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The debut album was good, but this is better. Much, much better; the kind of record I will happily and willingly return to long after this review is dead and buried.
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There’s a melancholic beauty in the melodies of Zach Condon that conjure a cinematic romanticism.
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Credit Condon with a vivid imagination to go with his intuitive songwriting ability, and embrace The Flying Club Cup as one of the best albums of 2007.
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MagnetThis album, like its predecessor, is stunning. [Fall 2007, p.91]
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It's a slow-motion ballet immortalized on album.
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This is one of the best albums of the year, from a verifiable talent and one of the scene’s most exciting young songwriters.
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Condon's theatrical croon and rich string arrangements hold the album together while it tells a musical story about the acculturation of the boozy.
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It's a more pensive presentation--dare I say it: more mature.
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The new album conjures something of Condon’s own imagination, more deftly-etched romantic fiction than dry travelogue, and is all the better for it.
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Despite being the unmistakable sound of Beirut, this is not the "Orkestar" extension so widely expected. Rather than congesting the listener with frantic Eastern European folk shanties, a poignant nobility and romantic notion of contemporary France permeates its way into your conscience with unbridled zeal.
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It might not be indie (whatever that means these days), and it’s certainly not rock, but The Flying Club Cup is consistent in its idyllic, perhaps idealistic charms.
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One either engages with the gears of this get-up, or not. If you do, the delights abound from start to finish, and it really makes no difference whether each song intends to evoke a different French city, as they do on The Flying Club Cup.
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For anyone seeking a new sound, in this case a vibrant take on Balkan folk through the eyes of a Westerner, there will be no disappointment.
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Flying Club Cup would be a triumph even with those layers stripped away; that's not to say that the cultural patina obscures the "real" songs underneath, but its removal allows us to sidestep mind-numbing questions about authenticity and intention.
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Condon's rich, barrel-aged croon is buffeted by a whirl of brass, accordion, ukulele and Owen Pallett's fleet-footed strings, sweeping towards a finale so magnificently moving that the only correct response is a standing ovation.
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Like a feral Arcade Fire making whoopee in the Third Republic, The Flying Cup Club is an often magical listen and deserving of a wider audience than it will probably reach.
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MojoCondon has a tendency to over-emote vocally, but even at its most melodramatic this music's rhapsodic swirl is undeniable. [Nov 2007, p.104]
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If you can forgive Condon’s mannered delivery and overabundance of drunken waltz rhythms, this is an audacious experiment in cultural appropriation, an enchanting musical holiday in someone else’s misery.
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Q MagazineAny charges of cultural tourism are rebuffed by the magnificence of the music. [Nov 2007, p.142]
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It's thoughtful and fun and sophisticated, utterly alluring, another fantastic success by Zach Condon.
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The Flying Club Cup doesn't feel quite as revelatory as the debut from the group. That said, it's still a solid follow-up, and the collaboration with Palette really pays dividends in grandiosity of sound.
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It's difficult at times, though, to pick out one song against another and some tracks are too same-y or too heavy-eyed for a second glance.
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The dramatic arc of these songs is built around the way instruments lurch into place and dance drunkenly around one another before staggering off once again.
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Under The RadarEven if The Flying Club Cup is slightly less vital than the debut, Condon remains an ever-growing talent that bears plenty of notice. [Fall 2007, p.72]
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Condon's lyrics and his singing are nondescript at best, but Beirut retains a ragged majesty that can best be described as, well, French.
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SpinBeirut actually rock, in their extremely geeky way. [Nov 2007, p.114]
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It is a better album than its predecessor in almost every regard, but it hardly shows Condon taking risks.
Awards & Rankings
User score distribution:
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Positive: 49 out of 54
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Mixed: 3 out of 54
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Negative: 2 out of 54
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Aug 3, 2014
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LuigiOct 14, 2007I don't think this sophomore work is better than the debut disc. Nevertheless is pleasant, interesting and also intriguing.
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Jul 24, 2015