP here.

Listen to “My Night with a Prostitute from Marseille”

Listen to “La Llorona“