Description
While it may sound like an entire Balkan orchestra playing modern songs as mournful ballads and upbeat marches, Beirut is largely the work of one 19-year-old Albuquerque native, Zach Condon. Horns, violins, cellos, ukuleles, mandolins, glockenspiels, drums, tambourines, congas, organs, pianos, clarinets and accordions all build and break the melodies under Condon's deep-voiced crooner vocals, swaying to the Eastern European beats that sound like they're being brought to you by a 12-member ensemble.