Over the course of the last few weeks, there have been some truly stunning ‘Take Away’ performances, organized by the fine folks at La Blogotheque. Enjoy 3 of my faves below. Learn more about ‘The Take Away’ shows via this link. Download various MP3s at bottom.
Beirut – Nantes
Jose Gonzales – How Low
Final Fantasy – Horsetail Feathers
MP3s: Final Fantasy – Peach Plum Pear (Joanna Newsom cover) + Beirut – A Sunday Smile
Over the course of the last few weeks, there have been some truly stunning ‘Take Away’ performances, organized by the fine folks at La Blogotheque. Enjoy 3 of my faves below. Learn more about ‘The Take Away’ shows via this link. Download various MP3s at bottom.
Beirut – Nantes
Jose Gonzales – How Low
Final Fantasy – Horsetail Feathers
MP3s: Final Fantasy – Peach Plum Pear (Joanna Newsom cover) + Beirut – A Sunday Smile
See below for a clip of Owen Pallett tackling Beirut’s ‘Cliquot’, off of the latter’s upcoming LP, The Flying Club Cup. Learn more about that release (cover art, track listing) here.
MP3s: Final Fantasy – Adventure.exe + Beirut – After The Curtain
Can’t wait for this one!
Check out The Flying Club Cup‘s full track listing plus an old-school Beirut MP3 below. The LP is due out on October 9th.
1. A Call To Arms
2. Nantes
3. A Sunday Smile
4. Guyamas Sonora
5. Le Banlieu
6. Cliquot
7. The Penalty
8. Forks and Knives (La Fete)
9. In The Mausoleum
10. Un Dernier Verre (Pour la Route)
11. Cherbourg
12. St. Apollonia
13. The Flying Club Cup
Beirut has just (finally) delivered their clip to Gulag Orkestar‘s stunning tune, ‘Postcards From Italy’. You can’t help but falling in love with this one! MP3 of tune at bottom.
White Rabbits singer, Greg Roberts spills the beans to NME: “We have two new songs that we’re recording that we’ve been playing… We’re really excited about them. One is called ‘Cotillion Blues’ and the other one has yet to be named. It sounds like a New Orleans band or something. Our friend (Jon Natchez) who plays in Beirut came in and played some horns on it. The other one is our newest song and we’re really excited about it. And we’re doing a Randy Newman cover ‘Beehive State’”.
Regarding the group’s recent buzzworthy status, Greg proclaims: “The reception over all hasn’t been out of control which is kind of good… I feel like we’re doing things the right way. It feels more like a genuine response than a sensationalised kind of hype. It’s always more rewarding for a band to feel like you’re earning your keep rather than just becoming overnight stars, I don’t think any of us would be comfortable doing that… If we ever do achieve any kind of acclaim of that level I’ll feel like we went about it the right way. We will see if that happens some day.”
Check out some of my photos from the band’s superb Siren performance last Saturday, here. Keep up on all things White Rabbits over at the band’s MySpace page, via this link.
First things first, the next batch of Beirut shows are as follows: September 24th, 25th and 26th @ NYC’s Society For Ethical Culture.
Keep on eye on The Worldless Music Series’ official site for more info as it becomes publicly available.
Secondly, Bitchfork is reporting that Beirut is set to reissue his ‘Elephant Gun’ single as a 7″ with French ditty, ‘La Moribond’ (by Jacques Brel) as the tune’s B-side.
I guess Zach wasn’t joking when he told us, earlier this year, that he’s currently infatuated with ‘old French songs’. Beirut enthusiasts can pick up the UK-only vinyl on June 25th.
First things first, the next batch of Beirut shows are as follows: September 24th, 25th and 26th @ NYC’s Society For Ethical Culture.
Keep on eye on The Worldless Music Series’ official site for more info as it becomes publicly available.
Secondly, Bitchfork is reporting that Beirut is set to reissue his ‘Elephant Gun’ single as a 7″ with French ditty, ‘La Moribond’ (by Jacques Brel) as the tune’s B-side.
I guess Zach wasn’t joking when he told us, earlier this year, that he’s currently infatuated with ‘old French songs’. Beirut enthusiasts can pick up the UK-only vinyl on June 25th.
First things first, the next batch of Beirut shows are as follows: September 24th, 25th and 26th @ NYC’s Society For Ethical Culture.
Keep on eye on The Worldless Music Series’ official site for more info as it becomes publicly available.
Secondly, Bitchfork is reporting that Beirut is set to reissue his ‘Elephant Gun’ single as a 7″ with French ditty, ‘La Moribond’ (by Jacques Brel) as the tune’s B-side.
I guess Zach wasn’t joking when he told us, earlier this year, that he’s currently infatuated with ‘old French songs’. Beirut enthusiasts can pick up the UK-only vinyl on June 25th.
I kept preparing to leave. I had been up early, went to work, walked from the Upper East to Murray Hill and my feet hurt. All I wanted to do was lie down. I was about to ask my friend standing next to me if he thought there would be any surprises during the encore…and then Arcade Fire came out.
Let me start from the beginning. Owen Pallett under the moniker Final Fantasy, simply put, creates breathtaking music. He is the art brut Itzhak Perlman. From start to finish, his set last night was tremendous. I grew up listening to classical music and if the next time I see Pallett is at Avery Fisher Hall, I wouldn’t be surprised.
I am in agreement with Matt that the projections behind Pallett were at first distracting. When they began I thought, I much rather watch Pallett hammer at his violin than that. Eventually though, they became symbiotic with the music. Some of the designs were great, beautiful, art. Pallett’s final piece included the members of Beirut and with their help became this soaring cross pollination of styles that set up the collaborations for the evening wonderfully.
When the blogosphere was first abuzz with the sounds of Beirut, my reaction was, what is the big deal? When I saw them live for the first time last summer, I finally understood what the fuss was about. Last night’s show cemented that premature crown placed on their head a year ago. The band’s horn work is familiar if you have ever listened to traditional Eastern European or Latin music, yet fresh sounding. The addition of the older French sound to their repertoire is perfectly placed, though taken a lot more literally from genre. The instrumentation in all of their songs is seamlessly orchestrated and each one is uplifting and joyful. And what really makes Beirut work though is that every single person on that stage is so happy to be there, so full of energy and glee that they are literally bouncing.
All in all, it was a great night for music at Bowery. One of the better ones I have seen in quite awhile. And in the end, even if Arcade Fire had not been there, it still would have been a magical night. I’ll be back Tuesday for the final show.
I was in the back and my little point and shoot wasn’t up to taking pictures like this dude standing next to me. Great great shot. Head over to Brooklyn Vegan for more pictures and a review.
For those unable to hit the show, or those who want to relive it, the whole thing was recorded for a new MTV initiative called URGE. You can download it for free over on their site.
