Beirut

Another under-produced (to put it mildly) Vincent Moon video. At pitchfork.tv (great source of music vids, btw) Beirut can be seen/heard "one week only" (don't know if the week is just starting, or ending, or what ... but if you go today, you can experience this stuff) moving throughout Brooklyn -- from alleys to rooftops to pool halls to living rooms, etc. -- playing pieces from their Flying Club Cup album. These people use a really wide range of instruments; ukelele, various horns, cello, violon, accordian and more. I even spotted some drumming using ping-pong paddles, plus regular drumsticks on a watermelon. The music has Eastern European sounds with I'm not sure what else mixed in.

Beirut first came to my ears several months ago on opbmusic.org. Jeremy Peterson there seems big on the group and its very young leader, Zach Condon. At the time, they seemed somewhat interesting but didn't inspire me enough to pursue further. But I keep hearing them here and there, and seeing more Internet buzz, and find that they have really been growing on me. At their Website (http://www.beirutband.com) you can make an online buy of a DVD that might be the same or similar to the online stuff at pitchfork.tv. I'm tempted.