song of the day: may 29/2011

Beirut - Scenic World
Album: Lon Gisland EP [2007]

one of 2006's most unexpected indie success stories, beirut combines a wide variety of styles, from pre-rock pop music and eastern european gypsy styles to indie folk and lo-fi, homemade psychedelic experimentation. at the heart of this sonic hybrid was a teenager from albuquerque, a fact that made beirut's debut album, "gulag orkestar", all the more surprising. something of a musical prodigy, multi-instrumentalist zach condon began making one-man bedroom recordings in his early teens; while conducting interviews several years later, he claimed to have recorded an entire album of 1950s-style doo wop material and a collection of electronic pop songs inspired by the magnetic fields. after dropping out of high school, condon claims to have traveled through europe at the age of 16, in the process becoming exposed to the folk and gypsy music that's at the heart of his debut. back home in albuquerque, he crossed paths with fellow new mexican jeremy barnes, formerly of neutral milk hotel, and together they worked on the sound of beirut. condon recorded the songs that would make up "gulag orkestar" largely on his own, playing accordion, keyboards, saxophone, clarinet, mandolin, ukulele, horns, glockenspiel, and percussion. following its release in May 2006, critical approbation quickly moved from the smallest blogs to mainstream media outlets that pegged condon as a one-man cross between jeff mangum, conor oberst, and sufjan stevens. the EP "lon gisland" followed in 2007, leading up to the full-length "the flying club cup" later that year. there are two versions of the song "scenic world". the version on his debut uses a keyboard to generate the instrumenation, while this second take, from the EP, contains lots of strings. both are great in their own right, especially the end of the song which can help to soundtrack your daydreaming - "when i feel alive, i'll try to imagine a careless life / a scenic world where the sunsets are all breathtaking.

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