The songs made by Lebanese musician Rogér Fakhr were recorded on cassette tapes in the 1970s in a Lebanon ravaged by civil war and social unrest, then left to gather dust in boxes in a basement for decades. The Habibi-Funk label is now bringing these lost tapes back to the public, including Western audiences, with »East Of Any Place«. The first half of the album dwells in quiet, sentimental soundscapes. The stringed instruments in particular give the tracks their oriental character and make their Middle Eastern origins all the more clear. The genre of this album is difficult to define, as the spectrum ranges from folk to jazz to soul. The tracks sound somewhat melancholic, almost psychedelic. They sing of longing and freedom, with Rogér Fakhr musically archiving the turmoil in Lebanon and representing the feelings of the people living there at the time. The carefully curated lost tapes that make up »’East Of Any Place« reached just 100 people before being re-released this year, making this record a literal treasure trove. »East Of Any Place« can also be seen as a sequel. In 2021, Habibi-Funk released the first selection of songs by the Lebanese musician, entitled »Fine Anyway«. This album also contains only forgotten pieces of music.
East Of Any Place
