
BEIRUT
Artifacts (Pompeii)
After more than 15 years in the game, Zach Condon of Beirut has earned the right to delve into the archives to curate Artifacts, a 26-track collection of polished up demos, rarities, B sides and unreleased gear. From the accordion-heavy Balkan numbers of the first EPs and 2006’s Gulag Orkestar, through to his chanson period and beyond to the more electronic-leaning exotic pop of the underrated No No No and Gallipoli – all the eras of Beirut are captured on this double for Zach’s own label.
My Family’s Role… is a boozy folk stomper while this early version of Scenic World is dominated by an accordion melody. Carousels, from the Lon Gisland EP, twirls and waltzes with a lovely trumpet and violin flourish and Transatlantique is another mariachi-styled EP gem unearthed. The second half of Artifacts is more expansive: the instrumental Irrlichter is driven by brushed drums and smudgy synth, and the previously unreleased Fisher Island Sound a breezy piano-and-accordion sophisticated pop tune, while the flavour of Tales Of The Unexpected pervades in Die Treue Zum Ursprung.
words CHRIS SEAL
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