Press Review // Fadi Tabbal // I recognize you from my sketches

February 14, 2025May 5, 2025Press ArchiveLeave a Comment

Acclaim for Fadi Tabbal’s I recognize you from my sketches, released by Ruptured in January 2025:

“Subsuming the sounds of others into his own, not in his typical bilateral mode of collaboration but through sampling, Tabbal seems to grapple with the binary between community and self. “I am all that is left,” he announces in the closing track. As the tidal synth pads wash over and retreat into tape hiss, the trace of the medium is the last to go. But this solitude is not an abandonment; empty tape always carries the potential to hold space for sounds yet unheard.” – James Gui, Pitchfork 7.5
https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/fadi-tabbal-i-recognize-you-from-my-sketches/

“10 tracks of somber ambient and rose-tinted noise—at times plaintive, at times anguished. I hear bits of Tim Hecker in the smoldering distortion crackling at the edges of his synths and guitars, and a Kranky-esque sensibility in general—in the mournful desert landscaping of “(keep pumping),” say, or the striated textures of “When we swam together,” translucent as quartz. Citing a lifetime of personal struggles—mental-health issues, loneliness, missed opportunities, the violence of Beirut itself—Tabbal calls the record “a breakup album between who we want to be and who we turned out to be.” That sounds like a bleak assessment, but by the end, his tough-love meditation yields something that sounds a lot like hope.” – Philip Sherburne, Futurism Restated
https://futurismrestated.substack.com/p/futurism-restated

“A lot seems to happen here in semi-secret detail, which is not congruent with the more obvious, superficial events and at the same time interacts with them in an interesting way. At points like this one has to mention Tabbal’s musician friends – Julia Sabra, Charbel Haber, Anthony Sahyoun, et al: people who have repeatedly played an important role in the artist’s life and work and whose samples and quotations beneath the surface also shape the sound of this album, which fits well with the personal theme, because every biography, every personal memory would not be what it is without the influence of others. The semi-transparency of the sounds creates a tension that is never fully resolved and also leaves open the question of whether absence really is the only thing that protects life.” – Uwe Schneider, African Paper
http://africanpaper.com/2025/02/08/

“Tabbal continues his long-standing conversation between self and community, exploring the ways in which personal and collective identities intersect through music.” – Cairo Scene
https://cairoscene.com/Noise/

“This latest release, with the lovely title, I recognize you from my sketches, sees Tabbal develop his core sound with even more emotional depth and explores the spaces between memory, identity and personal growth.” – Norman Records UK
https://www.normanrecords.com/records/

Adventures in Sound & Music x Resonance FM broadcast by Shane Woolman for The Wire Magazine (with a guest mix by Fadi Tabbal):
https://www.thewire.co.uk/audio/fadi-tabbal-guest-mix

Pacific Notions x KEXP broadcast by Alex Ruder:
https://www.kexp.org/shows/pacific-notions/

Featured in Battiti’s broadcast “How We Roll” for RAI3:
https://www.raiplaysound.it/audio/2025/02/

Featured in Battiti’s broadcast “Rime Ignoranti” for RAI3:
https://www.raiplaysound.it/audio/2025/02/

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Press Review // Youmna Saba // Wishah

December 23, 2023October 8, 2024Press ArchiveLeave a Comment

Acclaim for Youmna Saba’s album Wishah, released by Touch UK In October 2023 (CD/digital) and by Ruptured in December 2023 (vinyl/digital).

“Structured into five discernible stages, Wishah guides us through a gradual process of revelation, deconstructing memories and barriers that have built up through the ages. Saba carefully peels back those layers, finding an empty shell at the center, the place where home once existed. Each word stings. Caustic, atmospheric drones hollow out the last remnants, leaving our thoughts trailing into the endless night. A stunning album.” – Brad Rose, Foxy Digitalis
https://foxydigitalis.zone/2023/12/13/the-capsule-garden-vol-2-42-december-13-2023/

“Nestled in the interval between the urgency of speaking, and that of remaining silent or speaking out of turn, Youmna Saba engages in a relentless yet passionate and loving heart-to-heart with her instrument.” – Nasri N. Sayegh, L’Orient-le-Jour
https://www.lorientlejour.com/article/1350564/youmna-saba-electronise-son-oud.html

“The five-song composition feels like going in circles on the edge of an epiphany; a spiral in synthesized oud.” – Layla Raik, SceneNoise
https://scenenoise.com/New-Music/Youmna-Saba-s-Wishah-is-an-Obscure-Tapestry-of-Oud-Soundscapes

Also included in Scene Noise’s Best Albums of 2023 (Middle East & North Africa):
https://scenenoise.com/Reviews/Best-Albums-Of-2023-Middle-East-North-Africa

“Lebanese musician, composer and musicologist Youmna Saba positions her voice at the center of her latest solo album (…) Very strong material indeed.” – Boomkat
https://boomkat.com/products/wishah

“A remarkable new work from Beirut’s Youmna Saba, now based in Paris. Saba is an accomplished oud player (…) On Wishah وِشاح her oud’s sound is technologically extended, to amplify every string squeak and body tap, and further integrated with sympathetic electronics. The works range from abstract processed sound to delicate oud fingerpicking, and most tracks patiently reach a place where Saba brings in her emotive vocals. It’s an immersive, moving listening experience.” – Peter Hollo, Utility Fog (FBi Radio)
https://www.frogworth.com/utilityfog/archives/2023/10/08/playlist-08-10-23/

“Saba s’attaque au logiciel historique du oud en tant qu’instrument : (elle) utilise ce qui est souvent perçu comme une série de défauts pour le transformer en instrument électro-acoustique, en jouant notamment sur des dispositifs de larsen maîtrisé, comme lorsqu’elle a placé le oud face à 6 voix et travaillé sur leurs résonances dans l’instrument. À le faire sonner ainsi, elle s’affranchit de la vision essentialiste s’étant largement diffusée ces cinquante dernières années en Europe ; un oud justement dénué de bruits, suspendu dans une logique de pureté proche de la musique baroque, où chaque note résonne et doit rencontrer le silence du public.” – Musique Journal
https://musique-journal.fr/2023/10/19/youmna-saba-a-plus-dune-corde-a-son-oud/

Listen/Order CD (Touch)
Listen/Order LP (Ruptured)

Press Review // Mayssa Jallad // Marjaa: The Battle Of The Hotels

November 2, 2023November 14, 2024Press ArchiveLeave a Comment

Acclaim for Mayssa Jallad’s album Marjaa: The Battle Of The Hotels, released by Ruptured in March 2023 (digital) and by Ruptured & Six of Swords in October 2023 (vinyl).

“Singer/songwriter and urban researcher Mayssa Jallad (draws) a map of the battle with her music, vocals and acoustic guitar, accompanied by Fadi Tabbal’s synths, percussion and field recordings.” – The Wire, #41 Best Albums of 2023
www.thewire.co.uk/audio/tracks/the-wire-s-releases-of-the-year-2023

Lars Gotrich, All Songs Considered (NPR Radio), The Best Experimental Music of 2023:
https://www.npr.org/2024/01/02/1197958329/vikings-choice-2023

“It’s a remarkable conceit for an album, and though the magic realist lyrics may be lost on non-Arabic speakers, her incredibly nuanced voice and arrangements—a beautiful mixture of goth-tinged dream pop, drone, ambient—convey both the gravitas and surrealism of the subject matter. For fans of Grouper, Lucrecia Dalt, Martyna Basta, Mabe Fratti, et al.” – Philip Sherburne, Futurism Restated Substack, Overlooked Albums of 2023
https://futurismrestated.substack.com/p/futurism-restated-44-records-i-missed

“With the help of Fadi Tabbal and a selection of Ruptured-affiliated musicians, we’re treated to a highly evocative & moving collection of narrative songs (even for those of us who don’t speak Arabic), which musically inhabit a space on the corner of 1970s US folk, Arabic melisma and sound-art. A haunting, engrossing work.” – Peter Hollo, Utility Fog (FBi Radio), Best Albums of 2023
https://www.frogworth.com/utilityfog/archives/2023/12/17/playlist-17th-dec-2023-best-of-2023-part-1/

“There’s a stoic determination in the purposeful acoustic guitar strums that hold the fractured sonic architecture of Mayssa Jallad’s “Markaz Azraq (December 6)” together. Her words carry the weight of a thousand suns. Still, her delivery is plaintive and unafraid as she tells the story of a nameless man who lost both sons during the Battle of the Hotels. Once the instrumental palette expands, the warm glow from Fadi Tabbal’s synth personifies the steely perseverance needed in the face of such destruction.” – Brad Rose, Foxy Digitalis
https://foxydigitalis.zone/2023/04/18/lingering-scars-an-interview-with-mayssa-jallad/

Also included in Foxy Digitalis’s Best Albums of 2023:
https://foxydigitalis.zone/2023/12/21/2023-favorites-songs-of-our-lives-style/

“In the end, the album, like the city on which it is based, feels like an infinite loop of history, relayed through the brave yet saintly voice of an artist who has taken the task of documenting the past through music.” – Christina Hazboun, Bandcamp
https://daily.bandcamp.com/features/mayssa-jallad-marjaa-battle-of-the-hotels-interview

“The 12-track record blends Arabic blues with folk, synth, oud and electronic elements with field-recorded soundbites of traffic or thuds that sound like distant gunfire. Jallad’s incredible vocals chronicle what storied buildings such the Holiday Inn, Burj El Murr and Haigazian University witnessed during the war.” – Maghie Ghali, The National News
https://www.thenationalnews.com/weekend/2023/11/24/mayssa-jallad-music-album-beirut-civil-war-buildings/

“The result is a starkly beautiful soundscape. There is a somber, atmospheric dreaminess to the album, which is powered by the ethereal wonder of Jallad’s vocals. Largely acoustic, it nevertheless delves into the realm of dark ambience, creating an occasional sense of militarism or otherworldliness.” – Iain Akerman, Arab News
https://www.arabnews.pk/node/2345016/lifestyle

“In an overwhelmingly creative and critical act, Mayssa Jallad turns the destruction of the Lebanese Civil War into a stunning, two-sided album driven by poetic songwriting mixed with historical narration, lush strings and synths, gentle drones, and her incredible vocal prowess.” – Maha ElNabawi, SceneNoise
https://scenenoise.com/Reviews/Mayssa-Jallad-Drops-Emotive-Debut-Solo-Album-Marjaa

Also included in SceneNoise’s Best Albums of 2023 (Middle East & North Africa):
https://scenenoise.com/Reviews/Best-Albums-Of-2023-Middle-East-North-Africa

“Marjaa: The Battle Of The Hotels is a record that sidesteps the pitfalls that other works concerned with atmosphere or memory fall into. Jallad’s record acts as a slow burning process of revelation.” – Richard Foster, The Quietus
https://thequietus.com/articles/33629-mayssa-jallad-interview-marjaa-the-battle-of-the-hotels

“Singer/songwriter and architectural historian Mayssa Jallad and a host of Lebanese musicians have made a rich, sometimes transcendiary sonic mapping of a memory of war. This is an extraordinary record and one that you should approach with no qualms… like Matana Roberts’ work, this is a soundtrack that directly deals with traumatic memories that have ceased to inhabit their original form and need to be conjured up in ways that both lure the listener in, and allow the information to be imparted in a way history is not normally taught… utterly hypnotic… a record that can leave you initially wondering what is going on whilst realising you are listening to something really special… you really should listen to this record, it’s quite brilliant.“ – Richard Foster, Louder Than War
https://louderthanwar.com/mayssa-jallad-marjaa-the-battle-of-the-hotels-review/

“Lebanese singer Mayssa Jallad showcases her incredible voice on debut album Marjaa: The Battle of the Hotels. Her breathy intimacy creates an atmospheric Arabic blues, yearning on album highlight Mudun.” – Ammar Kelia, The Guardian

“Historical trauma, strings, drones, metallophones and buzuks wrap around powerful stories and gossamer vocals on Lebanese singer’s tender, intimate debut. With shades of Nico, Jarboe and Elizabeth Fraser, ’80s’ 4AD fans will rejoice.” – Andy Cowan, MOJO

As it progresses, Marjaa seamlessly fuses folky introspection, orchestrated drama, crackling electronica and field recordings. Sometimes – again, without any incongruity – within the same song… This bold, multi-layered album is utterly accessible. A triumph.” – Kieron Tyler, The Arts Desk
https://theartsdesk.com/new-music/album-mayssa-jallad-marjaa-battle-hotels

“Mayssa’s voice is holy, haunting, throughout, as the music moves from the heavily processed – Kharita, where code crackles like furiously fanned flame – to the “organic” – the prettily picked, prancing, pirouetting, near medieval Baynana, whose dancing lyric recalls the Cocteau Twins’ Liz Frazer’s giddy glossolalia.” – BanBanTonTon
https://banbantonton.com/2023/11/09/mayssa-jallad-marjaa-the-battle-of-the-hotels-six-of-swords/

“The album is a touching homage to a dissociated home full of ghostly places.” – Uwe Schneider, African Paper
http://africanpaper.com/2023/04/29/i-felt-that-the-city-had-witnessed-a-violence-that-nobody-wanted-to-mention-interview-with-mayssa-jallad/

“Marjaa is, as one might expect, a sombre affair largely comprised of Jallad’s delicate vocals backed by acoustic guitar and ethereal synthesizer. Elsewhere, co-composer and producer Fadi Tabbal adds the crackle of distant artillery and a ghostly wind between the high-rise blocks.” – Daniel Spicer, Songlines

“As a lyricist, Jallad is poetically laconic. One track, “Kharita”, from the Dahaliz section, has two just lines: ‘I walk the streets alone, in my hand a map/ That I don’t understand. It’s this precise, minimal weightiness that helps make Marjaa such an accomplished and unusual album.” – Louise Gray, New Internationalist

Featured on Shane Woolman’s broadcast Adventures In Sound And Music for Resonance FM (UK) in July 2023:
https://www.thewire.co.uk/audio/on-air/shane-woolman-presents-adventures-in-sound-and-music-mayssa-jallad-special

Featured on Steve Barker’s broadcast On The Wire for Totally Radio (UK) in October 2023:
https://www.totallyradio.com/shows/on-the-wire/episodes/on-the-wire-22-oct-2023#_

Featured on Bobby Jewell’s broadcast Earth Tones for Resonance FM (UK) in November 2023:
https://extra.resonance.fm/episodes/earth-tones-2023-11-03

Featured on The New Noise’s broadcast Pangea (Italy) in November 2023:
https://www.thenewnoise.it/pangea-250/

Listen/Order on Bandcamp

Ruptured News // MUSIC RELIEF FOR BEIRUT #1: Berlin

August 14, 2020September 5, 2020News1 Comment

In the aftermath of the August 4th explosion in Beirut, which left several hundred people dead, thousands injured, and resulted in city-wide material damage, several labels and platforms have started releasing compilations in support of the crisis.

Berlin-based label Syrphe Records, a platform for experimental and noise music from Asia and Africa, put out four compilations entitled Retrieving Beirut, with music by 94 acts from 40 countries. Featured genres include ambient, drone, techno, prog rock and industrial. Proceeds will be offered to one or more Lebanese charities.

Read Scene Noise‘s review of Retrieving Beirut here.
Buy Retrieving Beirut here.

Lebanese musician Rabih Beaini released The Sacred Rage on his label Morphine Records. The 12-track compilation features new tracks by the likes of German musicians Monolake and Rashad Becker, Lebanese musicians ‘A’ Trio, Radwan Ghazi Moumneh, and Beaini himself. All proceeds will go to organisations working on the ground in Beirut.

Read CDM’s review of The Sacred Rage here.
Buy The Sacred Rage here.

Solidarity With Beirut from the Berlin-based label Habibi Funk features seven cuts by artists from Beirut, including Roger Fakhr, revered band Ferkat Al Ard and Munir Khauli, whose track, “Heik Ha Nishtghil?,” was recorded in the mid-’80s. All proceeds from the compilation will go to the Lebanese Red Cross.

Read Scene Noise‘s review of Solidarity With Beirut here.
Buy Solidarity With Beirut here.

Ziad Nawfal Guest Mix for SceneNoise // 06 July 2020

July 17, 2020January 28, 2021Music ShowsLeave a Comment

Ziad Nawfal’s set for renowned Egyptian online platform SceneNoise, showcasing some of the most prominent Lebanese electronic producers of the last 20 years.

Featuring music by Jad Atoui, Tarek Atoui, Bakisa, Rabih Beaini, Liliane Chlela, Marc Codsi, Rhea Dally, Tony Elieh, Joseph Ghosn, Charbel Haber, Kid Fourteen, Kujo, Stephanie Merchak, Ziad Moukarzel, Sary Moussa, Jawad Nawfal, Rise 1969, Safa, Anthony Sahyoun, Nabil Saliba, Fadi Tabbal, Elyse Tabet and Hadi Zeidan.

[Read the full article here]