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    March of the Zapotec

    Beirut - March of the Zapotec

    02/17/2009 | Pompeii Records 

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    March of the Zapotec Review

    Beirut leader Zach Condon has a case of musical wanderlust. Already in his young career, he’s shown himself smitten by the charms of Gypsy music (Gulag Orkestar) and Parisian innovators like Serge Gainsbourg and Belgium-born Jacques Brel (The Flying Club Cup). On March of the Zapotec / Holland, he's pulled in such different directions that not only did he decide to divide the songs onto wholly separate EPs, but he even decided it warranted two different monikers—reviving his "Realpeople" alias on one.

    March of the Zapotec was inspired when Condon was commissioned to do a soundtrack for a film about Mexican immigrants. The film didn't come to pass, but Condon was taken with the music he discovered in the process, and headed south to Oaxaca to record with a Zapotec brass band. The results are highly traditional; polka enthusiasts will note some parallels with the oom-pah-pah rhythms of Mexican brass. There are some instrumentals, but the collaboration works best when it uses the juxtaposition of Condon's dramatic, romantic croon over the funeral music—as on "La Llorana" and "The Akara." Condon deserves credit for exercising restraint and confining the music to an EP; there are already indications by the end that it would produce diminishing returns if stretched out much longer.

    Holland is the bigger departure—although Condon has said that even while working on past Beirut albums, he would fight writer's block by writing the sort of electro-poppy material that dominates the "Realpeople" EP. It's a mixed bag that recalls some of Magnetic Fields frontman Stephin Merritt's explorations in similar genre territory. "No Dice" and "My Wife, Lost in the Wild" both drag on. The gentle brass and synths of "Venice" make for one surprisingly ambient standout, while the warm synth-pop of "My Night with the Prostitute From Marseille" makes good use of Condon's vocal—a the one obvious thread connecting March of the Zapotec and Holland. With a little tracklist editing, both EPs are worthy adventures.

    —Adam McKibbin
    03.01.09

    March of the Zapotec Track Listing

  • Track#
  • Title
  • time
  • lyrics
  • 1
  • El Zócalo
  • 0:28

  • 2
  • La Llorona
  • 3:34

  • 3
  • My Wife
  • 2:10

  • 4
  • The Akara
  • 3:53

  • 5
  • On a Bayonet
  • 1:40

  • 6
  • The Shrew
  • 3:43

  • 7 (2)
  • My Night with the Prositute from Marseille
  • 3:07

  • 8 (2)
  • My Wife, Lost in the Wild
  • 3:13

  • 9 (2)
  • Venice
  • 4:01

  • 10 (2)
  • The Concubine
  • 3:28

  • 11 (2)
  • No Dice
  • 5:24

    • March of the Zapotec Notes

    Some early discussions by Zach Condon about recording material for a film being shot in Mexico morphed into a new idea: What about finding a local band in a small city in Mexico, hiring them to play some new material, and recording the result?

    It was a sincere challenge every step of the way. Condon had to find the band, which he did through a bandmate's mother who has connections in Oaxaca. To communicate with the performers, he hired a translator, who had to be able to speak English, Spanish, as well as Zapotec, the band members' native language. The ensuing weeks of recording, rewriting, and relating with the nineteen members of The Jimenez Band are documented in a series of short films (to be released online as the release date for March of the Zapotec draws near).

    All well and good, but the six songs found on March of the Zapotec are only a part of what this release has become. Before recording as Beirut, Condon went by Realpeople for his bedroom recordings, and he has revived the name for the second half in this collection, Holland. As opposed to March of the Zapotec, Holland collects a series of songs conceived and completed at home.

    Together, this album-length double release represents the totality of Condon's work over the past year. March of the Zapotec is further testament toward the inventiveness and intimacy he creates as Beirut, a band which started as one person sounding like twelve, and has developed into a particular style and sound. No matter what inspirations jumpstart any one particular song, underlying it all is the realization that Condon is a singular artist creating an original sound. What may appear at first to be two disparate paths are in reality joined by Condon's ability to craft simple melodies that sound both unique and unforgettable.

    Credits of March of the Zapotec

    • Kelly Pratt
    • Clarinet, French Horn, Vocals (Background), Euphonium, Trombone, Trumpet
    • Zach Condon
    • Percussion, Euphonium, Ukulele, Engineer, Writer, Vocals, French Horn, Arranger, Trumpet

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