Review by Dave Anastasi

I spent most of high school sitting in my bedroom, transforming my naive poetry into naive songs and practicing blues scales. I was sixteen, stubborn, socially awkward, and a music geek. In contrast, when Zach Condon (a.k.a Beirut) was sixteen, he dropped out of high school and travelled to Europe, where he drank with the locals and soaked up the music and culture. It was there that Zach discovered the sound that influenced much of Gulag Orkestar.

Whenever I first listen to something that I'm unfamiliar with, I try to picture it being performed in my mind. This proved to be quite a challenge while listening to Beirut. At first I thought, "OK... it's Balkan brass band with a Western twist". Then the thick vocals kick in... "Hmmmm... sounds like a cross between Rufus Wainwright and Stephin Merritt." This music has so much poise, polish and authenticity that I was floored when I learned that it was recorded by a 19-year-old from Albuquerque, New Mexico.

Beirut has drawn many comparisons to Neutral Milk Hotel, but, other than the diversity of instrumentation, I don't really hear much of a similarity. In Gulag Orkestar, Condon has masterfully mixed Balkan gypsy music with an American sensibility to create a style of his own.

Things begin solemnly with the title track, a plodding funeral march led by trumpets, piano and percussion. Densely tracked vocals appear midway through the song, reserving what little harmonic space was available. Prenzlauerberg follows, a waltz featuring a tasty call-and-response between the horn section and Condon's melancholic croon.

Postcards From Italy is one of the album's highlights. It calls to mind The Magnetic Fields due to its simple structure, the ukulele strumming, and the vocal delivery. The song turns triumphant in the second part when the "full band" kicks in. This section in particular amazes me because normally, when a multi-instrumentalist records all or most of the parts of a song, the synergy of the "ensemble" suffers to a certain degree. Not here-- Condon pulls it off flawlessly, and the result sounds incredibly natural and spontaneous.

The album's closer, After The Curtain, is its most electronic song, consisting of just synthesizer and vocals. Even still, it is performed and produced in such a way that it ends up being one of the most organic and poignant sounding cuts on the album.

All of the hype this album has received has been deserved. From start to finish, Gulag Orkestar is fantastic, completely devoid of filler, and one of the most promising debut albums I've heard in quite some time.