Beirut The Flying Club Cup

Beirut
The Flying Club Cup
n, deeply now, okay do you feel it?
Don’t worry, we’re finally here.
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
gaze upon the Sacre Coeur naked
white and holy.
farfisa, voc
vocals, wu
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,
Alex K.
a Da Bing, Ed, Chris, Natalie
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
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
en’t forgotten you our friend
(his tail curls counter
a Lebanese cedar, his
ng
c, a
ou
ping
er”,
ry
on
rse
o
s
se,
ght
written by Zach Condon and Owen Pallet
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
Cliquot
vocals - Owen Pallett
accordion, flugel horn, backup vocals, french horn - Zach Condon
viola, violin - Heather Trost
percussion, guitar - Nick Petree
Forks and Knives(La Fête)
vocals, percussion, flugel horn - Zach Condon
violin, celeste - Owen Pallett
accordion, upright bass, cello, viola - Perrin Cloutier
violin - Kristin Ferebee
clarinet, bass clarinet, flute - Jon Natchez
backup vocals - Nick Petree, Perrin Cloutier, Jason Poranski, Griffin Rodriguez
The Penalty
vocals, ukulele, accordion, percussion - Zach Condon
Guillaume et Virginie, Kathy, Blue Hawaii!, Owen and Patrick, Mark, Jeremy and Heather, Jaymie -sup’ holmes-, Gillian, la blogotheque, the Pratts,
the cities of Albuquerque and Paris,
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
string arrangement by Owen Pallett
Un Dernier Verre (Pour la Route)
vocals, french horn, euphonium - Zach Condon
piano - Kendrich Strauch
harpsichord - Owen Pallett
guitar - Jason Poranski
upright bass - Perrin Cloutier
euphoniums - Kelly and Tracy Pratt
baritone saxophone - Jon Natchez
St. Apollonia
ukulele, vocals, flugel horn - Zach Condon
cello - Perrin Cloutier
guitar, mandolin - Jason Poranski
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
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.
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.