Many years ago I was in a Facebook group that made mixtapes for strangers. I loved the idea and had a great time making mix cds, posting them to people I'd never met and getting cds back from them. One of the first, if not the first, was a cd from a girl in America called Melia (who I think ran the group). It was an interesting mix of things - a few bands I knew well (Modest Mouse, Broken Social Scene, The Blood Brothers), a lot of names I'd heard of but never really heard and a handful of complete unknowns. The highlight of the whole cd was track 3 - Elephant Gun by Beirut, an artist from the "complete unknown" category.
I received that cd in July 2007 and in February 2008 I found this album in Spillers (during the Tuesday-record-from-Spillers year). It had come out in Autumn of 2007 but I guess they hadn't had it in stock, or I simply hadn't seen it until that February. I remember there being a description stuck to the sleeve, but I can't recall what it said. Between whatever Spillers had written and the strength of Elephant Gun I figured I should definitely buy it.
The Flying Club Cup is musically very different to almost everything in my collection, but the things that make the songs so awesome feel so familiar from genres I know well. Songs like A Sunday Smile, Cliquot and Cherbourg feel like great indie songs transported to some distant place (and even time). It's quite a skill to invoke such reactions.
I later picked up the first and third Beirut releases (the former including Elephant Gun and the latter being the split EP with his other band/alias Realpeople) both in Spillers. I then kind of drifted away from his music for a bit; I'm not sure why. At the end of last year I decided I should give his new album No No No a try and enjoyed it - whatever it was that had put me off had clearly passed.
For the playlist for the dinner at my wedding my (now-)wife and I were aiming for an upbeat, lively and continental feel (which doesn't include very much of my record collection). We found a few good songs and bands (Calexico, The Cat Empire, Mariachi El Bronx) but were struggling. Some connection fired in the back of my mind and I remembered Beirut. I played some songs to Vicky and she thought it was great. In the end, I think the bulk of the songs for the meal came from the first two Beirut albums.
I always loved making mixtapes; if just one of the 20 songs became the other person's new favourite song, even if just for a little while then it feels like a success. I remember getting a message back from one girl I'd sent a mixtape to in the Facebook group who had become a huge fan of Chuck Ragan after I included California Burritos (a song I've put on nearly every mixtape since I heard it); it was a great feeling. I like that music I got into because of a song a stranger sent me made it into my wedding day - I doubt Melia will ever get the same warm feeling I got, since she'll probably never read this, but I'm very grateful that she sent me that song.
Format: 12"
Tracks: 13
Cost: £13 new
Bought: Spillers
When: 19/02/08
Colour: Black
Etching: none
mp3s: no
