Halak Halak

Snaking synth lines and exotic chord sequences collide with vigorous bass-laden beats and housey bedrock foundations, as East meets West in irresistible, unpredictable Levantine soundscapes. Zenobia serve up ten tracks, by turns moody and euphoric, straight outta Haifa – a seaside town in the north of Israel known for its relatively large numbers of Palestinian inhabitants and its burgeoning electronic music scene. This debut, Halak Halak (Welcome Welcome), is by the duo of Nasser Halahlih and Isam Elias, two Palestinian electro-pioneers who came together at the club Kabareet, headquarters of Palestine’s electronic avant-garde. It was at the first anniversary celebration of the club that the Halahlih and Elias made their entrance – and where they were discovered by Parisian electro-Oriental act Acid Arab.

Zenobia are at the forefront of a fledgling parallel culture of Levantine techno that weds dabke rhythms with Western production values; a new cutting-edge genre that has yet to be fully articulated and that includes such acts as Acid Arab and 47SOUL (see opposite). The sound is never boring or monotonous, rather unrelenting and intoxicating and is imbued with an innate sense of drama. Particularly captivating is the high-pitched microtonal keyboard playing that approximates the sound of a zurna or mizmar (Turkish and Arabic double reed wind instruments), full of trills and quick flourishes. Altogether Zenobia offer up the incidental sound of a modern Arab Levant rooted in folkloristic traditions.