Beirut – The Rip Tide

 Oh my God what Zach Condon does with horns…

I saw Beirut at the Berlin Festival 2011 where their set was a highlight. Another arrival in the multi-instrumentalist style band like Arcade Fire & Camera Obscura, Beirut is distinguished by three things: distinct vocals & lyrics, nontraditional instruments, and a brilliant, non annoying use of horns. I chose to see them at the festival because of a song called Brandenburg, off the first album, Gulag Orkestar, and I currently work in Brandenburg, so that seemed a good a reason as any (well thought out I know). The brainchild of an Albuquerque, New Mexican, Zach Condon, Beirut is anchored by unique instruments that are played in a modern way. So a ukelele that is rocked more than strummed, and keyboards that oscillate between traditional organ and modern day electronic.  And some truly beautiful use of strings.  Apparently Condon dropped out of high school and traveled around Eastern Europe, where he gathered inspiration for Gulag Orkestar.  That sort of bleak, melancholy vibe runs throughout the album., Condon’s vocals are the most distinguished, which rise stories above the sea of recent man-going-on-about-sad-things that is popular at the moment (think Bon Iver, Iron & Wine, Fleet Foxes).  There is no wheedling or yearning, just pure pain of “She’s waiting for the night to fall/Let it fall, I’ll never make it in time.” (East Harlem).  Another gem is the “Rip Tide”: “and this is the house where I, I feel alone, feel alone now/ and this the house where I, where I could be unknown, be alone now”  So walk out to where the sea meets the debris, drag your sad-sorry-bastard long face to some promontory overlooking something, think about youngWerther & his sorrows, and let the violins play.