20-04-2025, 17:11
BEIRUT ~ A Study of Losses
![[Image: MTQtOTg1My5qcGVn.jpeg]](https://i.discogs.com/837I92QJhHasH7g5qg10iuDOs4Uc85XAsmJVZ0Es7mA/rs:fit/g:sm/q:90/h:530/w:600/czM6Ly9kaXNjb2dz/LWRhdGFiYXNlLWlt/YWdlcy9SLTMzNzUw/ODg1LTE3NDUwODIz/MTQtOTg1My5qcGVn.jpeg)
Right – where do I start with this one? Perhaps with the previous release. I listened to this because of that – Hadsel. I had been intrigued by the title track and was hoping the balance of the album would follow suit. It seemed promising for a while but then became a bit tedious, as I recall, so the hope was that this new album would be something to get my teeth into. This is the brainchild and almost solo project of Zach Condon who’s added in several other musos on strings this time around. And this time, the album was actually commissioned, by a Swedish ‘circus’ act, Kompani Giraff, to accompany their show A Study of Losses. "Kompani Giraff creates visual and unique circus performances with a foundation of poetic narrative and a passion for magic in everyday life situations. With this foundation we seek to explore new ground in contemporary circus and make use of our own different experiences in the performing arts to create truly interdisciplinary works of art." https://kompanigiraff.se/en/om-oss/
The music has a hymnal, lyrical quality and does engage you, for a while, but then, in my case, interest starts to wane (again!), and I can’t quite pinpoint why. It’s all very lovely – the strings are great but somehow there is a depth that is lacking, I feel – not enough colour/variation in the general tone perhaps, despite so much promise. Perhaps it is more satisfactory as an accompaniment to the show?? That is not to say that there are not tracks that I enjoyed, I did – Mr Condon has all the ingredients, perhaps it is just the recipe that could use a little tweak. Or I could be completely wrong. From what I can tell – most reviewers would disagree, so don’t take my word for it!
Here's an instrumental track that I did love … even although the title refers to the Sea of Crises!! Condon has named the pieces to correlate with the acts, which are somewhat curious and interesting, I must say (“Guericke’s Unicorn” & “Villa Sachetti” being two of ‘em), and the remainder of the pieces which fill up the gaps and complete the whole performance after the lunar seas - his website explains - https://www.beirutband.com/asol/home ...
"Mare Crisium"
... and a vocal track for good measure ... "Guericke's Unicorn" (in case anyone is wondering ... https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/guer...rg-unicorn )
Right – where do I start with this one? Perhaps with the previous release. I listened to this because of that – Hadsel. I had been intrigued by the title track and was hoping the balance of the album would follow suit. It seemed promising for a while but then became a bit tedious, as I recall, so the hope was that this new album would be something to get my teeth into. This is the brainchild and almost solo project of Zach Condon who’s added in several other musos on strings this time around. And this time, the album was actually commissioned, by a Swedish ‘circus’ act, Kompani Giraff, to accompany their show A Study of Losses. "Kompani Giraff creates visual and unique circus performances with a foundation of poetic narrative and a passion for magic in everyday life situations. With this foundation we seek to explore new ground in contemporary circus and make use of our own different experiences in the performing arts to create truly interdisciplinary works of art." https://kompanigiraff.se/en/om-oss/
The music has a hymnal, lyrical quality and does engage you, for a while, but then, in my case, interest starts to wane (again!), and I can’t quite pinpoint why. It’s all very lovely – the strings are great but somehow there is a depth that is lacking, I feel – not enough colour/variation in the general tone perhaps, despite so much promise. Perhaps it is more satisfactory as an accompaniment to the show?? That is not to say that there are not tracks that I enjoyed, I did – Mr Condon has all the ingredients, perhaps it is just the recipe that could use a little tweak. Or I could be completely wrong. From what I can tell – most reviewers would disagree, so don’t take my word for it!
Here's an instrumental track that I did love … even although the title refers to the Sea of Crises!! Condon has named the pieces to correlate with the acts, which are somewhat curious and interesting, I must say (“Guericke’s Unicorn” & “Villa Sachetti” being two of ‘em), and the remainder of the pieces which fill up the gaps and complete the whole performance after the lunar seas - his website explains - https://www.beirutband.com/asol/home ...
"Mare Crisium"
... and a vocal track for good measure ... "Guericke's Unicorn" (in case anyone is wondering ... https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/guer...rg-unicorn )
"The surest sign that intelligent life exists elsewhere in the universe is that it has never tried to contact us." ~ Bill Watterson
