July 7th, 2010

It’s been a long time, long time since we’ve seen Beirut. Their last show here was back in October. Since then, they haven’t released any new music. They haven’t popped up on the blogs. They’ve been seemingly silent. With that in mind, the two shows they’re playing in NYC this week at the Music Hall of Williamsburg are unexpected.

With two albums and a handful of EP’s, Beirut has more than enough material to choose from. After such a long hiatus, it’s not surprising that they started with “Elephant Gun,” the band’s first true single. With the spotlight on front man Zach Condon and his ever-present ukulele, the rest of the band stepped in without missing a beat. And it’s a big band: accordion, trumpet, trombone, upright bass, organ and drums. For those who’ve never heard Beirut (and live on Mars), they sound like a fucking orchestra. And Condon, well his vocals are reminiscent of a drunk Russian grandpa singing at a Mexican funeral.

Metallica drummer Lars Ulrich has told the Official Sonisphere UK website he has no regrets over the band’s decision to file a lawsuit against file-sharing network Napter ten years ago, saying people are now ‘patting them on the back’ for being one of the first acts to tackle music downloading.

The Gaslight Anthem’s official music video for their song “American Slang.” Directed by Kevin Custer.

In continuing support of their album One Life Stand, Hot Chip will be bringing their explosive live show back to North America in August for two live dates: Central Park Summerstage on August 4th and Lollapalooza on August 6th. The band will be playing tracks from new album as well as old favorites.

Black Mountain are being joined by The Black Angels at their biggest UK show to date in an evening that brings together the cream of North American ‘psych-rock’.

Folk-rockers Mumford & Sons have revealed they have recorded a track with Kinks legend Ray Davies which will appear on his new covers album.