Beirut

Beirut at Amsterdam Paradiso, Thu 15 Nov

Review by Shain Shapiro

Beirut soaks melodic city squares in the sounds of both old and new. While Zach Condon’s blend of contemporary folk music, all things Balkan and waltz hark back to a town festival somewhere deep in Croatia a hundred years ago, the blend is as contemporary as it is historic»

Paradiso

Beautiful old church situated just off the Leidersplein area in one of the most gorgeous cities in Europe. It's about a 25 minute walk from Central Station, but the trams stop right outside it. Watch out for cyclists going at about 200 miles an hour though; those things are really bad for yer ankles. Two main rooms - the bigger one downstairs has a double balcony and the upstairs room is a proper, sweet sweatbox. Yum.»

Beirut

So what would you do if you were an 18-year-old A-student in Albuquerque, New Mexico? That's the question that faced Beirut's Zach Condon last year and, luckily for the human race, he chose to bugger off across Europe and fill his head with Eastern European harmonies which on his return he melded with his pop upbringing to form Gulag Orkestar, possibly 2006's standout album.

An album destined to top many critics end-of-year best-ofs.

Beirut Official Site
Beirut on Myspace