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Beirut - No No No Album Review


Each Beirut album has its very own character and sound, none ever the same as its predecessor. No No No marks 10 years since Beirut's debut album Gulag Orkestar, an album hugely inspired by Eastern European music. The Flying Club Cup followed, a Parisian-sounding album, filled with strings and accordions. Then came The Rip Tide, which had a sudden leap into electronic sounds and styles that the band hadn't explored much before. Somewhere in amongst all of these influences sits No No No.

Beirut - No No No Album Review

Beirut have garnered themselves a strong, loyal fan base over the last 10 years, from both indie and world music audiences alike. Lead singer Zach Condon has one of the most unique and timeless voices around; he could be from anywhere in the world and be any age (he is actually American and only in his twenties). When listening to the band's debut album from 2005, it's hard to imagine that it's a teenager singing with such depth and wisdom. 10 years on, Condon has matured and sounds more at home making music than ever.

No No No is probably the band's most settled and structured album to date. It flows seamlessly from upbeat, catchy songs to more melancholy, deliberate tracks. The lead single 'No No No' is the catchiest of them all, pop-inspired and sure to stay in your head for days after. Current single 'Gibraltar' shines as the opening track, a perfect summer song and Beirut at their very best. 'At Once' is a beautiful, brooding song, showing the more contemplative side of Condon, his voice exuding depth and loss. The album soars, taking you on a beautiful journey that's sure to make it one of the best albums that 2015 has produced. As always with their albums, you are left wishing it was just slightly longer.

Continue reading: Beirut - No No No Album Review

Beirut To Drop New 4AD Album 'No No No' This Fall


Beirut

Beirut have announced their signing to 4AD Records, along with a brand new full-length album release entitled 'No No No' which is set to hit shelves in the Fall of 2015. Plus, they're scheduled to hit the road this summer alongside the album release.

Zach Condon from Beirut promoZach Condon returns with a new album from Beirut - 'No No No'

Zach Condon's multi-instrumental band Beirut are set to return four years since the release of their last album, 'The Rip Tide', marking their fourth full record and their first on their new deal with 4AD. You can expect more ethereal vocals, driving rhythms and colourful soundscapes from this alternative folk collective if the title track is anything to go by, and this worldly pop aesthetic is sure to grip global audiences.

Continue reading: Beirut To Drop New 4AD Album 'No No No' This Fall

Arcade Fire's 'Neon Bible' Recording Studio Set To Re-Open


Arcade Fire Beirut

Arcade Fire's 128-year-old renovated church recording studio is to be reopened next month after being bought by Emery Street Records. The old red brick church is located in Farnham in Canada, and also saw artists like Timber Timbre, Wolf Parade and Beirut record within its walls. Named Grand Lodge No. 24, the building is a part of music history and, following its recent purchase, could yet prove to part of music's future. 

Arcade Fire performing at British Summer Time Hyde Park
Arcarde Fire's fourth studio album, 'The Suburbs', debuted at the top of Billboard's 200 list

The studio, located 65 kilometres to the south of Montreal, was originally built to serve as a Presbyterian church. It served as a café and music venue throughout the 80s and 90s, before being bought by Arcade Fire in 2005 following the release of their tremendously popular debut studio album, 'Funeral', in September, 2004. The Canadian indie rock band used the church as the location for recording the majority of their second studio album, 'Neon Bible', throughout 2006. Before recording began, the church was refurbished into a full recording studio with a living space that included a kitchen, bedrooms and bathrooms. 

Continue reading: Arcade Fire's 'Neon Bible' Recording Studio Set To Re-Open

Beirut - Vagabond


Beirut's new single, Vagabond, is the latest to be taken from their successful third studio album, The Rip Tide, which was released in August 2011 through Pompeii Records. The band has announced an European tour, which will take place throughout May and June 2012.

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Beirut - Santa Fe


Beirut's new single 'Santa Fe' is taken from their third studio album 'The Rip Tide', which was released in August 2011 on Pompeii Records and is available to download from the band's website.

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Beirut, The Flying Club Cup Album Review


Beirut
The Flying Club Cup
Album Review

Continue reading: Beirut, The Flying Club Cup Album Review

Beirut, The Flying Club Cup Album Review


Beirut
The Flying Club Cup
Album Review


Like The Arcade Fire before them, Beirut are one of those special bands. Essentially the vision of 21 year old, Zach Condon, they create music utterly unlike anything else around.

The Flying Club Cup is a whirl of accordion, clattering drums and sweeping strings, evoking an idyllic Parisian cityscape in the summer. It is the result of an inimitable and inspired vision, and is a must for everyone who enjoys music.

This is not exactly a typical album a 21 year old would put out, the main influence clearly being Jacques Brel rather than say, Oasis. The celebratory carnival of 'Guyamas Sonora' could have been recorded at any point in the last eighty years, if it wasn't for the more polished production values.

Condon himself said in an interview that he was aiming for a French chamber music sound with 'big, glorious, over-the-top arrangements', and they are present in abundance, helped immeasurably by the addition of Owen Pallett on string arrangements. Pallett does on this record what he has done with the Arcade Fire and his own project, Final Fantasy; create stirring arrangements that can at once break your heart or make you glad to be alive.

Continue reading: Beirut, The Flying Club Cup Album Review

Beirut, Elephant Gun, Single Review


Beirut

Elephant Gun
Single Review


Now this is an odd one, and no mistake. A lad from New Mexico who makes solo records but performs with a ten-piece band. Apparently he met a bunch of Serb musicians in Paris when he was sixteen and he's never quite been the same since. Well, something's working for young Mr Zach Condon (he's still only twenty-one) , because he's playing festival after festival this summer all over Europe.

So what will audiences hear? Well, if "Elephant Gun" is anything to go by, pretty pop songs sung to a backing of interesting arrangements. "Elephant Gun" has a shuffly, waltzy feel. It's all odd stringed instruments, woozy brass and oompah percussion. It's really rather charming, although it's the instrumentation that holds the attention rather than the song itself, which is pretty thin and flimsy. There's a lovely coda though, in which something that sounds vaguely cornet-like reprises the tune over something that sounds like a badly cranked barrel organ, but probably isn't. It's wistful, in a shabby, faded, decadent kind of way. Very evocative.

"Transatlantique" is more of the same - the same shuffly rhythm, but with sparser instrumentation and less sentimentality. It's less obvious, less melodic, but still kind of fun. And "No, I couldn't tell you how the house burned down" is a fine opening line. "Le Moribond" is a version of a Jacques Brel song, accordion-driven and sprightly.

All in all, a nice little snack. Interesting flavours, but I'm not sure I could eat a whole one.

Jon Watson

Beirut

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