Life in the Gulag

I spent a good portion of the long drive home from Klamath Falls yesterday listening to Beirut's album "Gulag Orkestar." I'm about a year late in jumping on the Beirut bandwagon, and learning that the main man behind the group, Zach Condon, is a 20 year-old kid from New Mexico who dropped out of high school and cruised around Europe basking in the Baltic melodies, has reaffirmed that my life is boring. Here's the recipe: accordion, ukulele, and lots of trumpets. Repeat. The lyrics are often barely discernable but the melodies are interesting enough to compensate. Since "Gulag Orkestar," he has released an EP and a new album is schedule for release sometime in the fall.

Beirut - Mount Wroclai(Idle Days)
Beirut - Postcards From Italy

Bishop Allen

The Brooklyn group set out last year to release an EP for every month in 2006. They came through, an impressive accomplishment in its own right, and the year's worth of songs are actually good. I was reading about them on another blog and their music was described this way, “...like an aural equivalent to a Wes Anderson movie.” Here are a few samples, maybe they'll conjure up images of Anthony, Dignan, and Bob proving that "crime does pay."

Bishop Allen - Click Click Click Click
Bishop Allen - Like Castanets
Bishop Allen - Butterfly Nets
Bishop Allen - Flight 180

Happy St. Patrick's Day from Sweden

Loney, Dear - Carrying A Stone
Loney, Dear - I Am John
Loney, Dear - Sinister In A State Of Hope