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Product Description
Album Description
2009 two CD EP set from Zach Condon AKA Beirut. For the past year, Beirut has alternated between touring in support of 2007's much-lauded The Flying Club Cup and writing a wealth of new material. With no sense of a release in mind, Condon recorded in any style that struck his fancy. Some early discussions about recording material for a film being shot in Mexico morphed into a new idea: What about finding a local band in a small city in Mexico, hiring them to play some new material, and recording the result? Disc One is the result of those sessions (six tracks) while Disc Two features five solo recordings from his home studio. Pomper Records.
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Most helpful customer reviews
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars
The waves in your eyes,
By E. A Solinas "ea_solinas" (MD USA) - See all my reviews (HALL OF FAME) (TOP 10 REVIEWER) (REAL NAME)
This review is from: March Of The Zapotec And Realp (Audio CD)
For the record, "March of the Zapotec/Holland" is not an album. It's two EPs.For that matter, it's not really Beirut as you know it -- apparently Zach Condon has been going to Mexico and diddling around with some electronic instrumentation. Not many artists could smoosh together Eastern European rhythms with Latin instrumentation, and then top it off with a dash of the Postal Service. But fortunately Condon pulls it off. Apparently "March of the Zapotec" was influenced by a recent trip to Oaxaca, and as a result the gypsyish flavour of the music is tinged with some Latin colour. After the styles clash in the opening "Zocalo," Condon's band sways into the languid brassy "La Llorona," and the gloriously Spanish-flavoured "My Wife." After that, it's into the melancholy trumpets and dancy grandeur of "The Akara" ("So long to these kite strings/so long since I've been saved... tasting more, wasting more..."), and the twisting meandering "On A Bayonet," which sounds like an excuse to exercise the horns. And the first part finishes with "The Shrew," a more sprightly little tune that wouldn't sound out of place on a Decemberists album. But wait, there's more! On the other hand, "Holland" is done under Condon's pseudonym "Realpeople," and it's pretty obvious why -- he's going into Postal Service territory. "My Night With the Prostitute from Marseille" is a sparkling peppy little electronic number, but it manages to retain the warmth of Condon's other work. That electronic vein runs through the rest of the album -- darting trip-hop waves over soaring vocals, a couple gypsyish melodies tied up in thin threads of electronica. Only "No Dice" goes too far with the electronic thing, sacrificing melody for the funky techno explorations. After diddling around European-inspired pop for a couple albums, Beirut's sound is starting to branch out into unexplored territory.Given that it's almost completely made up of experimental stuff, "March of the Zapotec/Holland" is a pretty enjoyable little collection of songs, and Condon manages to pull it off with rare style, and hints at other directions where he may go in future musical journeys. He uses the usual array of Eastern European instrumentation here -- drums, mournful horns, rattling cans, accordion, some strings -- and the same sense of melancholy suffuses his songs. But the collaboration of the Jimenez Band gives it a spicier sound and a sprightlier pace, although his explorations of the electronic soundscape sometimes go over the top. They're at the best when they complement the acoustics (as in "My Night With the Prostitute..."), not replace them. Condon's voice is that of a young man looking out at the world after his second or third excursion into it -- experienced, yet able to appreciate its wonders. And his rich rolling voice are well suited to the lyrics ("And now outside/I see your eyes meet the sky/and I, I won't lie/I kept you here tonight... and I believed her then"). Beirut's double EP dabbles around in Latin music and electronica, and for the most part, "March of the Zapotec/Holland" gets it very, very right.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta) Amazon.com:
4.1 out of 5 stars (14 customer reviews) 13 of 13 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars
A mixed bag. It is a grower.,
By southgate - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: March Of The Zapotec And Realp (Audio CD)
First of all, it is not an album but two EPs joined together.Maybe it is not exactly what you might have come to expect from this enviably talented young American artist. The first half features a Mexican funeral band and delivers oompah-ish brass and a strong dose of mariachi horns (featuring real Mexicans!). "It's a charmingly woozy picturesque postcard Mexico: full of inconsolably grieving mothers, carnivalesque town squares, bitter wives and death by bayonet"... like Jason Schwartzman in the "Darjeeling Limited", traveling across India, but seemingly locked within the world of "Where Do You To My Lovely?", the fixed-point at the heart of it all remains Condon's richly romantic, melancholy croon". - Uncut The second EP, "Holland", recorded by Condon under the moniker Realpeople (an early pre-Beirut alias) was recorded at home but seems like a great, reveals his more sombre Seventies synth side, featuring entirely unrelated, gently synthesized beats and keyboards and is significantly more successful. Two of the tracks from Holland have surfaced prior to this release - "My Night With The Prostitute From Marseille" appeared on a digitally released charity affair while "Venice" featured on a compilation given away by uber-hip US monthly "The Believer". "Venice" has a ghostly beauty, which makes you wish that Condon had fleshed out this group of songs into a whole album. And then there is the oddly uninspired, bizarre, inconsequential Euro-pop of "No Dice", upon which this collection unfortunately closes, which disappoints. This is a little weird, but it certainly shows a different aspect of Zach's musical personality and talent. It's happy, sad, intriguing and different. After repeated listenings, it will grow on you. And you will come to like it. The Flying Club Cup 9 of 10 people found the following review helpful
3.0 out of 5 stars
6 of 10 critics liked March of the Zapotec/Holland,
By Brian J. Levine "www.audiohenge.com" - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: March Of The Zapotec And Realp (Audio CD)
I've read 10 reviews of this album, 6 critics liked it, 4 didn't. Below is my attempt at aggregating all those reviews.This album is actually a double EP. The other EP is Realpeople's (Zach Condon's pre-Beirut name) Holland. Zach Condon (leader of Beirut) is starting to come across as a musical tourist. He goes someplace new, soaks in some music, becomes inspired and then writes his own music. March of the Zapotec was born from Condon's trip to Oaxaca Mexico where he heard some Mexican funeral music and ended up recording six songs with a local 19-piece band. Holland on the other hand is some lo-fi electronica that drew comparisons to the Magnetic Fields and Boards of Canada. The element that holds these two EPs together is Condon's voice. It's amazing. And strangely almost always described as a "croon", but whatever. Ultimately, it's solid work from an amazingly talented singer/musician. It could use a little more focus on writing songs instead of creating atmosphere. Also the critics who didn't like the EPs thought that it was uneven. And I get the feeling critics will really start ripping him if he doesn't settle on a style sooner or later. 4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Very cool to see his broad range of ability,
By Sean Judge - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: March Of The Zapotec And Realp (Audio CD)
Reading blogs and reviews that tear Zach Condon apart for his foray into electronic music on the second half of this EP makes me wonder why people are so desperate to hear the same sound from their artists. I'm more than impressed that someone with such an old-world style and sensibility can turn around and produce electro-pop that is just as joyful or melancholic as his full band productions are. I can't wait for more from this very talented young artist.
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