A while ago we mentioned that Zach Condon headed to Oaxaca, Mexico — the weaver village of Teotitlan del Valle to be exact — and hooked up with the 19-piece Jimenez Band band, who helped him get the sounds he needed for his March Of The Zapotec EP. Condon plans to release some short films documenting the experience, but in the Owen Cook-animated video for standout “La Llorna” he stayed home and wrote a narrative about a little dog, a mourner, the band, a Mexican graveyard, and a puddle of tears (or, well, rain). It helps to know that “La Llorona”‘s “the weeping woman” in Spanish and relates to a legend about a woman who killed her children then herself after she was rejected by a man. She spends her time as a weeping ghost, wandering in search of the kids.
Remember, March Of The Zapotec will be packaged together with another EP, Holland, which includes five solo Condon home recordings under his “Realpeople” moniker.
March Of The Zapotec/Holland is out 2/17 via Condon’s Pompeii Records/Ba Da Bing. Both will be available on vinyl via Obey Your Brain.
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Thank you for posting this. I have been hyping up this album since Zach said anything about his next release. I am glad I hyped it up now.
if by “five new solo Condon home recordings under his “Realpeople” moniker” you mean 2 songs (“My Night with the Prostitute…”, “Venice”)that have been previously released over the past 2 years and 3 new ones, than yeah.
That’s exactly what I meant! Full diss-closure: I was the one who released “Venice” on a CD I put together, so I know it’s not technically new, but it is new to most. Still, I’ve taken your advice and removed “new.”
Ha. Only reason I know that is because Venice has been a personal fave since I got it from y’all. grazi.
Yr welcome!
this sounds like man man
That’s Oaxaca, MEXICO, surely?
(dirtysweet like the CA band?)
pretty alright song, sounds too much like his other stuff, but rad video and really slick horns in the middle, i still cant wait for the albums
sounds like he has turned the austerity knob to 11. just wish he’d give us something a touch more upbeat and a little less somber.
sounds better live because it’s a bit faster. cool song though.
Pretty depressing little story for the morning, but I love their sound. And they get props in my book for playing with Kaki King at BAM next month. Eeee, gonna be an epic show. in the spirit of videos, my fav Kaki vid: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YsRpHKJnTGI
DeVotchKa did a “La Llorona” a while back too. The title threw me off for a second there…
Good song though. Doesn’t seem like he’s trying extremely hard, but it’s … nice.
this is so beautiful. I cant wait for these albums.
La Llorana is a Hispanic legend about the restless spirit of a woman, looking for her children, or some variation. It freaks kids out. Helps them to behave. She’s like a bogeyman with a cause.
Anyway, it’s nice to hear south of the border influences. Great video too.
I remember the La Llorona story when I was a child in New Mexico. In the version I heard, after the woman kills herself, she stands before God who asks her where her children are. She says she doesn’t know, having thrown the bodies in the Rio Grande, so God tells her she must wander the earth until she finds the bodies. We were always told to never go out after dark, because if the weeping woman found you, she would kill you and try to present your body to God as a substitute for her own children.
Oh, guess I should have read the introduction to the video.
I have always loved the sound of Bandas de VIento or WInd Bands (I mean our mexican version of course) and I think is nice that some foreigner guy has interest in our culture but the result is a little bit souless generic… Just the humble opinion of a mexican…
I like the song, but to be honest it doesn’t sound mexican enough to me… it’s just traditional folk instrumentation. maybe he didn’t spend enough time over there or did not study their traditional music. darn, i was looking forward to his take on mariachi music.
a good, more traditionally, mexican song:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kZs7fM1_S_I
the mariachi style is typical in Mexico but not the only one . Zac worked with the music that is typical in the mexican villages , we called it “Grupera” or “banda” and also it is very representative of mexican music. “Mariachi” is not the correct style for beirut´s music
Hey, put the o back in Llorona.
Thanks.
La Llorona
&
Venice
http://hayatbayat.blogspot.com/2009/01/beirut-march-of-zapotec.html
i think that this song really has a very good spanish root. Because my mother is columibian and french and i love the way the trumpets are colaborating with good articulations. Much Respect To Zach Condon and the rest of the band!
fantastic!