Gulag Orkestar

Gulag Orkestar is the debut album of Beirut. It was recorded in 2005 in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

It is written in the booklet that the front and back photos were found in a library in Leipzig, torn out of a book. The original photographer was unknown to the creators of the album while it was recorded, but has since been discovered to be Sergey Chilikov.^[1]

The album has received great critical acclaim and was voted the best album of 2006 by the record store Rough Trade. The album was later re-released to include the Lon Gisland EP.

The etymology of the name Gulag Orkestar can be attributed to Gulag, a Soviet government agency administering forced labor camps, mostly known through the novel The Gulag Archipelago. Orkestar is the Slavic word for "orchestra,".

Track listing

1. "The Gulag Orkestar" – 4:38
2. "Prenzlauerberg" – 3:46
3. "Brandenburg" – 3:38
4. "Postcards from Italy" – 4:17
5. "Mount Wroclai (Idle Days)" – 3:15
6. "Rhineland (Heartland)" – 3:58
7. "Scenic World" – 2:08
8. "Bratislava" – 3:17
9. "The Bunker" – 3:13
10. "The Canals of Our City" – 2:21
11. "After the Curtain" – 2:54

Personnel

• Zach Condon: vocals, trumpet, flugelhorn and ukulele
• Heather Trost: violin, viola
• Jeremy Barnes: drums

References