Snaps

Listen to this playlist of artists from Beirut. This selection features new and older releases by musicians across musical genres.

An introductory text to the Online Special «Norient City Sounds: Beirut». Special curator and writer Rayya Badran asks: what are the sounds of the aftermath of a collapse?

Invoking the struggle of women composers and producers in the city of Beirut, Lebanon, producer, DJ, and performer Lilian Chlela produces a mix that reflects the breadth and richness of their music whilst highlighting the challenges they must overcome.

Jad Atoui’s sound piece is a composition rife with electromagnetic frequencies, hums, and other machine sounds which continue to envelop the city of Beirut and its sleepless residents.

How can sound permeate an image? With her wandering lens, Caroline Tabet portrays the sounds of the city of Beirut still reeling from the compounding crises that have dulled it.

In this short essay, Rabea Hajaig recalls his experience as a Friday-night DJ at Bardo, the famous, now closed, queer bar in Beirut, Lebanon, its dance floors awash with a complex interplay of music.

In this diaristic essay, Majd Shidiac conjures up his affecting responses to the sounds and compositions of musicians and practitioners that register the systemic violence the country has seen in the past few years.

The 2019 October protests in Beirut took place after singer/songwriter Mayssa Jallad returned to Lebanon. This short essay reflects on the role of songwriting and singing as tools for resistance and derision during the uprising.