A couple of days prior to the release of their first recorded collaboration, “Kachf el Mahjoub / Unveiling the Hidden“, Lebanese artists EL RASS (Mazen el Sayed, words & vocals), and MUNMA (Jawad Nawfal, beats & electronic treatments), were the guest of Ruptures, for a presentation of the album and no less than three live performances. They were accompanied by Belgian electronic musician C-Drik, who spoke about the process of mastering the album.
Lebanese electronic musician Sary Moussa aka Radiokvm was the guest of Ruptures for an interview and live performance. He was accompanied by another star of Beirut’s contemporary music scene, Liliane Chlela, who was herself the guest of Ruptures some weeks prior.
With a new album (almost) in hand, two concerts scheduled for late October and early November 2011, and another full-blown album in the works, it was high time that The Incompetents (Serge Yared & Fadi Tabbal) took over the studios of Radio Lebanon for the second time, with their ranting, raving, on-air arguments, and of course, some pretty competent music playing!
Track listing:
The Incompetents LIVE *Disposable Valentine
The Incompetents LIVE *Cannibal Blues
The Incompetents LIVE *This Gun’s for Hire
The Incompetents LIVE *Prelude To An Abyss
The Incompetents (Daniel Johnston cover)
The Incompetents (Tom Waits cover)
The Incompetents LIVE *Closing Time
The Incompetents LIVE *Cannibal Blues (bis, because the first take did not work out so well!)
The Incompetents LIVE *After Hours (Velvet Underground cover)
The Incompetents (feat. Wissam Charaf)
Photos by Tanya Traboulsi (color) and Ghalas Charara (b&w)
In September 2011, I had the good fortune of traveling to Rome for work. I had the even better fortune at staying at my friends’ Mike Cooper and Maria Galante’s house (more like a cavern of Ali Baba, actually)… Mike arranged for us to appear on an Italian radio program called BATTITI [Beats]. A lovely fellow by the name of Pino Saulo interviewed the two of us for an hour or so, and I played music from both the Ruptured catalogue and other Lebanese labels that I’m fond of (Al Maslakh, Annihaya, Johnny Kafta’s Kids Menu, etc.).
Track listing: MUNMA: Bits and Dust, from “Previews & Premises” – Ruptured #002 TAREK ATOUI: Un-drum #3, from “The Ruptured Sessions #2” – Ruptured #003 JOSEPH GHOSN: Drone 1, from “Je Veux Voir (OST)” – Incognito SCRAMBLED EGGS: See You In Beirut, from “Peace Is Overrated But War Misunderstood” – Ruptured #004 MASHROU’ LEILA: Imbibillilah, from “The Ruptured Sessions #3” – Ruptured #005 EILEEN KHATCHADOURIAN: Sari siroun yar, from “The Ruptured Sessions #3” – Ruptured #005 MIKE COOPER: If I Get Lucky, from “Radio Paradise” – Johnny Kafta’s Kids Menu #003 SHARIF SEHNAOUI: Trane, from “Old and New Acoustics” – Al Maslakh #011 YOUMNA SABA: Tehfi, from “The Ruptured Sessions #1” – Ruptured #001 THE INCOMPETENTS: Urinal Blues, from “The Ruptured Sessions #1” – Ruptured #001 RAED YASSIN: All About Siham, from “The New Album” – Annihaya #001
Palestinian trio TASHWEESH (Basel Abbas, Ruanne Abou-Rahme & boikutt) spent two weeks in Beirut in October 2011, during which they held no less than four performances (2 for Tashweesh, organized by Ruptured, and 2 for boikutt). They were the guests of Ruptures for an interview & live performance, during which they were accompanied by American-born, Lebanon-based journalist Jackson Allers.
Lebanese electronic musician Liliane Chlela was the guest of Ruptures for a superb live performance and interview covering her numerous musical activities.
New York-based musician Robert Lowe, aka LICHENS, was in Beirut for a few days on the occasion of the Visiting Tarab project, a musical research initiative organized by electronic musician Tarek Atoui and Oriental music specialist Kamal Kassar. Ruptures was fortunate enough to catch Robert and Tarek on an all-too-rare night off, and the two men hopped over to the studios of Radio Lebanon for an interview and an absolutely enthralling live performance from Lichens.
Hatem Imam and Omar Khouri are the creative masterminds behind Lebanese comics publication Al Samandal. Much to our delighted surprise, they also happen to possess a musical partnership that goes under the delightful name of ‘Al Marmoot‘. Animal names, graphic design, and space rock were on the menu of this highly unusual edition of Ruptures.
Ruptured Music 