YOU GOTTA SEE THIS: “The Vagabond” by Beirut
I must admit, back in August I found The Rip Tide a rather commonplace destination on Beirut’s travelogue discography. But “The Vagabond” convinced me to give the album another chance. Zach Condon & Co.’s Eastern Europe by way of Southwest America folk has suddenly become more interested in settling down than incessantly wandering. The band has also landed a gig in a more appropriate time period. Filtering the 1940s through the 1960s is a sly commentary on our own preoccupation with idealizing the previous generation. Plus, if Condon doesn’t get his grandparents to look meaningfully at each other as confetti falls, he’ll never be born.