The other day we had a taste of Beirut's 'Holland' EP, and now we can get our ears around EP number two, 'March of the Zapotec'.

This is the video for 'La Llorona’, via Nialler:

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Being a big fan of Beirut, I was somewhat worried when last year's European Tour was cancelled. Zach Condon announced last April that the time had come for what Hunter S. Thompson would call 'an agonising reappraisal of the entire situation'. A letter was posted by Zach on the band's website which painted a bleak future:

"It's come time to change some things, reinvent some others, and come back at some point with a fresh perspective and batch of songs".

Well, contrary to the concerns of those more pessimistic amongst us, Beirut's return is now imminent. Less than a year on the band have scheduled some European dates in support of a forthcoming double EP. February 17th sees the release of 'March of the Zapotec' & 'Holland', both of which see Condon continue his geographically based musical journey. Where 'The Gulag Orkestar' showcased Balkan music & 'The Flying Club Cup' visited France, 'March of the Zapotec' takes in the world of Mexican funeral music (and is performed by a 19 piece Mexican band).

'Holland', on the other hand, is less straightforward. Though it's title might be the least ambiguous of Condon's records, the music is not, as one would expect, a collection of Dutch-inspired tunes. The songs are instead, according to Condon himself, along the "epic synth-pop" lines, while still containing Beirut's trademark heavy brass elements. This makes me excited.

One track from the latter EP has already surfaced online, and will give you an idea of what to expect (candid titles & minimal electro). My verdict is positive.

Beirut- My Night With The Prostitute From Marseille

The EPs will be released as one unit, appearing to be a split between Beirut & a band called Realpeople (though Realpeople is really just a pseudonym for Condon). What makes me (possibly) more excited than these EPs is the prospect of a European tour. Since TFCC Beirut have been firmly established as a band I must see live, and this tour may well be my oppertunity. No Irish dates on the cards (yet?), but a hop over to London for the Forum show doesn't seem too outlandish. Just let me speak to the good people at Visa...

Full Tour dates and bonus mp3 in the readmore.



Hamburg: Fabrik (May 3)
Amsterdam: Paradiso (May 5)
Brussels: Cirque Royal (May 6)
London: The Forum (May 8)
Minehead: All Tomorrow's Parties - The Fans Strike Back (May 9)
Paris: Bataclan (May 12)

Bonus Beirut related mp3 from one of 2009's up-and-comings:

Florence and the Machine- Postcards from Italy (Beirut cover)

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What do you get when you cross Arcade Fire with Beirut, through in a few dashes of respected NCY indie bands, and round things off nicely with a pinch of LCD Soundsystem?

The answer is Team B, the new project spearheaded by Arcade Fire's Kelly Pratt. The band have just released their debut album (available here), written and recorded whilst on tour with Arcade Fire & Beirut in 2007/2008.

It's always interesting to see how supergroups like this go, as I've found that the results are never exactly what you'd expect (unless you're talking about Audioslave, in fairness).

Mp3 & more after the jump...


So with a lineup that looks like this: Kelly Pratt (Beirut, Arcade Fire); Tracy Pratt (Beirut); Ryan Smith (Twin Thousands, Stars Like Fleas); Jon Natchez (Beirut, Stars Like Fleas); Jason Poranski (Beirut, FreeTime); Mike Fadem (Jealous Girlfriends) & occasionally Perrin Cloutier (Beirut) and Richard Reed Parry (Arcade Fire).... one would be forgiven for wondering aloud 'Exactly what the hell is this gonna sound like'?

Well, think vaguely-dangerous elevator music with catchy choruses, and strangely aggressive guitars (in a good, Weezer-y way).

Yes, I know, that makes no sense. Just check out the mp3 below and put yourself out of your misery. There's two more tracks on their myspace to further confuse you with. All good stuff though, and influences from member's other projects can be heard creeping in. It'll be interesting to hear what the whole album sounds like.

Team B - On My Mind

Cheers to B for the headsup!

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This weeks hangover mix comes courtesy of Conor from Dublin band Bats.
tracklist and download link in the read more



tracklist
1.Rocky Votolato - The nights disguise
2.Beastie Boys - I Don't Know
3.The Murder Of Rosa Luxemburg - A B for A Bee
4.Chromatics - Night Drive
5.Grandaddy - Jeds Other Poem
6.Gang Gang Dance - Egowar
7.Beirut - Elephant Gun
8.Pavement - Spit On A Stranger
9.Shins - Turn On Me
10.Minus The Bear - Pachuca Sunrise
cover by Chris Judge

click here to go to download page

Bats ep "Cruel Sea Scientist" is out now to buy and can be bought from such reputable ye olde music shoppes as- Tower Records, City Discs, Road Records and Plugd Records (Cork).You can also purchase it online at- www.richtercollective.com and www.batstheband.com
bats have some fine gigs upcoming supporting Ex-Models in transformer venue on 14th of may, Horse the Band in Eamonn Dorans on the 1 June and there also playing Mantua Festival on the 3 August.

Bats Myspace
Bats website

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Beirut have canceled all their planned summer appearances, including various European festival dates.

The band's mastermind Zach Condon has posted a letter on their site explaining the cancellations, and it makes for fairly alarming reading.

Check it out in the read more...


April 3

A Letter from Zach

It's with great regret that I have to tell all of you that Beirut is canceling their summer European shows. My reasons for doing this are many, a lot of them personal, but I still feel I need to provide something of an explanation.

The past two years have been a mindblowing experience. From the first indications that people were putting songs from Gulag up on their blogs to our incredible tour of Australia and New Zealand that we just completed, everything that has happened has been beyond anything I'd ever hoped could happen with the music I wrote and recorded in my bedroom. Once things started happening, I decided I wanted to do everything as big as possible. So, I set about putting together a large band, and giving that band a huge sound, and making the most spectacular records we possibly could.

I know this can sound like an artist shithead kind of comment, but going through all that really does have its low points along with the highs. The responsibilities of gathering people around your vision, working with great people like those who work directly for the band and those at the label, wanting to insure that every show is as good as humanly possible so that every single person in the audience sees that we put in a real effort, all of that leads to a lot of issues in terms of doing right by people who have done you right.

It's come time to change some things, reinvent some others, and come back at some point with a fresh perspective and batch of songs.

Please accept my apologies. I promise we'll be back, in some form.

-Zach



So I guess we definitely won't be seeing the Flying Club Cup tracks live again then.
DAMN!!

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Apparently Ireland OR the UK don't feature in the afforementioned 'World', so I'm hoping that more dates are yet to be announced.

They'd better be, as Beirut are one of the few bands I'd travel abroad to see right now, and I don't think my wallet could take the strain.

Fingers crossed...

Dates so far after the jump:

May 22
Commodore Ballroom
Vancouver, BC

May 24
Sasquatch
Quincy (Washington state near Seattle)
sasquatchfestival.com/2008/

May 25
Crystal Ballroom
Portland, OR

May 27
Grand Ballroom
San Francisco, CA
www.regencycentersf.com

May 28
Grand Ballroom
San Francisco, CA
www.regencycentersf.com

May 30
Wiltern Theatre
Los Angeles, CA
www.ticketmaster.com

June 26
Olympia
Paris, France
www.olympiahall.com

June 27
Festival Le Rock dans tous ses
Evreux, France
www.abordage.net

June 28
Openair St Gallen Festival
St Gallen, Switzerland
www.openairsg.ch

June 30
MUFFATHALLE
Munich, Germany
www.muffathalle.de

July 01
MANUFAKTUR
Schorndorf, Germany
www.club-manufaktur.de

July 02
LIVE MUSIC HALL
Koln, Germany
www.eventim.de / www.livemusichall.de

July 03
Rock Werchter
Werchter, Belgium
www.rockwerchter.be / www.proximusgoformusic.be

July 04
Fabrik
Hamburg, Germany
www.karsten-jahnke.de / www.fabrik.de

July 06
Heineken Open'er Festival
Gdynia, Poland
www.opener.pl

July 20
International Benicassim Festival
Benicassim, Spain
www.fiberfib.com/tickets

July 24
Portugal Festival Musicas do Mundo
Sines, Portugal
www.fmm.com.pt

August 06
Norway Oslo Oyafestival
Oslo, Norway
www.oyafestivalen.com

August 08
Goteborg Way Out West
Stockholm, Sweden
www.wayoutwest.se

August 15
Green Man Festival
Crickhowell, UK
www.thegreenmanfestival.co.uk

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Another hangover mix to help you through the weekend.
tracklisting
1. running up that hill - chromatics
2. A Place to Stay (w/ Mary Lou Lord) - Elliott Smith
3. My Family's Role in the World Revolution - Beirut
4. O.B.1 - Thingy
5. Mirador - Efterklang
6. 1/21 - Toe
7. St. Andrew's Hall - Blind Melon
8. Birthday Resistance - World's End Girlfriend
9. Abrazo Distante - Tristeza
10. walky-talky - harmonia

Download it here

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Thanks to Shane at 'The Torture Garden' for the heads up. As he rightly points out, this version is far better than the one on the album.

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Bloody Hell, Le Blogotheque have done Take Away Shows for every single track on 'The Flying Club Cup'.

Wow Wow Wow.

Check em out here.

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Having heard the bad news about Final Fantasy's new album not being finished any time soon I took my own advice and bought Beirut's new album 'The Flying Club Cup'. Even having only listened to it about three times at this stage (not bad, seeing as it's only lunchtime) I can safely say that it has blown me away.


I enjoyed Gulag Orkesta, but didn't really 'get into it', so the quality of the follow up has kinda taken me aback. It still has the strong Eastern-European influence present in Zach Condon's earlier work, but this album seems much more focused- with the emphasis heavily on the songs.

The songs in question are strikingly compelling, the arrangements always complimenting their interesting time signatures and impassioned vocals. Owen Pallett's string compositions have seamlessly slotted into the overall theme of the album, with several moments that one could easily imagine being belted out by a crazed gypsy at a bonfire.

I think this shall remain in my stereo for quite some time, as I ponder whether or not the title is an allusion to Quidditch.

Buy the album here.

Here are some tasters:

Cherbourg

Cliqout

In The Mausoleum

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Shane over at The Torture Garden has posted a new Final Fantasy interview. You can check it out here.

In a brief summing up:

- don't hold your breath for the new album (damn!).
- contrary to rumor he will more than likely not be coming back to Ireland before Christmas (damn damn!).
- we can all bide the time by checking out the new Beirut album, on which Owen features heavily and had a hand in writing.

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