Beirut is an American band that was originally the solo musical project of Zach Condon. Beirut's music combines elements of indie rock and world music. The band's first performance with the full brass section was in New York, in May , in support of their debut album Gulag Orkestar , [ 2 ] [ 3 ] though they performed their first show with Condon, Petree, and Collins at the College of Santa Fe earlier that year.
Condon named the band after Lebanon's capital , because of the city's history of conflict and as a place where cultures collide. Condon attended Santa Fe High School , until dropping out when he was Condon attended community college for a short period, then traveled to Europe at the age of 17 with his older brother, Ryan.
Ba Da Bing Records signed Condon on the strength of the recordings. Beirut's first music video was for Elephant Gun , directed by Alma Har'el who also directed the band's second video "Postcards from Italy". Lon Gisland was the full band's first release in In a review on Pitchfork , Brandon Stosuy called the album "an impressive and precocious debut.
Beirut's second album, The Flying Club Cup , was recorded largely at a makeshift studio in Albuquerque and completed at Arcade Fire 's studio in Quebec. The music on the album has a French influence due to Condon's interest in French chanson during its recording. The Flying Club Cup has a score of 80 on Metacritic, meaning it is received generally favorable reviews.
On April 3, , Beirut canceled a previously announced summer European tour. In early June , amid touring the United States, Beirut announced that their newest album, The Rip Tide , which had been recorded the previous winter in upstate New York, [ 23 ] [ 24 ] was to be released on August The album was recorded, managed, and released under Condon's own Pompeii Records.
