In the summer of 2010, Heroes & Villains, another enticing Lebanese rock band settled in Canada, released their 5th album, ‘Innertimes / Outerspace’, on their own HISSTOLOGY imprint. Now down to a two-piece (Charif Megarbane and Dominique Salameh), the band recorded and produced the album in Baskenta, in the Lebanese mountains, in the summer of 2009.
The album is songwriting-based rock n’ roll music, encompassing themes such as roads replacing trees on the Lebanese hillsides, lonely eyes, cold shoulders and other joyful themes. Influenced by David Axelrod, Ziad Rahbani, Gene Clark, J Dilla and other soulful cats, and for the moment released digitally, it will be available in physical format in the forthcoming months.
Charif Megarbane‘s other releases in 2010 include Volumes 3 & 4 of his ‘The Mundane and Cosmic’ series, a collection of 30 cinematic instrumentals which highlight the composer’s affinity with abstract, underground hip-hop. Recorded on cassette tapes with no computers involved, like the vast majority of Megarbane’s input, it is dirty, hissy, dusty, reflecting the narrative of Charif’s solo moniker – the Cosmic Analog Ensemble – and more generally, HISSTOLOGY’s output.
In a more dubby, Lee Scratch Perry-esque melodica-and-echo vein, the first 3 E.P’s of the Infant/Children/Teenagers/Adults/Elders series, released in early 2010, follow the narrative of a fictional character, Guildford Kings (whom Megarbane used when he needed quotes at school) through the chronological trials and tribulations of his invisible life. May sound pretentious in words, not in musical notes.
Last but least, ‘Sad Stories from the Ghetto’, recorded with ex-H&V Jeremy Proville in 2007, is an acoustic, meditative affair. It rests on the strength of strings, made of nylon, steel, cat ribs, rope and hope.
All the music is available for listen at hisstology.com
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