The Arab Avant-Garde: Music, Politics, Modernity

(eds.)

Book

The co-edited book is finally out! Ten articles about new musical positions in the Arab World. Order the book via Wesleyan University Press, Amazon or via your local bookstore.

From jazz trumpeters drawing on the noises of warfare in Beirut to female heavy metallers in Alexandria, the Arab culture offers a wealth of exciting, challenging, and diverse musics. The essays in this collection investigate the plethora of compositional and improvisational techniques, performance styles, political motivations, professional trainings, and inter-continental collaborations that claim the mantle of «innovation» within Arab and Arab diaspora music. While most books on Middle Eastern music-making focus on notions of tradition and regionally specific genres, The Arab Avant Garde presents a radically hybrid and globally dialectic set of practices. Engaging the «avant-garde» – a term with Eurocentric resonances – this anthology disturbs that presumed exclusivity, drawing on and challenging a growing body of literature about alternative modernities.

Chapters delve into genres and modes as diverse as jazz, musical theatre, improvisation, hip hop, and heavy metal as performed in countries like Iraq, Egypt, Lebanon, Syria, Palestine, and the United States. Focusing on multiple ways in which the «Arab avant-garde» becomes manifest, this anthology brings together international writers with eclectic disciplinary trainings – practicing musicians, area studies specialists, ethnomusicologists, and scholars of popular culture and media. Contributors include Sami W. Asmar, Michael Khoury, Saed Muhssin, Marina Peterson, Kamran Rastegar, Caroline Rooney, and Shayna Silverstein, as well as the editors Kay Dickinson, Ben Harbert and Thomas Burkhalter.

Music

The articles (see table of content) discuss works from these and other musicians and artists:

Halim El-Dabh

Tarek Atoui

Amir Elsaffar

Kamilya Jubran + Werner Hasler

Mazen Kerbaj and Sharif Sehnaoui

Massive Scar Era

Zad Moultaka

Odious

Praed

Scarab

Scrambled Eggs

Mahmoud Turkmani

Raed Yassin

Reviews

Popular Music, UK, Jan 2015, «The Arab-Avantgarde: Music, Politics, Modernity» (PDF)

Music Reference Services Quarterly, 3/2015, «The Arab Avant-Garde» (PDF)

Trans – Revista Transcultural de Música, Spanien, Nr. 18 (2014), Review «Arab Avant-Garde» (PDF)

psychemusic, Belgien, 18.04.2014, «Arab Avant-Garde» (Link)

Los Angeles Book Review, 26.01.2014, «The Arab Avant-Garde» (Link)

Discography (Selected)

«A» Trio. Music to Our Ears. Al Maslakh. 2011: Lebanon Atoui, Tarek. Mort aux Vaches. Staalplaat. 2008: Netherlands

DAM. Ihda / Dedication. Red Circle Music. 2006: UK

El-Dabh, Halim. Columbia-Princeton Electronic Music Center. Columbia Records. 1964:United States

El-Dabh, Halim. Crossing into the Electric Magnetic. Without Fear Recordings. 2000: United States

El-Dabh, Halim. Here History Began. Ministry of Culture and National Guidance. 1961: Egypt

El-Dabh, Halim. Ptahmose and the Magic Spell, Part One: The Osiris Ritual. Hawthorne Records. 1972: United States

El-Dabh, Halim. Sounds of New Music. Folkways Records. 1957: United States

Elsaffar, Amir and Hafez Modirzadeh. Radif Suite. Pi Recordings. 2010: USA

Elsaffar, Amir. Inana. Pi Recordings. 2011: USA

Elsaffar, Amir. Two Rivers. Pi Recordings. 2007: USA

Jubran, Kamilya, and Werner Hasler. Wameedd. Unit Records W&K 001. 2005: Switzerland

Kerbaj, Mazen, and Franz Hautzinger. Abu Tarek. Creative Sources Recordings 025. 2005: Portugal

Kerbaj, Mazen. BRT VRT ZRT KRT. Al Maslakh MSLKH 01. 2005: Lebanon
Mascara. Unfamiliar Territory. Self-releaed. 2010: Egypt

Moultaka, Zad. Zajal. L’Empreinte Digitale. 2010: France

Muslimgauze. Infidel. Extreme XEP 026. 1994: Germany

Nadeem, Aida. Beyond Destruction. Uruk Records. 2010: Denmark

Nadeem, Aida. Out of Bagdad. Uruk Records. 2005: Denmark

Odious. Mirror of Vibrations. Sleaszy Rider Records. 2007: Greece

Osman Arabi. Beat Mutation Rituals. Kalpamantra. 2011: UK

Praed. Made in Japan. Annihaya Records. 2011: Lebanon

Praed. Muesli Man. Creative Source Recordings. 2008: Lebanon

Rahbani, Ziad. Ana Moush Kafer, Relax-In Internation. 2008 (Remaster): Lebanon

Rahbani, Ziad. Bi-ma Innu. Voix De L’Orient. 1995: Lebanon

Rahbani, Ziad. Bilafrah. Voix De L’Orient. 1977: Lebanon

Scarab. Valley of the Sandwalkers. Self-releaed. 2007: Egypt

Scrambled Eggs and «A» Trio. Beach Party at Mirna el Chalouhi. Johnny Kafta. 2010: Lebanon

Scrambled Eggs. Peace Is Overrated &War Misunderstood. Ruptured. 2010: Lebanon

Scrambled Eggs. Scrambled Eggs and Friends. Johnny Kafta. 2010: Lebanon

Sehnaoui, Sharif. Old & New Acoustics. Al-Maslakh 2010: Lebanon

Turkmani, Mahmoud. Ya Sharr Mout. Enja Records ENJ-9530. 2008: Germany

Turkmani, Mahmoud. Zakira. Enja 9475. 2004: Germany

Various Artists. The Ruptured Sessions (Vol. 1–4). Ruptured. 2009–2012: Lebanon

Various Artists. Waking Up Scheherazade. Grey Past Records ABA 001. 2007: Netherlands

Worm. The Armageddon Codex. Self-releaed. 2004: Egypt Wyvern. The Clown. Self-releaed. 2009: Egypt

Yassin, Raed, and Gene Coleman. The Adventures of Nabil Fawzi. Al Maslakh Recordings
04. 2006: Lebanon

Yassin, Raed. The New Album. Annihaya. 2009: Lebanon

Local Music Scenes and Globalization: Transnational Platforms in Beirut

by Thomas Burkhalter

Book

order now

Transnational Platforms in Beirut – This book offers the first in-depth study of experimental and popular music scenes in Beirut. 2014 finally out as Paperback and Kindle Edition. Buy via Routledge, Amazon, or the Norient Shop.

This book offers the first in-depth study of experimental and popular music scenes in Beirut, looking at musicians working towards a new understanding of musical creativity and music culture in a country that is dominated by mass-mediated pop music, and propaganda. Burkhalter studies the generation of musicians born at the beginning of the Civil War in the Lebanese capital, an urban and cosmopolitan center with a long tradition of cultural activities and exchanges with the Arab world, Europe, the U.S., and the former Soviet Union.

These Lebanese rappers, rockers, death-metal, jazz, and electro-acoustic musicians and free improvisers choose local and transnational forms to express their connection to the broader musical, cultural, social, and political environment. Burkhalter explores how these musicians organize their own small concerts for «insider» audiences, set up music labels, and network with like-minded musicians in Europe, the U.S., and the Arab world. Several key tracks are analyzed with methods from ethnomusicology, and popular music studies, and contextualized through interviews with the musicians. Discussing key references from belly dance culture (1960s), psychedelic rock in Beirut (1970s), the noises of the Lebanese Civil war (1975–1990), and transnational Pop-Avant-Gardes and World Music 2.0 networks, this book contributes to the study of localization and globalization processes in music in an increasingly digitalized and transnational world.

At the core, this music from Beirut challenges «ethnocentric» perceptions of «locality» in music. It attacks both «Orientalist» readings of the Arab world, the Middle East, and Lebanon, and the focus on musical «difference» in Euro-American music and culture markets. On theoretical grounds, this music is a small, but passionate attempt to re-shape the world into a place where «modernity» is not «euro-modernity» or «euro-american modernity», but where possible new configurations of modernity exist next to each other.

Chapter Summaries

PART I

Part I – Theory and Methodology – Music Making in a Digitalized World – offers an overview on the effects of globalization and digitalization processes for musicians in the Arab world, Asia, Africa, and Latin America. Ethnomusicology, popular music studies, and musicology find it hard to research the rapid developments in these and similar musics and music circles. This part puts forward a methodological approach and a mix of theories that analyzes music and music making from miscellaneous perspectives. The approach is inductive, built on my many years of practice and participant observation in music and cultural markets. It involves «dialogical editing», «internet ethnography», and an international «reception test».

PART II

Part II – Ethnography – Musicians from Beirut born during the Lebanese Civil War – offers close descriptions of alternative music circles in Beirut. The focus lies on «experimental music», «urban music», «rap» and «metal and classic rock». The part includes discussions of music, video clips, lyrics, and cover art. It presents these musicians’ local and transnational networks, ranging from musicians, bloggers, journalists and academics, concert organizers, arts curators, arts councils, embassies, and non-governmental organizations (NGO).

PART III

Part III – Analysis – Six Key Tracks from Beirut – looks at six key musicians and their music closely. By analyzing the trumpet playing of Mazen Kerbaj, it discusses links between free improvised music and sonic memories from the Lebanese Civil War. The discussion of Raed Yassin’s sound collage «Civil War Tapes» observes strategies to perform and manipulate propaganda music, politician speeches, and 1980s pop music. Zeid Hamdan’s track «Aranis» serves as an example of how musicians in Lebanon look both ways: back to the history of protest singing in Lebanon, and outwards to recent trends in transnational niche genres. «Remains of a Bloodbath» shows how death metal musician Garo Gdanian fights with traumatic memories and anger and uses his music to try to find paths forward and release stress. Punk and indie rock singer and guitarist Charbel Haber from the band Scrambled Eggs discusses with «Track 5» his fascination for coincidence and chaos and argues that he is not at all a «revolutionary» musician. Rapper Rayess Bek shows in «Schizophrenia» how he positions himself between Paris and Beirut, rap music, and the arts, and non-government organization (NGO) work.

Tracks Discussed

(Rayess Bek: Newer version than the version discussed in the book)

PART IV

Part IV – Sonic Traces from the Past and Present – offers a history of Beirut through music and noise. The part discusses, with time witnesses, the Europeanization of Arabic music, the creation of a Lebanese music (with Fairuz and the Rahbani brothers), transnational belly dance and «holiday» music from the 1950s and 1960s, leftist protest music from 1967 onwards, and Lebanese rock bands of the 1960 and 1970s – for instance in a rare interview with Raymond Azoury from The Sea-ders. It observes major and minor music and sonic phenomena within the Lebanese Civil war (1975–1990): rock and protest music, and the noises and sounds of bombs, radio, and propaganda. It further discusses pan-Arabic pop music of the 1990s, and propaganda music of the 2006 war between Israel and Hizbullah.

PART V

Part V – Meaning – Reading Lebanese Music Making from Different Perspectives – analyzes music and key musicians in Beirut from historical, socio-political, geo-political, psychological, aesthetical, and Euro-American perspectives. From an artistic perspective, we see these musicians manipulating material with techniques of avant-garde and pop avant-garde. From the Euro-American perspective we hear them attacking «exoticism» and «war» with parody. From a political and historical perspective, we trace feedbacks from the conjunctions between music, warfare and the Middle East. And from a psychological perspective, some musicians use music as self-therapy for dealing with their personal traumatic war memories. The part further inserts examples from musicians and music in Africa, Asia, and Latin America and leads back to one of the main questions of this book: To what extent do these musicians from Beirut challenge concepts of «euro-modernity» and «euro-american modernity»? To what extent do they suggest possible new multi-sited modernities?

Book Info

Local Music Scenes and Globalization – Transnational Platforms in Beirut
by Thomas Burkhalter
New York, Routledge, 304 pages
Series: Routledge Studies in Ethnomusicology
Hardback ISBN: 978-0-415-80813-2

Reviews

Journal of World Popular Music, UK, 2/2015, Review Beirut Book (Link) (PDF)

Ethnomusicology Forum, 13.05.2014, «Local Music Scenes and Globalization» (PDF) (Link)

Jahrbuch des Zentrums für Populäre Kultur und Musik, Waxmann Verlag, 59/2014 (PDF)

psychemusic, Belgien, 18.04.2014, «Arab Avant-Garde» (Link)

Discography

(Updated 20.12.2012)

«A» Trio. Music to Our Ears. Al Maslakh. 2011: Lebanon

Aksser. Aksser. EMI Music Arabia. 2006: Lebanon

Aksser. Ahla Bil Chabeb. Self-Released. 2000: Lebanon

Arcane, The. Rivers of Endless Sorrow. Self-Released. 2010: Lebanon

Atoui, Tarek. Mort aux Vaches. Staalplaat. 2008: Netherlands

Ayat. Six Years of Dormant Hatred. Moribund Records. 2008: U.S.

Blaakyum. Lord of the Night. Self-Released. 2012: Lebanon

Blend. Act One. EMI Music Arabia. 2004: Lebanon

Ceasar K. Flea Market Sounds. VL Records. 2012: Lebanon

Cerebral Mutilation. Inhuman Gore Holocaust. Bulldozer Records. 2006: Italy

Codsi Marc. Faded Postcards. Experimedia. 2010: U.S.

DJ Lethal Skillz. Karmageddon. Forward Music. 2012: Lebanon

DJ Lethal Skillz. New World Disorder. Nasjota Records. 2008: U.S.

Fareeq el Atrash. Fareeq el Atrash. Forward Music. 2010: Lebanon

Farroukh, Toufic. Drabzeen. Chill Island. 2002: Lebanon

Farroukh, Toufic, Tootya. Chill Island 2006: Lebanon

Ghossoub, Rana. Moon Breeze. Luna Records. 2011: Canada

Ghossoub, Rana. I Belong. Luna Records. 2006: Canada

Grappe, Laurent. Le Luxe de la Réflexion. Métamkine. 1996: France

Habre, Khaled EL. Hayda Zamanak. Soundvision. 2008: Lebanon

Hamdan Yasmine, Yasmine Hamdan. Kwaidan Records. 2012: France

Incompetents, The. More Songs from the Victorious City. Incognito. 2008: Lebanon

Incompetents, The. Live in Tunefork. Self-Released. 2011: Lebanon

Incompetents, The. We’re Really Important Back Home. Self-Released. 2011: Lebanon

Incompetents, The. Honor Your Mistake as a Hidden Intention. Self-Released. 2012: Lebanon

Jubran, Kamilya, and Werner Hasler. Wameedd. Unit Records W&K 001. 2005: Switzerland

Kafan. Injecting Evil in Thy Veins. Full Moon. 2006: Lebanon

Kaoteon. Veni Vidi Vomui. Osmose Productions. 2011: France

Katibeh Khamseh. Ahla fik bil moukhayyamat. Incognito. 2008: Lebanon

Kerbaj, Mazen. BRT VRT ZRT KRT. Al Maslakh MSLKH 01. 2005: Lebanon

Kerbaj, Mazen, and Franz Hautzinger. Abu Tarek. Creative Sources Recordings 025. 2005: Portugal

Kerbaj, Mazen, Sharif Sehnaoui, and Raed Yassine. A Trio. La CD-Thèque. 2003: Lebanon

Kerbaj, Sehnaoui, and Zach Sehnaoui. Rouba315. Al Maslakh MSLKH 02. 2005: Lebanon

Khalife, Marcel. Ahmad Al Arabi. Nagam Records CC19983. 1984: U.S.

Khatchadourian, Eileen. Midan. CBK. 2008: Lebanon

Khcheich, Rima. Yalalalli, Chill Island. 2006: Lebanon

Khcheich, Rima. Falak. Chill Island 2008:Lebanon

Khcheich, Rima. Min Sihr Oyounak. Self-Released. 2012: Lebanon

Khoury, Joelle. Music & Poetry. La CD-Thèque. 2003: Lebanon Khoury, Joelle. In-Version. Self-Released. 2004: Lebanon

Khoury, Joelle. Dream She Is – Arabic Opera Monodrama for Woman’s Voice. Eka3. 2008: Lebanon

Kimaera. Ebony Veiled. Stygian Crypt Productions. 2006: Russia Kordz, The. Last Call. Mass Records. 2004: Lebanon

Kordz, The. Beatuy & the East. Mass Records. 2011: Lebanon

Lethal Skillz. Karmageddon. Forward Music. 2012: Lebanon

Meen. Qamlo L 7arb. Banadoura. 2006: Lebanon

Meen. 3arousit Bkeseen. Banadoura. 2011: Lebanon

Moultaka, Zad. Anashid. Network Medien. 2001: Germany

Moultaka, Zad. Zajal. L’Empreinte Digitale. 2010: France

Mashrou Leila. Mashrou Leila. Self-Released. 2009: Lebanon

Mashrou Leila. El Hal Romancy (EP). Self-Released. 2011: Lebanon

Munma. 34 Days. Incognito. 2006: Lebanon

Munma. Black Tuesday. Incognito. 2007: Lebanon

Munma. Unholy Republic. Incognito. 2008: Lebanon Munma. Previews and Premises. Ruptured. 2010: Lebanon

Muslimgauze. Infidel. Extreme XEP 026. 1994: Germany

New Government, The. The New Government Strikes. Mooz Records. 2006: Lebanon

New Government, The. Party Animals. Incognito. 2008: Lebanon

Nightchains. Metal to the Bone. Dead Master’s Beat. 2010: Germany

Oath to Vanquish. Applied Schizophrenic Science. Grindethic Records 2006: UK

Osloob. Fasl. Self-Released. 2012: Lebanon

Osman Arabi. Beat Mutation Rituals. Kalpamantra. 2011: UK

Praed. Muesli Man. Creative Source Recordings. 2008: Lebanon

Praed. Made in Japan. Annihaya Records. 2011: Lebanon

Rahbany, Ziad. Ana Moush Kafer. Relaz-In International. 1985: Lebanon

Ramez. Leich Heik Baladi. Acid Production 2007: Lebanon

Ramez. Canvas. Ramez Productions. 2010: Lebanon

Rass, El & Munma. Kachf el Mahjoub/Unveiling the Hidden. Ruptured. 2012: Lebanon

Rayess Bek. 3am Behke Bil Soukout. Chich Productions. 2003: Lebanon

Rayess Bek. Nuit Gravement à la Santé. Chich Productions. 2005: Lebanon

Rayess Bek. Khartech Aa Zamann. Forward Music. 2010: Lebanon

Rayess Bek. Hip Hop Republic. Forward Music. 2011: Lebanon

Rouhana, Charbel. Dangerous. Forward Music. 2007: Lebanon

Saba Youmna. Hal Bent Aabalha Tghanni. Self-Released. 2011: Lebanon

Saleh, Tania. Wehde. Forward Music. 2011: Lebanon

Sahhab, Ziyad. Ouyoun El Bakar. Forward Productions. 2004: Lebanon

Sahhab, Ziyad. Keep on Singing. Forward Music. 2007: Lebanon

Sandmoon. raW. Self-Released. 2012: Lebanon

Scrambled Eggs. Human Friendly Noises. La CD-Theque. 2004: Lebanon

Scrambled Eggs. No Special Date nor Deity to Venerate. La CD-Theque. 2005: Lebanon

Scrambled Eggs. Happy Together Filthy Forever. Incognito. 2006: Lebanon

Scrambled Eggs. Dedicated to Foes, Celebrating Friends. Self-Released. 2008: Lebanon

Scrambled Eggs. Peace Is Overrated &War Misunderstood. Ruptured. 2010: Lebanon

Scrambled Eggs. Scrambled Eggs and Friends. Johnny Kafta. 2010: Lebanon

Scrambled Eggs and «A» Trio. Beach Party at Mirna el Chalouhi. Johnny Kafta. 2010: Lebanon

Sehnaoui, Christina. Solo. Olof Bright 2007: Sweden Sehnaoui, Sharif. Old & New Acoustics. Al-Maslakh 2010: Lebanon

Shbeir, Ghada. Al Muwashahat. Forward Music. 2006: Lebanon

Slutterhouse. Made in Dance. Self-Released. 2009: Lebanon

Soap Kills. Lost. Self-Released. 1997: Lebanon

Soap Kills. Live at Circus. Self-Released. 1999: Lebanon

Soap Kills. Bater. La CD-Thèque. 2000: Lebanon

Soap Kills. Cheftak. Incognito. 2002: Lebanon

Soap Kills. Enta Fen. Mooz Records. 2005: Lebanon

Staalplaat Soundsystem. Yokonomo-pro. Alga Marghen. 2011: Italy

Turkmani, Mahmoud. Zakira. Enja 9475. 2004: Germany

Turkmani, Mahmoud. Ya Sharr Mout. Enja Records ENJ-9530. 2008: Germany

Various Artists. Beirut Incognito. La CD-Thèque. 2001: Lebanon

Various Artists. Les 1e rencontres musicales SHAMS des jeunes. La CD-Thèque. 2002: Lebanon

Various Artists. Choubi Choubi! Folk & Pop Sounds from Iraq. Sublime Frequencies 025. 2005: U.S.

Various Artists. Beirut – Ystad. Olof Bright. 2006:Sweden Various Artists. Lebanese Underground. Mooz Records. 2006: Lebanon

Various Artists. We Live.... Forward Music. 2006: Lebanon

Various Artists. Waking Up Scheherazade. Grey Past Records ABA 001. 2007: Netherlands

Various Artists. The Ruptured Sessions (Vol. 1–4). Ruptured. 2009–2012: Lebanon

Various Artists. Beirut Hotel – Original Motion Soundtrack. Les Films Pelléas. 2011: France

Various Artists. Golden Beirut – New Sounds from Lebanon. Outhere Records. 2011: Germany

Various Artist. Moyen Orient – Paléo Festival Nyon 2012. Disques Office. 2012: Switzerland

Various Artists. Radio Beirut – Sounds from the 21st Century. Galileo Records. 2012: Germany

Weeping Willow. Garden of Misery. Self-Released. 2001: Lebanon

Weeping Willow. Mentally Decayed. Self-Released. 2004: Lebanon

Weeping Willow. The 3rd Portal. Self-Released. 2007: Lebanon

Yassin, Raed, and Gene Coleman. The Adventures of Nabil Fawzi. Al Maslakh Recordings 04. 2006: Lebanon

Yassin, Raed. The New Album. Annihaya. 2009: Lebanon

Golden Beirut: New Sounds from Lebanon

by Thomas Burkhalter

(cur.)

Compilation

€18.00

order now

The first CD release by Norient and Outhere Records focuses on a young generation of musicians from Beirut that is tired of war, fed up with politics, sick of religious madness, and angry about Euro-American exoticism.

Golden Beirut - New Sounds from Libanon by V.A.

These 12 songs on this compilation look at the Arab World through a new pair of glasses: Beirut’s underground. The CD focuses on a young generation that is tired of war, fed up with politics, sick of religious madness, and angry about Euro-American exoticism. It is keeping itself alive with electro beats, raw aggressive hip hop or in-your-face indie rock. Together these musicians show a new picture of this war- shaken city and region and show a different Beirut.

Order CD (from 2.9.2011) via Outhere Records, Amazon, or iTunes.

«The Israelis just bombed our city», one musician joked in 2006, «because Beirut was suddenly cooler and hipper than Tel Aviv». With lots of irony and black humour, Beirutis often try to neglect the fact that the city still is full of problems, conflicts and contradictions. The Beirut alternative music circuit does not get the same media attention the commercial pan-Arabic satellite-TV Pop-Industry does, but is closely linked to the civil society networks that are of great importance in the ongoing revolutions in the Arab World in 2011. These artists show a new, open-minded city reminiscent in its open mindedness in a way of the Golden Beirut of the 60ies and 70ies only updated. In those «golden» years before the Lebanese civil war (1975-1990) Beirut had a name as a hub between orient and occident. Lebanese psychedelic rock bands entertained an international crowd in hip Beiruti clubs. Life felt like in Paris or London. The cities reputation was shot to pieces during the civil war.

Golden Beirut brings together some of the most important voices in the alternative music scenes of Beirut whose music has nothing to do with propaganda, traditionalism and commercialism: Zeid Hamdan and his projects Shift Z and Soap Kills mix minimalist electronic sounds with soft Arab singing. The Indie-Rock, Post-Punk and Electro-Pop bands Scrambled Eggs, The New Government and Lumi still know how to sweat on stage and create catchy songs. Hip- Hop MC Lix aka Malikah, one of the best Lebanese female MCs, attacks stereotypes with full force. Katibe 5 rap about the Palestinian refugee camp they grew up in, and rapper Rayess Bek discusses life between Lebanon and France. Oud player und charismatic singer Ziad Sahhab opposes the strong connections between musicians, music and politics in Lebanon, while Praed and The Incompetents experiment with Wedding Music and Lullabies. Last but not least this CD features the upcoming satirical Folk Rock band Mashrou’ Leila. They are the first to slowly rise from underground hype to reaching wider audiences.

Golden Beirut was compiled by ethnomusicologist and journalist Thomas Burkhalter, founder of the music network and magazine norient.com. The photos in the booklet were shot by Tanya Traboulsi, an Austrian- Lebanese photographer living in Beirut.

Tracklist

1. Russian Roulette / Scrambled Eggs
2. Intikhabeit 2009 / Malikah feat. Zoog
3. Raksit Layla / Mashrou Leila
4. Ahwak / Shift Z feat. Hiba el Mansouri
5. Morr /Katibe 5
6. The New Government / The New Government
7. Don't F*** with my Cat /Lumi
8. Herzan /Soap Kills
9. Rocket (Sarookh) /Praed
10. Keskonatten /Rayess Bek
11. Rawak / Ziyad Sahhab
12. Disposable Valentine /The Incompetents

Buy the CD or MP3-tracks via Outhere Records.

Background Information

by Thomas Burkhalter

«The Israelis bombed our cities, because Beirut was suddenly cooler and hipper than Tel Aviv - they couldn’t stand that», a musician told me in 2006. Just before the war started, «Time Out Beirut» had been launched with a big party - a sure indicator of an up-and-coming tourist destination. The magazine was discontinued immediately, of course. Today, however, it is on sale again.

Beirut is one big world of wonders. How many people fell in love with this city? In the years before and after the July war of 2006 between Israel and Hizbullah, but also in the «golden» 1960s, the years before the civil war (1975-1990). Skiing in the beautiful mountains, swimming in the azure Mediterranean Sea, enjoying Lebanese mezze (or sushi, for a change), sipping Mojitos in the cool clubs and bars of Hamra and Ashrafiye. And it all comes complete with a soundtrack: the local bands from the alternative music scenes are getting better by the year. On Thursday, a concert with Zeid Hamdan: minimalist electronics with soft Arab singing. On Friday, indie-rock or post-punk - with bands that still know how to sweat on stage. And on Saturday, hip-hop at an upscale beach club, or in some derelict factory space. Jazz, free improvised music or electro-acoustic experiments (and noise) in a gallery on Sunday - or in your face electro-pop by Lumi. And on Monday listen to well-known leftist protest songs – or subtle ballads by Ziad Sahhab and his band.

All these musicians from Beirut own their own small laptops. They use various programs to record, edit, manipulate, convert, analyze or mix audio files. Their hard disks are full of Middle Eastern sound files and video-clips, and also contain sounds and noises from niche genres worldwide. The local material includes random phenomena such as Grendizer: the adventures of the Japanese manga super-robot were translated into Arabic and broadcast during the Lebanese civil war. For many musicians, children at the time, Grendizer was the big hero. Japanese manga, samurai movies and Public Enemy: the hard disks of many Lebanese rappers are full of them. Others collect records of the local psychedelic rock music of the 1970s – there were rumoured to be more than 200 psych rock bands in Beirut alone.

There was a lively rock music scene even during the years of the civil war. These musicians laid the foundations for today’s active scene, even though many of them gave up music or left the country. Other collector’s items are the wonderfully kitschy pseudo-oriental sounds from the casinos and nightclubs of the 1950s and 1960s. And, finally, «New Wave Dabkeh» is getting some attention: distributed on old-fashioned cassettes, contemporary dabkeh musicians control their synthesizers with small MIDI-boxes. They create the typical Arab quartertones and imitate the shrill sounds of the double pipe oboe mijwiz, the traditional dabkeh instrument. Thanks to the Syrian singer Omar Souleyman and his releases on the US indie label Sublime Frequencies, «New Wave Dabkeh» started to conquer the international blogospheres. What is missing on the computers of these musicians – or is hidden from the foreign journalists – are Fairuz, the «Holy Mary» of Lebanese song (and her contemporary rival, the scandalous Sabah) and the leftist protest music of the Lebanese civil war (Marcel Khalife for example). Today’s generation does not want to complain about injustice and fate with emotional poetry. The musicians prefer irony, sarcasm and black humor. Straightforwardness, patchwork aesthetics and catchy songs are hip: it’s better for a track to be successful today than wait for tomorrow. Who knows what tomorrow brings? Typically Beirut? Maybe.

Anyone who stays longer in Beirut will find the city reveals a little more of itself each day. This miracle world of wonders is both reality and fake. Suppressing the traumas of the past and worries about the future is a daily routine. The musicians and their fans are constantly creating their own Beirut – and this Beirut exists parallel to the many other, real Beiruts, in an air bubble, so to speak.

Most of these musicians come from upper-class families. One finds Sunni, Shia, Maronites, Druzes, Christian Orthodox, Greek Orthodox, Armenians, Palestinians and members of other groups. Many of the musicians were educated at the international universities in Beirut, or at art schools like ALBA (Académie Libanaise des Beaux-Arts). Most of these musicians do not believe in any of the regional politicians and clan leaders. In a highly radicalized and commercialized country like Lebanon, their political approach lies in their focus on musical quality and value. These artists can thus be considered as «alternative» or «counter-cultural» in relation to the dominant «commercial» pan-Arabic pop scene that is constantly reproduced by Saudi satellite TV stations. All of them are part of what the sociologist Theodor Hanf calls the «Skeptical Nation». They decided to stay in Beirut, and not to leave, like a big part of the generation of musicians before them did. Their aim is to work in small steps towards a culturally vibrant Lebanon that is open to the world. They try to reach local and international niche audiences. Their dream is that these niche cultures start influencing the mainstream culture. At the same time, they are more and more skeptical about their future in this country.

All of them organize their own small concerts for an «insider» audience. Their music is mainly self-produced in small (home) studios, released on small record labels often owned by the musicians themselves, and distributed through various channels, mainly via the internet. These upcoming artists and bands are covered on websites and platforms like Lebanese Underground, the radio show «Ruptured Sessions», the distributor and online shop «Forward Music», or in events organized by the NGO «Acousmatik System» or «Kaotik System». Online distribution allows these musicians to sell their albums in small quantities into different countries. Selling in small quantities offers a lot of possibilities: The Lebanese censorship authorities are not too much interested in those niche products. And many of these small labels are not registered officially: «Officially we would not be allowed to sell our records. However, we sell them in small amounts at concerts, or via the internet internationally. So, no one cares», one Beiruti artist told me. Nevertheless, their CDs are important promotional tools - through them, the artists gain the interest of international journalists, producers, organizers, labels, arts councils, and scholars. They receive offers to perform concerts abroad, or to go on residencies in Switzerland, Germany or the US.

What the future brings, no one really knows. However, one thing is clear. These musicians offer exciting musical positions. They use local and global sounds, melodies, rhythm and noises to make themselves heard in various cultural, social and political circles, near and far.