from the In'Collection(s):

Charbel Haber

From The Canaries in The Coal Mines Comes an Endless Stream of Reveries

Experimental | Lebanon | 2008

Not content with his regular duties as singer/songwriter and guitar player with famed local rock band Scrambled Eggs, Charbel Haber branches out on his own for this, his first solo outing under his own name. The album marks a considerable change of direction from the Eggs’ latest punk-oriented releases, but one that Haber’s devotees could easily predict. The guitar player’s predilection for atmospheric, ambient sound-scapes finds a truly remarkable outlet on the pieces presented here.

The album’s 5 tracks vary in both length and style, from short guitar and ‘found sounds’ delightful improvisations, to longer, drone-like meanderings, featuring guitar, effects, and synthesizer-like blips and glitches. The works of such guitar players as Cul de Sac’s Glenn Jones and Pelt’s Jack Rose immediately spring to mind, as do the more ‘outward’ experimentations of the Jewelled Antler collective.

The listener’s patience finds ample reward towards the end of the album, with a lush, magnificent, 20-minute piece featuring several overlapping guitars, reminiscent of Godspeed You! Black Emperor’s apocalyptic tableaux and Thurston Moore’s (from Sonic Youth, and one of Haber’s idols) solo work.

Ziad Nawfal