As a\nkid, I had a little bit of contact with Eastern European culture. Half of my\nfamily comes from that part of the world, so naturally a few traditions have\nbeen passed on–mostly in the category of food. I\u2019ve had a lot of paprikash and\ngoulash over the years. But I guess some of that tradition creeped into my life\nin ways I didn\u2019t really realize. After becoming enthralled with playing\ninstruments, two in particular seemed to really draw me in–the mandolin, and\nthe accordion. I had unintentionally tied myself to a strong and rich part of\nthis culture that I had only really a vague genetic and culinary contact with. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Zach\nCondon, the frontman of musical collective Beirut, has an even deeper\nconnection to the Eastern European culture as evidenced by the catalogue of\nmusic that he\u2019s created over the years; it\u2019s completely jam-packed with\naccordion, mandolin, organs, tubas, and even more obscure instruments that I\u2019d\nbe hard-pressed to identify. The tunes–often solemn, sometimes cheery, and\nusually catchy–that come from the band Beirut take heavy influence from the\nold world and combine them with the earworm-like qualities of contemporary\nindie-pop music, complemented nicely by Condon\u2019s unique and sometimes ethereal\nvoice. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
With\nthis new release, Gallipoli<\/em>, Beirut\ntakes their characteristic sound and takes it to the next level–this record is\nthe culmination of their previous efforts into something instrumentally,\nmelodically, and emotionally advanced. <\/p>\n\n\n\n In\nthe past, Beirut\u2019s efforts have lain on the cutesier side of things–enjoyable,\nbut not necessarily strongly impactful. Gallipoli\n<\/em>takes things a step further and really ramps up the emotional punch. The\nlyrics, although insightful on occasion, aren\u2019t the centerpiece of this album.\nIt\u2019s the highly evocative composition and production. Each song seems to\ncapture an impossibly specific emotion that would be a nightmare to articulate.\nFrom the innocent pride of opening track \u201cWhen I Die\u201d, to the regenerative\nqualities of the closer \u201cFin\u201d, the album leaves you with a sense of satisfying\nand warm catharsis. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Everything\nfrom the timbre and environment to the slowly building layering of each piece\nhas weight–it all makes me feel nostalgic for a trip to Eastern Europe that\nI\u2019ve never been on. And that\u2019s perhaps the goal of this album, not to make some\ngrand thematic statement, but to evoke a feeling like Condon may have felt on\nhis many trips to Europe. It\u2019s a prime example of the power that music has to\ntransport us to different places, feelings, and perspectives. Perhaps that\u2019s\nwhy so many of the songs are named for places; they\u2019re meant to be momentary\nminiature windows into those spots. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Maybe\nit\u2019s that ancestral connection, but this album seems to hit home in a strange\nway. Though it\u2019s a romantic ideal that music can be healing or expanding, Gallipoli <\/em>reaffirms these truisms of the\nmedium. <\/p>\n\n\n\n SCAD\nradio gives this album a 9\/10.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" As a kid, I had a little bit of contact with Eastern European culture. Half of my family comes from that part of the world, so naturally a few traditions have been passed on–mostly in the category of food. I\u2019ve had a lot of paprikash and goulash over the years. But I guess some of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":64,"featured_media":4955,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[265,530,32],"tags":[330,676,677,576,104,129],"yoast_head":"\n