Beirut @ The Arches

Such is the discerning buzz surrounding a 21-year-old American exponent of old-world European folk music, and such are the narrow, flat-floored dimensions of one side of The Arches, that it's virtually impossible to catch a glimpse of Zach Condon's Beirut without the use of a hand-held periscope (if only). So it's just as well that the music which reaches everyone unobstructed is predictably inspired. Critics have rushed to classify Condon's style first as Balkan and then as French-chanson, for obvious reasons. But it's more accurately an imagined romanticism - like a contemporary filmmaker shooting in black and white - and no less magical for its artifice. Backed up by his eight-member band, a swap-shop of accordion, violin, ukulele, trumpet, clarinet and more, Condon raises goosebumps with Postcards From Italy, Mount Wroclai and new material such as A Sunday Smile and the stirring In the Mausoleum. Even if you're blind-sighted, it's a pleasure to hear this musical journeyman sing from his well-travelled songbook. [Nick Mitchell]