Beirut the Flying Club Cup

Beirut The Flying Club Cup

a call to arms nantes a sunday smile guyamas sonora la banlieue cliquot forks and knives {la fête} in the mausoleum un dernier verre {pour la route} cherbourg st. apollonia the flying club cup

www.4ad.com www.badabingrecords.com www.beirutband.com p & c 2007 4ad under exclusive license from ba da bing records 4ad, 17-19 alma road, london sw18 1aa

Where were you when Napoleon died?

I was in a cage feeding a lion.

With a long pole I hope?

No, a short stick. Lions don’t frighten me. You know, my father invented the portable guillotine. He was also fond of posing, regally, on carousel horses.

Incroyable!

I am always looking ahead into the future. I spent ten years of my life sleeping in a shack next to the lion cage in the Jardin des Plantes. We both had but one thing on our minds always, the lion and me.

And what was that?

Women! I never knew love until I promised Bridgette that before I die I’d burn down Montmarte so she could I’m going to sleep so well tonight. Breath in, deeply now, okay do you feel it? gaze upon the Sacre Coeur naked white and holy. Don’t worry, we’re finally here. A Call To Arms conch shells - Zach Condon Nantes organ, vocals, percussion, euphonium, trumpet, petromilli, piano - Zach Condon upright bass - Perrin Cloutier violin, harpsichord, piano - Owen Pallett violin - Kristin Ferebee broken glass - Luba B. Glade A Sunday Smile farfisa, vocals, trumpet, euphonium, piano, mandolin - Zach Condon violin, harpsichord - Owen Pallett violin - Kristin Ferebee cello - Perrin Cloutier viola - Heather Trost

string arrangement - Owen Pallett

Guyamas Sonora vocals, wurlitzer, glockenspiel, flugel horn, percussion - Zach Condon violin - Owen Pallett piano - Kendrick Strauch cello, accordion, upright bass - Perrin Cloutier percussion - Nick Petree mandolin - Jason Poranski bouzouki - Paul Collins thank you - mes deux freres Ryan and Ross, mes parents, Kristianna, Alex K. and Alex G. and Alex L., Benjamin Golderberger and Alysia from Ba Da Bing, Ed, Chris, Natalie and Jane from 4AD, Chryde et Lu Lu, Cliquot! Your name still haunts our conversations, we haven’t forgotten you our friend and constant companion, hunter of the elusive Spanish fox (his tail curls counter clockwise), holy fool, pickpocket, born in the blue shade of a Lebanese cedar, his mother wrapped his moist head in Turkish silks like a whirling dervish and christened him Cliquot, bastard son of Jean Luc, a retired legionnaire with black teeth. Cliquot! I have seen you beat a man in the dark alleys of Pigalle and then come weeping into my room to sink your soft blonde head into the depths of my lap, moaning “I have no home, no country, no mother”, and so I held your bruised fist in my palm and counted every crooked line and wrinkle and told you the story of Napoleon and how he fell to sleep every night by intoning (in his hoarse battle-weary voice) the name of every country he had yet to conquer.

On cold winter nights Cliquot would wander the Marais in a purple bishop’s robe and mandarin slippers with tiny bells ringing around both ankles. Little Napoleon, in Pere Lachaise, you told me how they once buried men with bells they might ring in case they woke because death is never real it is Cliquot! Your name still haunts our conversations, we haven’t forgotten you our friend and constant companion, hunter of the elusive Spanish fox (his tail curls counter clockwise), holy fool, pickpocket, born in the blue shade of a Lebanese cedar, his mother wrapped his moist head in Turkish silks like a whirling dervish and christened him Cliquot, bastard son of Jean Luc, a retired legionnaire with black teeth. Cliquot! I have seen you beat a man in the dark alleys of Pigalle and then come weeping into my room to sink your soft blonde head into the depths of my lap, moaning “I have no home, no country, no mother”, and so I held your bruised fist in my palm and counted every crooked line and wrinkle and told you the story of Napoleon and how he fell to sleep every night by intoning (in his hoarse battle-weary voice) the name of every country he had yet to conquer.

string arrangement by Owen Pallett La Banlieue accordion, flugel horn, french horn - Zach Condon piano - Kendrick Strauch field recordings of Kings Cross, London courtesy of Jane Abernethy Guillaume et Virginie, Kathy, Bl Guillaume et Virginie, Kathy, Bl Cliquot vocals - Owen Pallett accordion, flugel horn, backup vocals, french horn - Zach Condon viola, violin - Heather Trost percussion, guitar - Nick Petree

written by Zach Condon and Owen Pallet ue Hawaii!, O ue Hawaii!, O wen and Patrick, Mark, wen and Pat ric k, Mark , Jeremy and Heather, Jaymie sp oms,Gillia -sup’ holmes-, th e cities of Albuquerque and Paris, n, l a blogotheque, th e Pratts, e Pratts, I did not live far from my father. It was my father who lived far from me. At night his hounds howled and yet my daughter slept so peacefully. I would watch her as a sentry guards a dark forest post. I am an unhappy man I would tell her I will not be able to afford the beautiful dresses you will one day crave. The finest foods, fresh apples and ripe oranges, the softest shoes for your tiny feet, a fox fur coat for winter and pink silk blouse for summer. I would buy you all these things if I had the means. My daughter, you sleep peacefully and you do not hear my father’s hounds howling. I did not live far from my father. It was my father who lived far from me. At night his hounds howled and yet my daughter slept so peacefully. I would watch her as a sentry guards a dark forest post. I am an unhappy man I would tell her I will not be able to afford the beautiful dresses you will one day crave. The finest foods, fresh apples and ripe oranges, the softest shoes for your tiny feet, a fox fur coat for winter and pink silk blouse for summer. I would buy you all these things if I had the means. My daughter, you sleep peacefully and you do not hear my father’s hounds howling.

In The Mausoleum vocals, flugel horn, percussion - Zach Condon piano - Kendrick Strauch violin - Kristin Ferebee percussion - Nick Petree upright bass, cello - Perrin Cloutier violin - Owen Pallett Un Dernier Verre (Pour la Route) vocals, french horn, euphonium - Zach Condon string arrangement by Owen Pallett piano - Kendrich Strauch harpsichord - Owen Pallett St. Apollonia guitar - Jason Poranski ukulele, vocals, flugel horn - Zach Condon upright bass - Perrin Cloutier cello - Perrin Cloutier euphoniums - Kelly and Tracy Pratt guitar, mandolin - Jason Poranski baritone saxophone - Jon Natchez steel drums - Owen Pallett bouzouki - Paul Collins written by Zach Condon and Kendrick Strauch mandolin - Jon Natchez percussion - Nick Petree Cherbourg vocals, petromilli, trumpet, mandolin parts by Jason Poranski french horn, percussion, glockenspiel, piano - Zach Condon violins - Kristin Ferebee and Owen Pallett

Rob Challice, Steven Himmelfarb, Uli, UItrillo and all at Revolver, Kevin Micka, Jessica, Heather Mcleod & TJ, Griffin, Mitch B(astard), William Patrick and the Mclaughlins, Brody and Gee, Ryan Craven 14 3

The balloon is ready, I’ve tethered it to the balcony with a knot no sailor could invent. Ignore the gathering crowd below. Plebeians! Maybe if we look closely we will find our mothers waving handkerchiefs, and our fathers scowling. If we see any children we’ll throw them candy but don’t tell them why we are up here, floating above Belleville in a hot air balloon. If they knew, they’d never want to sleep in their own beds ever again

Remember how we met? Barefoot on the beach (the hem of your dress starched white with salt). I was flying a beautiful kite. Yours was ragged and obviously self made. After a few failed attempts at flight you threw your kite on the sand and stomped on it. I wondered if it was your first kite. Kite making, you assured me, was not your specialty. But we are too old for kites. Let us toast the Flying Club Cup, our health, a quick painless death and helium. I’m going to sleep so well tonight. Breathe in, deeply now, okay do you feel it? Don’t worry, we’re finally here. 14 3

The Flying Club Cup lyrics by Zach and Ryan Condon vocals, french horn, trumpet - Zach Condon lowrey organ - Owen Pallett clarinet, flute, melodica - Jon Natchez piano - Kendrick Strauch accordion, upright bass - Perrin Cloutier percussion - Nick Petree backup vocals - Perrin Cloutier, Nick Petree, Kristin Ferebee, Owen Pallett, Zach Condon...

The Flying Club Cup

all songs written by Zach Condon except: Cliquot by Zach Condon and Owen Pallett and Un Dernier Verre (Pour la Route) by Zach Condon and Kendrick Strauch

string arrangements - Owen Pallett mandolin arrangement on St Apollonia by Jason Poranski recorded in Albuquerque, New Mexico: Zach Condon and Griffin Rodriguez and Quebec: Mark Lawson mixed by Griffin Rodriguez and Zach Condon at Shapeshoppe, Chicago mastered by Griffin Rodriguez at Shapeshoppe

album photos found in Paris, France (chez Chryde) stories by Ryan Condon layout and design by Kristianna Smith (yonderlustdesign.com) and Alexandra Klasinski (alexandra-k.com) all songs © 2007, reproduced by permission of EMI Music Publishing Ltd, London

Leon Gimpel, the stomach flu - car wreck - plane delays - computer crashes etc and everybody who played a note on this album. merci.Merci.