Alaska In Winter — “Balkan Low Rider Anthem” — Dance Party In The Balkans
This gets the nom for most spot-on song title, to say the least, though I find myself wishing the bottom end would be heavier under that hypno-rolling ivory. I want my thoretical car or old-timey carriage to thump. P.S., the way the false start isn’t really false, and in fact sets up the beat … nice. Plus I’m a sucker for false starts regardless. I discovered Dance Party In The Balkans through the probably superior sophomore effort Holiday, which Pitchfork just reviewed (doing its inexplicable thing of bestowing a radiant review + 7.9 rating while declining to “recommend” it). I highly endorse both albums, though the gee-do-you-think-this-is-a-Zach-Condon-collaboration vibe of this song is persistent throughout the debut. Which is not to say I don’t love the gypsified sound Beirut imparts, but I actually find AIW’s—Brandon Bethancourt’s—laptoppy excursions more interesting, closer to what Condon does in his few Magnetic Fields moments. Bethancourt filters and androgynizes his vocals in ways Kanye probably wishes he could, lays some uberslick BerlinBeats™, and puts together multitrack suites on the topic of highlanders that build magnificently. Usually I get impatient and skip to the climax, ‘cause I live in the 21st century and stuff.
