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Gulag Orkestar
Generally favorable reviews
Based on 22 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?
Based on 31 votes
Read user comments
Rate this album >
Album Info
Label: Ba Da Bing
Release Date: 09 May 2006
Discs: 1 disc
Genre(s): Indie, Rock
Summary
This Eastern European-sounding, multi-instrumental effort is actually the work of Albuquerque teenager Zach Condon. Members of A Hawk And A Hacksaw also lend a hand.
Also By This Artist: March Of The Zapotec/Holland [EP] The Flying Club Cup
Also On The Web: Beirut @ MySpace Official Artist Site
What The Critics Said
All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...
Stylus Magazine
It's tightly focused, beautifully written, and totally without filler.
Read Full Review >Dusted Magazine
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.
Read Full Review >Lost At Sea
Though he may not have the experience in years, he more than makes up for it in the way he crafts his songs.
Read Full Review >Almost Cool
An outstanding debut album, and easily one of my favorite releases of the year so far.
Read Full Review >Entertainment Weekly
Far more redolent of 1920s Bucharest than modern-day Albuquerque. [2 Jun 2006, p.84]
Observer Music Monthly
The tumescent, endlessly inventive songs are seldom less than exquisitely performed.
Read Full Review >The Guardian
It's the ageless warmth and humanity that makes the clashing elements work.
Read Full Review >Billboard
Right off the bat, you realize this is serious music for serious listeners.
Read Full Review >New Musical Express (NME)
A record of rare and strange beauty. [4 Nov 2006, p.33]
Dot Music
An emotive, atmospheric dreamworld that sounds like an echo from history.
Read Full Review >Q Magazine
An astonishingly moving distillation of Eastern European melancholia with elegant histrionics a la Rufus Wainwright. [Dec 2006, p.141]
cokemachineglow
So, yes: this is cuddly, warm and intimate, just like all your favorite blogs have said.
Read Full Review >Pitchfork
Time and again, the most powerful element of Gulag Orkestar, and what ought to be emphasized, is Condon's acrobatic, powerful, emotionally nuanced voice.
Read Full Review >Prefix Magazine
Beirut's mournful horn riffs, driving piano, sprightly ukulele, dense percussion and occasional synth loops proved haunting and entrancing at best, flat-out morose at worst, and benignly pretty the rest of the time.
Read Full Review >Playlouder
It's not without fault; too many songs and too little variation between the tracks detract from unequivocal enjoyment. Much more of an album to admire, rather than cherish.
Read Full Review >Rolling Stone
Delightfully downtrodden. [24 Aug 2006, p.90]
Uncut
It's impressive... but it will be interesting to see whether his undoubted talent will flourish beyond such a conceit. [Sep 2006, p.83]
Delusions of Adequacy
The second half of the album wallows in the shadow of the first, unable to conjure the absolute majesty of the first four tracks.
Read Full Review >Under The Radar
A wonderful debut. [#14]
All Music Guide
Ignore the clunky lyrics... and Gulag Orkestar is an infinitely more appealing album.
Read Full Review >PopMatters
The 11 tracks of Gulag Orkestar are very good, but not the stunning achievement you might be led to believe they are.
Read Full Review >What Our Users Said
The average user rating for this album is 8.9 (out of 10) based on 31 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.
Burlesco P. gave it a10:
Travelling to another world.
Pat B. gave it a10:
Best album of 2006
scoff c gave it a10:
great and special album.
Scott N gave it a10:
FIrst listen, intrigued. Second listen, thought i made a mistake and shelved it. Third listen, I have not stopped listening to it. Unique, captivating and yet grounded in an old world. Can't add much but I never want the Cd to end....
Henry JR gave it a10:
Incredible. I have a lot of experience with balkan music and this is a genuine but original synthesis of the style into the pop format.
R G gave it an8:
great debut. a drunken party somewhere between the balkans and ireland and a really cool song that could belong in the life aquatic. postcards from italy def the center of the album. very grand feeling to the album and his voice works like an instruement. they can def put on a show, saw them in dc in a really small place.
Joe E gave it a10:
Hearing this rich and brilliant album and then reading about Condon's age has made me reevaluate the past few years of my life. . . He perfectly captures the spirit of the style he's emulating without being a slave to authenticity. Genius.
