#Beirut Band

[wesleysniperking]

If I was young, I'd flee this town

I'd bury my dreams underground

As did I, we drink to die, we drink tonight

Far from home, elephant gun

Let's take them down one by one

We'll lay it down, it's not been found, it's not around

Let the seasons begin, it rolls right on

Let the seasons begin, take the big king down

[veletlenulmitmondtam]

[nonesuchrecords]

The Magnetic Fields’ Stephin Merritt is on BBC World Service’s Music Life with Beirut's Zach Condon and Blondie's Debbie Harry and Chris Stein. They discuss artistic self-expression, the influence of location on songwriting, and what unexpected musical genres have inspired them. You can hear it here.

The Magnetic Fields, who just completed a European tour, will tour the US with 69 Love Songs next year for the album's 25th anniversary. Their 2004 Nonesuch debut album, i, was released on vinyl for the first time this past spring; you can get it here.

[chronivore]

2023

[prismravine]

1. dave matthew’s band - american baby

2. lil peep - dying out west

3. the used - buried myself alive

4. deftones - rosemary

5. rainbow kitten surprise - no vacancy

6. good hangs - bad luck planet

7. florence + the machine - heavy in your arms

8. nothing, nowhere - clarity in kerosene

9. the lumineers - where the skies are blue

10. blink 182 - down

11. joji - slow dancing in the dark

12. amy winehouse - back to black

13. him - disarm me

14. beirut - guyamas sonora

15. have mercy - alive

16. ekkstacy - it only gets worse, i promise

17. the smiths - this night has opened my eyes

18. glass animals - heat wave

19. the cranberries - not sorry

20. spanish love songs - losers

21. the used - blue and yellow

22. oliver tree, robin schulz - miss you

23. lil peep - fingers

24. the goo goo dolls - here is gone

25. slow joy - crawling

26. queen - teo torriate

[bauerntanz]

Seit gestern: 20. Morgenland-Festival 2024

Seit gestern in #Osnabrück: Das 20. Morgenland-Festival 2024 und noch bis Samstag, 17. August.

Gestern Abend hat in Osnabrück das 20. Morgenland-Festival begonnen – in der Marienkirche mit einem ausverkauften Festkonzert von Mitgliedern zweier Ensembles, die im Rahmen des Festivals entstanden sind – dem 2009 gegründeten Morgenland Chamber Orchestra und der nur drei Jahre später entstandenen Morgenland All Star Band, also mit vielen langjährigen Weggefährten. Seit 2005 präsentiert das…

[danishphoner]

Alex Turner talks ditching the 'naiveté' of the previous Last Shadow Puppets album

Alex Turner has made a name for himself in recent years as the slick frontman of British alt-rockers Arctic Monkeys. Though he looks the part when he strides in to meet with EW — perfectly coiffed hair, a bright turquoise suit, and a pristine white linen shirt unbuttoned to the chest — Turner isn’t promoting new music from his most popular project.

Instead, he’s joined by Miles Kane, the former frontman of the Rascals, who created the Last Shadow Puppets with Turner back in 2007, well before the Arctic Monkeys were rocking stadiums and Olympic stages. Kane and Turner have reconvened the group — which also includes super producer James Ford (Florence + the Machine, Haim) and string mastermind Owen Pallett (Arcade Fire, Beirut) — for the follow-up to 2008’s The Age of Understatement.

Where Understatement was a syrupy homage to the likes of Scott Walker, Kane and Turner introduce a more worldly sensibility on Everything You’ve Come to Expect, which includes raucous jams (“Bad Habits”), sly Brit-pop (“Dracula Teeth”), and serene ballads (the title track). Turner attributes the shift on the new album, which dropped earlier this month, to newfound maturity: “That naiveté we shared has long since gone the way of old flesh.”

Kane and Turner sat down with EW to discuss why they chose to resurrect the Last Shadow Puppets, recording at Rick Rubin’s studio, and whether they’ll release a third album.

Written by Eric Renner Brown Photography by Zackery Michael

ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: The Last Shadow Puppets haven’t released a record for nearly a decade. Why now? How’d you get the band back together? ALEX TURNER: In the last eight years, Miles and I have seen each other a lot, James and I have seen each other, those two probably bumped into each other now and again, but the three of us being together was quite rare. We talked occasionally, like, “Maybe we’ll do another [record]” but it started to seem like it wasn’t going to happen. Then there was this one night and we were all back in Miles’s flat. Some other people got talking about it and we were like, “Oh f–k, yeah, we could give it another roll of the dice.” We woke up the next day and were like “Oh god, we’re going to have to follow this through now.”

And so then, was it just immediately writing and recording demos? AT: Me and Miles had already been writing a little bit for what was possibly going to be next. We always thought “Aviation,” which ended up being the first track on the album, had the properties of a Shadow Puppets song, if there is such a thing. Then it became, “Alright, but it’s not enough to stay there. We’ve gotta try and explore other things.” I guess that’s what the next ten songs do. [Laughs]

Are there themes on the album that you’re exploring? Or did you guys just want to play together again? AT: The lyrical side of things was not discussed that much. But the musical side of it was like, yeah, we should definitely explore.

How did working with James Ford contribute to that? AT: Having him agree to do it again was integral. The moment you start discussing the reference material for too long, it becomes stifling to the creative process. One thing that working with [Ford] allows you is you don’t get stuck in that. He says, “OK, we’re going to push you in this direction as far as we can” but [knows] when to stop. That’s what you want.

What did Owen Pallett bring to the table? AT: Last time, we brought [Pallett] in after we [finished recording]. We met up with him once in a hotel room in Manchester — just the fact that we had anything [from him] on [the album] was blowing our minds. When we recorded that, it blossomed into something that we could never envisage before. This time we thought, “Let’s get Owen to do the strings again, but this time let’s get him to come down to the studio. If he’s there, we’ll be able to communicate better.” There was a piano in the other room and he’d kind of — MILES KANE: Whisk in. AT: Yeah, float in and out and then have an idea and shoot off there. Every time we’d be in the control room and the song would end you’d just hear [Pallett] shredding the grand [piano]. It was wicked.

How do you guys plan to take these songs on the road? AT: Last time, we had the orchestra every time. It’s difficult to do that and it’s f–king really expensive. And some rooms you play in, you stick an orchestra in there and it’s not even built for it. This time we’ll have a smaller [group] and adapt the arrangements accordingly. I won’t be doing that, but…

How have you guys changed since the last album? MK: My singing has changed — [becoming] not afraid to sing stuff, which is something Alex would help. Before doing this record, [I’d be] singing in a certain style thinking “Oh, it sounds too weak” or “It sounds too thin.” That door opened up for me [on this record]. AT: This, in the first place, was a chance to try something else. The first Shadow Puppets record was the first time that either of us had tried to really sing like that. The fact that we didn’t quite make the mark is almost one of the things that’s good about it. This time we’re more equipped to sing like that.

I saw that you guys recorded at Rick Rubin’s studio. Did he stop by to provide his wisdom from the couch? AT: He didn’t, no. There’s a machine in the control room where you can bring him up like a hologram, if you’re really stuck. But we resisted turning that knob. It would’ve been embarrassing for James, more than anything else.

It would hurt his cred. AT: How’s he going to take that?

You’ve said this is like the second in a trilogy of Last Shadow Puppets records: How do you see it fitting in with the context of your last one? Do you think you’ll do another? AT: That’s the dream: We’ve got this third one and we’ll tie up all the loose ends. This one, maybe there’s a few loose ends left and next time, sonically, we need resolution. And, you know, so does the world. [Laughs] Some Shadow Puppets resolution.

[akajustmerry]

Hi

1 love your blog and podcast

2 I’m really enjoying your weekly Palestinian film recs

3. Do you have more recommendations for Arab and Middle Eastern cinema ?

Thank you ☺️

helloooooo, thank you 🥰 I have a whole sideblog which I don't promote enough called @swanasource where I and my co-mod @thatidomagirl frequently post middle eastern/SWANA film and films made by swana filmmakers in the film tag here:

I myself am still on my journey of watching more swana films (and non-english and non-Western films) so I won't claim to be any sort of exhaustive expert. but here are some of my favourites!

Salt of this Sea (2008). Dir. Annemarie Jacir. Palestinian film about a Palestinian-American woman heisting an Israeli bank

The Persian Version (2023). Dir. Maryam Kershavez. Comedy about an Iranian-American lesbian who gets pregnant after a one night stand and so decides to learn more about her family history.

Kedi (2016). A calming and beautiful Turkish documentary about the cats of Istanbul

Ali's Wedding (2017). A rom-com about an Iraqi-Australian Muslim who falls in love with the Lebanese girl from his mosque who's helping him get into med school.

The Man Who Sold His Skin (2020). Tunisian thriller about a syrian refugee who agrees to let his back be tattooed and be part of a living exhibition by a notorious artist so he can get a visa.

Sirens (2020). A documentary about the queer Lebanese all-girl metal band, Slave To Sirens, set around the Beirut explosion.

In Vitro (2019). A short Palestinian sci-fi film about an elderly woman in an underground bunker trying to describe the world before to a young woman who's only ever known the bunker.

Cairo Time (2009). Dir. Ruba Nadda. Look, this film isn't perfect but It's about a white American woman who's husband is a UN worker in Egypt. She goes to visit him in Cairo, but her husband is waylaid so he sends his bestie played by the beautiful Alexander Siddig to take her around Cairo and oh my GOD the romantic tension of this movie keeps me up at night.

Butterflies (2018). One of my fave movies ever. A Turkish comedy about 3 estranged siblings who have to take a chaotic road trip to fulfil their father's last wishes.

[wesleysniperking]

Strawhats’ Band AU

- The Strawhats’ sound is akin to Beirut and Broken Social Scene.

Band Members and Instruments:

- Usopp: Bass guitar. (Engineer and Songwriter/Lyricist)

- Luffy: Lead singer.

- Nami: Keyboardist/pianist/synth player.

- Zoro: Drummer.

- Sanji: Trombonist. (Might play other hard-a** brass instruments). (Lyricist/SW)

- Chopper: Maracas, Tamborine, and instruments similar to those. (He can play the Kalimba and idiophone type).

- Robin: Harp. (Can play the Theremin too).

- Franky: Electric guitar. (Engineer)

- Jinbe: Percussion line.

- Brook: Violinist. (Composer)

Nami: Keyboard/piano prodigy exploited by corrupt talent scout Arlong. She tried to sue him for damages after her adopted mom passed away. She had a breakdown but returned to music with Luffy’s help.

Zoro: Dedicated and talented drummer with a slight drinking problem. His playing style is swift, intense, and controlled. Learned to play in the same style as a late friend.

Sanji: Talented trombonist who left a philharmonic orchestra due to politics and personal reasons.

Luffy: Former member of the marine band, sent there by his grandpa after attending military/marine school but managed to escape.

Usopp: Music college dropout who is haunted by his famous father, whom he never knew. His girlfriend passed away from cancer. He had posted YouTube covers and gained a following. His late mother was an indie artist who never achieved widespread success. It is uncertain whether she was a groupie.

(all EB5 were homeless or broke at one point before meeting).

Both Robin and Nami have had experiences similar to Kesha, involving exploitation in the music industry.

Usopp’s dad, Yasopp or “Chaser”, is a famous bassist, ranked as one of the best of all time by Rolling Stone.

Shanks or “Red Hair” is Luffy’s mentor. He is the famous lead singer of a Grammy award-winning band.

Red Hair Pirates - They are a famous Grammy award-winning band with a sound similar to War, King Harvest, Dire Straits, and Guns N’ Roses, depending on the era.

Usopp and the band have a falling out when they alter their sound and remove a fan-favorite song, "Merry," from the setlist.

Usopp leaves the band after a public feud with Franky and Luffy’s decision to remove "Merry" from the Water 7 music festival setlist, which is akin to Coachella or Lollapalooza.

Sabaody Groove Fest: This festival is similar to the controversial Warped Tour, with various allegations surrounding it.

Usopp modified Nami’s keyboard to have unique synth sounds, similar to the Climatact.

“Merry” was believed to be an ex of Usopp’s, but it’s revealed that the song personifies the band’s journey and dream towards success. The band is surprised by this revelation.

- Franky writes a successful song called “Sunny” that charts well, but fans believe "Merry" will become a classic.

Each bandmate will receive honorifics and titles in their 40s or 50s. Usopp will be ranked #1 or #2 on the best rock bassists of all time list, surpassing his dad.

Usopp also creates a musical collective with other Black artists, developing a following of 8,000+ fans.

The band’s (Strawhats) fandom name is Nakama or Sailors

- When not singing, Luffy plays the cymbals, fooling around when he’s not leading the vocals.

- Usopp returns at the Water 7 festival as Sogeking, playing a crucial bass solo riff, symbolizing his readiness to rejoin the band. Luffy pulls him on stage to finish the song with a cool bass riff.

The Strawhats might decide to make a political statement during a performance, similar to when Luffy told Usopp to shoot the flag in the show. This could involve revealing an anti-government poster or banner, which could then go viral. Alternatively, they might do something in support of Robin, who is in a dispute with her former record label.

I have a dirty little secret. I wrote a song about Merry to accompany the fic idea. It’s a little cringe but I recorded it and everything. I might share it one day. Lol!

This is what I mean by the band’s sound…

They’d pull something like this in public.

BSS lyrics are pretty raw and bombastic in a way I feel like the SHs would be.

Music video is basically about pirates (???) and it reminds me of one of Luffy’s moves.

[thisfeebleheart]

Rules: list 15 bands/artists and name just (1) song of theirs that you love.

Thank you so much for tagging me @novemberhush ♥️🫶

1.) The Gaslight Anthem - Old White Lincoln 2.) The Lumineers - Sleep On The Floor 3.) Mumford & Sons - Lovers' Eyes 4.) Frank Turner - The Road 5.) alt-J - Tessallate 6.) Arcade Fire - Intervention 7.) Kings of Leon - The Bucket 8.) Noah and the Whale - 5 Years Time 9.) Japandroids - The House That Heaven Built 10.) We Were Promised Jetpacks - Keeping Warm 11.) Beirut - Nantes 12.) Editors - Racing Rats 13.) Ben Howard - Burgh Island 14.) Foals - Blue Blood 15.) Cold War Kids - Royal Blue

I'm tagging @bruisingknees, @quelquunberlin, @hope-calaris, @butalorsyouarefrench, @canonicallyanxious, @juliaandthephantoms and @novemberhush if you want to :)

[brickbozo]

-personally ive never seen anyone who question the bands dynamics as otherwise not get bashed on / called buzzwords and slurs but i'll try to make it concise, since takes like these only really apply to Russel in canon. I'll also only be using those canon early inteviews so hopefully my point gets across!

tw/ interview excerpts with literal debauchery and early 2000s lingo under the cut ❗

-from a series of interviews published in phase 1 and most were incorporated in their autobiography later on (all this was spoken in Noodle's presence btw)

couplemore (tw / creepy interviewer and Murdoc's equally creepy response)

definitely isnt 'responsible wholesome dad who can be trusted with raising kids' (and thats not even mentioning exposing her to strippers, booze and plastering porn all over the music studio)

as for the 'legally adopted thing', this is something Noodle rejects herself, atleast for 2d and Murdoc in phase 5 herself:

"2D was like my brother / pet, Russel was my uncle, and Murdoc I try to forget." - youtube q n a

and about her bedtime:

"They let me stay up late if I want to but it makes me tired and moody, like Murdoc."

-this is headcanon territory. 2d's recluse was mostly played off as a joke to a horror movie reference in his Beirut residence. Murdoc even laughs about it after he gets him kidnapped.

-also the concept of plastic beach preceded Murdoc who scammed a bunch of people off their money, burned down their studio for more money (blamed it on poor kids) then fled to the self-proclaimed 'pink playboy plastic mansion' with his favourite collaborators and a bunch of women shipped every month

M: Well, I instigated my own disappearance, certainly. I didn’t really care what the others got up to. After the show I stayed round long enough to goose some of the guests, throw down a couple of rums and then made a swirling disappearance off into the ether. POW! Once the door slammed shut on Gorillaz that evening, for me that was it. I was sick of the sight and smell of the whole band. I just want to have a long "Lost Weekend"...and somehow I managed to string it out for about three years.....It's amazing what kind of fun you can get up to with a Coutts credit card and a big bottle of Absinthe..... -Under a Hail of Plastic Beach, Channel24

as for the reason for creating cyborg-

-and rise of the ogre already established russel was going mad way before ever since Del died and wandering the earth as 'the mad mountain' dubbed by locals

-tru its so relatable when a dad gets off to his daughter disciplining him (or when he bullshits about considering dating her if she was 10 years older instead of an outright, disgusted 'NO')

or when he has to double check if he's dating her or not

or when he mimicks borderline sexual moves (the mocap was d one by Jamie and his wife btw)

i also find it funny that the person (+ most 'antis' for some reason) ship phase 1 2//doc which is interesting seeing 2d was 19 at the time, murdoc was 32 and their dynamic was multiple times labelled as familial (perhaps as much as Noodle so you cant even say it was a Noodle-exclusive thing):

2d calling murdoc 'big brother' (-Jamie Hewlett, Bananaz + almanac 2021 comic)

murdoc being 2d's 'father-figure' (writer Cass Brown, pirate radio) + murdoc insisting he's 'adopted' 2d (humanz live mocap interview with Jam phase 4)

so we can safely say the 'family dynamic' was def not conventional (either that or you're being hypocritical with your wordings) and its equally valid to see it as otherwise!

[escapedaudios]

as i was yet again rewatching another rp series for the 100000 time (New Jersey Rats), i kept rewinding at the end of episode 2 where the Intern and Jean are in his apartment singing and playing the ukulele (i rlly like that part i think about it often), i realized i always just kinda,,,, like,,,, assumed he started playing the ukulele while he was with Stacy or maybe after the break up to cope with it. IDK WHY OR HOW I CAME TO THIS CONCLUSION BUT IT WAS LIKE CANON FOR ME OR SMTH IDK. So when i was listening to the series i realized that was in fact not the case bc it was never hinted at that in any way

,,,,,,,so what was it that made Jean starting playing the ukulele in the first place?

Jean was just into ukuleles. His favorite band is canonically Beirut and his favorite song is Postcards From Italy, a ukulele song he wanted to learn to perform but could never get the hang of. I think based on the timeline I have for his pre-intern history he would have started playing ukulele about six months after his breakup with Stacy, I never thought those two events really had anything to do with eachother though.

[good--merits-accumulated]

I am still obsessed with your fic Un Dernier Verre (Pour La Route), so I was wondering if you could answer 8, 11, and 15 for it? Thank you :)

!!! Thank you for the ask. :)

8 - Did any real people or events inspire any part of it?

Funnily enough, Un Dernier Verre is actually technically crossover fic with a Real Band! So in 2007 (? Maybe 2008?) Beirut did a Take Away Show for La Blogotheque where they went all around Paris playing the songs from their album, The Flying Club Cup. For The Penalty, they play in the back of this very cramped very poky little cafe. I'd loved the show for years (seriously, the entire thing is FANTASTIC) and was listening to a good deal of Beirut while writing and only realised afterwards that most of the fic is actually set during this video, just out of shot!

(If you can imagine, Neil and Todd are tucked away somewhere on the left where the guy with glasses is sitting. The band are continuing onwards into the very back of the shot, where they're taking up all of the booths.)

Sorry! Convoluted answer. Summary: yes, and Un Dernier Verre is technically RPF, I guess?!?!?! Even though none of the characters actually interact with anyone from the band.

(Un Dernier Verre (Pour La Route) is also the name of a song off the same album!)

11 - What do you like best about this fic?

I liked my descriptions very much. This was the first fic where I really got a chance to describe how Neil and Todd look in the real world (I'd done descriptions before but iirc at that point it was in the context of either 1480s Milan or handwavey fantasy fairy alternate universe). Also where I really began to think of Neil as an all-American character! I'm fond of Un Dernier Verre because it's where a good deal of the foundation for how I think of Neil and Todd as characters now came from.

15 - What did you learn from writing this fic?

Not a whole lot, but there was some. Mainly about writing believable character interactions. At that point I still hadn't got a good handle on writing dialogue (debatable whether I have now tbqh) and so everything is a little bit too cheesy to be good, but Un Dernier Verre taught me little bits and pieces about flow and rhythm! So it was useful in that way. But at the end of the day it's a small oneshot and there wasn't time to develop anything else in it T_T, although as I've already said it planted the seeds for me to start thinking about Anderperry's characters more intricately.

[lostcauses-noregrets]

I just hope you know that Cardamom is easily one of my favorite fics i’ve ever read. like ever! as an arab, i was so excited to see it, and even more excited to see how you perfectly captured the most beautiful story with the most beautiful characters.

i was wondering if you had any music in mind when writing the fic, as i found myself associating it with fairuz really quickly (perhaps bc of the coffee… which i associate with mornings, which is the best time to listen to fairuz!) :)

Hello Anon, thank you so much for your kind words, and apologies for taking so long to answer your ask. I'm always deeply touched when Arab readers enjoy Cardamom and find they're able to identify with the story.

I definitely did have music in mind when I wrote Cardamom, I'm a huge fan of Lebanese music and I made a Cardamom playlist on youtube.

Fairuz really should be on there, but as you can probably tell from the playlist, the real soundtrack for Cardamom was Yasmine Hamdan and Mashrou' Leila. I've adored Yasmine Hamdan for years ever since I heard Tango by Soapkills, which is on the playlist. I was also lucky enough to see Mashrou' Leila perform in the UK twice, before the band split up. There's more than a little of Hamed Sinno, Mashrou' Leila's amazing singer, in Cardamom Levi.

There's also a subtle nod to Lebanese music in the fic, in chapter 14 Levi wears a LUMI t-shirt with the name of their song Don't fuck with my cat, and he has a poster for the 2006 Beirut Luna Park Music Festival on the wall of his flat.

I'm aware of the irony of answering this ask today at a time when Lebanon is once again suffering from Israeli aggression and horrific terrorist attacks. My heart goes out to all those who have lost their lives so senselessly over the last few days. It seems fitting to leave you with Yasmine Hamdan's hauntingly beautiful elegy for her home city, Beirut.