Beirut / Gulag Orkestar
Album: Gulag Orkestar   Collection:General
Artist:Beirut   Added:Jul 2006
Label:Ba Da Bing!  

A-File Activity
Add Date: 2006-07-09 Pull Date: 2006-09-10
Week Ending: Sep 10 Sep 3 Aug 27 Aug 20 Aug 13 Jul 30 Jul 23 Jul 16
Airplays: 1 3 2 3 2 1 2 3

Recent Airplay
1. Aug 23, 2022: nearby galaxies
Postcards From Italy
4. Aug 19, 2017: moodswings
Postcards From Italy
2. Apr 15, 2022: Down the Rabbit Hole (rebroadcast from Apr 12, 2014)
Postcards From Italy
5. Mar 10, 2017: Road Trip
Postcards From Italy
3. Jul 14, 2018: Road Trip
Scenic World
6. Feb 17, 2017: Road Trip
Postcards From Italy

Album Reviews
canuck
Reviewed 2006-07-25
Eastern European-influenced indie folk pop from Albuquerque-via-Brooklyn youngster (19 years old!) Zach Condon. He has a soaring, almost crooning, baritone voice that sounds much older than he is; it sounds a bit like Andrew Bird’s to me. The instrumentation is often lush with lots of percussion and brass. He takes Balkan brass music as a big influence and there are some nice brass parts on the album. Jeremy Barnes (Neutral Milk Hotel, A Hawk and a Hacksaw) guests on the album. While I’m not completely in love with the album as a whole, I do love some of these songs.
-Adrian FCC: Clean (as far as I can tell)
My picks: 3, 4, 5, 7, 10, 11
1. starts with out-of-tune piano, accordion and wavering brass, then goes into a slow march.
2. med-slow. waltz-time accordion-based tune.
3. fast-strummed mandolin. chorus vocals. nice melody and orchestration
4. med-tempo ukulele and voice to begin, then full drums and later brass. I love this song, especially the brass parts.
5. med-fast. waltz-time accordion-based tune.
6. med tempo ukulele. plodding drums.
7. a bit out of place with electronic keyboards and drum sounds. they form a nice backdrop to his voice. more typical brass comes in between verses.
8. med tempo. a minute of drums and brass trills before the vocals come in. it’s mostly the instruments with small vocal parts.
9. med-slow ukulele and simple percussion to start. cello. Fades down and then comes in stronger with drums and brass.
10. med-slow ukulele and vox to begin. later simple brass and drums.
11. a bit of a reprise of 7. interspersed clapping. man, his voice is gorgeous on this song.
 
TBXTX12
Reviewed 2006-07-23
The first song, unlike the rest, is closer to true
slavic/balkan folk form.

Track Listing
1. The Gulag Orkestar   6. Rhineland (Heartland)
2. Prenzlauerberg   7. Scenic World
3. Brandenburg   8. Bratislava
4. Postcards From Italy   9. The Bunker
5. Mount Wroclai (Idle Days)   10. The Canals Of Our City
  11. After The Curtain