Pompeii

Rate It! Avg: 4.0 (134 ratings)
Sample Album
ALBUM INFORMATION

Total Tracks: 2   Total Length: 7:32

eMusic Review

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Amelia Raitt

eMusic Contributor

Amelia Raitt is a former writer for the television program Mr. Belvedere and has been writing about pop music of all colors and stripes for eMusic since 2005. S...more »

04.22.11
Beirut, Pompeii
Label: Ba Da Bing Records / Revolver

For those who loved Beirut's Zach Condon for the simple fact of his genre mashing of indie rock and Balkan music on Gulag Orkestar, you'll find little to love on Pompeii. But for those who love Condon for the slack-jawed emotion he brought to both, Pompeii acts as a perfect lo-fi epilogue to “After the Curtain,” Gulag's Condon-and-a-calliope finale. “Fountains and Tramways” reveals that Condon wanted to be the Magnetic Fields all along (sans the tricky lyrics), showcasing his unintelligible moan over a piano, drum machine and concluding trumpet, while “Napoleon and the Bellerophon” has the same set-up plus an accordion. The focus on this EP, however, isn't the music so much as it is the emotional range of Condon's voice. Often multi-tracked, Condon pulls these compositions up from mere filler into genuinely affecting material.

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be open to change

bladeharris

I'm beside myself at how someone could be unimpressed with this ep. There is deep complexity in it's simplicity...these songs are nothing short of amazing! Does it sound like the previous releases, no; but it's a new angle using some of the same formats. When I first heard it I was in love with it and still am. There is no big band, just pure emotion to this one, and you can feel it.

user avatar

let down

adammanley

This two track album was a complete letdown. foolishly i saw that there was new beirut music and downloaded it without sampling. unlike the reviewer of this album, I see very little connection between this and earlier beirut. this feels like the strung out noodlings of a worn out crooner with a drum machine, not some delving further into a style by a fine musician. I dont expect Condon to simply stick to the stuff that was so fine on Gullag and Lon Gisland, but to pretend that this is any good just because its him is silly. listen before you download these. you will probably think twice.

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early stuff?

BarmyFotheringayPhipps

I've read interviews with Zach where he said that in his teens, he wrote and rcorded an entire album's worth of stuff that was directly inspired by the Magnetic Fields. If these two songs are not the actual recordings, they're at the very least songs from that era, because this does sound a lot like Magnetic Fields! And that's a good thing. But yeah, if you're expecting this to sound at all like GULAG ORKESTAR, be forewarned: it doesn't.

user avatar

Different

mokk84

Surely not the Beirut many of us have grown to love on Gulag Orkestar and the Lon Gisland EP. This is very different, and comes off sounding almost Garage Band produced. I doubt I'll be listening to these songs anywhere near as much as their earlier albums. I know they canceled all their live shows because Zach was "exhausted." These songs might stem from that, the Orkestar is missed. First time Beiruter's, look elsewhere.

user avatar

SO REFRESHING

ClydeErwinBarrretto

BEIRUT's Pompeii reminds me of what I first heard when I first heard his chilling Gulag Orkestar prior to the intervention Jeremy Barnes and company. Though only containing two songs and quite lo-fi, they contain that charming mystique of hearing something new for the first time. You're response is unsure yet you are compelled and keep longing for the music to continue. http://twentysevenviews.wordpress.com

user avatar

A departure

circusflea

It does need a review. Be aware, this is nothing like Gulag, but it's still good.

user avatar

Does this even need a review?

Montag

It's Beirut, if you expect less than perfection, you haven't heard them before.

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Activity

  • 08.28.11 Galera de Salvador-Ba, ta rolando um beirutando agora, no Farol da Barra. Apareçam! (:
  • 05.20.11 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_rS1FigMwtQ&feature=player_embedded :)
  • 05.20.11 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_YtfnEpYxT0&feature=related http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ro9XfqT9W6c&feature=player_embedded (new song)
  • 05.20.11 "I write sad songs when it’s nice outside. I write warm and happy songs when I’m up to my neck in snow for three months." Zach
  • 05.20.11 ”Eu escrevo canções tristes quando o tempo está bom lá fora.Eu escrevo canções felizes e calorosas quando estou com neve até o pescoço" Zach
  • 05.20.11 Beirut lançará novo álbum em 2011 http://www.rocknbeats.com.br/2011/05/05/beirut-lancara-novo-album-em-2011/ :)
  • 05.20.11 http://twixar.com/m1ctnNVSmi Beirut's Zach Condon talks 'Bombay Beach' and a new album this summer :)
  • 07.21.10 ''Brazil, where hearts were entertaining june We stood beneath an amber moon And softly murmured: someday soon''
  • 01.09.10 Feliz ano novo! Happy new year! Feliz año nuevo!
  • 12.28.09 Amanhã @beirutband com background novo! uhuu :)
  • 12.28.09 And I know when time will pass by slow Without my heart what can I do? -Mount Wroclai
  • 10.24.09 http://bit.ly/wOK2d Pra quem pediu, o vídeo do programa Norma :) Aos 0:40 passa "Un Dernier Verre" e aos 4:35 ouvimos "The penalty"
  • 10.19.09 Mas uma vez, Beirut na globo! Ontem no programa Norma, com Un Dernier Verre e The Penalty :)
  • 10.17.09 Beirut vai estar Domingo no Treasure Island Music Festival - San Francisco, California.
  • 09.20.09 Todos que tiverem fotos/vídeos dos shows podem mandar para bandabeirut@gmail.com coloque seu nome ou twitter na msg :)
  • 09.20.09 Acho que teremos Beirut no Brasil em 2010! Afinal de contas, eles se encantaram com o nosso país!
  • 09.20.09 Quem foi pro show em Recife? Nossa, estou vendo os vídeos... foi realmente lindo. Estou com uma inveja boa.
  • 09.10.09 Vendo os vídeos do show no RJ! http://bit.ly/rxItC #nantes
  • 09.08.09 Show hoje no RJ! Quem vai?
  • 09.08.09 Vetaram meu comentário nessa matéria http://bit.ly/2oRQHw absurda e exagerada (mentirosa, eu diria).