Hey music junkies! Sorry about the lag in posts, been settling down the past few days at my new job, so I've been racing around shaking hands and signing papers. But that's definitely enough about work, let's talk jams. Alright, so we've touched upon a good amount of musical styles already throughout this blog, which is exactly what I was looking to accomplish. However, I wanted to keep pressing the envelope a bit for this project and continue to unveil some musical styles that people may not have known were out there. This is certainly one of them. There are certain artists that are so off the charts that their music seems almost impossible to categorize. Too "this" to be "that", not enough "here" or not enough "there". It gets to a point where it's best just to give up and appreciate it for what it is, and see if other music comes close to it in the future. This is how I feel about today's mystery musicians -Beirut.
To start off, the most obvious theme to his music is definitely his love for Eastern European sounds and instruments. Can't really say you hear much Balkan folk music on the radio now. Hell, has the radio ever played Balkan folk music? Last I heard, accordion music wasn't named "most likely to make a comeback" anytime in the next century. But one man saw hope in this style, and his name is Zachary Francis Condon. Condon is truly a jack of all trades when it comes to music, which is what makes him so hard to pinpoint when it comes to genre or style. His influences are just too high in numbers to try and settle on one specific name or title. He's been called indie, he's been called western pop, he's been called folk. But isn't he all of these? One thing is for sure - he is American. Many Europeans are actually calling Beirut (now a collection of Condon and a few other artists) "too good to be American". Really Europe? That's creative. I love you, but come on. This is America, we put our own spin on things! Take pizza. Italian pizza is how do you say...awful? We came along and tweaked it a bit, and now it's everyone's favorite. Americans are improvisers! So, unless you have anything nice to say, Europe, keep it to yourself before we improvise our boot up the foreign part of your affairs...if you catch my drift.
Either way, this guy is pretty genius. Completely free-formed, and loves what he does. Extremely talented, yet highly overlooked. I hope to see more of him in the future, just because he's definitely pushing the boundaries of today's music. Whether you think he's pushing them in the right direction or not is completely up to you. Regardless of his influences, I just love the story this music tells. It's passionate and lively and hits you at your roots. Beirut shows that chaotic behavior is sometimes the best medicine for a chaotically cluttered mind. Some songs can remind you that everyone is a little crazy sometimes, and other songs can make you feel like the only one. But together the combination of Condon's hypnotizing and gentle voice with the blaring background brass instruments sends you on a twisted ride that always seems to let you down smooth. So without further adieu, I welcome you to enjoy the carnival calamity that is Beirut. The items on the menu tonight are "Elephant Gun" and "Postcards from Italy"
P.S. Condon has a trumpet cameo on The New Pornographers newest album "Together". What a coincidence!
Ramble on,
AllTheFancyWicker
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