BEIRUT (BAND)

'Beirut' is the name of -year-old Santa Fe native 'Zach Condon''s band. The first official release under the Beirut name was assisted by Jeremy Barnes (Neutral Milk Hotel, A Hawk and a Hacksaw) and Heather Trost (A Hawk and a Hacksaw), it combines elements of Eastern European and folk sounds.
Though young, Condon has already released a few albums. He recorded under 'The Real People' name when he was 15, making ''The Joys of Losing Weight'', which is a lo-fi electronic record (''ie'', generally in the style of 'Scenic World' on ''Gulag Orkestar'') fashioned consciously after The Magnetic Fields. At 16, he recorded an entire doo-wop album that was inspired by Frankie Lymon & the Teenagers. Zach also released a three-song EP titled "Small Time American Bats" under the name ''1971''. The album was recorded in 2001-2002 and has never been officially released. Condon attended Santa Fe High School, where he was a student until he dropped out at the age of 16 to travel Europe where he was first exposed to Balkan gypsy music notably including the Boban Marković Orchestra.
In 2006, Beirut released two Balkan-inspired recordings through Ba Da Bing, ''Gulag Orkestar'' and ''Lon Gisland'', both also available as an expanded version of ''Gulag Orkestar'' LP through the UK label 4AD. Beirut has also released other individual songs, three available on Pompeii EP, and the one on a split with Calexico, and one on a compilation for The Believer magazine. While living in Brooklyn, Condon also shot a video for "Scenic World" at the Sweet'N Low factory, and performed several venues in New York and Europe.

His first official music video was for the song "Elephant Gun". The video was directed by Alma Har'el.The second video for the song "Postcards from Italy" was also directed by Alma Har'el, and was released later.
Live, Beirut's shifting roster generally consists of Condon accompanied by Perrin Cloutier (cello/accordion), Jason Poranski (guitar/mandolin/ukulele), Nick Petree (drums), Kristin Ferebee (violin), Paul Collins (organ/keys/tambourine/ukulele), Jon Natchez (baritone sax/mandolin/glockenspiel), and Kelly Pratt (trumpet/euphonium).
According to the band's official website, Condon was "briefly hospitalized for extreme exhaustion" in November 2006, resulting in the cancellation of the rest of the tour. The band resumed performing live in March 2007.
In June 2007 they played the Glastonbury Festival's Jazz and World Stage, and were widely considered one of the best acts of the festival.
Later in 2007, Zach appeared as a guest trumpeter on the sophmore album from Get Him Eat Him, entitled "Arms Down".
Beirut's second album, ''The Flying Club Cup,'' was leaked onto the internet August 25th, 2007. It has been released and is available on iTunes.

Contents

Discography

External links

Discography

External links

★ Official website

★ Ba Da Bing Records

★ "A Young Man Simulates an Old World" May 4, 2006 ''National Public Radio''

★ "Gypsy Road, Take Me Home" June 5, 2006 ''The Village Voice''

★ "A young American's Balkan brass band" June 26, 2006 ''Associated Press''

★ "Instant Fame" July 6, 2006 ''WNYC Soundcheck''

★ Beirut's Myspace Page

★ Criticism October 16, 2006 ''PopMatters''

★ "Beirut: The Band" ''New York'' magazine

★ "Making the Video" New York Noise

★ Videos from Bowery Ballroom May 8, 2007

★ "My Data Crime" by Erik Davis; an article about a music journalist's experiences with record executives and the watermarking system used on advance copies sent out to reviewers, which are often ripped and uploaded ('leaked') to the Internet