The Flying Club Cup

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The Flying Club Cup
The Flying Club Cup.jpg
Studio album by
Beirut
ReleasedOctober 9, 2007
Genre
Length38:35
Label
Beirut chronology
Elephant Gun
(2007) 		The Flying Club Cup
(2007) 		March of the Zapotec/Holland EP
(2009)
Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic80/100[1]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic4/5 stars[2]
The A.V. ClubB+[3]
Blender3.5/5 stars[4]
The Guardian4/5 stars[5]
Mojo4/5 stars[6]
Pitchfork8.0/10[7]
Q4/5 stars[8]
Rolling Stone2.5/5 stars[9]
Spin3.5/5 stars[10]
Uncut4/5 stars[11]

The Flying Club Cup is the second studio album by Balkan folk-influenced indie folk band Beirut, released on October 9, 2007 on 4AD Records. The album was released on iTunes on September 4, 2007.

The album features string arrangements by Arcade Fire contributor Owen Pallett, also known by his former stage name Final Fantasy.[12]

Background[]

Condon said about the name and inspiration for the album: "Back in the early 1900s...there used to be this hot air balloon festival in Paris—[the album's] titled after that and after this very bizarre 1910 photo I found [by Léon Gimpel]. It's one of the first color photos ever made, at the World's Fair, and it...shows all these ancient hot air balloons about to take off in the middle of Paris. I just thought it was the most surreal image I'd seen in a long time." He also said about the album sound: "I was listening to a lot of Jacques Brel and French chanson music—pop songs shrouded in big, glorious, over-the-top arrangements and all this drama—and that was in some sense unfamiliar territory to me. So I started buying new instruments and relying on things I wasn't necessarily comfortable with, like French horns and euphoniums, carrying these big, epic big brass parts that I used to do all on trumpets, and working with accordion and organ instead of all ukulele—very much throwing myself in the world of classical pop music, I guess you could say."

According to the program notes given out during Beirut's performance at The Society for Ethical Culture in New York on September 24, 2007, each song on the album is intended to evoke a different French city (although Guaymas, Sonora is a Mexican city).

The album's second track, Nantes, was sampled on the 2012 10 Day mixtape from American rapper Chance the Rapper.[13]

Track listing[]

All tracks are written by Zach Condon, except where noted.

No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."A Call to Arms" 0:18
2."Nantes" 3:50
3."A Sunday Smile" 3:35
4."Guyamas Sonora" 3:31
5."La Banlieue" 1:57
6."Cliquot"
3:51
7."The Penalty" 2:22
8."Forks and Knives (La Fête)" 3:33
9."In the Mausoleum" 3:10
10."Un Dernier Verre (Pour la Route)"
  • Condon
  • Kendrick Strauch
2:51
11."Cherbourg" 3:33
12."St. Apollonia" 2:58
13."The Flying Club Cup" 3:05
Total length:38:35

Artwork[]

The cover photograph was taken in Brittany, France during the 1930s. It shows the Trestraou beach in the city of Perros-Guirec.

Videos[]

The whole album has been shot by La Blogothèque in Brooklyn. Each track filmed as a Take Away Show, available on the site of the album.

Charts[]

Certifications[]

Region Certification Certified units/sales
Belgium (BEA)[25] Gold 15,000*

* Sales figures based on certification alone.

Commercial performance[]

It was awarded a gold certification from the Independent Music Companies Association which indicated sales of at least 100,000 copies throughout Europe.[26] As of 2009, sales in the United States have exceeded 78,000 copies, according to Nielsen SoundScan.[27]

Personnel[]

The following people contributed to The Flying Club Cup:[28]

Beirut
Additional personnel

References[]

  1. ^ "Reviews for The Flying Club Cup by Beirut". Metacritic. Retrieved June 24, 2016.
  2. ^ Brown, Marisa. "The Flying Club Cup – Beirut". AllMusic. Retrieved June 24, 2016.
  3. ^ Murray, Noel (October 9, 2007). "Beirut: The Flying Club Cup". The A.V. Club. Retrieved June 24, 2016.
  4. ^ Wolk, Douglas. "Beirut: The Flying Club Cup". Blender. Archived from the original on October 11, 2007. Retrieved June 24, 2016.
  5. ^ Lynskey, Dorian (October 5, 2007). "Beirut, The Flying Club Cup". The Guardian. Retrieved June 24, 2016.
  6. ^ "Beirut: The Flying Club Cup". Mojo (168): 104. November 2007.
  7. ^ Suarez, Jessica (October 9, 2007). "Beirut: The Flying Club Cup". Pitchfork. Retrieved June 24, 2016.
  8. ^ "Beirut: The Flying Club Cup". Q (256): 142. November 2007.
  9. ^ Christgau, Robert (October 18, 2007). "Beirut: The Flying Club Cup". Rolling Stone. Retrieved June 24, 2016.
  10. ^ Young, Jon (November 2007). "Beirut: The Flying Club Cup". Spin. 23 (11): 114. Retrieved June 24, 2016.
  11. ^ Dalton, Stephen (October 16, 2007). "Beirut – The Flying Club Cup". Uncut. Archived from the original on August 15, 2016. Retrieved June 24, 2016.
  12. ^ Pitchfork: Beirut's Condon Talks New LP, Obsession, Exhaustion
  13. ^ "Chance the Rapper's Long Time sample of Beirut's Nantes - WhoSampled". WhoSampled.
  14. ^ "Ultratop.be – Beirut – The Flying Club Cup" (in Dutch). Hung Medien.
  15. ^ "Ultratop.be – Beirut – The Flying Club Cup" (in French). Hung Medien.
  16. ^ "Dutchcharts.nl – Beirut – The Flying Club Cup" (in Dutch). Hung Medien.
  17. ^ "Lescharts.com – Beirut – The Flying Club Cup". Hung Medien.
  18. ^ "GFK Chart-Track Albums: Week 42, 2007". Chart-Track. IRMA.
  19. ^ "Swisscharts.com – Beirut – The Flying Club Cup". Hung Medien.
  20. ^ "Beirut | Artist | Official Charts". UK Albums Chart.
  21. ^ "Beirut Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard.
  22. ^ "Beirut Chart History (Independent Albums)". Billboard.
  23. ^ "Beirut Chart History (Top Tastemaker Albums)". Billboard.
  24. ^ "Jaaroverzichten 2008". Ultratop. Retrieved June 11, 2021.
  25. ^ "Ultratop − Goud en Platina – albums 2008". Ultratop. Hung Medien.
  26. ^ "Impala Press Release". Impala. October 9, 2008. Retrieved April 27, 2019.
  27. ^ Ayers, Michael (February 2, 2009). "Indie rock band Beirut ventures south of the border". Reuters. Retrieved April 27, 2019.
  28. ^ The Flying Club Cup - credits. AllMusic. Retrieved May 15, 2015.
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