>Check out the new songs from artists on Ba Da Bing records..

first up..

After Comets on Fire played Auckland, Utrillo Kushner was introduced to one of his idols, the legendary DIY producer and songwriter Chris Knox. The following day Knox invited Kushner and his bandmates over to his house for conversation and beers. The afternoon was spent in the kitchen (Knox was baking a cake for The Clean’s Bangers and Mash anniversary tour) drinking while Knox spun stories of the NZ music underground of yore. From this experience, Kushner conceived of the initial idea for the second Colossal Yes album.

Inspired by the Kiwi indie-pop formulas of the Tall Dwarves, The Clean, & The Verlaines, Utrillo set out to write his own songs using piano as the main instrument. It was a reawakening of the pop aesthetic done Piano Man style. Over the next few months the tunes began to take shape, ending up with a batch of songs that would make up a majority of Charlemagne’s Big Thaw. Recording of the basic tracks started in the summer of 2007 with Kelley Stoltz producing and Kevin Ink behind the controls, ending somewhere around the new year. The tracks were then fine-tuned and refined over a series of nighttime and weekend sessions with Matt Waters in early 2008. Finally mixed with Ben Chasny and Matt Waters almost a year from the starting point.

The end result is something unique yet familiar to the epic pop bands of the past. Charlemagne’s Big Thaw focuses in on simple melodies and basic structures, but has complex lyrical themes concerning expired youth, grand betrayals, failed schemes and dissolving empires. In this regard, Kushner pays respect to songwriters like Robyn Hitchcock, Dan Bejar of Destroyer and Alex Chilton while also incorporating the honesty of Graham Nash’s Songs For Beginners and the romanticism of Nikki Sudden’s Waiting On Egypt. Welcome to the new piano age.

Colossal Yes – Charlemagne’s Big Thaw ----

Beirut...

For the past year, Beirut has alternated between the two extremes of the modern musician; touring the world in support of 2007's much-lauded The Flying Club Cup, and nurturing the creative spark by writing a wealth of new material. With no sense of a release in mind, bandleader Zach Condon recorded in any style that struck his fancy. Some early discussions about recording material for a film being shot in Mexico morphed into a new idea…what about hiring a local Mexican band to help record some songs based on new material?

It was a sincere challenge every step of the way. After finding the band through a friend's mother, hiring a translator, and catching a plane down to Oaxaca, Zach made his way a half hour out of town to the tiny weaver village of Teotitlan del Valle, where he met the nineteen members of The Jimenez Band. The ensuing weeks of recording, rewriting and relating are documented in a series of short films (to be released online as the release date for March of the Zapotec draws near).

All well and good, but the six songs found on March of the Zapotec are only a part of what this release has become. Before recording as Beirut, Zach went by Realpeople for his bedroom recordings, and he has revived the name for the second record in this collection, Holland. As opposed to March of the Zapotec, Holland collects a series of songs conceived and completed at home. One song, "Venice," appeared on a compilation by The Believer magazine, while "My Night With the Prostitute from Marseille" was on the Big Change charity compilation on iTunes.

Together, this album-length double release represents the totality of Zach Condon's work over the past year. MOTZ is further testament to the inventiveness and intimacy he creates as Beirut, a band which started as one person sounding like twelve, and has developed into a particular style and sound. No matter what inspirations jumpstart one song to the next, underlying it all is the realization that Zach Condon is a singular artist creating his very own vision of the world's sound. And whether he's being inspired by Balkan folk, French chanteuse, Mexican troubadour, '80s synth pop, or '90s house, the common thread remains Zach's ability to make a simple melody both artistically unique and endlessly familiar.

March of the Zapotec marks the continuing emergence of a musician who has only shown an inkling of where he is headed. And while the road may be long, every stop along the way invites a new experience. Enjoy the latest.

beirut – My Night with the Prostitute from Marseille
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