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Beirut

March of the Zapotec & Realpeople: Holland  Hear it Now

RS: 2.5of 5 Stars

2009

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The globetrotting adventures of Beirut — a.k.a. Zach Condon, indie-gypsy wunderkind — are becoming harder to keep straight. Condon's new EP is a two-part affair: March of the Zapotec features mostly Balkan brass-band-style tunes recorded in Oaxaca, Mexico, with a 19-piece local band; the second part, Holland, is five synthy songlets that were laid down in Condon's Brooklyn bedroom (not the Netherlands). Together they highlight his strengths (ace horn arrangements) and, especially, shortcomings: a fatal love of swooning vocal chorales and a disinterest in writing actual songs. The effect is all mood, no meaning — a blurry view from a tourist's bus as it zips past a landscape, on the way to the next "exotic" stop.



JODY ROSEN

(Posted: Feb 5, 2009)

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