Muahahah. I love your so-called "nonsense prose".

'Lon Gisland' = 'Long Island'? Just a thought.

When you say "At least on my copy, they're packaged on the same disk"- what does that mean? Is the EP available separately? Is it released yet? Or must one buy G.O. all over again to hear the new stuff? (I haven't listened to this yet, as with stuff I just know I'll buy I try not to spoil the surprise.)

Here's hoping 4AD doesn't have the same impact on Beirut as it had on The Mountain Goats... :(

thanks, lism!

Robert - yes, Lon Gisland is definitely Long Island. I was making a not-funny joke. And it's my understanding that the new EP will only come with 4AD purchases of Gulag Orkestar (ie, it won't be sold properly). On my promo copy, it's just the one disc with bonus tracks at the end.

Love the new listening plugin!
Love Beirut as well, definitely one of my favorite recent releases...

Thanks Sean. Thinking afterwards, I realised it was probably a gag, but it was too early in the morning for me to get it.

But why oh why (rhetorical- not directed at you) is the EP part of the rerelease? Penalising early adopters/longtime fans, of any ilk, really gets up my nose. "Thanks for tracking this down in its original format. Now if you don't mind, buy it again just so you can get the extra tracks." I presume this isn't Z.C.'s doing- artists rarely have a say in things like this. Is he even aware?

If the label were just to release a new 4-track EP, then there'd be no probs. But I guess then they couldn't shaft the buyers for as much money. And maybe, knowing the impact Beirut has had, they figured the fanbase would care enough to buy all over again.

I'm thinking, also, that this might prompt fans to simply burn the extra tracks from somewhere else, whereas if it were a separate disc they'd be more likely to part with cash. (All reminds me a bit of the YLT Season Pass nonsense.) Whole thing just leaves a bad taste in the mouth.

Sorry for hijacking your site with this somewhat off-topic rant. As i said, I know it's not your fault- and thanks (again) for bringing Beirut to my attention in the first place. Really- thanks. :)

Technical note: the new, in-browser play button does not appear in the individual entry page for entries, it's only showing up on the homepage. FYI.

And Robert:

The 4AD release of Gulag Orkestar isn't some "deluxe reissue;" it's simply the overseas edition, and those extra EP tracks in this case should be considered as "bonus tracks," asitwere. This is a very very common occurence when there's an overseas release of a U.S. album: you get extra tracks.

And as I've always understood it, that's not to be the *only* way to get those tracks, as Badabing/Chouette has been promising for some time that this EP is also to be released domestically on 12" vinyl.

Ryan - Yeah, I know. The trouble is that the player automatically appears for any .mp3 link, whether or not that link still works. And since we don't remove expired links, the compromise is just to keep the player on the main index page and not on (the 99% expired) individual entry pages). If I was any kind of javascript hacker I'd have a better solution, but...

Yeah, that new Beirut song rocks. I can't wait for the Calexico/Beirut double bill. Mmmm, all the drunken horns I need.

Yeah, I wouldn't have brought it up at all, but I just wanted to check, make sure you knew. It's just too bad, since people who come in to the site via their RSS reader, as well as people who come in via a link to the entry, will be taken to the durn individual entry page and not get the durn feature!

Thanks for the clarification, Catbird. I still think it stinks to high heaven, adding extra tracks to a different (whether Deluxe, 'Bonus' or Overseas- that's moot, imho) version of an album. Fumbling in a greasy till, and all that.

The fact that it might be released separately would be more of a consolation were it not to be vinyl-only. Any chance you could put in a word for a CD version? :)

(PS I think gratitude should go to you too, if memory serves, as the original location for 'Postcards...' to which StG pointed me back in March/April, no?)

I'm pretty sure the new EP is comming out in the US on Ba Da Bing as a one sided vinyl.

Brookyln Vegan:

"Brooklyn's Beirut have signed to 4AD for an expanded re-release of The Gulag Orkestar (Ba Da Bing), their impressive debut record of Eastern-European-inspired waltzes and folk songs. Beirut, the solo project of Zach Condon, has grown to a full band, which includes strings, horns, ukeleles and even a hype man. The re-release will coincide with Beirut's first shows in the UK, opening for the equally-cinematic Calexico this fall. The European version will also include a new EP, titled Lon Gisland[sic]. Chouette will release the EP in limited vinyl." [CMJ]

http://www.brooklynvegan.com/archives/2006/09/beirut_signs_to.html

Personally, I think Said the Gramophone and Keep the Coffee Coming are the most interesting blogs to read because of such "nonsense prose". I'm much more interested in that kind of creative writing than the simple descriptions that most blogs (including my own) tend to have. And I've yet to download something from you (or KTCC) that I didn't like.

I love Jose Gonzalez, so I can't wait to listen to this song. Nice post!

I also did a post a while back with a few lines about Jose and put the Heartbeats song on my site's podcast, feel free to listen: http://femmechill.blogspot.com/

Thanks so much for this! And yeah, describing your prose as nonsense is....nonsense.

God beirut is good. Cheers on your new streaming feature, It's definitely the way to go ;)

i love the new in-browser listening capability! yay for user-friendly brilliance!

and of course, i love the music, and the beautiful prose, as always, it's heart-warming.

love,
stephanie

Thanks for posting this, I can't wait to see him in NYC next month! I had heard that the EP will be available separately at the upcoming US shows. I'm not sure who it was that responded to me, but it was from a message I sent to the Connor.