Thread: Best albums of 2011

Originally Posted by mutton

I saw Beirut last year and they were good. They seem more of a live band than a studio band, which may be obvious given the nature of the music.

I always thought he was better as a studio band. The impression that I got is that Beirut is led and driven solely by Zach Condon, and the element that stands out the most is the layered harmonies, especially in the vocal lines. A couple of my favourite tracks are Mount Wroclai, Cliquot and Elephant Gun. The live versions I heard (off youtube, I still haven't managed to get to a Beirut concert yet) of Wroclai lacked the layered vocal lines that made the song so strong to me. Cliquot was very similar, although Elephant Gun was done pretty well. In the end, I still feel Condon is strongest as a studio artist, but then I haven't seen him live, so take that with a grain of salt.

Originally Posted by mutton

My feeling about The Rip Tide is it's catchy yet hollow, like the instruments aren't used to their potential. There's a too-much-in-your-face quality with the vocals and piano that makes it hard to listen through despite its length of only 33 minutes.

I'll write more on this later - I'm procrastinating on an essay atm.