Beirut - The Rip Tide (2011)

Yet another excellent indie band I discovered, Beirut skillfully boil down intricate folk and classical sections into a pop format. The songs are all very catchy and many of them are quite beautiful. The atmosphere is warm and the music is delightfully upbeat. Overall, it's just a pleasure to listen to especially with its no-frills, almost minimalistic approach which really helps bring all the musical elements (especially the brass sections) into focus. If you want to hear the baroque pop stylings of bands like Arcade Fire combined with the mellow acoustics of Bon Iver then this is your band.
9/10