Insider's Cultural Guide to Beirut | The Guardian

The Guardian has a great series called Insider's Cultural Guides, in their must-read Cities sections that aims to give a flavor of various cities around the world by trying to get people from those places to express the zeitgeist through various ephemera (Vine accounts, sounds, street art & style, and so on). I was lucky enough to be asked to put together the Beirut guide. 

You can read it here. Hope you enjoy it.

"A beautiful, rowdy, intoxicated mess  – Instagram stories of Syrian refugees, Arabic rap and Armenian food – Nasri Atallah shows us there’s more to the capital of Lebanon than its glamorous clubs, or its troubled politics"
 

The Bullet List #6: No List Edition

Happy New Year! I couldn’t put together a list this week, so here’s a pop culture year in review round table we did in my living room instead. 

PS: One quick recommendation would be to watch ABC's FBI drama Quantico. I was stuck in bed for 48hours with a nasty bug, and it is perfect popcorn television. It's like the CSI meets Heartbreak High, with a diverse and interesting cast (including the first South Asian woman to headline a network drama). 

Watch our Pop Culture roundup of 2015 hosted by four of the most awesome media people in Lebanon: Anthony Sargon (The...

Posted by Iron Heyoka on Tuesday, December 29, 2015

The Bullet List #5: Christmas Special

I’ve been too busy stuffing my face with festive food to come up with a proper list with a modicum of analysis this week. However, a few massive pop culture treats have dropped in the last couple of days, so I’ll recommend those, along with a Netflix true crime doc and a Facebook video of some ludicrously acrobatic Azeri dancing.

Azeri Dancing

This popped up in my Facebook feed somehow. Before anyone jumps in with regional animosity, I know it’s very similar to Armenian and Georgian dances (and other folklore from the area). Just sit back and enjoy, and know you’ll never look this good at a wedding.

رقص های زیبای آذربایجانی

رقص های زیبای آذربایجانی

Posted by OyanNewsFarsi on Monday, December 14, 2015

Making A Murderer

If you loved Serial and/or the Jinx, get ready to disappear down this latest true crime blackhole. Steven Avery was wrongfully convincted of a crime, spent 18 years locked up and was later exonerated by new DNA evidence. A few years after he's released, he ends up locked up again. Is it a local law enforcement vendetta? Is something darker going on? In this masterful 10-part documentary, we go into a complex family, a small community and the failings of the US legal & justice system (of which there appear to be many). Netflix made the first episode available for free on YouTube, and you can watch it below.

Deadpool - Second Red Band Trailer

I’m only mildly interested in comic books and their cinematic & small screen adaptations. But this year’s been a treat, with Daredevil, Jessica Jones and now Deadpool going for another part of the audience-base. Foul-mouthed and unhinged, Deadpool is my kind of superhero (I’ve stocked up on some comics to gear up for February). And this new Red Band trailer came out just in time for Christmas.

LCD Soundsystem – Christmas Will Break Your Heart

Now this is truly a Christmas miracle. After five LCD Soundsystem-less years, we are given a new, beautifully miserable track on Christmas eve. Couple that with rumors of a reunion in 2016, and everything looks a bit brighter.

Radiohead Spectre Theme

Despite some impressive set-pieces, Spectre was one of the most lackluster movie offerings of the year, and it came delivered with one of the most lackluster Bond theme songs of all time. Well, Radiohead have just shown us what could have been. Bless them. 

Last year we were asked to write a theme tune for the Bond movie Spectre. Yes we were. It didn’t work out, but became something of our own, which we love very much. As the year closes we thought you might like to hear it. Merry Christmas. May the force be with you.

The Bullet List #4: Balkan Special

There's something comfortingly familiar about the Balkans when you're someone Lebanese who was brought up in Europe. It's just in that uncanny valley of neither quite Mediterranean enough, nor quite European enough. Which is why I think I'm so interested in the region, and have formed so many friendships with people from the area. Traveling to Zagreb, Sibenik, Zlarin, Split, Belgrade, Novi Sad and Sarajevo, I came across some really brilliant culture, and this list is by no means exhaustive. Consider it an invitation to dig into one of Europe's richest cultural environments.

(Note: although I've divided up the list by country, the relationships between them is often complex as you can imagine, with many people being born in one, growing up in another and living in yet another.)

The Bambi Molesters (Croatia)

Croatia’s answer to Dick Dale, The Bambi Molesters are a surf-rock band from Sisak, about 60 kilometers south of Zagreb. Since their formation in 1995, they have taken part in the revival of the 1960s surf genre and continue to contribute to its survival and further development with their music. They perform all over Europe, and supported REM on tour. Their track Chaotica, a cut off their third album Sonic Bullets: 13 from the Hip, was featured in Breaking Bad (Season 5). It's a mystery how a Croatian Surf Rock band hasn't ended up on a Tarantino soundtrack yet. Hateful Eight maybe?

The films of Danis Tanovic (Bosnia & Herzegovina)

Tanovic is best known for having directed and written the script for the 2001 Bosnian film No Man's Land, which won him the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. His critically acclaimed work means that his name regularly pops up as one of the most respected Bosnian filmmakers of the last few decades. In 2008, he established Nasa Stranka, a secular grassroots political party, aiming to break the dominance of nationalist parties in the political system. If you’re interested in them, keep an eye on Sabina Cudic (who happens to be a friend), who is a rising political star in Sarajevo. 

The Box by Slavoljub Stankovic (Serbia)

Sadly, foreign-language translation of contemporary Serbian fiction can be very hard to find, for semi-obvious economic reasons: there doesn't appear to be a market for them. Of course you could argue it's very hard to create that market if no one translates the damn things, but that's another discussion. One Belgrade-based publisher, Geopeotika, has created a series called Serbian Prose in Translation, aiming to bring some influential contemporary titles to a wider audience. My favorite of the bunch is The Box by Slavoljub Stankovic. Filled with references to nineties pop culture - and a heavy helping sardonic humor - The Box traces the transformation of Belgrade into a ghetto and the desires of three young men who work as movers, packing up the lives of those lucky enough - in this case diplomats - to get out of the city. The story follows their frustrations at being stuck as they help others to leave. 

Jarboli (Serbia)

Jarboli have been around in Belgrade since the 90s, and have dabbled in everything from post-punk, to art rock and neo-psychadelia, so there's a great cross-section of stuff to look for on YouTube. The video below (and some of their other videos) were made a very talented group of people I was actually very lucky to meet in Belgrade (who were involved with the EXIT Festival and SHARE Conference, both of which you should also check out). 

Vaçe Zela (Albania)

Zela, who passed away last year, was a legendary Albanian singer and chansonnière. She began her career at a young age – she was only ten years old when she began to sing folk songs from the Myzeqe region – and in 1962 was the first to win the Albanian Song Festival (Festivali i Këngës). An 11-time winner of the festival, Vaçe gained fame during the communist era and was awarded the Merited Artist of Albania prize in 1973 and the People's Artist of Albania prize in 1977.

Thanks to Andrija Kovac and Rajko Bozic for the help making sure this list made some sense.

The Bullet List #3

Serial: Season 2

Mail..kimp? Serial, as the podcast that brought podcasts into the mainstream, needs no introduction. But here's one anyway. In Season 1, This American Life staffer Sarah Koenig dug into a Baltimore murder case from the 80s bringing her dulcet public radio tones to the true crime genre. In season 2, the first episode of which dropped last night, looks into the story of Bowe Bergdahl who walked off a US base in Afghanistan and was captured by the Taliban. Five years later when he was released, he was greeted with suspicion and accusations. The season will look into what happened during his captivity and since his release. Expect plot twists, quizzical expressions from Koenig and product placement.

No Such Thing As A Fish

Sticking with podcasts for a minute, I highly recommend No Such Thing AsA Fish, the weekly show that’s put together by the researchers from Stephen Fry’s QI (if you don’t know QI, it’s a British topical panel show centered around general knowledge. You’ll learn & laugh a lot). The show centers around three or four often-fascinating facts, and conversations emerge from there. It is a fun way to spend 40 minutes in the company of some very funny and very smart people, and you’ll come away with lots of dinner party material.

Fargo (Season 2)

Anthology series are notoriously hard to pull off, as the lack of a story arc from season to season and different settings can often result in wildly fluctuating tonal shifts. It is a problem that has plagued franchises like American Horror Story, and more recently the extremely disappointing - and widely critically panned - second season of True Detective. Fargo however is a notable exception. The first season was heavily inspired by the 1996 Coen Brothers film, and the showrunners turned into a massively compelling mini-series. And in season 2, they've pulled off the highly unlikely feat of doing it again. The season is set decades before the first season and centered around the events in Sioux Falls (which gets mentioned a lot in the first season), and includes some very interesting thoughts on capitalism, Reagan, feminism and racism, all with a touch of the absurd. The season is one episode away from wrapping, so binge watchers can safely get into it now without having to wait too long between hits. 

Veep (Season 4)

Transatlantic comedy doesn't always work, but when it does it is spectacular. Think 'The Office' in its first few seasons. Veep is another such show, created by the Armando Iannucci, the mind behind one of my favorite shows of all time, The Thick of It and its film spin-off In The Loop. Starring Julia Louis-Dreyfus, the show follows the hilarious relationship between US vice president Selina Meyer and her staff. I hadn't watched the show in a while, and caught 6 episodes of the fourth season on a flight from London to Beirut two days ago. Meyer is now President, and the show is as sharp as ever, the incompetence of everyone involved is painfully funny and the dialogue is some of the most quotable stuff out there today. Highly recommended. 

South Park (Season 19)

South Park, like The Simpsons, is one of those shows that has kind of become a part of the ether. Omnipresent yet also oddly not of the Zeitgeist. But in its nineteenth season and about 265 episodes in, South Park remains one of the most biting satirical entities in pop culture. This season has featured an arc that focuses on political correctness and our current culture of permanent outrage. I highly advise giving it a watch, especially if you haven’t dipped your toe into some Parker and Stone in a while. There’s a great New York Times piece that highlights the season’s importance in unpacking some of the themes around hyper-correctness and what it’s doing to the culture, sketching a "unified theory of anger, inequality and disillusionment in 2015 America".

The Bullet List #2: Documentary Special

In many ways, over the past 10 years, documentary filmmaking has replaced narrative fiction as a way to tell stories at the cinema. There are a number of reasons for this. The principle one is that funding for mid-range independent films dried up. This meant that studios were more comfortable churning out mega-series (Harry Potter, Marvel Cinematic Universe, Hunger Games, Twilight) that had guaranteed revenue streams over a decade, rather than finding small stories to tell and trying to find an audience for them. The small stories that do still make it to the big screen come in the form of soppy Oscar bait inspired-by-true-events paint-by-numbers award-season favorites (King’s Speech, etc). So that leaves documentaries, that are cheap to produce and can make many multiples of their budget back if they're successful. This shift also came about in an environment where traditional documentary-making was being revolutionized by the likes of Shane Smith and Errol Morris. So these films are worth taking a risk on for many producers, and that's why we've gotten some phenomenal documentaries over the last few years. Here's just a handful I feel are worth looking into.

Bowling For Columbine

Michael Moore’s 2002 documentary about the Columbine School Shooting remains tragically relevant 13 years later. The documentary explores America’s relationship to guns and - more broadly - to violence through comparisons with European countries and Canada. It’s interesting to remember that at that time pop culture elements - such as Marilyn Manson and video games - were being blamed for creating a culture of violence, while today the conversation has shifted to the systemic causes of violence in the American system, including so-called legitimate purveyors of violence such as the police. Although Moore is more of a pamphleteer than a documentarian, it still remains an important film.

Amy

Watching Asif Kapadia’s documentary about the unfathomably talented and often troubled Amy Winehouse is like discovering her all over again. Much like his last documentary - the equally brilliant Senna - Amy is built from archive footage with no ‘talking heads’. It is powerful and tragic, without ever veering into the hagiographic. In archival performances of her music - juxtaposed with explanations about her personal life - the lyrics are overlaid on the screen given them an entirely new meaning.

20 Feet From Stardom

Darlene Love, Lisa Fischer, Tata Vega. So many people responsible for some of the greatest contributions to music have been relegated to the shadows, 20 feet (that’s about 6 meters for all normal people) from the center stage. From the haunting howls on The Rolling Stones’ Gimme Shelter to Bond Villain Phil Spector breaking record deals, they permeate the music industry. But this Oscar-winning film isn’t about tragedy - although it is occasionally heartbreaking - but rather it is a celebration of the many thousands of people who work behind the scenes to make the music we love.

Nas: Time Is Illmatic

Nasir bin Olu Dara Jones, better known to pretty much everyone as Nas, is a hip-hop legend and one of the all-time great lyricists, so any film about his life is bound to be worth watching. This documentary, directed by graffiti artist and first-time director One9, is more of an emotional snapshot of the Nas’ childhood, his influences and the circumstances in the emerging hip-hop scene that led to his debut studio album Illmatic in 1994. It is a fascinating portrayal of prodigious talent and how it can affect the world, whether or not you like hip hop won’t really factor into your enjoyment of the film.

Russell Brand: End The Drugs War

Russell Brand is undoubtedly a divisive figure. Part Victorian court jester, part standup comedian, part social crusader, it is hard to comprehensively like or dislike him. While I find his linguistic dexterity consistently entertaining, I feel he has made the most resonant impact when talking about drug addiction and campaigning for legal reform in addressing the issue. In this BBC 3 documentary, he sets out to find out how various countries are tackling their problems of drug abuse. He - rather unsurprisingly for anyone with a liberal political worldview - finds that the criminalization implicit in the 'war on drugs' produces enormous harm in the treatment of addicts.

As I wrapped up this list I thought I should add CitizenFour, Indie Games, The Act of Killing, The Internet's Own Boy, everything by Werner Herzog. So I guess I'll be putting together another list soon!

The Bullet List #1

The Bullet List is something new I'm trying out: every Friday afternoon I'll list 5 pop culture recommendations I think are worth having a look at over the weekend (or any other chunk of space and time that happens to be free). It could be a film, a book, a TV show, a YouTube channel, a video game (it will probably never be a video game), a gig, a play, a Buzzfeed post, a podcast, or even a new place to experience pop culture (like listening to podcasts on a bench in Regent's Park). In any case, I'm going to stick to doing it every Friday. Hopefully they'll be of use to someone.

Master Of None (Netflix)

Aziz Ansari’s widely loved and critically acclaimed new show is definitely my recommendation of the week. While I’ve had problems with his stand-up persona, the same sensibilities – thirtysomething life, multiculturalism – translate beautifully in this 10-episode series. From the colour grading to the title typeface, it is a visually beautiful piece of comedy (and drama). Operating somewhere between early Woody Allen, Seinfeld and Louie, no show currently captures the complicated millennial zeitgeist as ably Master of None. Its most alluring feature? In an age where everything is dark, angry and cynical, the show allows itself to be earnest and sweet without ever being cringing.

Fixing The Hobo Suit (99% Invisible)

Speaking of cringe-worthy, remember what Superhero costumes used to look like? Adam West running around in ill-fitting lycra, George Clooney’s nipple-accurate Batman suit. In the age of the Marvel Cinematic Universe however, superhero suits have become the most badass markers of contemporary pop culture. How did that transition happen? In this episode of 99% Invisible, Eric Molinsky speaks to leading costume designers (who’ve worked on Batman vs Superman, Spider-Man, X-Men: First Class) about the methodologies that made them reinvent the way we look at superheroes. As always with this podcast, it is introduced by the dulcet public radio tones of Roman Mars. 

Marvel's Jessica Jones (Netflix)

Hands down the most enjoyable – and darkest – piece of the extended Marvel Universe that has been produced so far, in my opinion. I’ve never been a fan of the massive nonsensical audiovisual orgies of the MCU (such as Avengers, Thor, etc), and have preferred the small screen fare such as Daredevil. Jessica Jones is not as much a superhero story as it is a 70s noir detective drama where some characters happen to have superpowers. The strength of the show lies in its casting. Krysten Ritter is infinitely watchable – and a complete badass – in the title role, Mike Colter as Luke Cage made me question my sexuality, David Tenant as Kilgrave is a multi-layered, terrifying and confusingly likable Big Bad.

80 Books No Woman Should Read by Rebecca Solnit (Lithub)

Rebecca Solnit is a phenomenal voice in contemporary societ. I first came across her thanks to her 2000 book Wanderlust, a comprehensive non-fiction title exploring the history of walking and its relationship to how we think about the world. Solnit is also the person who coined the term ‘mansplaining’ and is a committed feminist, campaigning against institutional male arrogance and violence. In this essay for Lithub (I recommend subscribing to their daily newsletter) she eloquently tears apart the entire premise of a list put together by Esquire outlining the books every man should read. As you can imagine, they are books heavy with performative maleness – in the form of violence, misogyny and bigotry. As for a book everyone should read: anything by Solnit.

De Staat (Cool Green Recordings)

This Dutch band came into my life by way of Spotify’s eerily spot-on personalized recommendation playlist “Discover Weekly.” The first song I came across was Get It Together, which is all lo-fi vocals and scuzzy guitars that sounds like early The Hives being produced by Alex Turner. But once you dig into their discography you realize they’ve got a very particular – and peculiar – sound. Part Beastie Boys, part Nick Cave. It is refreshing at a time when a lot of identical sounding post-garage bands are putting out tracks all over the place. If you’ve got any doubts about their inventiveness just have a listen – and a mesmerizing look – at Witch Doctor.

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Interrupt This Program on CBC

I'm so happy to have been part of the Beirut episode of the new CBC Arts 5-part documentary series Interrupt This Program, which airs November 6. It was a great experience with one of the friendliest film crews I've ever spent time with. 

Interrupt This Program series trailer

Coming November 6 to Your CBC TV: Interrupt This Program, a new TV series that uncovers the underground arts scenes in five cities — Beirut, Kiev, Athens, Port-au-Prince and Medellin — that have been through war, natural disaster, political unrest and economic meltdown.For more info: cbc.ca/interruptthisprogram#InterruptTV

Posted by CBC Arts on Monday, October 26, 2015