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Visit product page →Kinematik is a Lebanese post-rock ensemble hailing from the village of Reyfoun in the Lebanese mountains. Formed in the summer of 2014, Kinematik recorded its debut album Ala'in the spring of 2017, and released it later that same year with Lebanese indie label Ruptured.
This was followed later that year by a string of performances in Lebanon, as well as a number of European dates as part of a tour organized by Beirut & Beyond International Music Festival. Both Ala' and its follow-up Murur al Kiram were recorded and co-produced by Fadi Tabbal from renowned Lebanese recording studio Tunefork.
Murur Al-Kiram was released by Ruptured in the winter of 2020, in the early days of the bloody Lebanese uprising and the Covid-19 pandemic. Kinematik spent the best part of 2020 under lockdown, trying to come to grips with Lebanon's and the world's new realities, battling societal, economical and sanitary hurdles and obstacles.
In November 2020, upon receiving an invitation from Irtijal Festival in Beirut to perform in its 20th edition, the former trio evolved into a full-blown ensemble, comprising a total of 6 musicians - the core line-up of Anthony Sahyoun, Rudy Ghafari and Akram Hajj was joined by modular synth players Jad Atoui and Ziad Moukarzel, as well as drummer Teddy Tawil.
The Irtijal performance laid the roots for a series of recording sessions, that coalesced a few months later into the long-form, elaborate compositions that make up "Al Jadi", the band's third album - 4 slabs of brooding, elegiac post-rock, recorded and mixed by Fadi Tabbal, mastered by Harris Newman of Greymarket fame, and packaged in a superb sleeve courtesy of Studio Safar's head of design Hatem Imam.Tracklisting:
1. Dinosorat Tahtafil Bel Kuwaikeb (Asteroid!)
2. Afkar Aariya (Naked Ideals)
3. Al Jadi (Capricorn)
4. Wahdi Ana (Alone, I Am) -
Murur Al-Kiram marks a departure from Ala', both sonically and musically. Mixing the pastoral and the industrial, the record relies on techno-based percussion beats, nostalgic melodies, intricate double drum interplay and ambient soundscapes, deconstructed and reconstructed time and time again.Visit product page →
The tracks are subtle in their angst as well as their joy, celebrating small victories in face of great defeats and echoing the band's conflicted mindset towards life in their country and community. The record was recorded over a period of two months, and features Teddy Tawil (aka TEDTEDTED) joining the band as second drummer.
Whereas Ala'saw Kinematik's four core musicians confining themselves to one instrument and/or role within the overall sonic construct of the band, these new compositions see each musician playing and equally at ease with several instruments, adding intensity, cohesiveness and a sense of fluidity to the proceedings.
The intent was to make a record that would sound like a single travelling shot, beginning with the musicians'childhood in their hometown, to their enduring the horrendously corrupt state of political affairs Lebanon finds itself in today, until they are buried back in their place of birth; realizing in the process how slight and remote Lebanon is, as a country; and how little they, as individuals and a community, are.
To some extent, Kinematik have consistently felt like aliens in the midst of Lebanon's contemporary music scene, and this statement holds true for a large segment of the country's alternative scene nowadays.
With recent civil rights campaigns, counterfeit elections and dire social conditions, the sense of existential dread has intensified and the question of 'what the hell are we doing?' that generally occurs at the time of recording took on a more general dimension, as in is there a purpose for trying to accomplish anything at all in Lebanon today, whether artistic or otherwise? In the end, it was the salutary presence of Sary (the newborn son of synth player Rudy Ghafari) that became the 'raison d'être' of the record.
Murur Al-Kiram is the story of an important chapter in the band's history, one marked by uncertainty and hesitation, yet solid and vibrant in spite of the latter.
Tracklisting:
1. Murur Al-Kiram
2. Hikayat Atfal
3. Sahu
4. Bein Mreytein
5. La Min Shef Wala Min Dere
6. Hayet Bi Kel Nafas
7. Al-Qulub Al-Mughallafa Bet-Turab La Tankaser
8. 'Elbe Msattaha
9. ...W Kaza
10. Muhibbi Al-Kanari
11. Roza
Release Date: 28/02/2020 -
(Both formats limited to 300 copies) - Kinematik is an instrumental rock band from Lebanon, whose music blends elements of 70's psychedelia, progressive rock and post-rock. It was formed in the winter of 2014 by Anthony Sahyoun (guitars) and Rudy Ghafari (keyboards) as a rock/electronic project with no incentive to perform but only to compose music.Visit product page →
By the summer of 2014 the duo had evolved into a 5-piece band with the addition of Akram Hajj, Roy Khazen and Gerard Rechdan in the rhythm section. Rechdan left the band in the winter of 2015. Kinematik's rock sound is both diligent and intuitional, ranging from raucous improvisational psychedelic rock to steady and mechanical electronic grooves, with frequent post-rock climaxes.
Immediate points of comparison include Explosions in the Sky and Loop, as well as Can (for the tendency towards Motorik beats) and Tortoise (for the intricacies of their layered compositions).
Kinematik composes instrumental pieces that feature dynamic contrast, strong melodic lines, a heavy use of distortion and effects, and some reliance on electronics and synthezisers.
Their audio-visual performances have earned them a solid reputation and massive local following over the years, both on account of the musicians'vibrant stage presence and Cynthia Jesse Osbornel-Hasbani's original animations and live veejaying.
Following a series of live performances all over Lebanon, the band started collaborating with renowned Lebanese producer Fadi Tabbal from Tunefork Studios (Postcards, Bunny Tylers, Safar, Filter Happier, etc.), who produced their debut LP ALA'.
In order to preserve the raw and vital feel of Kinematik's live performances, the album was recorded on reel to reel tape, a recording process that has not occurred in Lebanon for the last decade.
Tracklisting:
Side A:
1. Kelmeh Oula
2. Lalochezia
3. Hhx
4. Ana Baher
5. El'et
6. Aawaynet Nazar
Side B:
7. Kelmeh Oula
8. Lalochezia
9. Hhx
10. Ana Baher
11. El'et
12. Aawaynet Nazar
