Zach Condon throws around a lot of very exotic, and very loaded, imagery for a guy from the desert southwest of the United States, things and places that I'm guessing he, like most of us, has only read about.  Full text...

From the opening notes of Gulag Orkestar to the beautiful finale of "After The Curtain," Condon's music takes the listener on a trip around the guitarless indie-world of orchestral pop, on camelback, running into sounds from all around this world, but with a concentration on Eastern Europe circa the 1700's.  Full text...

Behind these luxurious, old-world songs is a 19-year-old from Brooklyn-by-way-of-Albuquerque named Zach Cordon. With some help from Neutral Milk Hotel’s Jeremy Barnes and his A Hack and a Hacksaw band-mate Heather Trost, he has created one of the most intriguing albums of the year.  Full text...

Beirut's brilliant debut album is full of grandeur and intimacy, with accordions, ukuleles and brass instruments complementing contemporary notions like drum machines and digestible song structures while simultaneously channeling the ancient appeal of Balkan folk music.  Full text...

This is one of the most fascinating and enjoyable debuts of the year.  Full text...

the best songs here are a joy and the average and ho-hum tunes even have a thick and aesthetically appealing atmosphere-- in other words, it's an impressive and precocious debut.  Full text...

Zach Condon has shown the world something with Gulag Orkestar that sometimes goes forgotten, and at some of the most inopportune times.  Full text...