This is my vote for the best album of 2006. Why? First of all, it is one of the few CD's to remain in the upper layer of the stack i keep tucked away under the dash. I have to admit the shmaltzy horn solos just never get old and I find myself humming them months after first hearing this soon be indie classic.
It is -gasp- DIFFERENT. This a good trait for an indie record. The album is an attempt to meld east european gypsy music with folk-pop and topped off with a slight but noticeable electronic sheen. There is everything from horns, accordians, synthesizers to cow bells... all coming together to create one of the most genuine performances I've heard in a long time. It even brings to mind references to the mother of all indie albums- In the Aeroplane over the Sea.
This shouldn't be surprising because half of Zach Condon's band is actually from Neutral Milk Hotel! There is definitely a resemblance. In fact I loved the album so much I bought the follow up EP- Lon Gisland. It's funny how a misplaced spacing can make a phrase sound so foreign. It is kind of metaphor for what he has done with his brand of gypsy pop.
Now for the short and sweet of it. The album starts out strongly with loud spanish horns set to the broken beat of some eastern bloc funeral. The ethnic tone is set and like most great albums the mood is predominately introspective with some notes of somber remembrance(The Canals of Our City) and some of unbridled joy (Scenic World). The album then ends with a beautiful electronic sequence set to the sound of applause. Perfect.
There are four highpoints in the Gulag and Lon Gisland combined work- Postcards from Italy, the two versions of Scenic World, and Elephant Gun. If anything the singles Postcards and Elephant Gun can be downloaded from the indiepop podcast.
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