Gulag Orkestar

Gulag Orkestar
Studio album by Beirut
Released	May 9, 2006
Genre	Balkan folk
Length	37:25
Label	Ba Da Bing!
Beirut chronology
Gulag Orkestar (2006) Lon Gisland (2007)

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	link
The Guardian	link
Pitchfork Media	(7.7/10) link

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 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 Serbian 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

CD 2 (UK version)

1. "Elephant Gun" - 5:49
2. "My Family's Role in the World Revolution" - 2:08
3. "Scenic World" - 2:53
4. "The Long Island Sound" - 1:20
5. "Carousels" - 4:23

Personnel

• Zach Condon: vocals, trumpet, flugelhorn, ukulele, percussion, mandolin, accordion, organ, piano, recording
• Heather Trost: violin
• Jeremy Barnes: percussion, accordion
• Perrin Cloutier: cello
• Hari Ziznewski - clarinet
• Alan Douches - mastering
• Josh Clark - recording, mixing
• Ben Goldberg - photography (all cover)

References