2. Beirut - The Flying Club CupTo really understand my love for this band is to go back in time, to their second or third ever show, a shambolic performance at the Knitting Factory in which ukuleles broke and singer Zach Condon was still quite stagestruck. Over the past two years though, he’s assembled a band that rivals the Fire’s in joyous rock communion, and expanded his dynamic range from Balkanic singalongs to French chansons. The gorgeous and complete set of videos shot by La Blogotheque for the album’s release take the songs to the streets – and ice cream truck garages – of Brooklyn, and show that the Beirut live experience is uniquely intimate (here’s a one such live version of “The Penalty”). With songs that evoke tundra yurts and urban cabarets, Beirut displays an urbane melancholy that we also find in the Swedish lamentations of my #3.
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