Beirut
(Pompeii)
Orson Welles once famously reveled in the bacchanalia of Brazilian carnival while filming documentaries on the U.S. government's dime. Now, Zach Condon might not be as much the boy genius as Welles was. But while vacationing in Oaxaca, singer/composer Condon reportedly threatened to make his own films before recording, impromptu-like, with a 19-piece marching Mexican band. Half of this package was recorded under the quiet-man guise of Realpeople that he used for pre-Beirut bedsit recordings. The best phrase to describe those tunes (dubbed Holland) are tender traps - cool murkily produced cave songs whose melodies shimmer when Condon's voice ignite their flame.
The Zapotec songs? Not unlike the mile-high airiness that impacts DeVotchKa's quaint mash-up Balkan-bolero from below and above, Condon's "La Llorona" and "On A Bayonet" exist in an arid vacuum; moments of foreign intrigue that come across as luridly alien but kinky good fun.
Standout Tracks: "La Llorona," "No Dice" A.D. AMOROSI
