Although the sounds of generators and other electrical machines have now become familiar to the weary ears of the residents of the city of Beirut, Lebanon, they are perhaps more prominent at night when everything else is quieter. In this sound piece, sound artist and improviser Jad Atoui positions himself as a narrator whose voices, sounds, and glitches express the vertiginous effects these once provisional technologies have on the people who listen to them.

This sound piece is made using electromagnetic field (EMF) and generator sounds recorded in the Ras el Nabaa area of Beirut, narrating a day in a bustling city, plunged into darkness. It was recorded in the summer of 2021, at the height of Lebanon’s fuel crisis.