Tag: HISSTOLOGY

Ruptured Album Release // PREFACES // Acqua Marina

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PREFACES RETURN WITH ‘ACQUA MARINA’ – A SUN-DRUNK, HAUNTED GUITAR ALBUM FOR OFF-SEASON BEACHES

Out 15 August 2025 via Ruptured and Hisstology

Beirut-based trio Prefaces return with Acqua Marina, a luminous and melancholic new album that conjures the empty beach clubs and concrete shorelines of Lebanon’s coastline. Out 15 August 2025 via Ruptured and Hisstology Records (vinyl + digital), the album marks the band’s second full-length release—following their 2021 debut Hippodrome.

Prefaces is composed of Charif Megarbane (Cosmic Analog Ensemble, Habibi Funk), Salim Naffah (Alko B), and Pascal Semerdjian (Postcards, SANAM)—three key players in Lebanon’s independent and experimental music scenes. On Acqua Marina, the trio distills elements of surf rock, Mediterranean psych, and vintage library music, while weaving in the modal turns and rhythms of the Levant.

Where Hippodrome emerged from a spirit of improvisation and spontaneity, Acqua Marina is more deliberate in tone and form. The album was recorded at Tunefork Studios in Beirut and shaped around recurring imagery: abandoned pools, tiled corridors, rusting gates, and the strange beauty of deserted resort towns. Lead single “Marmoura” captures that sensibility with reverb-laced guitar melodies and a gently hypnotic rhythm, drawing the listener into Prefaces’ submerged world.

Acqua Marina speaks in coastal dialects both real and imagined. Fans of Khruangbin, Allah-Las, Omar Khorshid, Ennio Morricone, or Megarbane’s own Cosmic Analog Ensemble will find plenty to explore in its currents.

The album is released on limited edition vinyl and digital formats, with artwork that mirrors the album’s themes of faded glamour and seasonal drift.

LISTEN / ORDER

Photo by Mohamad Al Rifai

Ziad Nawfal’s Hisstology Compendium, Part 3 // 21 April 2021

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A “HISSTOLOGY” COMPENDIUM FOR RADIO ALHARA: VOL. 3, 2018-2021 With an unparalleled discography of over 80 full-length albums since 2005, Charif Megarbane is the prolific Lebanese producer and multi-instrumentalist behind Cosmic Analog Ensemble, Heroes & Villains, Twyn Towers and Monumental Detail, among others. Here is the 3rd and final part of a tribute to his music(s), effortlessly strolling from acoustic folk, free jazz and Saharan blues to cinematic soul, grainy funk and old European film scores.
Excerpts from the following albums:
– Muhadathat Vol. 2
– Une Vie Cent Détours
– El Cóndor Aparece
– TANGO GRAVLAX
– Péril Imminent
– In The Lobby
– Penelope
– Tabarja Blues
– Footprints & Handshakes
– The Kaya Collective
– The Submarine Chronicles Vol. 1 to Vol. 10
– Birdwatching

Ziad Nawfal’s Hisstology Compendium, Part 2 // 17 March 2021

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A “HISSTOLOGY” COMPENDIUM FOR RADIO ALHARA: VOL. 2, 2014-2017

With an unparalleled discography of over 80 full-length albums since 2005, Charif Megarbane is the prolific Lebanese producer and multi-instrumentalist behind Cosmic Analog Ensemble, Heroes & Villains, Twyn Towers and Monumental Detail, among others.

Here is the 2nd part of a three-part tribute to his music(s), effortlessly strolling from acoustic folk, free jazz and Saharan blues to cinematic soul, grainy funk and old European film scores.

Excerpts from the following albums:

– La Fonte Des Glaces
– La Montée Des Eaux
– Libans De Reves OST
– “Plays” Brothers Nylon (Extra Hissy Tape)
– De l’Usage Des Crampons Sur Terrain Glissant
– The Forgotten Boomerang
– Asleep At The Switch
– Grands Pays
– Petits Pays
– All By Mistake
– Fortune Tellin’ EP
– Before The Film
– Après Le Film
– Les Sourdes Oreilles

Ziad Nawfal’s Hisstology Compendium, Part 1 // 17 February 2021

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A “HISSTOLOGY” COMPENDIUM FOR RADIO ALHARA: VOL. 1, 2009-2013

With an unparalleled discography of over 80 full-length albums since 2005, Charif Megarbane is the prolific Lebanese producer and multi-instrumentalist behind Cosmic Analog Ensemble, Heroes & Villains, Twyn Towers and Monumental Detail, among others.

Here is the first part of a three-part tribute to his music(s), effortlessly strolling from acoustic folk, free jazz and Saharan blues to cinematic soul, grainy funk and old European film scores.

Excerpts from the following albums:

– Anatomy Of A Moment: Infants-Children-Teenagers
– Concrete Abstracts
– Innertimes/Outerspace
– Plays Fayrouz
– Ya3tik el 3afieh
– Ghost Notes In Between
– Like Morning To The Insomniac
– 4/4 x 10
– In The Land Of A Thousand Snares
– œ
– Monumental Detail
– Fish Fingers
– Kachumbari
– As The Suntanned Shared A Toast
– Ruptured Sessions Vol. 6: For Beirut

Ruptures Radio Show // 01 April 2020

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Featuring musicians from Lebanon, Egypt, Palestine, Sweden, France & the USA:

1. Kid Fourteen – Drifter [2020]
2. Mutamassik – Rhythms Rattle On Death Pawns [2015]
3. Muqata’a – Ma Lam Yuqal [2018]
4. Sary Moussa – In Praise Of Shadows [2020]
5. Brothers Of Heliopolis – Inner Source [2019]
6. The Submarine Chronicles – Gin Ripples [2020]
7. Kinematik – Murur Al-Kiram [2020]
8. Johnny Kafta Anti-Vegetarian Orchestra – Bedo’s Lullaby [2015]
9. Aya Metwalli – Ya Qarawan [2019] PREMIERE
10. Marc Codsi – Encounters II [2019]
11. Youmna Saba – Nafas [2018]
12. Fadi Tabbal – The Death Of Strangers [2018]
13. Subchamber Ensmble – Skate Park Fauna [2019]
14. Rise 1969 – Autonomic Neuropathy [2019]
15. Ziad Moukarzel – Questions Of Worry [2018]

(2011 end-of-year lists) – CHARIF MEGARBANE

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I asked some of my favorite musicians from Beirut and beyond, to tell me what their favorite records of 2011 were…

Charif Megarbane: producer, musician (Heroes & Villains, Cosmic Analog Ensemble)

– Piero Piccioni: various
– Damu The Fudgemunk: various
– Tame Impala: Innerspeaker
– Omar Khorshid: various
– Roc Marciano: Marcberg
– Dorris Bochaberi: various
– Freddie Gibbs: Thuggin’
– Joe Hisaishi: various
– Staff Benda Bilili: Tres Tres Fort
– Cosmic Analog Ensemble: unreleased tracks

CHARIF MEGARBANÉ // Ruptured Session // 07 November 2011

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Lebanese musician CHARIF MEGARBANÉ, of COSMIC ANALOG ENSEMBLE and HEROES & VILLAINS, was the guest of Ruptures for an interview and live performance.

Listen:
Charif Megarbane (part 1)
+
Charif Megarbane (part 2)

Photos by Tanya Traboulsi

CHARIF MEGARBANÉ // Interview // 28 December 2008

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Lebanese-Canadian musician CHARIF MEGARBANÉ, leader of the group HEROES & VILLAINS, was a guest on the DÉCALAGES program on Sunday 28 December on 96.2FM. He presented his first solo album, Concrete Abstracts Vol.1, due for release in early 2009, as well as a previously unreleased track by HEROES & VILLAINS, a fair deal of orchestral jazz, 70s pop, 60s soul and a bit of contemporary underground hip-hop.

Listen:
charif-megarbane-decalages-30-dec-part-1
+
charif-megarbane-decalages-30-dec-part-2

Track listing:
Charif Megarbané
Heroes & Villains
Charif Megarbané *2
Fifth Dimension
Heroes & Villains
Charif Megarbané *3
Candi Statton
Heroes & Villains
J-Dilla
The Fortune Tellers
Charif Megarbané *3
Heroes & Villains